I cannot believe it is already the 30th of April. I believe this month has flown by faster than any other month in the history of my life.
I think it's because we had a couple of "special" church services which took some extra prep time during the weeks, plus I was extremely busy at work, and I was also gone two weekends in April. All of that combined made the month go by quickly...too quickly.
Though it was sometimes overwhelming, I wouldn't change it, 'cause the church services were special, and the weekends away were AWESOME!
We spent Thursday thru Saturday of Easter weekend with the Wood family in Nashville. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed getting out of town, and spending the weekend with them. And, while there, we were able to meet our friends Matt and Christy for breakfast. It was good seeing them as well.
Then I spent the 17th thru the 19th with my friend Marybeth in Chicago. Marybeth is from North Carolina, but was speaking in Chicago. I met Marybeth three years ago at the Proverbs 31 She Speaks Conference. She was my "speaker evaluator". As soon as I met her, I felt a bond with her, and we have stayed in touch over the years, so it was extra special to get to spend some time with her.
I'll conclude with some pics from Nashville:
Here's Tim trying to be a mannequin
Tim apologizing to the mannequin for knocking his hand off our families outside of the Hard Rock Cafe
Beth Moore's daughter is currently on a Compassion International trip in India. I encourage you to read about it here. It will bring much encouragement to those of you who are child sponsors.
It was very cool today for me to watch our church get on board with something that God had laid on my husband's heart several months ago...releasing children from poverty in Jesus name. That is Compassion International's mission. Poverty is much more than lack of finances...it's lack of opportunity. Opportunity for a better life.
Today, many felt God calling them to get involved to help, and as a result many children were sponsored. This problem of poverty, which at times can seem so overwhelming, can be changed one child at a time.
I know there are some who are still praying about getting involved. We had a few child packets left. Denny will have those at church again next Sunday if you feel God leading you to sponsor a child.
After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.” John 21:15, 16
Over the past year I have watched as God has poured His love and compassion for suffering children into the heart of my husband, specifically speaking of children in poverty. I have watched Denny shed many tears as he has read factual stories, and seen videos of these children who are in desperate need. To be honest, what God has done in the heart of Denny, and now is doing in my life too, has changed the way I view Christianity. It has expanded the way I view Christianity, and in many ways there has been a paradigm shift.
We live in an era of “prosperity preaching”. “Obey God and he will give you the home of your dreams, he will give you the car of your dreams, He will provide everything you ever wanted…”
Understand I believe that God wants to prosper you. I believe that when we obey Him, He does prosper us. But I’m not sure the above scenario is what he had in mind.
In Luke 3:7-9, we see a sample of John the Baptist’s preaching, and what he talks about is that when we follow God, our life should change, our life should look different. Part of what he says is this:
“Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God.” At the end of his sermon, the crowd asked, “What should we do?” Good question. John replied, “If you have two coats, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”
In Luke 12:33, Jesus says, “sell what you have and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven have no holes in them. Your treasure will be safe…no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it.”
We dream of news cars, and new homes, while others dream that someone will come along to provide them clean water, a bite to eat, and clothing to cover their bodies.
This Sunday, at First Christian Church, you’ll have a chance to fulfill someone else’s dream. The dream of having a bite to eat…clothes to wear, as we join with Compassion International, and churches all over the nation for “Compassion Sunday”. May you prayerfully consider your role as we make an effort to “release children from poverty in Jesus name”.
Father, you have called us not to acquire more, but to give more. Help us to understand the specific call that you have on our individual lives, so that we might fulfill your will and your purpose for our lives. So that your Kingdom can come through us to others….
Application: Prayerfully consider how God would like you to respond to His kingdom call.
Luke 16:9 “I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven.”
Acts 4:32-35 “all the believers were of one heart and mind, and they felt that what they owned was not their own; they shared everything they had. And the apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great favor was upon them all. There was no poverty among them, because people who owned land or houses sold them and brought the money to the apostles to give to others in need.”
I feel normal today for the first time in about two weeks. Monday morning, March 23rd, I woke up at 3am, and I woke up at 3am darn near every day after that until today. Last night I finally slept all night.
During that time, I had a couple of people tell me that God was waking me up. I know that God does that sometimes, but to be honest, I had a hard time believing that God would disturb my sleep at 3am, when He knew that I would wake up at 5am and meet with Him anyway.
So, finally, after about a week of this chaos, I got up one morning, angry. And I said to God, "God, I refuse to believe that it's you waking me up, and the only way I'll believe it, is if you make it clear to me. Lord, if it's you, then in my scripture reading this morning, may you mention, in scripture, that you 'wake us up'."
My scripture reading that morning was Zechariah 4. The first verse I read said, "Then the angel of the Lord awakened me." Praise God, now I at least knew that it was indeed Him waking me up, and not the enemy, and not insomnia...but what does He want??
So the next mornings He continued to awaken me, but instead of me getting frustrated by being awakened, I would simply wake up and say, "yes Lord". Sometimes I got out of bed, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I grabbed my Bible, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I could feel His presence, sometimes I couldn't. But the one thing that was consistent every night is that God would bring up various people that He has involved in my life right now, and various circumstances that He has me in involving those people...and as He would bring them up, we would pray for them. To be honest, sometimes, no, a lot of the time, it seemed like chaos. The people and circumstances would flash through my mind so quickly, that it just seemed like chaos. Almost like God was saying, "I'm doing this and this and this and this and this" all the while quickly flashing the mental images through my brain while He was saying it.
By yesterday, Friday, I could hardly keep my eyes opened, I was so tired. In fact, I nodded off once at my desk yesterday. Later in the afternoon, I was driving to see a client of mine, and as I was driving, I was thinking of the events of the past two weeks. I was thinking, "it just seems chaotic. I can't really make sense out of why You have me awake God. It seems like You're doing something bigger than I can understand." About the time I got that thought out of my brain, this song came on the radio. The song summed up my feelings perfectly. And the timing of it was such confirmation from God, as if to say, "yeah, you're right, my ways are higher than your ways, you can't quite fully grasp it, but I'm doing something bigger than you..."
Thanks God for whatever it is you're doing. Thank you for calling me to pray. Thank you for once again answering my thoughts with such sweet confirmation through this song...."
As the chorus said...
Whatever You're doing inside of me It feels like chaos but now I can see This is something bigger than me Larger than life something Heavenly Something Heavenly
