A Missionary's Conversation with God

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. ~Psalm 119:105

When I read this poem for the first time recently it really touched my heart. These words portray a conversation I believe all those called to share The Gospel in lands foreign to them have had with God at some time or another. This poem talks about the "crown" promised. However, it's not about a crown or about the jewels that may be in it. It's about people. About lives. About souls. Crowns don't matter. People do. Much more than anything that glitters ever could.

I said, "Let me walk in the field."
God said, "No, walk in the town."
I said, "There are no flowers there."
He said, "No flowers, but a crown."

I said, "But the sky is black,
There is nothing but noise and din.
"He wept as He sent me back,
"There is more," He said, "there is sin."

I said, "But the air is thick
And fogs are veiling the sun."
He answered, "But souls are sick,
Souls in the darkness undone."

I said, "I will miss the light,
And my friends will miss me, they say."
He answered, "Choose tonight,
If I am to miss you, or they."

I pleaded for time to be given.
He said, "Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem hard in Heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide."

I cast one look at the field,
Then set my face to the town.
He said, "My child, do you yield?
Will you leave the flowers for a crown?"

Then into His hand went mine,
And into my heart came He.
Now I walk with a light Divine,
The path I had feared to see.
~George MacDonald

Cleaning House

No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. ~Mark 3:27

Spring Cleaning. It's the big tradition in the states; it's even become a coined phrase used by many cleaning supply companies. It's a big deal. It makes the keeper of the house feel a great sense of accomplishment and it makes anyone else who may be living there quite happy as well.

I too am one of those who tend to jump on the Spring Cleaning band wagon. However, I also have another mood that hits me about this time of year...perhaps it could be called "Fall Cleaning". I know, I know. It doesn't quite have the same pep in it's step when you say it, but, none the less, it motivates me just about the same as the other. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it is the fact that I know a long winter awaits, especially now that I am living in Northern Europe, and that the atmosphere of my humble abode is something that will be even more important during the long winter days ahead that I may be stuck at home. How clean it is... how organized it is...These are things that are going to be staring me in the face on a much more regular basis here in the near future. And, like anyone with a Momma who taught them well, I care. I really care. I haven't always cared so much, but the inner Ms. Homemaker in me has made her debut and the slightly OCD Martha Stewart side is starting to peek it's way through. My latest project: organizing the closet. Granted, I moved to Europe with only 2 suitcases worth of my belongings to live off of for over a year, and just a few random things have been mailed to me since, but you would be greatly surprised at how much I managed to squeeze into those two suitcases! That said, my closet now looks like something that would make even the manager of the highest end department store proud. And, this being the last of my extreme cleaning/ organizing projects for now...my home is now officially "winter ready".

In the midst of all this I'm reminded of one great thing about being single and not yet having a husband or children: Everything I have cleaned, and especially everything I have organized, will remain exactly as it is unless I personally choose to change or mess it up. Now, stick with me, I'm going somewhere with this...

Such is the Christian life. No matter how close you are to other people, whether family, friends, mentors, etc, you have to do the cleaning and organizing for your life and only YOU can truly change or mess up what you have worked so hard to "clean" or make right. Others can try to affect your decisions in positive or negative ways, however you choose whether you will ignore or heed to what they say. YOU make the final choice as to if you will act or not act on their advice. You and only you are the "homemaker" in your life. When all is said and done, it will be you that will stand before the Lord your maker by yourself. Your heart...your home, is your own. No one but God should ever be allowed to dwell there. God's voice should always be the one you listen to the closest when it comes to the cleaning and organizing of your life.

The Bible says that "you are not your own" but that "you are bought with a price". If you are truly sold out, if you are truly "not your own", then when your house is clean, you'll keep it that way. Anyone who has ever cleaned knows how much easier it is to get everything really clean, and then clean up efficiently on a regular basis, than to let everything get dirty and gross and then try to get it all cleaned up. The latter is much harder and in the mean time leaves you and those close to you in a very uncomfortable living situation as well. Why not just keep your "house" in order?

At the beginning of this blog I quoted the verse about the strong man, one often used in reference to evil, rather than good. However, it works the same both ways. If you are Spirit filled, the God in you is WAY stronger than flesh or any evil spirit. YOU are the one who chooses whether to be an overcomer or allow yourself to be bound. You choose the voices that you will listen to.

Your House = Your Heart

Keep your heart clean! Get things right with God. Then, die (repent) DAILY. Yes, daily. Don't just ask God to forgive you quickly then move on along, but ask Him to search your heart. There may be things hanging around that have been there for a very long time, of which you are not even aware,that are affecting your very being. However, if you won't take the time to listen to God, rather than just speak to Him, He certainly won't bother to reveal them to you. God is a gentlemen, He gives men the power of choice and will not speak out of turn. The cool thing: When your heart is clean the organizing side will gradually just fall in place. When you're repenting daily and seeking God's will daily, He WILL speak. He WILL lead you. You WILL feel a peace that passes all understanding, because you will trust and know, on a whole knew level, that God does ALL things well.

He desires your heart to be clean much more than we could every desire our homes to be clean. There is a great contentment that comes from having a tidy home. Philippians 4:11 says, "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." When your "house" is clean, you will know contentment because you will daily be acknowledging that He does all things well and has all things in control. It is through this manifestation of your faith that He will begin to reveal his perfect will to you.

Do what you can; God will do what you can't. Keep your house clean. Find your contentment in God and He WILL, not might not maybe, not possibly, He WILL "order your steps" and "supply all your needs according to His riches in glory."

Christians in Action

"...And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." ~Acts 11:26

"Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are." ~Author Unknown

"What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind." ~Cleveland Amory

Christian - "Christ-like".

When I was in high school I was in a club called Christians in Action (aka: CIA :-). I feel the name of this club sums up the excerpt below I felt to share. While we, as Christians, are not saved by works, if God's Spirit is truly in us it WILL show through in the fruit we bear...Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance.

The below is from a fictional book I am reading titled "The Silas Diary" by Gene Edwards. While it is a fictional work, it is based on the real journeys of the Apostle Paul as recorded in the Book of Acts. Whether or not this is the way it was, only God knows...however, this IS the way it should be and I truly belief the way it can be:

...During the course of a year, some who have rooms lose them because they have no money or nothing left with which to barter. During the winter, some barter all they own for food. In this region of Galatia, many slaves, when given the opportunity, refuse to be set free. Others, once freed and on the edge of starvation, sell themselves back into slavery. Hardship is a constant companion in the lives of these people. Such are the people who make up the community of believers in Pisidia.

A group of people have become brothers and sisters, their new way of life wonderful and joyful. It is a way of living never before seen on the face of the earth. Yet God ordained that it come into being in this poor and remote region of Asia Minor.

It is amazing, as I look back, to see how these holy ones take care of one another. If one brother finds a job in the marketplace and the supervisor needs more help, that brother runs to find another brother so he, too, can work that day.

When several brothers work together, they work harder and better. They share a spirit of joy, often singing, often praising. Though the masters and supervisors don't understand it, they remember these men who work so well together. As they hire workers each morning in the marketplace, they search out these faces first. Some of the merchants have been known to say: "You, today you work. Go find your friends, the ones you call brothers, the ones you laugh and sing with."

In the gatherings, brothers tell one another about possible places to look for a day's work. The next night they tell everyone about how the Lord provided them a job, while the rest listen, rejoice, laugh, and interrupt.

Nor were the brothers alone in this new way of meeting needs. This new life inside them was changing everyone and everything, affecting the women as much as the men. The sisters in Pisidia began caring for one another, a phenomenon unknown in the Gentile world. They care for one another in the most unexpected ways. In childbirth, of course, but also working together at the river and in their homes and rooms. (Those who have no home and have to sleep in the forum are especially cared for.) Any sister who becomes sick is soon cared for throughout the night and day.

I have often seen the sisters working together in the fields, caring for one another's children, sharing vegetables and grain with one another, or cleaning rooms together. Sometimes they meet only to sing, to talk, to cry, to care, and to be cared for. If one somehow manages to have more than a day's supply of food, they often come together and prepare one big meal so all can have a good meal that day.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" ~Psalm 133:1

The End of The Beginning

"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:19 (NIV)

I have had this verse on my mind all week...how very true it is! I am so thankful for the blessings of God in my life, but way more than that I am thankful that this 70 or so years isn't all there is. I have an eternity in Heaven with my Savior to look forward to! An eternity of total peace and joy. The link to the song below is about how Jesus dying on Calvary was not an end, but a beginning for all of us! Through Him rising and conquering sin, we are able to have our own personal relationship with Him. No more veils. No more standing outside while a designated man goes into the Holy of Holies. WE get to stand boldly before God's throne when we pray! When we repent, He forgives. When we are baptized in Jesus name, our sins are washed away and we feel cleaner than we have ever felt inside, and when we ask for Him to fill us with His Spirit, He is glad to oblige. (Acts 2:37-38) His greatest desire is to dwell in us. If we let Him live in us, the options are limitless as to the awesome ways He can use us for His glory and for the good of those around us!

The two quotes below, by the author C.S. Lewis, describe well what that yearning that every human being feels deep inside...it also explains how that yearning is proof of great reason to be sure to treat those around you with the special care they deserve. I pray God blesses and ministers to you as you read and listen to the below.

..."If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world...If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only... to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, echo, or mirage...I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to the other country and to help others do the same."

"It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, of burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken....It is a serious thing... to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you could see it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare....There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendors...All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations."

End of the Beginning

Pr"i"de

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase. ~Daniel 4:37 (NKJ)

Pride- "faith in yourself"

Many years ago I remember the then UPCI's National Bible Quiz Master's wife, Sis. Claudette Walker, speaking at a quiz extravaganza I was attending. That day she spoke about pride...or rather Pr"i"de. She was of course speaking to a group of around 70 teams, so her main purpose of the message was basically the concept that there is no "I" in team and that pride will destroy both a person and a team.

Recently I was talking to a friend about this same issue and afterwards continued to still have this word on my mind. "Pride". I can probably quote most of the Bible verses that contain this word. But I got to thinking... what exactly is pride? How would you define it? I knew how I personally would define it, but how would someone else? What causes it? What are the signs of it? How does one overcome it? I have developed the tendency to avoid people that struggle with the sin of pride like they have the plague. I loathe it. For some reason I had begun looking at it as the "incurable disease".

But, the last few days God has convicted me about this and been reminding me that people with this issue need deliverance just as bad as people with any other sin in their life...therefore, I have been wondering how in the world a friend/ family member can play a role in helping someone over come an issue like this...one that the root is believing there is no issue. One that is the root of many other sins. The human side of me automatically thinks "just 'put them in their place' a few times & that will bring them down a notch"...Obviously though, this is not the proper godly route to take. No, I believe understanding is the first step and prayer the second. There are other things as well, if one is in authority or a very close relationship with someone, that could be done (such as directly addressing the issue), but in general, for every situation, prayer is the key.

I have seen so many amazingly talented & anointed people's lives destroyed due to pride..not from pride itself, but rather from what pride begot. It saddens me to think about it.

Out of curiosity I decided to look up what was available online about this subject and found this great,extremely informative website to which I have posted a link below. I encourage you to check it out. It defines pride, symptoms of pride, causes of pride, differences between pride/arrogance & faith, etc.

One thing I don't know that I total agree with that's mentioned in this article (though it's more true than not) is where it says "A proud person does not pray much, and a praying person is not bothered much with pride." I have not always found this to be the case and the only reason I can think of is that while a person may pray a lot, if there prayer is one sided, rather than two sided ---talking, but not listening, they are not placing themselves in submission to authority...which is a sign of pride.

Perhaps each of us can find an area we could improve in while reading the symptoms list? I am thankful there is no such thing as an "incurable disease" for Jesus is in the healing & restoration business! Let's be sure to always keep our faith in God, NOT in ourselves.


God Hates Pride