The Last Few Hours

Another evening out in the field.  I had been visiting people all Sunday afternoon.  Even though not many people were home and I didn't have Bible studies scheduled, I still could see how God had blessed; but I want more blessings!

"Ok, it's time to go door-to-door and find more people to study the Bible with!"  I thought to myself.  I stop my car and I prayed - more earnestly this time - as there were only a few more hours of daylight left for me to work.  "I need to work some neighborhoods close to the church and invite any children I see to Vacation Bible school!"  I say to myself.  Before I pull out the map my prayer is that God will guide me to those who will want to study the Bible - because I needed His Spirit to direct me where to go!  As I look at the roads on the map nearest to the church, my eyes fall on a little street - a dead end.  I feel drawn to go to that street.  For a moment I question, thinking "It's only a little street."  But then I remember, I  had prayed.  "There must be someone there who God wants me to reach.  I will follow through with that plan."

As I drive around the road leading up to the little dead end, I see there's not many houses.  I had planned to start going door-to-door on that street, but with no houses, I began to wonder how this would work out!  Then I see the little dead end.  "Oh!  It's apartments!  God knew what He was doing!  How exciting!  I'll get to meet lots of people here!"

After knocking several doors with no one home or no one interested, I meet a lady whose initial response to me is, "I'm not interested in what most churches offer, because I've been through a divorce, and most churches are totally against divorce, but in my situation I had to because I was abused."  I affirm her in the fact that Jesus doesn't condemn for that, and neither does church, I say I understand why she would have had to get the divorce.  She opens up to me and shares her story.  As we connect, we speak of the beauty of how Jesus heals broken hearts.  I am inspired as I see how Jesus has carried her through!  She is so open, I can actually understand what she is telling me, we are both positive, and I realize I have just met a sister in Christ!  "I always knew that God has been the one to carry me through this", she tells me.

I invite her to start exercising with a friend and I, and she said she would enjoy that.  I continue to throw in questions from the survey, and she answers, "Yes, I would like that!" to every question.  When I get to Bible studies, she says, "I love studying the Bible," and asks "What else do you have?"  I invite her to come to church on Saturday.  "Oh, I could do that", she says, "That would give me something to do to get out of the house and not just sit here lonely on Saturday mornings."  I pray a heartfelt prayer with her and set up a time to come back and study the Bible, before I leave.  She gives me a hug and I say, "I can't to come study with you Tuesday!"

I left that door so happy!!!  So overflowing with joy and smiles, that I could hardly talk calmly at the next door I was doing a survey at!  I was so looking forward to coming back and studying the Bible with the new friend I had just met and I was sure she was the person God had brought me to this street to meet!

We are in the last hours of earth's history, though we don't know the day or the hour of Jesus' return, we know that time is short.  Oh how we must pray earnestly for the Holy Spirit to lead us to those who are open to God's Word!  And oh how we must work earnestly, giving our all.  Whether that means sacrificing our plans, giving of our time, or giving of our money, or giving of our talents, we must do it, we must give the message for Jesus!

The Woman at the Well

The story of the woman at the well never ceases to speak to my heart every time I read it.

It's the story of a woman who was thristy...thirsty for something that nothing on this earth can fill.  It is the story of a woman who was longing for love. It's a story of a woman who was searching for fulfillment in her earthly relationships rather than a relationship with the One true Husband, Jesus Christ.

It's a story of Jesus caring for someone who others looked down upon. It's a story that shows how Jesus reaches the heart.  It's a story of salvation. It's a story of a woman being filled with the greatest fulfillment and joy ever possible...a joy that is only found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  And it's more than that, it's the story of how the influence of one woman who's life is changed can be used to reach an ENTIRE town for Jesus!

"The woman at the well had been filled with joy as she listened to Christ's words.  The wonderful revelation was almost overpowering.  Leaving her waterpot, she returned to the city, to carry the message to others.  Jesus knew what why she had gone.  Leaving her waterpot spoke unmistakably as to the effect of His words.  It was the earnest desire of her soul to obtain the living water; and she forgot her errand to the well, she forgot the Savior's thirst, which she had promised to supply.  With heart overflowing with gladness, she hastened on her way, to impart to others the precious light she had received."  

-Desire of Ages 191

Never underestimate the power that your own personal testimony can have!

God rewards those who leave all for Him.  God knows that each one of us is thirsty for a fulfillment, a love, a peace, that ONLY He can satisfy!  He says come unto me let him drink the water of life freely.  "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled."  (Matthew 5:6)

The story reminds me of my own experience.  How many times I have tried to fill the desire of my heart with things that don't satisfy....good grades, or my friendships, or my "accomplishments".  It's so easy to be deceived by your own heart and think getting good grades is  important, and God meant for friendships to bring us happiness".... and yet there is no ultimate fulfillment in the things of earth!  The only One who can truly make us fulfilled and joyful is Jesus Christ!

Another beautiful lesson is how God chooses people to work for Him.  It wasn't the disciples who reached the city of Samaria.  It didn't take many people to reach the city either.  All it took was one woman who was COMPLETELY dedicated, and consecrated to Jesus!  This shows me the beauty of how Jesus chooses people to be his messangers!  No mistakes from the past disqualify me from working for Jesus!  Because He offers new life!  And a total transformation!  God can take the sins, hurts, and mistakes of our past, and still make us more effective workers for Him!  God evidently used her love of people, God evidently used her ability to love people-though in the past her relationships were used for her selfish reasons-now to draw people into a relationship with Him!

As I look at the town I'm working in this summer and think of the story of the woman at the well, I'm overjoyed that Jesus still calls women, like He called the woman at the well, to share the joy that they have found in Jesus!  The people I have meant all have one thing in common, they haven't had a perfect past, they have had hurts, and pains and difficult experiences, and they are finding, and seeking to find a deeper relationship with the One who can satisfy the need of every soul!  My prayer is, "Lord, make me like the woman at the well who reached an entire city for you!"

Get Out! Reached by Reaching

This morning was a morning I was in need of affirmation.  After contemplating the beauties of Jesus in my devotions, I was praying He would give me something very special today, something that would really make me happy...and He did.

The first Bible study I had scheduled was with a lady and a  church member.  I started by going to the church member's house and going over the lesson with her, to decide which questions she would lead out in, and which ones I would lead out in.  We prayed, and then went to the lady's house.  The study was about salvation, and the lesson went really well.  As we were talking about Jesus, my friend from church said "you know one thing that I heard in a sermon that always stuck with me was that Jesus is giddy about us.  He really loves us!  He is a personal God."  As she spoke tears welled up in her eyes.  As we continued the study we came to 2 Corinthians 5:17 "If any man be in Christ he is a  new creature..."  At this point in the lesson I like to discuss things in our lives that God has made new for us, or areas in our lives where we need to be made new.   In this study though, I didn't have to ask the question!  The two dear ladies just started sharing what God has done and is doing in their lives!  It was so beautiful to see my new friend from church, who originally told me she was nervous about giving a Bible study, now connecting with and sharing Jesus with someone else!  I didn't have to talk very much!

One of my evening Bible studies cancelled, so I had time to go door-to-door doing surveys.  Before I got out of my car I prayed, "Father, I know it's your will that people study the Bible, I need more people to study with, so I ask in faith, believing that you will lead me to people on this street who will want to study the Bible.  Amen."

I met a lady who tells me she was going to attend a Prophecy seminar that the church had, but she didn't make it.  She said, "I enjoy that type of stuff, because I see that the end of the world is soon."  We had a wonderful conversation on how she sees that the end of the world is coming soon.  She was one of the people on the street who said I could come back and study the Bible with her.

At another door, I meet a dear lady who hasn't really turned to the Bible much.  When I ask what her prayer request are, she asks me to pray for her elderly mother and she opens up to me about the depression her mother has faced after watching two of her children pass away.  As we bow our heads for prayer, her husband comes to the door and says "Your mother is on the phone, she needs you."  "I'll be there in just a moment, we are praying", she replies.  I wrap my arms around  her and lift up her and her mother in prayer.  When we open our eyes, I see tears coming down her cheeks.  "It looks like you came at just the right time", she says.  I left that door overjoyed!

A few doors down I meet a lady who talks with me about how she can see that the end of the world is near.  After we pray together, she tells me "You are so precious!  Each of us is precious to Jesus!"

I share these stories, not because I am such a beautiful person, but because my Jesus is!!!!  This morning I was singing the song, "Jesus You're Beautiful to Me", because I wasn't feeling beautiful!  I was struggling with some doubts, fears, and problems I saw in  my own life, so I was seeking Jesus to fill my heart!  It finally hit me right before I left for Bible studies that at the root of what I was going through was simply Satan trying to get my eyes on myself, so he could get me down and hinder the work I am doing reaching out to others!  But the power of Jesus is greater than anything we face that holds us back!

For years I wanted to do more for Jesus, but often fear always held me back.  This summer I've got out of myself more than ever before.  At times it's felt weird praying with a stranger.  There are times I'm like, "Lord, I don't know what to pray for these people!"  Then there's the outside of the box ideas that I couldn't help but do, like giving a music CD to a cashier at a grocery store who I've seen a few times.  Last Friday, I was reminded that even little things can make a difference.  I did a little shopping, after the lady checked me out, I said "Thank you" and then added, "and God bless you!"  She thanked me and said "I needed that!"

As I see the needs of those around me, my world view has been expanded.  It has made me more grounded in the fact that my only hope is Heaven, because I see that the world has nothing to offer.  It can be easy to get stuck in a fake reality...in our bubble of Christianity, our church, our school, our career, our family...stuck in self, the business of life, so caught up that we don't get out.  And yet, when you get out and see the needs around you, it does something for you-it is where LIFE and JOY really exist!  It is what Jesus did when He was on this earth - he was out mingling with and reaching the people!  

It's always been God's plan for us to reach out to others.  It is an integral part of how we are saved!  Paul, when writing to Timothy, said it like this: "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." (1 Timothy 4:16).  So get out!  Get out of yourself, get out of your bubble, and reach out and share Jesus with someone today!

A Beauty of Jesus

"Dear God, I'm frustrated!"  I prayed.  "I want to serve you better!  I love you and I want to do more for you, but I don't know what to do!  I see your leading in my life, but I don't know where it is pointing.  Please reveal to me Your plan for me and I will follow it!  I am ready to know what you want me to do!"

After praying that prayer, I read the following:

"There are thousands today who need to learn the same truth that was taught to Nicodemus by the uplifted serpent.  They depend on their obedience to the law of God to commend them to His favor.  When they are bidden to look to Jesus, and believe that He saves them solely through His grace, they exclaim, "How can these things be?"  

-Desire of Ages pg. 175

Those words spoke to my inner heart.  Yes, love will compel us to work for God, and yes, faith without works is dead, but I needed to be reminded of the fact that God's grace alone saves me!  If God clearly wrote down on a piece of paper exactly what he wanted me to do with my life, it would make it easier for me!  My attitude has often been in my Christian experience "Lord, tell me what to do, and I will do it!"  But God wants something deeper - He wants me to be still and know that He is God!  He wants me to trust Him!  The hardest lesson for me to learn is this lesson!  My desire expressed in this prayer was what God wants me to do.  Yes, I want to know God better, but at that moment my focus was more on what He wants me to do, rather than on knowing Him as my Savior, the Lord of my life, and my Best Friend!

I continued reading:

"Our Redeemer thirsts for recognition.  He hungers for the sympathy and love of those whom He has purchased with His own blood.  He longs with inexpressible desire that they should come to Him and have life.  As a mother watches for a smile of recognition from her little child, which tells of the dawning of intelligence, so does Christ watch for the expression of grateful love, which shows that spiritual life is begun in the soul."  

-Desire of Ages pg. 191 

As I read those words it dawned on  me that Jesus just wants me to be with Him!  What a beautiful picture of Jesus!!!  He is a personal God!  Sometimes in my friendships I will worry about what I am doing, and if I am really being the friend I should be.  I tend to carry this same attitude over to my relationship with God as well, and yet, Jesus just wants me to rest in Him!   He is actually longing for me to enjoy His presence!  He wants me to admire Him and appreciate Him as I would do to a friend!  Just as a friend enjoys being with you, God wants that friendship with us!  He actually loves for me to just be there with Him and abide in Him!  I can actually make Jesus happy and do His will just by praising Him, loving Him, appreciating Him, and giving Him my heart!  I realized that God wants me to trust Him, and abide with Him moment by moment and just enjoy the present rather than worrying about the future.  The most important work I can ever "do for God" is to trust Him fully!

No, it's not a completely new thought, it's not profound, or maybe it is, but it's actually very simple:  Jesus wants my heart!  Jesus wants your heart!  He wants to be our very Best Friend!  He longs for us to love Him with our whole heart!  Will you choose Him today?

A Journey of Love

"How would you define love", a friend asked me.  Me define love?  My definition?  I have to admit, it wasn't something I had thought much about.  Oh yes, I think about love...I love my friends, I love my family, I love my "job" this summer, I love mountains, I love Jesus, I know Jesus loves me very much...and yet, what really is love?  I felt very inadequate to properly define it and to do it justice.  I mean, love is the most powerful force ever...it is something deep...it is something that really many people lack...and many other people misinterpret.

Love is something that I have always wanted  more of.  I've wanted to be loved more, and I've prayed that I would be able to love others more.  A couple of weeks ago I read a Bible verse that really spoke to my heart, speaking of Jesus it said "having loved His own which were in the world, he loved them to the end."  (John 13:1).  "Wow!"  I thought, when I read it, "That means he even loved Judas who was as about to betray Him, and Peter who was about to deny Him. I want that kind of love for people, but that's a high standard of love!"

As I thought about the question of how to define love, I thought of 1 Corinthians 13, which tells us that love is kind, etc., etc.  I thought of 1 John 4:7 "God is love", and I thought of 1 John 3:16 which says "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."  "I guess the simplest definition I can think of for love is Love gives", I replied to my friend.  "You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving."

Nothing says "I love you" more than the way you treat people!  You  may have heard of the five love languages, if not they are: physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, and gifts.  What do these all have in common?  They are all giving something!  Whether you give someone a hug, sacrifice of your time to spend it with someone, write them a note, give them a compliment, or give them a gift, either way you are giving, because you care about the other person.

This past week I experienced love in a deeper way than I ever have before.  It was Wednesday and the Bible study I was about to give was on the sacrifice of Christ (how he suffered on the cross).  Before my friend from church and I got out to give the Bible study I prayed, "Lord, melt our hearts, and help us to see your love in a fresh way.  Please help the lady we are about to study with to really see and understand how much  you love us, Amen".  After reading the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane I started explaining how Jesus was being weighed down with guilt, the sins of the whole world.  I explained how difficult it was for him to decide to go through with the cross, because it meant separation from His Father.  As I explained the story in my mind I imagined Jesus falling helplessly in prayer to the Father in the garden that dark, lonely evening.  As I explained Jesus' love I spoke with more conviction than I have ever spoken.  Then I said Jesus looked in the future and could see that if He didn't follow through with the cross we wouldn't be saved.  He made the choice to save us because he loved us, no matter what it cost Him.  And then I broke....I've never cried in a Bible study before, but I couldn't keep back the tears!  In that moment of silence with tears in our eyes, I realized my prayer had been answered, each one of us saw how much God loved us!  Yesterday I gave the same Bible study to another lady.  Her comment after was "If that's not love, I don't know what is!"

This summer has been something a little different than I expected, it has been and will continue to be a journey of love.  A journey to find more depth of God's love than I have before...a journey to learn to be completely fulfilled by God's love and not other people's...A journey where I learn to give and give, more than I thought possible, and not feel empty at the end...not come back at the end of the day and miss those I'm miles away from, because I'm full....because when you give of God's love you truly are filled more and more!  Yes, there's times I'm tired, and times I miss friends and family, but that doesn't happen very often, because I have so many people here who I've grown to love!  And by God's grace I am getting closer to the point where I don't care how I feel or what mistakes I made, I just care how other people see Jesus through me!

And, it's a growing experience.  Sometimes growth hurts!  Because the first step of growth is to admit that I have a problem, I must admit that I haven't loved like Jesus loves!  It hurts to admit I've been selfish in my relationships!  It's humbling to see that there are some people who are so much easier for me to love than others.  It hurts to admit I don't always turn completely to Jesus every moment of the day for help, and that sometimes I turn to people who don't have all the answers.  It hurts to admit the fact that I make mistakes - I don't have all the right Bible answers to people's questions, and I don't know what I'm doing a lot at times.  It also really hurts to see other hurting people and realize I can't solve everyone else's problems!  I can't fill their needs, all I can do is direct them to the source of love, joy and fulfillment - the One who offers them the water of life freely!

Growth in God's love is a journey.  A journey of love that will continue through eternity, where we can each say that we have met the One "Who loved me, and gave Himself for me!" (Galatians 2:20) 

My First Weekend

May 30

I knock on the door of the family I will be living with over the summer.  The daughter answers the door.  The family has three girls!  I tell the girls, “I have two younger sisters.”  I immediately connect with the youngest daughter, she is close to my little sisters age, and she plays violin too.  “We’ll have to play our violins together sometime”,  I say.

I move in and get settled.  I meet the Pastor, and I am excited.  He is going to be a great person to work with, evangelistic minded.  I visit with the Pastors wife, she is a sweet lady.  They are both very warm and welcoming.

The area is beautiful.  From outside the windows of the house there are mountains.  Behind those mountains are the Smoky Mountains.  I go to bed with a full heart, I’m so thankful, I feel at home already.  And I wonder how God blessed me with such a wonderful opportunity to serve Him!

May 31

The next morning is my first Sabbath at the church I’m going to be working with over the summer.  The road to the church is a little windy road, going under shady trees, up rolling slopes.  I drive past a slope that has fresh hay bales, and behind them I see the mountains in the distance.  Then there are cornfields, and countryside, which reminds me of where I grew up - only this is so much better because it’s not all flat there’s mountains!  I arrive at the church, and the church is so cute!  It’s a little brown wooden church outside of town.  Behind it sits a log cabin type building which is their school.  The people are so sweet.  I try to remember everyone’s name, but it’s hard!  One of the sweet older members says, “Just remember, we only have one name to remember-yours-but you have all of our names to remember!”

It’s during the morning church service that my joy and appreciation really came over me.  The man praying prays for their church that they can be a light to the community, he prays for the Holy Spirit.  The sincerity of the prayer, and the way he worded it really touched my heart, and at that moment I realize how truly blessed I am to be here!

As I reflected upon my gratitude, the words of two different women’s prayers in the Bible, seemed to be the only words I could use to fully express the depth of my emotions, my gratitude to God:

“And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.  There is none holy as the Lord:  for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.”  (1 Samuel 2:1-2)

“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.”  (Luke 1:46-47)

The Little Girl

There's some things in life I never want to grow out of....Running outside barefoot in the rain, collecting pretty rocks, taking pictures of flowers, baking cookies for friends, making games out of cleaning the house with little kids, fixing my hair and trying to look pretty, or giggling with my girlfriends, gazing up at the starry skies, wading in rocky streams without worrying about staying on the rocks and keeping dry, climbing trees, running down hills.  Deep inside - and sometimes I can't help but let it out - there's a little girl in me.  Someone who needs friends and family to be loved by and to love, someone who just has to be real - even when it means showing my ignorance sometimes, and admitting that I'm blonde.  The little girl who prays that God will help her find the little things she's lost, (only now it's bigger things, like my phone, ID card, or more often my reading glasses).  The little girl who just wants to make other people feel happy, loved, and appreciated.  The little girl who admires her Daddy who can do everything - you can never grow out of wanting someone to look up to.  The little girl who just wants to talk through her struggles with someone a bit more logical and level headed than herself.  The little girl who needs a shoulder to cry on sometimes, but knows she's not on her own in making her big decisions, there are others there with wisdom to share.  The little girl who just loves the freedom of the outdoors, the fun times with friends, the energy she finds from spending time with little children....Because life is made up of the simple joys, the carefree spirit, the enthusiasm about life, the thankful spirit, the contented heart.  Because life is really very beautiful when you just take time to enjoy it, and see it through the eyes of a little child.  "Let the little children come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  How thankful I am that the hand Who is there to guide me, the ultimate Daddy, the One I will always be able to look up to - even when miles separate me from friends or family - is Jesus!  The one who blessed the little children hundreds of years ago!