A Beggars Prayer

Lord.
I am not good at living to please You... yet I yearn to live a life worthy of You.
It is not right to just remove ourselves from this world... we must be in it in order to make a difference... yet, sometimes the evil and sin of this world is so disgusting that I yearn to run from it all. It is good to run from our own sin and evil that tempts us, yet we must remain in this world to serve God by serving others. Help me then, to always love. To always be giving and serving. Lord give me wisdom to listen with compassion and speak the truth with grace.

O Lord, guard my heart from judging and lead me in good understanding of Your good and perfect ways... teach me to be like You, no matter what it takes.

Lord I pray for a heart of mercy. A servant spirit. And Zeal for the Lord.

You are the Truth. The Life. And the Way.

Take me ever further up and further in... always loving you and never turning back.

In Jesus Blessed Name,
Amen

A life Passion, Mission and Vision

Lord...

I ask You for a Life Passion...with You at the center and goal...
dear Lord I desire to make You known to the world!

Lord...

I pray for a Life Mission...to serve You better with...
dear Lord... I want to share Your Love with the World!

Lord...

I pray for a Life Vision... to bring your Love...
Oh Lord... by using the many gifts and interests and joys You have blessed me with please help me to use them for the encouragement of the 'body'. Help me to teach others Your Love and grace and mercy... Use me to help them find the gifts You have given them and teach them to find resources in their own town to use their gifts with that they may become self-sustaining.
Pour out from me a light... pointing to Your hope for all Your people

O Lord...
Use me...
Send me...
Help me serve Your people.
Help me to be Your salt, light, and yeast.

In Jesus Name,
Amen

If you have never thought of or prayed for a life passion, mission and vision... I encourage you to seek the Lord for it... and to be open to it being changed throughout your life... for the glory of God!

loving God...loving life

...some of my favorite things have always been enjoying God's wonderful outdoors
simply walking in fields of long golden grass was completely beautiful to me

but then...
time sped up
days turned to hours
hours turned to minutes
minutes turned to seconds
... time passed me up and I became caught up in the tragedies and disasters of this world.

how do I have both joy for the Lord and a crying heart for this dying world?

Even some people who call themselves "Christians" do not truly love you... isn't it hard enough knowing those who openly deny You?...

the joy is found in the hope of the Lord, for salvation is being worked out this day for many new believers... there is hope for sinners (I know for I am one of them)
if there was no hope there would be no joy
but JOY is in the LORD... Savior of the Universe...KING over all creation
the Lord renews joy in the morning and shows us this day how we must seek Him and share Him

Lord...I did not look in You for joy... forgive me and teach me Your way and Your joy.

Jesus is our supreme example of Joy amidst suffering... He who taught us laughter...also taught us the greatest sacrifice. Joy will always be found in true love for God and His people and His creation.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me... cast me not away from Thy presence O Lord, take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. RESTORE UNTO ME THE JOY OF THY SALVATION" ~Song Create in me a Clean Heart

pages rip...
life turns over to the next day
candle burns out...
is there time left to tell them
where will the light come from
my heart beats once more...
what will i do with my last breath
what did i do with the millions i had before the last
what am i living for
what is my life telling people
crumbs is what is left of the last piece of bread...
who is going to feed this generation
even though God covers over our failures...
we must chose not to fail
people must know the absolute truth of Jesus Christ.
lets be going and share the Gospel as we have been given it
God has chosen His people to share His goodnews
and God's plans never fail...
so Go and be brave as you go
you will never fail with the Lord on your side

bodyguards

"they're like bodyguards ...they're always there ...and they're HUGE"
I said...

...as we hiked through the Alps of Switzerland
we always had the weighty presence of these three HUGE mountains
sometimes they were not seen through the clouds
but you knew they were there
other times the clouds ripped away to reveal these mighty
HUGE land forms
which God alone has the power to crash into the sea!

love in a ewwy gewy mess

as I was working the closing shift tonight at my catering job... I ended up cleaning a 30 pound pile of rice pudding mixed with broken glass, for a friend who dropped a trash bag near a dumpster...she was going to help me clean it...but never came back. As I was cleaning it... I was thinking about how nasty it was... goopy trash mixed with finger slicers.. .nasty but sorta fun in a disgusting and "dangerous" sort of way. I said to myself first more full of spite rather kindness... "yes Julie, I will clean up your ewwy gewy mess for you. I will clean it ...cause I love you...and I would do more for you if you needed me to... I am always here for you."... I thought about Christ...I thought about all the crap He picks up for us...and how He doesn't say anything to us but "I love you"... "I love you so much". That's how His actions speak. That is one way He loves. Christ picks up a lot of our crap... and loves us far beyond all the nasty mess that we trail. May we learn more and more to love like Christ.

eternal goodness

there is conviction in the heart of a sinner... only a man of great courage and humility recognizes it, pleads for forgiveness, rests all hope in the LORD, and makes way for change.

... what IS this great courage and humility?

It is grace.

Only by the grace of God do we recognize sin and have even the tiniest bit of humility to lay it at His feet and let our lives change in His goodness and mercy.

It may seem that "great courage" here looks weak... as if... this man is giving up... ... but that is just it... he is giving up... he is giving up his "worldly honor" that only fades as the grass withers... he is giving up what he thought was gain... however, as he loses what he once held dear for the sake of Christ... he gains all the more delightment than he has ever known and will ever know! Do you know how much strength that takes? To give yourself up?

... how can you give yourself up today?

Free yourself...and Find yourself in Christ and gain eternal goodness in Him alone. (Actually...we can't free ourselves...ask God to free you :b that's the whole grace factor... ;o) Our God is mighty to save and more than ready to forgive. Go into His wide open arms of freedom and find peace and rest.

Life Among the Dead

Christ Incarnate here on earth today...through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us...

..."on earth as it is in heaven"...

"and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us..."... I will not leave you alone... "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth."

...."I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it."

the Gospel of John ch. 14

What does Christ Incarnate look like?

Sometimes I picture that we are all like dead people. Dead people... walking around without hope. Christ came down from His throne, sent from the Father, and became like us. He entered this world of death and decay and brought LIFE to those He loves. The life He chose to live on this earth was of serving others.

"Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:43-45

Ransomed by God who became like us...in order to know us, to be with us, and to save us. To be like Christ...we need to be near to those we are called to help. To reach the least, lost, and last we must live with them, love them, build relationships. Christ listened to those He helped, He asked them questions. They were important to Him. Christ was not just about feeding the hungry and then leaving. No, He took time to ask personal questions and get to know the individual. Be relational. Be like Christ. When Christ Ascended He left with us the Holy Spirit, who dwells in His people. It is through the Holy Spirit blessed by the Father in Heaven that we can live holy lives, Lord teach us to be Christs' hands and feet in our day and age. Give us a servant spirit and a heart of mercy. In Jesus Name, AMEN.

the first thing i learned...

The first thing I learned even before going to Guatemala... was that ... besides the team I was with...I was still not going alone.

Supported mostly by my home church: Pilgrim OPC I went to Guatemala as a messenger of Christ's love... representing many followers of Christ. Through prayers and financial support I received abundant blessings from many members of the house hold of God in which we are family. Thank you for supporting Christ's mission to Guatemala...thank you for helping to "send me".

On April 13 I wrote in my journal:
"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another..." John 1: 16

I have seen in one way how God connects us to be a blessing through this experience already. Your care, love, and support (both financial and especially prayer) is an overwhelming blessing to me... and (praise God) ultimately for the glory of God! It is the Lord God that we serve and it is His work that we... WE do together. "The body has many parts... all to be used for glorifying God!"...in unity with each other! You have enabled me to serve God overseas...I cannot be thankful enough for you. Oh, how I praise God for you!

I look forward to sharing with you what I learned about serving the Least, Lost and Last.

May the Light of the Lords countenance shine upon you and be gracious to you.

Loves.