Rescue the perishing; don't hesitate to step in and help. If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business," will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know - Someone not impressed with weak excuses.
~ Proverbs 24:11-12
We live in a land of abundance. Even if we're not rich by our own standards, we must see that we surrounded by affluence on every side and we're incredibly wealthy by most of the world's assessment. We live in a nation that provides opportunities for advancement and has a system that attempts to care for those who find themselves in tight spots. I would challenge that almost all, if not all, those who read this blog have never gone hungry because there was no food available or slept outdoors because there was no shelter. Most Americans have never watched someone die of a curable disease or lived with parasites because their only water came out of a dirty well. This is life in America.
This is not life in many other parts of the world. Walk with me down dusty roads in Kenya where the children scavenge for fruits and there's one well within three miles where water can be obtained. Sit with me in the streets of India where children are forced to beg for scraps from passersby and the only bathroom is the gutter on the side of the road. Journey around the globe and see lives torn apart by war and famine, disease and disability, the reality of poverty that's experienced by so very many who live out their lives in places we've only heard of.
Know that there is a light in the darkness though. For the children who go to bed hungry and watch their parents and friends suffer from disease there is help. There is One who watches and knows their needs and loves them ever so much. God sees. God loves. God calls all of us to care. God's heart for the downtrodden is reflected in the ministry of Compassion International. This ministry reaches out to those in desperate situations and gives them hope. From sickness to health, hopelessness to hope, hunger to satisfaction, and ultimately we pray for death to life as they're introduced to the Lord.
This ministry reaches across the globe to help those in need. The challenge is huge - millions of children are in need. Compassion seeks to stand in the gap. Yet they can't do it alone.
It takes us to make a difference. Compassion provides the vehicle but it's us who can actively change lives. For $32 a month you can sponsor a child in need. In our land of abundance it might not even seem that such an amount can make a difference but for the six children I've sponsored over the years, a difference has been made.
Don't shy away from this call. I'll be bold about asking you to consider helping a child. This is a ministry that changes the lives of those who we believers are called to care for and, in doing that, we too are changed! Seek God's heart on this and get involved in taking action for the least of this world!
Visit www.Compassion.com to find out more!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Premature
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
~ James 1:2-4 (The Message)
These verses are always so rich regardless of the translation as they challenge us to look at all circumstances as a gift from the Lord, something being used by Him to refine us in character and righteousness.
However, this is what struck me today: "So don't try to get out of anything prematurely."
Like a knife directly into my heart are those words. I've written of this before; this quest for patience and the hope that I will allow God to do His refining work through the trials without running through the valley just to emerge on the other side.
I tend to measure required length of time in a trial by how much I believe I can bear. Once I feel this has been reached then I begin to believe that the time for movement has arrived and God must be done with His work because I surely can't be expected to stay in the trial any longer. How wrong I suspect I often am!
I am not the one who decides when I've learned the lessons that God has for me. Oddly enough I'm also not the one who really knows how much I can bear or when I am ready to move out of the valley or, for that matter, what the valley's end looks like! I squirm in the fire and fight the trial and see so much of my humanity in the middle of it. This is a challenge for me though - to not attempt to get out prematurely. What this really says is that I have to wait on God to show me when my exit is no longer premature because He's the one who knows the lesson plan.
As always, a call to utter dependence on Him. A challenge to step away from my desires for immediate gratification or release from struggle. Yet in it all, a blessing: that if I wait until God moves I will become "mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." How can I say that that's not worth the waiting?
~ James 1:2-4 (The Message)
These verses are always so rich regardless of the translation as they challenge us to look at all circumstances as a gift from the Lord, something being used by Him to refine us in character and righteousness.
However, this is what struck me today: "So don't try to get out of anything prematurely."
Like a knife directly into my heart are those words. I've written of this before; this quest for patience and the hope that I will allow God to do His refining work through the trials without running through the valley just to emerge on the other side.
I tend to measure required length of time in a trial by how much I believe I can bear. Once I feel this has been reached then I begin to believe that the time for movement has arrived and God must be done with His work because I surely can't be expected to stay in the trial any longer. How wrong I suspect I often am!
I am not the one who decides when I've learned the lessons that God has for me. Oddly enough I'm also not the one who really knows how much I can bear or when I am ready to move out of the valley or, for that matter, what the valley's end looks like! I squirm in the fire and fight the trial and see so much of my humanity in the middle of it. This is a challenge for me though - to not attempt to get out prematurely. What this really says is that I have to wait on God to show me when my exit is no longer premature because He's the one who knows the lesson plan.
As always, a call to utter dependence on Him. A challenge to step away from my desires for immediate gratification or release from struggle. Yet in it all, a blessing: that if I wait until God moves I will become "mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." How can I say that that's not worth the waiting?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Prayer
I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.
~ Psalm 17:6
One spiritual discipline that I'm learning more about every day is prayer. I've been challenged through some of the discussions I've had, things I've read, and times that I've spent praying with many dear friends. I am realizing that prayer is truly something that should not be taken lightly as it is a direct connection to the God of the universe. Throughout scripture I see men and women of much greater faith than myself approaching God with powerful, honest, challenging words. I love these testimonies that have been left behind and am forced to look at the way I pray and what my motivation really is when I petition the Lord for things.
I've also had several discussions about the nature of answered prayers and how we are always so quick to look for answers - but so often we only want the answers that we desire. We don't want to hear no when we're looking for yes. We don't want sickness to worsen when we ask for healing. We don't want bankruptcy when we ask for blessing. I'm afraid that we are a people (and I rank along with all) who have forgotten that when we speak to God, we do not determine the outcome of His decisions.
His movement in our lives is still an answer. It may not be what we like, it may be incredibly hard, but it is still an answer from the living God to our lives and situations. I am ever so challenged to give praise for the answers that do not match up to what I desire. An answer that is not what I want is still an answer - still great proof that a holy God is aware of my life and acting in it. If I can not find it in myself to offer praise for this reality then I must seriously question what my view of God really is.
There is so much more that could be said on prayer, so much more that has been said. For today though, I'll leave you to think on your reaction when you request things of God and He doesn't act as you desire. Perhaps you'll be challenged, as I was, to give praise for all of His answers, not just the ones you like.
Closed doors are just as much God's leading as open ones.
~ Charles Swindoll
~ Psalm 17:6
One spiritual discipline that I'm learning more about every day is prayer. I've been challenged through some of the discussions I've had, things I've read, and times that I've spent praying with many dear friends. I am realizing that prayer is truly something that should not be taken lightly as it is a direct connection to the God of the universe. Throughout scripture I see men and women of much greater faith than myself approaching God with powerful, honest, challenging words. I love these testimonies that have been left behind and am forced to look at the way I pray and what my motivation really is when I petition the Lord for things.
I've also had several discussions about the nature of answered prayers and how we are always so quick to look for answers - but so often we only want the answers that we desire. We don't want to hear no when we're looking for yes. We don't want sickness to worsen when we ask for healing. We don't want bankruptcy when we ask for blessing. I'm afraid that we are a people (and I rank along with all) who have forgotten that when we speak to God, we do not determine the outcome of His decisions.
His movement in our lives is still an answer. It may not be what we like, it may be incredibly hard, but it is still an answer from the living God to our lives and situations. I am ever so challenged to give praise for the answers that do not match up to what I desire. An answer that is not what I want is still an answer - still great proof that a holy God is aware of my life and acting in it. If I can not find it in myself to offer praise for this reality then I must seriously question what my view of God really is.
There is so much more that could be said on prayer, so much more that has been said. For today though, I'll leave you to think on your reaction when you request things of God and He doesn't act as you desire. Perhaps you'll be challenged, as I was, to give praise for all of His answers, not just the ones you like.
Closed doors are just as much God's leading as open ones.
~ Charles Swindoll
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
100
I can't believe it but this is my 100th post.
It's funny to me how much of a life this blog has taken on. It's challenged my writing, my thinking, my perspective. I've been encouraged to seek out other bloggers who live out lives in other zip codes and sometimes other countries but who think like I do and sometimes those who think completely differently. I've had fun sharing my thoughts and I've prayed for those who might have read the randomness that I've shared. I've been encouraged by having a place to put ink to paper, as it were, and this has grown to be a powerful document of the journey that God is taking me on. The truth is that I love to think and write and share and I don't plan to stop anytime soon.
I've seen people spend their 100th post telling things about themselves. I could do that but I'd quite frankly rather just use this space to say thank you to those who read. I hope that you have been encouraged to seek the Lord through things that you've read here and that you've seen through my imperfections to the perfection of my Savior.
None of us know where the next days and weeks and months will take us but, God willing, I'll be joining you on the journey through this technological marvel and walking with you as we seek God's face together. Thanks for being here and I hope you'll keep coming by to visit!
God bless you, my readers!
It's funny to me how much of a life this blog has taken on. It's challenged my writing, my thinking, my perspective. I've been encouraged to seek out other bloggers who live out lives in other zip codes and sometimes other countries but who think like I do and sometimes those who think completely differently. I've had fun sharing my thoughts and I've prayed for those who might have read the randomness that I've shared. I've been encouraged by having a place to put ink to paper, as it were, and this has grown to be a powerful document of the journey that God is taking me on. The truth is that I love to think and write and share and I don't plan to stop anytime soon.
I've seen people spend their 100th post telling things about themselves. I could do that but I'd quite frankly rather just use this space to say thank you to those who read. I hope that you have been encouraged to seek the Lord through things that you've read here and that you've seen through my imperfections to the perfection of my Savior.
None of us know where the next days and weeks and months will take us but, God willing, I'll be joining you on the journey through this technological marvel and walking with you as we seek God's face together. Thanks for being here and I hope you'll keep coming by to visit!
God bless you, my readers!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Prepared
Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet.
~ Ephesians 6:13
On days like today I'm just not quite ready to face what the world has to throw at me. I'm feeling a little weak, a little tired, a little overwhelmed. I relate to the second sentence up there...I can't handle this on my own and today I'm overly aware of this truth.
In the midst though, here's just one of the very many things that I love about God: He tells us to be prepared but then He also tells us how to accomplish it. Reading on in this chapter we see this:
Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
~ Ephesians 6:14-18
See, I wouldn't know how to be prepared for what's coming against me in future hours. I wouldn't be able to figure out the best defense or the best offense. I can't see around the corners and in my weakness, I don't even have the strength to try. Yet God gives me instructions on where to focus. See, I need to focus on truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation. I need to be in the Word. I need to pray. I can't see the coming challenges but I can follow God's instruction and know that I can be prepared.
How amazing is it that without knowing what will occur, I can know that I have donned the required armor and prepared for the coming battle and that there will be victory when all is said and done. This so takes my mind off the specifics of the battle and reminds me of what I can do. So that's where I'll start. I'm up against more than I can handle but God tells me how to prepare so that's what I'll aim to do. So cool!
~ Ephesians 6:13
On days like today I'm just not quite ready to face what the world has to throw at me. I'm feeling a little weak, a little tired, a little overwhelmed. I relate to the second sentence up there...I can't handle this on my own and today I'm overly aware of this truth.
In the midst though, here's just one of the very many things that I love about God: He tells us to be prepared but then He also tells us how to accomplish it. Reading on in this chapter we see this:
Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
~ Ephesians 6:14-18
See, I wouldn't know how to be prepared for what's coming against me in future hours. I wouldn't be able to figure out the best defense or the best offense. I can't see around the corners and in my weakness, I don't even have the strength to try. Yet God gives me instructions on where to focus. See, I need to focus on truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation. I need to be in the Word. I need to pray. I can't see the coming challenges but I can follow God's instruction and know that I can be prepared.
How amazing is it that without knowing what will occur, I can know that I have donned the required armor and prepared for the coming battle and that there will be victory when all is said and done. This so takes my mind off the specifics of the battle and reminds me of what I can do. So that's where I'll start. I'm up against more than I can handle but God tells me how to prepare so that's what I'll aim to do. So cool!
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