I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.
– James Hudson Taylor
This is an amazing quote and gives me great hope for some very difficult situations that are going on right now.
Please pray for a little girl named Teagan who is very very sick, currently in critical condition at the hospital in a medical comma. She’s had seizures all her life and last week a 2.5hr seizure prompted her parents, good friends of ours, to bring her to the hospital where a CT scan revealed a swollen brain; she also has pneumonia. She is the most beautiful little girl, and she is not even five and she desperately needs our prayers. Please pray for the doctors to have wisdom to figure out what is causing the seizures (they’ve never figured it out), pray for strength for the family, and pray for complete healing in Jesus’ Name for little Teagan. Right now it is impossible, but we’re praying for done, that Teagan can be used by God as a testimony of His grace, kindness, and mercy.
A great example is the man who was blind from birth. When asked who had sinned to cause that blindness, Jesus said that no one had sinned, but that he had been born this way to demonstrate the power of God (John 9:1-11). I hope and pray and believe that it is the same for little Teagan, that her long life would be a testimony of the power of God.
A friend posted a link to a blog post entitled What Does It Mean to REALLY Follow Jesus?, and that is a profoundly good question. I think the author, who is a pastor of one of the “mega churches” in the United States, makes some very good points. It is definitely worth a read, and the time to consider.
I’ve talked about obedience on here in the past, and I think that is the biggest issue, and one that I struggle with as well. Are we going to conform ourselves to the Jesus of the Bible, or try to conform our idea of Jesus to suit ourselves? Sadly, I think for most Christians it’s the latter. But it shouldn’t be this way. As Christians, particularly in North America, we’re always looking for the finances, the life of ease, a God who gives us stuff when He asks us to give it all to Him instead. God never promised us an easy life… what He promised was that He would never abandon us, never forsake us. He promised that if we were obedient to Him, He would put our feet on a sure foundation so that when the storms of life hit us (not if, not that if we were obedient that they wouldn’t), we wouldn’t be blown away, that we would stand firm in His embrace. He promised to walk with us, not to give us “stuff”.
This is a challenging article and well worth the read. I highly encourage you to take some time to read it and then examine your own heart, and challenge yourself about what it really means to follow Jesus, to be a servant of our King, to really love and worship Jesus, and make of ourselves living sacrifices that honour and glorify His Name.
After 25 years of ministry as missionaries in Japan, my wife and are heading home. We have had 25 great years in Japan, and it has been a fulfilling ministry. 25 years is not as long as some missionaries stay on the field, but I was 39 when I arrived. It is HARD learning a difficult language like Japanese at middle age!
My wife and I had some ups and downs in the ministry here, but the downs were teaching experiences, as most people will say. Only for us, God took us in a way that our organization was headed before our organization headed in this direction. We learned beforehand how powerful the Holy Spirit is at teaching new believers, without the constant oversight of missionaries or pastors at the beginning. And lots of people (churches) did not like things that involved change from the ordinary, but we persevered with joy in our hearts.
Japan is listed in some circles as being basically “unresponsive” to the gospel – with approximately 1/2 of 1% as being believers. Evangelical missionaries and organizations have been in this country over 150 years. More
This is an amazing video for a few reasons. For one, it truly showcases the power of God in desperate situations. For another, it shows what amazing things these kinds of ministries can do for people with addictions and other problems. It also shows why it’s important not to just write off people you see on the streets because we all make gross assumptions as to why they are there, but we can never really know why. Most people look and have no pity, or don’t bother looking at all, but these are real people that are hurting and most aren’t on the streets by choice.
It also really illustrates that God does indeed mean it when He says “come as you are”. If we had to be perfect to come to God, we wouldn’t need God because we would be perfect. But since we are not perfect, it is through His boundless grace that He takes us in, regardless of what we’ve done in the past or what we’re doing now. The first step is simply to acknowledge the fact that we need God and to make that first step… to come to Him with all our problems and baggage and pain intact. He will work with us and in us after we take that first step; we don’t have to do any more than simply admit that we need Him more than anything.
Please pray for the work the Dream Centre and other similar ministries are doing. It is of vital importance to the people that go through those doors every day.
I just saw my wife already shared this, but I have to share it too because, although it hasn’t impacted me as much as it has her, it has still had a profound impact on our life and family.
Back in July, my wife was diagnosed with an auto-immune connective tissue disease. This could have been one of a half-dozen things, rheumatoid arthritis among others I can’t pronounce, much less spell. She had a painful lump on her wrist, and blood work from the doctor indicated it was most definitely a connective tissue disease and that the specialist would tell us which one, and what we needed to do. Of course, this was shocking and terrible news… health is a vital concern, and it hit all of us quite hard.
The specialist appointment was made for October 4th, so we had a long time to wait. That time could either be spent in dread of the news to come, or in proactive prayer and proclamation of the goodness of God. We chose the latter, and the first Tuesday we could after we found out, we were at the church prayer service to have her prayed over. Within two days, the painful lump on her wrist was gone. Over the next few months, she was prayed over at the ladies group, and responded to an altar call for healing at the church evening service this last Sunday. We were digging in as deep as we could!
Yesterday we went to the specialist. She was in the office for 20 minutes. When she came out, I had no idea if we were coming back for more tests or whatnot, but she came out glowing! She said the doctor looked at her like she was crazy as he poked and prodded at her finger joints and her wrist. He then told her that her wrist was perfect, that she most definitely did not have a connective tissue disease, and that he would likely never see her again.
Praise God, He did a wonderful thing for our family! I don’t know if her disease was healed after that first Tuesday prayer, if it was sometime in between, or if it was last Sunday. And it doesn’t even matter when it was, all that matters is she is healed, God is faithful, and His tender mercies have touched us.
You know, other answers to prayer can sometimes lead to doubt. If you pray for a job and then get one, is it because you prayed or because you put out a few hundred resumes and applications? Sometimes we rationalize away the great thing God has given to us. But with healing, especially for a disease, you can’t rationalize it away. It is a miracle. There is no science involved. God got involved because we asked Him to, and He was faithful to hear, and merciful to heal. Thank You Jesus, so very much, for this beautiful gift you have given to us. I pray that we never forget it, never belittle it, and use it to share Your love with others that need it and to be drawn even closer to You. We owed you EVERYTHING before this, and now You have beggared us yet again by giving us even more. Thank You!
I was diagnosed in July with Connective Tissue Disease because of a large bump on my wrist. It scared me, but I could not get into the specialist for 2 and 1/2 months. So my family was praying, my church was praying, I had everyone I could think of put me on their prayer list. When I went into see the specialist yesterday, the doctor said not only did I not have Connective Tissue Disease but that my wrist was perfect! That was the word he used! Praise God, thank you Lord that you are bigger then everything!!
I saw this skit earlier this year at a Promise Keeper’s conference and it really had an impact on me. I found it the other day on YouTube and thought I would share it. It’s very powerful, and very true. God doesn’t make junk! And He wants to turn us into His masterpiece. The Bible calls God the Potter, and we are the clay (Jeremiah 18:1-6). That means that if we submit to Him, to His working in and on our lives, He can transform us from a shapeless lump of clay into an exquisite vessel that He can then pour into, and in turn pour us out to those around us. As He blesses us, we can bless others.
Last night, the worship pastor quoted from Psalm 134, which contains a promise if you’re looking for it. I’ve read this Psalm probably a dozen times in my life, and never really paid attention to the clear promise of God it contains:
“Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. The Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion!” (Psalm 134, NKJV)
There is a command and a promise here, and we can examine it using the “Five W’s” of standard journalism. The who is the servants of the Lord, people who serve and love God. The what is to bless the Lord, to worship and lift Him up. The when is at night. The where is in the sanctuary, in the house of the Lord (the church). The why is also to bless the Lord (this is both the what and the why — we bless the Lord and worship Him as an act and also as a reason). The how is by lifting up your hands.
And the reward? That the Lord who made Heaven and Earth would bless you (you, who keep His commandments to bless God, at night, in His house, by lifting holy hands and standing in the sanctuary). Think about it! For those who love God, this is not a hard command to keep. It really isn’t. And the benefit, the blessing of God for those who are faithful? Priceless!
If we honor the God who sent His Son to save and redeem us, and we honor the sacrifice Jesus made for us, then going to church at night is no chore. We should be more than eager to spend time with our brothers and sisters in Christ, raising our voices and our hands in one accord, pouring out blessing and honor and glory to Jesus Christ, who loved us enough to die for our sins and paved the way for right relationship with Father God.
It is not our duty to go to church twice on Sunday. It is our privilege! When do we start to realize this and live our lives according to that truth? It isn’t a chore, it’s an honor!
I am often prone to dark mood swings, and in those times there are a few songs that really lift me up. As opposed to listening to music that further darkens my mood, I’ve been listening to praise music instead, and what an awesome transformation it makes! Instead of feeding the mood, I can overcome it by worship and prayer, and just abandoning and losing myself in God. So the lyrics to this song really speak to me, particularly “The art of losing myself in bringing you praise“… and it is an art! It’s so easy to just get swept up in the mood and the feelings, but for the past few months I’ve decided to take a stand against that and just lose myself in offering praise.
This song is called “From the Inside Out” by Hillsong United and can be found on the United We Stand album (I have it from the iWorship 24/7 album, which is a compilation of some really great worship songs).
If you were like me and fed the mood, try breaking through with worship. Guaranteed it works. Lose yourself in worshipping God. You might as well get used to it now… if you are a Christian, this is what we’ll be doing for eternity. Get some practice in!
Sometimes when we feel that God has not responded sufficiently, we need to look at ourselves first to see if we have responded sufficiently. This morning I thought about the story of Elisha and Joash when Israel was threatened by Syria. This story really illustrates how God responds and makes promises, and gives us direction, and yet the end result is still due to our response. The fulfillment of that promise is wholly based on us, not God.
Here we can see God’s direction played out, and Joash’s obedience to the Word of God:
“And Elisha said to him, ‘Take a bow and some arrows.’ So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, ‘Put your hand on the bow.’ So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, ‘Open the east window’; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, ‘Shoot’; and he shot. And he said, ‘The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.’” (2 Kings 13:15-17, NKJV)
Joash obeyed everything that Elisha said, and Elisha gave him detailed instructions. This clearly shows obedience. Yet the following verses, while showing obedience, also show a lack of passion, zeal, and enthusiasm — which are things that God wants from us as well:
“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows’; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground’; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.’” (2 Kings 13:18-19, NKJV)
Obedience is important, absolutely! If Joash had not obeyed the Word of God through Elisha, he would not have struck Syria at all, and God’s deliverance would not be evident whatsoever. Yet, even though he was obedient, he was not zealous about what God had said. He was not given the specifics of what striking the ground would produce, yet his lack of response ultimately meant that God did not respond as fully as He wanted to. God wanted to give Joash complete victory, but the king’s response limited God. And as a result of that limitation, complete victory was not attained. More
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