Revive Us! April 24, 2009

2 Kings 4:1-7 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

How do you raise a generation who fears God and seeks holiness? How do you teach that humility precedes holiness to a people of such independence and pride? How do you seek to have broken vessels filled with the spirit of God. The task is daunting and at times seems unattainable. I know this, it cannot be done by the ideas of man. It will not happen because we have some cool new way of presenting God. It will not happen by implementing some new program. When the widow went to Elisha, she had nothing to stop the creditors from taking her sons into slavery but some olive oil. I can tell you this, if someone told me that the mortgage company was coming to take my little one, olive oil would not be a comforting thought. I would probably panic, had a prophet given me those instructions! However, as a youth worker, I see the enemy taking our kids onto slavery on a weekly basis. As ministers, parents, leaders, we having nothing in and of ourselves that could snatch them back from becoming slaves to the enemy of our souls. However, we do have the oil of the Spirit of God. I am praying and asking The holy spirit to be released in a powerful way among the teens that I work with. I am asking for deliverance from bondage, freedom from fears and a group of teens who can say that they have seen God. I am not interested in a youth group full of kids who can play church, talking the talk and faking holiness, I want to see the fire of God resonating from them as they seek His face. Messy? Yes, but nothing worth having comes easily or without cost! What about you, have you come to the place where you have exhausted your man made efforts to see change in a situation? It’s time to seek the face of God…not just his hand and what He can do for us, but His face! That is my heart right now! I pray that you too will begin to come to the end of human resources so that all you can do it seek Him.

Other side of the ocean October 8, 2008

I feel like I am being awakened from a society induced coma. It’s as if my eyes are being forced open to the state of the world. Global poverty, the slave industry and the AIDS/HIV epidemic are rampant. There is a group of missionary/musicians whose only reason for using their music is to make money for foreign missions…they are called Unnamed Servant. ALL of the money from their cd sales goes to missions. They and their families give their lives to foreign mission fields. I got the opportunity to meet them this month and was blown away by what I saw in them. Here are lyric from two of their songs from their latest album called Anthem.

On the other side of the ocean, people forgotten in commotion forged under blood red skies.
You’ve seen this world in pictures fly covered, starving children left to believe this is life.
The trash they live in eating the scraps their given, still not enough to survive
Disease and malnutrition false hope in the west’ religion, this is enough to make God cry.
From a distance, you can’t feel it, you can choose just to close your eyes
When you’re in it, you can taste it, you’ve got no choice but to give your life.
You’re home bound, can you imagine, sister raped, how can this happen, now there’s talk of genocide.
Society is all in a panic Mother cries from images too graphic and you thank God it’s not your life.
Go ahead change the channel watch a show where weight loss is a battle, so sad they had too many calories. Send your check to support a child, you did your part now you can smile and get back to your American dream.
Oh say can you see a world with out poverty, where the widow can eat, and the orphan can dream
Where the slave is set free, the oppressed find liberty, and avoid military and the farmer rewrites history?
From a distance you can’t feel it, you can choose just to close your eyes.
When your in to, you can taste it, you’ve got no choice but to give your life!

Your attendance twice aweek, your tithes and your offerings its vanity
Its not for me the worship you’re leading the sermons your preaching, it’s just noise to me

You can keep your cds the building your making, the money your saving in my name causes me so much shame, none of it matters, it just doesn’t matter.. People starving, dying,  and I’m the bread of life

Recognize, the face of God in slanted eyes, darker skin and foreign smiles. Recognize value of human life even when it’s not white. Recognize.

This cd is extremely controversial for most of us in the west. I have found that the young people who hear it, love it, it stirs them to a passionate desire to be the hands and feet of Christ. I have also found that a lot of the “adults” who hear it, tend to be less excited about it…saying it’s not practical..it’s too extreme…it’s too radical.

I will admit, that it was my first thought too…but my next thought was, but God, if I am wrong, please change my heart. Guess what?? My heart is breaking… I cry everytime I hear the songs…I cry when i see the hell that is reality for millions of people across our beautiful ocean! I believe that Jesus was pretty radical, extreme and impractical at times! I am beginning to see that in the American church we have made Jesus into this blonde haired, blue eyed gentle passivist who never got his hands dirty. How much further can we get from the truth??

What about you? After reading these few lyrics, what thoughts come to mind? Is it convicting?

Like a child February 1, 2008

My daughter (8yrs old) came into the living room this week to ask me if we could cuddle. I said sure and put my laptop down to make room in my lap. As we sat there talking about her day at school she began to ask questions about God. Her main question seemed to be how did one get to know God better. I began to tell her the normal stuff, you know, read His word, pray to Him and listen to Him when He speaks back to you. She looked at me intently and said, well, i do pray and I do my devotionals…..but I have not heard Him speak back, HOW does that happen? I felt the Holy Spirit leading me as I picked up my bible next to me and began to read out of I Samuel 3:1-21. I love the story, so I am posting it:

The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.  One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.  The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.  Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.”  And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.  Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy.  So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD : The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

  And the LORD said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.  At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end.  For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them.  Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’ “

  Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,  Samuel answered, “Here I am.”  “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.”  So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes.” And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD.  The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.

I went on to explain to my daughter about how God can still speak to His people, if we will listen. It may not be an audible voice, but he speaks in many ways. I love that it says above in verse 3 that the lamp of the Lord had not yet gone out. The lamp of the Lord was supposed to burn all night. So that means that God spoke to Samuel in the night. It has been my experience that God does speak to me more often at night. My only reasoning, is that is the time when I am most still. Since I was about 13 or 14, God has given me prophetic dreams often revealing things to pray about for others or situations that need to be covered in prayer. I would always wake up right after the dream, with an intense concern for the situation. If you know me, you know that it would have to be God to get me out of bed in the middle of the night!

Anyway, I digress, the point is this, I have been really wondering If God was real to my daughter. I know it’s not my job to make God real, but I don’t want to make Him appear small to her either. I was beyond excited when this conversation ended because she got really excited too. She asked me to please pray for her to begin to hear the voice of God. That she would be open to dreams and visions from Him. Praise God!! I was able to lay hands on her and pray that her spiritual eyes and ears would be opened to God. I am just overwhelmed by God’s grace that He would woo my little girl into a relationship with Him. I don’t know what he has in store for her, but I pray that like Samuel, as she grows up, God will not let her words fall to the ground either!

How does God speak to you? Are you being still enough to listen to Him? There is nothing in the world more transforming to one’s soul than to hear the voice of God. Nothing more intimate than to have the secret’s of God’s heart revealed to you. He longs for this type of relationship with His people. He is not a stoic God who is detached from His children. He longs to be intimate. He longs to share what is on His heart with you! Seek Him and you WILL find Him!

sleeping January 8, 2008

Have you ever had a limb fall asleep? Maybe you fell asleep lying on your arm or maybe you sat on your foot for too long. You really don’t notice it…until you try to use it. Then it can seem as if small needles are pricking you from the inside as blood rushes to bring its life back into the slumbering entity. That to me is the most painful part of this whole sleeping limb thing.

There is a part of my spirit that fell asleep long ago. I remember when it happened. I remember choosing to cut the flow of life to that part of me because it was too overwhelming at times. So I chose to pretend it did not exist. I pretended that it was no longer relevant. I chose to ignore who I was created to be!

Recently, my loving Jesus began to bring to mind this sleeping limb. He is calling me to begin using this sleeping part of me. This part that I have buried beneath layers of fear of man and the unknown for so long that it lays dormant within me. The more I try to move, the more painful it becomes as life rushes back into my soul.

This sleeping part of me is one of the spiritual gifts that He imparted to me long ago. I am so broken hearted that I hid from it for so long, but I am so grateful that He loved me enough to wait until I can handle it. I don’t want to have to tell Him one day, that I buried it, No, I want to be a good steward of what He has given me. I want to use it to His glory!

Oh, for more thoughts on stewardship go check out Tam. She just wrote something about the same topic!

God-ordained moments November 9, 2007

So, I am at my sister in law’s house for a few days. She is on bed rest for a while to keep this baby in for a few more weeks. I have been cooking and cleaning for her, pushing her around the mall in a wheelchair to give her a change of environment and just keeping her company. I am enjoying myself.

I left town on Tuesday morning. As I pulled onto the freeway I noticed a small Mercedes convertible as I was merging into a lane. Nothing extraordinary about it, a cream colored, older model Mercedes, just cruising along.  It was an elderly man with a a Panama Jack style hat on his head. It may seem strange to many of you that I payed this much attention but like I said before, I observe people. This gentleman stayed closely behind me for an hour and a half or so until he decided to pass me.  I remember thinking that he must be in  a hurry to get somewhere as I was driving at a pretty high speed.  Fifteen minutes or so later, I noticed a Panama Jack style hat, on the side of the road. It did not register right away, until I saw it. About twenty yards ahead of me was a Semi-truck stopped with a cream colored, older model Mercedes jammed underneath it. My heart just stopped. I cried out No, Jesus, no, Jesus! I just could not believe that this gentleman was gone. I mean we were traveling the same road together for a little while until he just wasn’t there anymore.

After ten minutes or so, I began to calm down and think about how frail life is. It is fleeting as a wisp of smoke. Its gone before you know it!  It would have been very easy to fall into fear that something would happen to me next and that fear did try to creep up into my heart. Then it happened, a peace began to fall on me and I realized, not just in my head, but in my heart, My days are numbered by my God. He holds my life in His hands. I am here until He is ready for me to leave this earth, at which time, I will be in His physical presence. So, I have nothing to fear.

All of this was precipitated by a prayer that I have been praying: ” God make me aware of the people around me, Give me your heart for them. Show me what to pray for them, what is on your heart. I will speak if you say to speak, pray if you say to pray!”

I believe that he made me aware of this gentleman to pray. Sadly, I did not. I just let this seemingly ordinary time pass by as just that, ordinary. It did not cross my very busy, and preoccupied mind that this moment was a God moment.

What about you, do you notice when God brings someone into your path. Do you allow your heart to be flooded by the emotions of God? Do you allow your schedule to be rearranged or postponed when God has something else that He wants you to do?

about me… a lot about me. August 22, 2007

Ok, I am supposed to name ten things that have happened to me. So, this should be interesting… I hope for your sakes.

1. When I was 14 God told me that I would marry my husband who I did not like at all!

2. I did marry him at 19 and we have been married for 9 1/2 years. Oh, wow does God know us best! We are very happy!

3. I totaled my first car on the first day of driving; in the mall parking lot!

4. The first 3..count them 3 vehicles that I totaled, my dad just happened to be in the area to help me. I take that as God’s provision since I was under 18 all three times.

5. I have been involved in ministry since I was 14.

6. When I first had my daughter, we did not have a lot of money… every time she needed clothes for the first two years, some random stranger would walk up off the street and hand us $50 and tell us it was to take care of our little girl! God is amazing.

7. I nannied for 5 girls when I was 12-17… I know this one’s boring, but I am brain dead at the moment! : )

8. I was raised in a Charismatic church now my husband and I are on staff at a non-denom that really models more of the methodist model…. VERY DIFFERENT!

9. I attended a private Christian school from first grade until I graduated.

10. when I was 5, I left my purse in the grocery cart and did not realize until I was home. (30 minutes away) I prayed that God would keep it safe and he did, I got it back the next day… even though this seems like not a big deal, as a child, it is what God used to prove his existence to me. I have been a prayer person every since and I see Him answer them regularly! He is good.

Hope that I have not bored you!

I am going to tag:

to know him

the voice on the inside

Pandora’s box August 15, 2007

 

I have come to an interesting place in my spiritual life. I think that when one is raised in church, the natural tendency is to think that one has God figured out. I know, very cocky. It’s like I had God and theology down. However, I began praying a scary prayer several years back and continue to pray today, God, please shatter any preconceived ideas of who you are, I want to know who you really are.

 

With that in the back of my mind, I began reading and questioning other people about their theological ideas. Things like predestination, armenianism, and different denominational beliefs and how they differ. All I have to say is AAHHH!! I opened Pandora’s box for sure! I got more than my fair share of theological dissertations and opinions! Ha ha. I must say that while I consider myself to be a fairly intelligent person, I was quickly becoming very unsure of this belief. So I did the only logical thing … I turned to God in prayer. I was immediately reminded of a Scripture in Matthew 8:29. Below is an excerpt from this prayer time.(i pray in a journal)

 

Jesus.. I feel like I have allowed myself to burn out because of frustration. I listen to so many people and their opinions about who you are and their beliefs about theology that I am surrounded by a cloud of confusion. Then today you are asking “who do I say that you are…..”

 

Well, I believe you are the son of God, my healer, my deliverer… you are my friend even though you scare me at times … you are sovereign and powerful. You are full of amazing strength and power.

 

Forgive the grammatical stuff; I tend to write as a stream of consciousness ! So yeah, I was praying that God would help me to see through all the haze that had enveloped me, about seemingly opposing beliefs and doctrines. He so lovingly let me know, that He IS showing me who He is. I can trust that he will reveal to me what He desires for me to see at any given time. I know that I believe in signs and wonders, I have seen them, I know that the gifts are for today, I operate in them. I know that He is a healing God, because he has healed me! I know many things about Him that are true, because He has revealed them to me first hand! I don’t have to waste my time, worrying and frantically looking for something that I may have missed! He will be faithful to reveal Himself as I seek HIM! I cannot rely on someone else’s belief system or experience… I have to seek Him for me.