Blog Archives

It's a God Thing

10/27/2014

My daughter’s favorite saying for the last 2 months is “It’s a God thing”. Since she was little she has always wanted to be a missionary. In the last couple of years she has looked at a couple of mission organizations but God closed those doors. In August she talked to Joy who is with Jungle Kids for Christ and felt God leading her in their direction. Now as she is planning and preparing to serve with Jungle Kids for Christ, in Ecuador we are seeing God in everything.

Here are just a few things that God has done so far:

Language School in Quito, Ecuador – God has provided a place to live and serve while going to Language school. She will be staying with the Dumas Organization which works with women who need help getting a new start as well as learning about God.
Traveling and living alone – God has placed a woman, about the same age, with her so they can travel, learn together and share living quarters. Dad and mom are happy about that!
Passport/working visa – her passport was going to expire while gone so she sent it in to be renewed, it thinking it could take 6 weeks, and she now has a new one in less than a month. The Visa will be obtained in Quito while serving with the Dumas Organization.
Support – God has already started supplying the need.
Medical Evacuation Insurance – this is an expensive cost but we may have found a way that would save close to $900.
Waking up with a tooth ache and being able to get into see the dentist/oral surgeon on the same day she called for an appointment. The oral surgeon told her it usually took 2 months to get into see him.
Using her talents, gifts and degree on the mission field - there is a greenhouse to plant a garden, and they have asked if she would be willing to teach puppets to the kids.

Having only 4 months from the day of applying to Jungle Kids for Christ to being ready to go, has been a test of faith. There is no way she could time or plan everything to happen so perfectly. His timing is perfect. Looking back over her job experiences, education and even the everyday ups and downs have all been a part of God’s perfect plan to prepare her for this new road He has put her on.

“It’s a God thing”

Philippians 1:6

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Ruby Cripe

Anxiety

10/20/2014

I chose to share with you a devotional from October 17th from the devotional book "Jesus Calling", by Sarah Young. This has been my devotional book since 2011. Typically, I choose a new book each year, but this book is so rich and everyday speaks to my heart in powerful ways. Something that I struggle with is anxiety about many different things. This day spoke to my heart and I hope it will bless you as well.

"Anxiety is a result of envisioning the future without Me. So the best defense against worry is staying in communication with Me. When you turn your thoughts toward Me, you can think much more positively. remember to listen as well as to speak, making your thoughts a dialogue with Me.

If you must consider upcoming events, follow these rules: (1) Do not linger in the future, because anxieties sprout up like mushrooms when you wander there. (2) Remember the promise of My continual Presence: include Me in any imagery that comes to mind. This mental discipline does not come easily, because you are accustomed to being god of your fantasies. However, the reality of My Presence with you, now and forevermore, outshines any fantasy you could ever imagine."

Supporting scriptures: Luke 12: 22 -26; Ephesians 3: 20-21

Have a blessed week as you start your day in His presence where there is fullness of joy and pleasures at His right hand forevermore!

Love & Prayers,

LINDA DAVIS

Prayer Leader

When I don't desire God...

10/14/2014

I want to desire God! I love Jesus! But when I wake up in the morning, my thoughts are all about my day: what am I going to do today, what am I wearing, what am I going to eat for breakfast and lunch etc. My first thought is not: I can’t wait to sit with God, read His Word and talk to Him. I will do it because I should. I will sit, and read, and sometimes even memorize His word.

But lately I want more! I want to wake up in the mornings with the thought in my mind that I can’t wait to sit with Him; I don’t even want to think about if today is a Monday or a Friday, I just want to hear what He has to say. But how do I get there? Do you ever feel that way?

I have decided that the best thing to do is to learn from someone who has the desire for God! I listened to Pastor John Piper’s message “When I don’t desire God”. I would like to share with you a few suggestions He made for all of us, who want to desire God and live a thick and deep Christian life.

Meditate on the Word of God day and night! Psalm 19:8 Jeremiah 15:16 Psalm 1:2-3 Matthew 4:4 Romans 10:17 Romans 15:4 John 17:17 Memorize the Bible! Pick a time of day. Pick a place. Pick a plan.
In all your reading of the Bible, focus on the centrality of God, especially Christ! You want to see God, and Christ in all you read! Who is He? Read the one of the Gospels every day! We have 4 of them! Who is Jesus? Get to know Him! See Jesus glorious! No one is like Him!
In all your reading of the Bible do not spare the parts that describe God’s horrible wrath! Nehemiah 1:11 We must tremble of His ultimate power!
Learn to preach to yourself! Listen to David Psalm 42:11
Pray earnestly and continually for everything you need to have joy in God! Pray for desire! Psalm 119:36 Psalm 119:18 Psalm 56:11 Psalm 90:14
Resolve to fight every known sin in your life! All sin comes from when something is more delightful, more precious than Christ to you! So when you are doing a sin, you are in darkness, so you can’t see the beauty of Christ! Sin comes from blindness and keep you in blindness! Fight it!
Spend time with God saturated people and they will help you fight for faith. 1 Samuel 23:16
Get the rest and exercise and proper diet that your body designed by God needs!
Do the hard and loving thing for the sake of others: Isaiah 58:10-11
Get the rest and exercise and proper diet that your body designed by God needs!

I want to saturate my life with His Word so that in everything I do I glorify Him. I want to fight the good fight not to be justified before Him (Jesus already did that for me), but fight as a justified sinner for His glory and for my joy in Him. I pray this encourages you also to love Him more.

http://www.desiringgod.org/conference-messages/when-i-don-t-desire-god-part-1

Krisztina White

More In Common Than You Know

10/6/2014

Over the past few weeks I have participated in a women’s Bible study with a handful of women who I did not know personally before starting this study. Since most women like to participate in activities that involve people they already know, it seemed out of character for me to attend a class in which none of my personal friends would be present. But my curiosity for the topic of the Bible study and my desire to know more of the central Person of the Scripture passage outweighed my usual mode of operation.

For 9-weeks, this group of women committed to read and study together Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5-7. This message is the longest recorded sermon given by Jesus during His 3-year ministry on earth. Anyone who has studied the Bible or heard about the Bible tends to be aware of what the Sermon on the Mount says, enough to quote familiar verses from this passage. But surprisingly, I have come to a stark realization of how much of what Jesus spoke of in His Sermon I have greatly misunderstood. Though I have been intrigued in digging deeper and learning about a familiar passage of Scripture, sadly I have been stunned how skewed my perspective has been regarding this Sermon and the One who taught it.

It is easy to get caught up in false assumptions concerning familiar events, people, and even passages of Scripture, which are actually a bit of a mystery if you haven’t taken the time to get to know more about them. It’s not uncommon to make a quick judgment about the familiar before truly seeking to study and grow in an accurate understanding of the truth.

God’s Word and a Women’s Ministry brought me together with these women in a specific Bible study class, but I have learned that I have more in common with them beyond our mutual desire to study Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount together. I have found that our life situations, challenges, fears, and successes are similar even though we have all been traveling on our own unique journey, yet whose paths have happened to cross for this Bible study.

As we have learned more about Jesus, His Word, and have focused on the message of His Gospel of Grace, we have witnessed how one Sermon given over 2,000 years ago transcends time and generations to fulfill God’s purpose in making much of Jesus and what He’s done for sinners like us. It’s amazing that taking time to intentionally study three chapters of Scripture has turned our outlook on the Kingdom of God upside down as we consider what God intended for those who claim to follow Jesus.

It has meant that we have hesitantly stepped out of the shadow of what’s familiar and comfortable to open up our hearts and minds to explore God’s truth in greater detail. Our Father in His own creative way has the ability to draw the most unexpected people groups together for the purpose of glorifying Himself and exalting the Name of His Son. That is the amazing power of God’s Word and the work of His Spirit. For without Jesus, none of us would understand the gift of sharing a mutual relationship with each other as the church body of Christ.

May Jesus, His Gospel, and God’s Word be what determine your mode of operation that goes beyond the common and familiar to focus solely on the person of Christ and His work of salvation. For you never know whom you will cross paths with and you just might have more in common with them than you know.

Tamar Miller