This Thursday, I am leaving with a group for a missions trip. Please keep me in your prayers. Each morning, after breakfast and before we start our day, we will do a devotional. Everyone is responsible for putting together one devotional for our group. Here are the notes of the devotional that I am preparing. Please note that when I refer to the death of the good King, I am also referencing the death of a key figure in this orphans ministry who recently passed away. This man was a mighty man of God who gave his all in the Lord's Service. He is hugely missed personally by us and by the children whom he served. In addition, how do we replace this pivotal figure in the Ministry?
Are We Ready To Serve?
Scripture Reading— Isaiah 6:1-9
1) In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2) Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3) And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4) At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5) “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” 6) Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7) With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 8) Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9) He said, “Go and tell this people. (I’m going to stop there).
There is something about Chapter 6 of Isaiah which I couldn’t get out of my mind in the weeks leading up to this trip. There is something here for us as we embark on this mission to serve God, “Here I am Lord” and to “Go and tell the people.” Chapter 6 starts out announcing the death of a King. He was one of the good kings of Judah. His reign represented some sort of height in Israel’s history. The death of someone so important precedes the vision of Isaiah. Is anyone getting this?
A good king dies, a good leader goes home to be with the Lord and those left behind need a new vision to carry on. So, as the good king dies, Isaiah sees a vision of Gods’ holiness. Isaiah’s commission begins with a vision of Gods holiness. We have to reflect upon and know who God is before we are ready to say, “Here I am Lord.”
In this reading we learn that Isaiah is let into the inner sanctum of heaven. What happens next is truly amazing. He is utterly broken. He is like the good thief beside Jesus on the cross who sees a vision of holiness and knows it when he sees it.
Isaiah sees holiness, knows what it is and he completely gets the fact that beside God that he is a sinner. He knows that those around him are sinners too. So, before we can be ready to serve God, “Here I am Lord”. We have to be in touch with our sin nature.
The next thing that we see in verses 6 and 7 is that after this confession of sin, there is remission of sin. We need to go to God at this time confess our sin and cleanse ourselves as we ready ourselves for what God has for us today or in the future of this Ministry.
Prayer: Almighty God and Father, today I think anew of this vision of your holiness. I confess my unworthiness before your holy throne but I know that you have made a way for us to be worthy through the atoning death of Jesus Christ. We ask you to cleanse us and ready us to serve you Lord and we declare, “ here we are Lord to serve you.’
Amen.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Frenemies* ( Young Adult Edition)
Having good friendships are an important part of having a happy life. Yet, sometimes even though we want to be friends with someone, they don’t necessarily want to be friends with us.
They keep giving us a hard time, they might even be bullying us. It might be that a person that we know does not wish to hang out with us when we are outside during the daily recess at school. They might talk about us behind our back (gossip). They may even steal from us when we are not looking.
It’s all very frustrating and may make us angry sometimes. Today, we are going to talk about the battles that we have with people sometimes and, some strategies for dealing with them.
As I said before, friendship is an important part of a having a happy life. Friendship is a blessing, but what about when it goes wrong? What should we do? Should we just handle it by going along with every feeling that we have? For example, if someone yells at me, I want to yell right back at them, but should I do that? Someone has pushed me or teased me, sometimes my natural inclination would be to just push them or tease them right back. Should I do that?
I’m not going to lie to you. It might feel good for a minute to do that. Sin often feels good for a minute. But, it won’t bring lasting happiness. It won’t help any of us to be our best nor to build a good future for ourselves. We will end up being like that person who was mean to us.
It reminds me of the story of King Saul and David. King Saul was the king of Israel about 3000 years ago, and David was just a young boy tending sheep in his fathers field. Their paths were about to collide and they would each face some choices.
There was a time that King Saul had it all. He was given the opportunity by God to be the very first King of Israel. He was a great warrior and had Gods’ blessing in all that he did. But, as time went on his actions started to veer away from following God. He started doing things just because he felt like it, instead of doing things the way God wanted him to.
In time that would mean that God would take away the very special blessings that he had given King Saul and allow him to face the consequences of his actions. (The prophet Samuel spoke for God when he said, You have done a foolish thing, you have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you). God then placed that blessing upon the young shepherd boy David.
This should have been a happy ending for David but it wasn’t, not quite yet anyway. King Saul sensed David’s growing strength and his coming greatness and he grew angry and jealous. ( 1 Samuel 18:12 says Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.) Saul tried to hurt David. He used his power as the king of Israel to try and hunt David down and kill him. We always have a choice. We can use our power for good or for evil.
Well, anyway, David really wanted to be friends with King Saul. If you read this story in your bibles in the first book of Samuel you can see David tried to make friends with King Saul a number of times. He went out of his way to try to humble himself before Saul, and to show him respect, but King Saul would have none of it.
Just like David, even when people aren’t nice to us, we need to try to make friends with them if possible. To reach out and try to end any disagreements that we may have with people in our life. The Bible shows us that even though David had to suffer because of King Saul, God protected him every step of the way. And, even though it took time, David won his battle with King Saul and was victorious. God does that for us today, when we obey Him and live the way He wants us to. It may take some time but God has a good plan for each and every one of us, just like he did with David.
The Bible tells us, “not to return evil for evil, but overcome evil with good.” In other words, we need to do what David did. Even though King Saul hated David and wanted to hurt him, David did not return those feelings and even spared him from harm two times when he had the chance to take revenge on Saul.
Here’s another lesson. There was a time in David’s battles with King Saul that he felt he needed to hide from Saul to stay safe. Well, I can tell you this, there were some girls in my high school that were not very nice. Although I kept the door of friendship open with them, they were just like King Saul and refused to meet me halfway. While I didn’t have to hide in a cave to escape their wrath like David did, I thought it best to steer clear of them whenever I could.
However, one of these mean girls approached me one day and told me she was about to fail a math class. She asked me if I could tutor her. I did this as a job in high school. Well, I thought I can really have the upper hand now. I could really make her pay for teasing me. Instead, I felt a gentle sense of the Holy Spirit guiding me to know that was a very wrong approach and that instead, I should be kind in the situation. That girl just like king Saul, was doing whatever she thought best, and not what God thinks is best. A short time after I tutored her she asked me if she could cheat off my test exam. Of course, I said no. Cheating is not the right thing to do and God would not have blessed me for that. If I had cheated, I would have being veering off the path God has given us to follow.
To recap. Some lessons from the life of David.
1. Don’t just go along with everything you feel. Before you act, try to think of what Jesus would do.
2. Don’t forget God when things are going well, like King Saul did. Pray and learn what the Bible says about life and decide to follow it. Psalm 62, verses 1 and 2 has quoted David as saying, “My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.”
3. God sees us differently than people see us. A lot of people looked at young David and thought, he’s just a shepherd, or he’s too young. But, God sees into our hearts and he knew that David had a mighty faith and earnestly tried to be the best he could be for God.
4. Be patient and have faith like David. Sometimes, it takes a while for things to
get better, even years for us to achieve our goals but remember that God is faithful. Eventually, David became one of the greatest Kings of Israel. Davids' last words should serve as an inspiration to us. He said, Be strong and of good courage; fear not or be dismayed; for the Lord, even my God will be with thee. He will not fail thee, til thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord-1 Chronicles 28:20.
*Notes:
1. Frenemies- American slang. A person in your life that you get along with and enjoy overall but, they will cut you down with virtually any opportunity. Roots for you to do good but not better than them. Jealousy involved.(Urban Dictionary)
They keep giving us a hard time, they might even be bullying us. It might be that a person that we know does not wish to hang out with us when we are outside during the daily recess at school. They might talk about us behind our back (gossip). They may even steal from us when we are not looking.
It’s all very frustrating and may make us angry sometimes. Today, we are going to talk about the battles that we have with people sometimes and, some strategies for dealing with them.
As I said before, friendship is an important part of a having a happy life. Friendship is a blessing, but what about when it goes wrong? What should we do? Should we just handle it by going along with every feeling that we have? For example, if someone yells at me, I want to yell right back at them, but should I do that? Someone has pushed me or teased me, sometimes my natural inclination would be to just push them or tease them right back. Should I do that?
I’m not going to lie to you. It might feel good for a minute to do that. Sin often feels good for a minute. But, it won’t bring lasting happiness. It won’t help any of us to be our best nor to build a good future for ourselves. We will end up being like that person who was mean to us.
It reminds me of the story of King Saul and David. King Saul was the king of Israel about 3000 years ago, and David was just a young boy tending sheep in his fathers field. Their paths were about to collide and they would each face some choices.
There was a time that King Saul had it all. He was given the opportunity by God to be the very first King of Israel. He was a great warrior and had Gods’ blessing in all that he did. But, as time went on his actions started to veer away from following God. He started doing things just because he felt like it, instead of doing things the way God wanted him to.
In time that would mean that God would take away the very special blessings that he had given King Saul and allow him to face the consequences of his actions. (The prophet Samuel spoke for God when he said, You have done a foolish thing, you have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you). God then placed that blessing upon the young shepherd boy David.
This should have been a happy ending for David but it wasn’t, not quite yet anyway. King Saul sensed David’s growing strength and his coming greatness and he grew angry and jealous. ( 1 Samuel 18:12 says Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.) Saul tried to hurt David. He used his power as the king of Israel to try and hunt David down and kill him. We always have a choice. We can use our power for good or for evil.
Well, anyway, David really wanted to be friends with King Saul. If you read this story in your bibles in the first book of Samuel you can see David tried to make friends with King Saul a number of times. He went out of his way to try to humble himself before Saul, and to show him respect, but King Saul would have none of it.
Just like David, even when people aren’t nice to us, we need to try to make friends with them if possible. To reach out and try to end any disagreements that we may have with people in our life. The Bible shows us that even though David had to suffer because of King Saul, God protected him every step of the way. And, even though it took time, David won his battle with King Saul and was victorious. God does that for us today, when we obey Him and live the way He wants us to. It may take some time but God has a good plan for each and every one of us, just like he did with David.
The Bible tells us, “not to return evil for evil, but overcome evil with good.” In other words, we need to do what David did. Even though King Saul hated David and wanted to hurt him, David did not return those feelings and even spared him from harm two times when he had the chance to take revenge on Saul.
Here’s another lesson. There was a time in David’s battles with King Saul that he felt he needed to hide from Saul to stay safe. Well, I can tell you this, there were some girls in my high school that were not very nice. Although I kept the door of friendship open with them, they were just like King Saul and refused to meet me halfway. While I didn’t have to hide in a cave to escape their wrath like David did, I thought it best to steer clear of them whenever I could.
However, one of these mean girls approached me one day and told me she was about to fail a math class. She asked me if I could tutor her. I did this as a job in high school. Well, I thought I can really have the upper hand now. I could really make her pay for teasing me. Instead, I felt a gentle sense of the Holy Spirit guiding me to know that was a very wrong approach and that instead, I should be kind in the situation. That girl just like king Saul, was doing whatever she thought best, and not what God thinks is best. A short time after I tutored her she asked me if she could cheat off my test exam. Of course, I said no. Cheating is not the right thing to do and God would not have blessed me for that. If I had cheated, I would have being veering off the path God has given us to follow.
To recap. Some lessons from the life of David.
1. Don’t just go along with everything you feel. Before you act, try to think of what Jesus would do.
2. Don’t forget God when things are going well, like King Saul did. Pray and learn what the Bible says about life and decide to follow it. Psalm 62, verses 1 and 2 has quoted David as saying, “My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.”
3. God sees us differently than people see us. A lot of people looked at young David and thought, he’s just a shepherd, or he’s too young. But, God sees into our hearts and he knew that David had a mighty faith and earnestly tried to be the best he could be for God.
4. Be patient and have faith like David. Sometimes, it takes a while for things to
get better, even years for us to achieve our goals but remember that God is faithful. Eventually, David became one of the greatest Kings of Israel. Davids' last words should serve as an inspiration to us. He said, Be strong and of good courage; fear not or be dismayed; for the Lord, even my God will be with thee. He will not fail thee, til thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord-1 Chronicles 28:20.
*Notes:
1. Frenemies- American slang. A person in your life that you get along with and enjoy overall but, they will cut you down with virtually any opportunity. Roots for you to do good but not better than them. Jealousy involved.(Urban Dictionary)
Sunday, October 6, 2019
The Boy I Can't Forget
It has been almost one year since I met a shy and introverted boy named Daniel* on a missions trip. I can still see his eyes which seemed to say so much to me. Things that his mouth could not utter nor his mind come to terms with. Life truths that a child is simply not yet equipped to fully understand.
Those truths instead can be acted out in many ways. These are just some of the things I saw on a trip that I might not be fully equipped myself to handle. Yet, as I write this, I am getting ready to go again to visit the same three group home/orphanages with my church.
After my last visit to these children in need, I had a lingering sense of depression hanging over me for awhile. I prayed about it and felt that I needed to do more for these children immediately. My church was supportive. So, they allowed me to do a fundraiser to raise money for a sewing center and start a knit class to make handknit scarves for 150 kids. Both ventures were successful beyond my wildest dreams, and the depression lifted.
So often the thing that helps depression the most is action. Action is often the hardest thing to effect when one is in the throes of such feelings. Let's all try to remember that when we get the blues the next time. The simple act of trying to do something rather than nothing is cathartic. The old adage, it is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness comes to mind. So, here I am again trying to light a candle and praying to ignite a flame in the hearts of these children and the staff of their orphanages for Christ.
One of the things that I bring to this trip is empathy for the brokenness of these children and the immediacy of their needs. I came from a truly broken family and so do these children. This is no time for soft-pedaling a spiritual message. I am resolved to teach as Jesus did, right where people need it most. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release from darkness to the prisoners.-Isaiah 61:1. These words from the book of Isaiah are the scriptural basis that Jesus used to announce His ministry at a synagogue he was teaching at.
What great meaning these words have for me as I prepare for this trip. This scripture passage serves as one of the focal points of my mission. It is a worthy and godly goal to heal broken hearts and to preach the gospel which has the power to transform lives. Even lives that seem broken beyond compare. Our Lord is the hope and redemption for all. Or as someone very sage once said, my Jesus He can fix it!
P.S. My blog is now listed in The Top 100 Christian Wife blogs for the United States on Feedspot. I pray that this exposure can help to touch people's hearts and minds and gently lead them to Jesus. I am happy that Christian blogs can be found in a listing such as this one. It is analogous to the old library card catalog of the past.
* the boys name has been changed.
Those truths instead can be acted out in many ways. These are just some of the things I saw on a trip that I might not be fully equipped myself to handle. Yet, as I write this, I am getting ready to go again to visit the same three group home/orphanages with my church.
After my last visit to these children in need, I had a lingering sense of depression hanging over me for awhile. I prayed about it and felt that I needed to do more for these children immediately. My church was supportive. So, they allowed me to do a fundraiser to raise money for a sewing center and start a knit class to make handknit scarves for 150 kids. Both ventures were successful beyond my wildest dreams, and the depression lifted.
So often the thing that helps depression the most is action. Action is often the hardest thing to effect when one is in the throes of such feelings. Let's all try to remember that when we get the blues the next time. The simple act of trying to do something rather than nothing is cathartic. The old adage, it is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness comes to mind. So, here I am again trying to light a candle and praying to ignite a flame in the hearts of these children and the staff of their orphanages for Christ.
One of the things that I bring to this trip is empathy for the brokenness of these children and the immediacy of their needs. I came from a truly broken family and so do these children. This is no time for soft-pedaling a spiritual message. I am resolved to teach as Jesus did, right where people need it most. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release from darkness to the prisoners.-Isaiah 61:1. These words from the book of Isaiah are the scriptural basis that Jesus used to announce His ministry at a synagogue he was teaching at.
What great meaning these words have for me as I prepare for this trip. This scripture passage serves as one of the focal points of my mission. It is a worthy and godly goal to heal broken hearts and to preach the gospel which has the power to transform lives. Even lives that seem broken beyond compare. Our Lord is the hope and redemption for all. Or as someone very sage once said, my Jesus He can fix it!
P.S. My blog is now listed in The Top 100 Christian Wife blogs for the United States on Feedspot. I pray that this exposure can help to touch people's hearts and minds and gently lead them to Jesus. I am happy that Christian blogs can be found in a listing such as this one. It is analogous to the old library card catalog of the past.
* the boys name has been changed.
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