Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Lord Really Does Love You


Know something? The Lord loves you. Deuteronomy 7:8.


God loves you simply because He chooses to. Get this - it is not based on who or what you are. His love for you is because of who He is. He loves you when you don't feel loveable. He loves you when no one else seems to. Others will abandon you, divorce you, hurt you - but God loves you. Always has. Always will. That is who He is.


This is His promise: "I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself." Jeremiah 31:3.


What this means is that He has an endless love for us that we can draw from anytime. He is waiting. Allow Him to love you.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Intentional Plan

A friend of mine asked a group of us today if we thought Jesus knew He was going to call out to Lazarus before He arrived for the visit with Mary and Martha. It has been on my mind all day and it made me start thinking about how intentional the Lord is.

I have got to be more intentonal.

"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29. Jesus planned His own sacrifice. He planted the tree that would be the cross. He created the iron-ore that would be used to make the nails. He gave life to Judas and created the means for Pilate to be sent to Jerusalem. He is omnipotent. Jesus didnt have to die for our sins. But He did. He chose to.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Have a Drink

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." John 7:37. If you are reading this, step up to the well and have a drink. There are no qualifications necessary. All ages are welcome. You don't have to be rich. You don't have to be smart or pretty. All are welcome. Doesn't matter if you are black, white or yellow. Doesn't even matter if you are from Capetown or Birmingham. Get this - it doesn't matter if you are Baptist or do not yet know your Savior. Come. Take a drink. Allow Jesus to do what water does - take Him in. Allow him to penetrate every cell. Allow Him to quench the thirst.
I need a drink.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Preach then pray? Or pray then preach?

I really enjoy the Blue Letter Bible. It really helps me better understand the bible and how to apply the Word in my life. Great resource. Check it out.



One of the stories in the Bible that I never really got is told in the latter verses of Acts 1. This is the story of the disciples, after they witnessed Jesus ascend up into the sky, coming back to Jerusalem to the Upper Room.



They went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives....They all continued praying together. Acts 1:12, 14. For ten days the disciples prayed. Ten days of prayer, along with a few minutes of preaching, led to 3,000 new believers! Are we doing the opposite? Are we preaching, or talking, more than praying. We both know the answer. How disciplined the disciples were! They remained in His presence. And they prayed.



What would happen today if we remained in prayer? What if we seriously prayed about everything? I believe we would have a similar impact as the 120 disciples gathered in the Upper Room for those ten days. I encourage you to join me in spending more time in prayer with our Father. Let's linger in His presence.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Oh, The Faith

Mrs. Laura Martin is our guest blogger today. Laura is a very gentle, yet passionate Woman of God. I have the privelege of seeing her minister to children every day. Thank you, Laura, for sharing!

Oh, The Faith

Larry Vann, a collegue and good friend, encouraged me to write on this blog. I can only pray what I share will be an encouragement and faith builder to someone in their time of need. We left for India in July of 1998 with our three children ages 7, 4 and 18 months. Our 18 month old son had just been diagnosed with severe asmatha after 3 consecutive bouts with pnemonia. When we arrived in Calcutta, our son just simply could not breath due to the pollution and dust in our city. It was a long six months of regularly walking him through the night just to keep his breathing passages open. We then moved to New Delhi, yet it was listed as the most polluted city in the world in the early months of our arrival. One day the pollution level was so dangerous they deemed the air quality equal to when the Nazi's were bombing London. Needless to say, his situation was no better there. We were at the end of our capacity to stay in India with our son suffering in this manner, yet we felt we were there in obedience to the Master's call. God surely knows what we can handle, so His healing touch solved the looming question of whether we should just pack up and go home. One Sunday night in a church service for minster's in Calcutta, our son was laying on my lap listening to the message with his eyes closed. I thought my little three year old baby had been sleeping, but he was, incredibly, paying attention to what was being said. He opened his eyes and asked me to tell him again what it meant to be saved. I explained a simple Gospel message, and he asked me to pray with him to accept God's love and forgiveness. After that prayer, he told me that he wanted to be healed by God. He wanted to be free from all the medicines and breathing problems. I told Cole that his daddy and I had prayed for years, and maybe it was time that he asked God for himself. He led me into the aisle as others were down at the alter praying. He kneeled down and wept as he ask God with childlike faith to heal him. He then went down to the alter and prayed for many of the pastors present in that service. Many of them thought he just wanted to be held, but they soon realized he was praying for them! Not something we had trained him to do, but it was a move of God in his life. From that day until this, 10 years later, Cole has never taken an inhaler or any other asthma related medicines or had any breathing trouble whatsoever. The Lord Jesus either healed him to relieve him of the "thorn in his flesh", healed him so his parents wouldn't give up on their call or a myriad of other reasons. It doesn't matter why, but we will never cease to praise Him for His intervention which brings Him glory alone!!!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

BIG Picture

Shirley Stone is our guest blogger today. Shirley is an incredible Woman of God who loves to love on others. She is a mentor to many and friend to even more. Thank you for sharing, Shirley!

The Big Picture

Big picture vision is my prayer lately in all areas of life. God sees all, is intimately working in all aspects of life. Without him we would not take the next breath, so to ignore Him or leave Him out of anything is so offensive and ungrateful of me. NO more picking and choosing or compartmentalization of my world, please!! Renew my mind so I will know what is best!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

God is God

Page Hughes is today's guest blogger. Page is a wonderful woman who is very involved in women's ministry, missions, teaching, christian counseling, raising a family and supporting her husband. When I asked our small group to use one word (the first word that came to mind) to describe Page, this is what was said: amazing, Jesus, smile, sweet, selfless. If you know Page, you know that she loves Jesus and shares that love with everyone she encounters.

God is God

I have forgotten how finite the picture is that we paint in our public schools. Since homeschooling Gene' I have see a fresh how the reality that God created all things and all order is designed in Him covers every aspect of our lives. When we take God out of the equation anything no matter how ludicrous can be taught as fact though in deed it is only theory. Without proof one can say anything, but when you have to prove it, most theories are done away with. Gene' has been frustrated for years when evolution was taught as fact. If you look at the world and measure it by the world's standards, we think we are much larger and in control than we are. We can and do compartmentalize everything in our lives, and even God sometimes gets a box or corner. When you come at it from the Biblical view that God is in everything, created everything and will be here when everything we know is gone, it helps us get a better perspective of what truly is reality, not just what we choose to believe. I praise God that this year Gene' and I both have a fresh perspective even on education that God is God over science, history, math, art, dance, and even foreign languages. It is because of Him we can see the order in all He has created. We are privileged to live under the hand of God.