I Don’t Follow Up

This is a conversation between me and my girlfriend about Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers:

Me: Did you like the book?

Her: Oh I love the book.  The main character, Michael, sounds exactly like you.

Me: That would make sense since the Book of Hosea is one of my favorite books in the Bible.

Her: Yep except you have a hard time following up on the things you say you are going to do.

The wicked side of me says that was an unfair swift kick to the tenders.

The sanctified side of me says that was a much needed swift kick to the tenders.

I stopped to let the Holy Spirit examine my heart and my life.

Right then, He  started to work on me.

The more I evaluated, the more I knew she was right on.

Tuesday night I got a message from a friend. She asked a small group of us to pray over her friend who has a rare incurable form of cancer.

The doctors want to examine her just so  they would have research for any future cases.

I considered it an honour to pray for a sister in Christ.

I told the group to give me a day to pray over what to pray about.

The Holy Spirit hits me with 1 Peter 3:8-22 to 1 Peter 4:1-19–The major theme was on how to suffer well.

Next day, I am faced with writing the prayer.  I am tempted to think, “it won’t be a big deal… they are not going to miss my prayers… I can skip it.”

But the Spirit of God quickened me.

Two words: follow up.

I poured my heart into that prayer.  I wanted to lift her up to the only God who knows us, who heals our broken bodies and and the only One who gives us joy and comfort.

In that one moment, I followed up.

Following up is an area at which I suck at.  More to come.

Praying For Guidance

“Take your difficulty to God in prayer and say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears’ (1 Samuel 3:9). Do not ask God to confirm your opinion; ask Him to make your opinion conform to His truth.” - C.H. Spurgeon

ht: Josh Harris

The Path To Where I Stand

When I first started this blog, I had certain aspirations that at the very least my testimony would be heard.  I had hoped that perhaps that one, perfectly timed blog post would bring some sort of good news of hope, faith and love to the one reader who needed it.  If Jesus Christ could use it, then so shall it be done.

Honestly, I just wanted a place to organize my thoughts.

Over the last several months, I began to ponder, “What defines a testimony when speaking about the healing power of the Almighty God?”.

In the way I speak of testimony, Dictionary.com defines it as

tes·ti·mo·ny -noun open declaration or profession, as of faith

However, I like the second definition even more so:

tes·ti·mo·ny -noun evidence in support of a fact or statement; proof.

When I take both definitions into account, I am reminded just how intensely powerful a testimony really is.  Therefore, when I give accounts of my life to people I just had the pleasure of meeting, I want to be careful about which parts of my life I let people know if I want to convey a message of hope, faith or love; if I share everything in my life, both good and bad, how can that possibly show the love of Jesus Christ?

I ran into this dilemma one night chatting with some young adults last night after service.  These are the same young enthusiastic, creative, intelligent adults who are on the verge of experiencing all that adult life is going to give them: education, career, marriage, kids, responsibilities, travel, teaching, missions, ministry or just enjoying what life has in store for them.   I called it a dilemma because in the case where I was in fellowship with one young man, I shared a part of my story about my first marriage.

One thing is for sure, I never want the words that are coming out of my mouth to dissuade anyone to experience something as incredible, beautiful and holy as marriage itself.

It would be one thing if my marriage had a happy ending.  Then it would give God all the glory.  It would be whole other thing if my marriage had a not-so-good ending to it.

Therein lies the conundrum: do I not speak a word about my first marriage?  Do I keep this appearance that everything is okay and not reveal my past?

Or can God use everything, I mean everything, in my life in order to give Him all the glory and honor?

If I did share everything, then…

I would then use my testimony to let others know that my life is far from perfect and that is more than okay.

That we do life together and share in life’s victories and defeats, triumphs and tragedies.

Whatever we do experience, whatever we do face, through our friendships and investments in one another, we face them together so we can share each others’ burdens or lift each other in joy and happiness.

That we are not meant to do this life on our own.

James 5:16 (ESV) Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

It is so easy to take this verse and go completely legalistic with “look here, it says confess! you must confess your sins!” while there is a young woman who has just been raped and is wondering if she is wrong and in sin because she doubts that God is even good.  Or better yet, to give a real world example, there is this man, who was struggling so badly with porn and lust, that he fooled everyone else into thinking it was cancer just so he could write a worship song to God believing with all of his heart and might that God could simply heal him of his addiction to porn.

People, we are not meant to do life on our own.

Yes, confess your sins, weaknesses, bondages, struggles, doubts and fears to one another, but then do what? … pray for one another, that you may be healed.

Don’t Be Anxious

People wonder: do I really worry?  Am I ever anxious?

I am just like anybody else, I guess.  But somebody gave me this passage about a year ago and it has been written upon my heart ever since:

Philippians 4:4-7 (ESV) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Quite simply, all I can do is praise His name, give thanks and pray.

I went to my standard 5:45PM Saturday evening service which turned out to be Communion Service. After Communion ended, one of the pastors invited everybody that needed healing to come forward. Just them by themselves. I immediately stretched forth my hands and began to pray for those who needed healing. Not just those who were able to come forward but for all. The worship team lead into two of my favorite songs and I began praising Him, thanking Him and kept praying for healing for everybody.

I felt that I had to come back on Sunday morning and pray again for those needing healing.

I noticed that when I think about other people, I never worry about what my future holds. Lately, I am trying not to be anxious but I would be lying if I don’t think about it a little. I keep coming up with what I need to do, how can I approach my next job in this time of transition and can I serve in ministry? My faith is still absolute but I have to pray harder and harder every single time. I pray just for myself but I tend to simply pray for others with all the prayer requests that I have received.

When I think about others, joy and peace overwhelm me. One could argue that thinking of others gets your worries off of your mind. In a way, that is true. When I do pray for others, I am reminded on how incredible and awesome our God really is.

You might ask: what do you do with your worries and anxieties?  Simple, put them on God.  How?  Humble yourself before Him and let Him take care of it all:

1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV) Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

In other words, don’t think that you have to shoulder all of it.  That you have to have the power to take care of it all.  That you can fix it.  More than likely, you can’t.  God knows this.  That is why He wants you to place your trust in Him.

My only question: can we pray for you?

Let us share your Burden

Our Prayer For You

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred,
let me sow love;
Where there is injury,
pardon;
Where there is error,
the truth;
Where there is doubt,
the faith;
Where there is despair,
hope;
Where there is darkness,
light;
And where there is sadness,
joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled,
as to console;
To be understood,
as to understand;
To be loved
as to love.

For it
is in giving
that we receive;
It is in pardoning
that we are pardoned;
And it
is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

St. Francis

ht: Anne Jackson