Lift Him Up!

     Oswald Chambers caught my attention the other day by addressing a subject that I have spent some quality time thinking about due to some personal situations.  Honestly, I had been hit hard by someone claiming to be a fellow believer.  Whenever this has happens to me, it causes me to reexamine from scripture why do I believe what I believe.  With this in mind, let's listen to Mr. Chambers...from approximately 1915. :)  He begins on December 20 by saying, "Very few of us have a real understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died.  If sympathy is all human beings need then the cross of Christ is a farce, there is no need for it.  What the world needs is not "a little bit of love", but a surgical operation.  If you can help others by your sympathy or understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ.  You have to keep your soul rightly related to God and pour out to others on His line, not pour out on the human line and ignore God.  The great note today is amiable religiosity."
     I would submit to you that this is true today as well as in the early 1900's.  In our humanness, we want to tell people just to clean up the outside a little bit.  Most of us are not willing to be patient and loving enough to to ask questions that will dig deeper to uncover what is really going on in a person's heart so they will begin to see for themselves the great need they have for a daily savior.  I have heard repeatedly that you are not able to help others unless you have been through what they have or you do not have the same problems.  If this were true, the the perfect ONE could not help any of us.  It is agreed upon as comforting when someone shares the same problems as we have and is able to understand us better.  However, the people who have helped me the most have been those who will point me back to the cross (the gospel) in my times of trouble or failure.  Some of these folks do not have anything 'earthly' in common with me.
     Back to Chambers:  "The one thing we have to do is to exhibit Jesus Christ crucified, to lift Him up all the time.  Every doctrine that is not embedded in the cross of Jesus Christ will lead astray."  This leads me to II Timothy 4:2-5 where Paul charges Timothy and us..."preach the word, be ready in season and out of season;  reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and turn away from listening to the truth and wonder off into myths.  As for you, always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."  No matter what your past, your occupation, your gender, this is your calling!  Oswald says, "The calling of a New Testament worker is to uncover sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Savior, consequently he cannot be poetical, he must be sternly surgical.  We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ not to give wonderfully beautiful discourses.  We have to probe straight down as deeply as God has probed us, to be keen in sensing the scripture which brings the truth straight home and to apply them fearlessly!"
    One of the hot topics today is 'sexuality'.  This teaching is clearly taught throughout the the Bible.  However, for many people, to discuss this truth means judging.  Recently this has been on my mind while talking with a friend privately who wanted to know what I thought about her pursuing a lesbian relationship.    Patiently, we discussed it.  She told me that she had recently surrendered her life to Christ by realizing she was a sinner.  I sensed a need to probe and ask her what she thought her sins were at the time.  She stated  adultery and anger.  I asked her why she thought the two mentioned were sins.  Hopefully, you get my point.  God states in His WORD what He calls sin.  It's not my call.  Either we believe His WORD or we do not.  I have been praying for my friend and I love her and believe with all my heart that she loves me or she would not have trusted me with her question.    My call is to obey God and to lift up the name of Jesus, the NAME above all names!  And, at the end of the day...He will be glorified!

Redemption Played Out

3 Generations

"Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.  The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.   Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.  For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living!"  Psalm 116:5-9

     Overwhelmed by the goodness of the Lord and thankful for what He has done!  My friend, Kirby (who helps bring focus to my life) encouraged me to write down these precious thoughts while they are still fresh.  She knows me and understands my age. haha  So...here goes!
     Twenty seven years ago I held my first baby.  It wasn't your traditional Christian childbirth experience.  In case you do not know, I was a single mom who carried lots of damaged emotions.  As I held my son for the first time, the love of God began to become real as He poured it into my broken heart.  God began a journey on that beautiful Sunday morning of healing that I could not begin to fathom how far He would go.  I wrote in Hyatt's baby book,

"This is the first time I've EVER cried from happiness...

my words cannot express the love & joy I feel for you."

  
    Through each of my children, I would later experience the same love and joy.  And now, I know it is because He is the giver of life and all good things!  Without a doubt, I can say JESUS is our REDEEMER!  As I stare at my firstborn grandson, I know without Christ, absolutely nothing makes sense.  As weird as it may sound,  I have wanted to be a grandmother since I became a mother.  My feelings told me at times, 'you don't deserve the mercy and graciousness of the Lord.'  Why would God be this good to me?  Please do not misunderstand me, if all I had was Jesus, it would be enough.  I know what my life was like depending on me.  Yes, it does cause overwhelming feelings of joy to  have the privilege of seeing the next generation redeemed for His glory.  Even Webster's Dictionary refers to Jesus as being the redeemer.  Another definition included in Webster's is:

To redeem - to buy or take back

an example - "he was considered the redeemer of the family's reputation"

    

     When I held my grandson for the first time, my eyes flooded and the tears kept coming.  It was as though God was clearly whispering in my ear His unconditional love and that His promises were to the next generation.  He brought healing to another patch of my heart that needed His divine touch.  God has bought back the family reputation as He has promised.  He is the ONE who allowed me to be called grandmother (Grammy).  To know Christ is to know His healing and deliverance.  The future is uncertain but what is certain is we can trust God in what He is doing whether it is through pain or blessing.  But, maybe the pain is the blessing!  He knows more than I know...

     And at the end of the day...ALL GLORY TO HIM, OUR REDEEMER!

For I know my REDEEMER lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth!"

Hyatt, Heidi and "Landon Reeves" Harrell

Costa Rica...UPG

     Costa Rica is on the horizon and I have promised many of you an update with prayer requests (I will attach the requests at the end of this post).   So here it is!

     It was in early 2011 when the Lord impressed on my heart a desire to reach an UPG (Unreached People Group) and to reevaluate overseas missions.  I began to question whether or not He wanted me to be the one to lead groups to Costa Rica.  He had allowed me to go to Honduras, and  across the Atlantic to Rwanda, Africa last year.  He taught me a lot on both trips; and, for that I am beyond grateful.
     Many who have gone with me on mission trips make the comment that I am "in my element." :)  The truth is that I believe it's what God created me to do so there is no credit to take on my own.  Having a missional mindset was born in me but began to die as I walked away from God at 15 years old. It seemed dead until I was 25 and surrendered  truly to following Jesus Christ.  I am overwhelmed with gratitude of how HE restored, redeemed & continues to change this child of His!
     After coming home from Africa in July 2011, my heart was burning to learn more about missions.  I had attended a conference workshop in May on missions/outreach in which they encouraged church planting.  In August, I attended another mission conference in Greenwood on UPG's (Unreached People Groups).  Both emphasized the importance of finding a local, national pastor in an area to partner with as to make more of an impact for the future.  I had asked several believers to pray that God would show us at New Covenant Church where we could go to make the most the time and resources God had given us.  It was this priority that David (my husband & pastor) wanted me to investigate while in Honduras and Africa. Personally, in both locations I was hoping and praying that God would open a door.  However, the more I tried to push the doors open, it was as though He was holding them shut on the other side.  At the time, I was having a difficult time understanding and in some ways it was painful.
     In January 2012, I began planning with my husband and the leadership of our church to back to Costa Rica.  Although, I was still 'feeling' a little apprehensive.  One day, I received a call from Todd Keeler.  He and his brother, Tim had the vision to begin trips to Costa Rica approximately 15 years ago.  During our conversation, he said that he believed Grano de Oro to be an UPG(the Christian church not fully established).  My heart immediately felt encouraged.  A few weeks later, Timothy Jones (missionary) concurred that a few weeks earlier he had laid hands on a pastor and a couple of elders who had a call to make an impact on the community.  He believed it would be a help to them in gaining respect in the community by us doing an outreach together.  WOW!!! REALLY!?! "Oh, ye of little faith!" :)))  The answer was right in front of me the whole time!  It will be amazing to see all God has in store.  In all the years that teams have gone to minister in this community, it has primarily been with the children but their families have heard and hopefully seen what the LORD has done in their kids.  It as though the Lord is saying to us, "the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest." Luke 10:2  And, at the end of the day...it's all about GOD'S design!

     It's funny, I've never viewed myself as a worrier but I believe God is helping me to examine my life a little closer in this area.  Psalm 37:8 says, "Do not fret--it only causes harm.  Hmmm...this sounds just a little serious to me.  Investigating my actions further...here are some things that cause me to fret:  relationships, my kids, other people's kids, other people (in general), physical harm, & the list could go on... hopefully, you get the picture, I worry.  This is not constant with me because I know there are times that my life seems worry free.  Worry is the opposite of trust.  It is a lack of trust.  It is an area of bondage not freedom.  It is a place of unrest.
     "It sounds easy to talk about "resting in the Lord" until the nest is upset, says Oswald Chambers."  His devotion really hit home with me today.  He says, "fretting always ends in sin.  We imagine that a little anxiety and worry are an indication of how really wise we are; it is much more an indication of how really wicked we are.  Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way.  Our Lord NEVER worried and was NEVER anxious, because He was not "out" to realize His own ideas;  He was "out" to realize God's ideas. Fretting is wicked if you are a child of God."   OUCH!  This really hurts.  Surely not wicked....surely not in my top 10 sins. :)  Really, this is how fleshly I am a part from His grace at work in my life.

   If the opposite of worry is trust & rest, the solution is to go to God & admit your lack & commit your heart to Him.  If you are overwhelmed... (as we ALL are at times), go to a brother or sister in Christ for confession & prayer.  God does not want you to feel alone or discouraged.  Today, our country celebrates a day of FREEDOM.  It cost the lives of others so that we could have this freedom.  It cost God's Son His life so that we could be free.  JESUS shed HIS blood...His perfect blood to make a way for us to live a life of freedom...free from the bondage of sin & death.  Thus, free from worry.  Your fretting not only causes harm to you, but to others.  Let's release it today to the ONE who says, "Let not your heart be troubled."  He is WHO HE says HE IS!  He's got it ALL so give it back to Him!  And, at the end of the day...you can rest.