I love the day before a new adventure, so much anticipation and hope for what’s ahead. Tomorrow, ten ladies from Naples and two from Honduras, are traveling to Puntarenas, Costa Rica to share God’s Extreme Love.

The schedule is made and the messages prepared, but I know that in a second God can change everything, and I am okay with that. I want Him to guide and direct, to lead and to enable each step of this journey.

I have been to this city before, two years ago, my very first mission trip. I had no clue why I was going, but I fell in love with the people, and their country and I knew I would return. God made His presence known in such a mighty way on that adventure. It was an experience that still thrills my heart whenever I revisit it in my mind. 

I feel a little more seasoned this trip, this is my third mission trip. What do they say about the third time? But actually each trip has been amazingly wonderful, adventures that I would not change for anything. And I believe this trip will be no different in that respect, but yet I feel like it is going to be be more than … more than I could ever imagine. 

I actually have a lump in my throat as I write this, maybe a confirmation of what is to come; a foreknowledge that God’s spirit is going with me, ahead of me and in me to this special place. 

We will leave early, 5:30 am from the church. Early morning is not my favorite time of day, yet for this trip, I am so willing to be up at 3:30 am! 

I will journal this adventure, my previous ones have been priceless to revisit each adventure, each ministry that God brought to us. Each person that we prayed for. Each gift that was given. All the love that was shared.

Our trip’s mission is Extreme Love. God did the extreme for us, by sending His son to earth to live as a man and die a horrific death, so that we could be with Him forever. I am so grateful for that love. Every place that Jesus set foot, His love was shared. I want to be that example. I want the people of Costa Rica to feel the presence of Jesus from our team, to experience His love from our hearts.

By this … they will know we are His disciples. I am so thankful to be a disciple of Jesus. I am so thankful for this opportunity to share His Extreme Love.

A large crowd of people were gathered in the temple one day while Jesus was teaching and there was a man amongst them whose hand was shriveled and withered. Jesus spoke to the man and commanded him to, “Stretch out your hand.” The man did so, and his hand was healed.

Jesus did not touch him, he simply spoke those words and the healing was done!

But the man had to stretch out his hand, for the healing to happen. He had to make that choice and then take action.

The man had probably spent his entire life, hiding his hand from the world, so that they would not see his imperfection. But Jesus saw it. And Jesus healed the man’s hand. And in that action, this man received the hope of a different life!

So many times, we have imperfections that we are hiding from the world. Whether it is a past sin or some sort of shame weighing us down, Jesus wants to heal us, but we first need to stretch ourselves ¬– bring the imperfection out into the open so Jesus can make us whole.

For so many years, I hid the sin and shame of my abortion and the weight of that sin caused my spirit to shrivel and wither away. But when I stretched out myself to Jesus, confessed my sin, brought it out into the open and received His forgiveness, the weights were lifted and my spirit became free! Today, I not only have the freedom of knowing that I am stain free in the eyes of the Lord, but that I can share my past with others with the desire that my story can bless them. And through the process, the Lord has restored my hope!

And he wants to do the same for you! What flaw or blemish are you hiding? Are you ready to let Jesus set you free?

I asked Chase to do dishes and Carson to sweep the floors.  Immediately, one was in the kitchen and the other was sweeping.  Today, when they got home from school, I asked them to go out and pick up dead tree branches from the yard.  Again, they both complied and soon the yard was neat and clean again.  They did not fuss.  They did not say, “I don’t want to.”  They did not put it off.  

When Abraham was 99 years old, God asked Abraham to be circumcised.  That very afternoon Abraham complied.  Now, if there was a situation that might draw complaints or procrastination, this seems to be it, but not with Abraham.  Instant obedience. 

Jesus told us in the book of John: 

 “If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—  the Spirit of truth.  (John 14:15-17)

When we love someone, we want to obey their desires.  At dinner we were having this conversation.  I explained to the boys how good it made me feel when they obeyed my desires.  How they respect me.  And in turn, I want to bless them.  We are planning our summer vacation and I want to do things that they will enjoy!

Abraham obeyed God because he loved Him.  And God honored the obedience of Abraham and he became the father of many nations, and his seed was blessed beyond measure.  

When we listen and obey the teachings of Jesus, we get an even greater blessing than a fun vacation!  Jesus gives us His Holy Spirit to guide us, direct us and bring us into all truth!  

That is my desire, to keep the commands of Jesus!  Not because I have to.  But because I love HIM!   

We are walking through the Book of Exodus right now in our Ladies’s Group. So many lessons, but the one I want to focus in on tonight comes from Exodus 23:27-30:

“I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”

God is talking to Moses. They are up on the mountain having a bit of a pow wow. And God is promising Moses victory over his enemies. But look at this part: ” … I will not drive them out in a single year… little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”

God promises the victory, but it isn’t going to be immediate. Because he knows that the people can only handle small portions of victory at a time. As they increase in strength, they will be able to handle more conquests. That right now, they are not strong enough to possess all that God has for them. But little by little, they will occupy all of the promised land.

So many times we want to go from new believer to mature follower of Jesus in one giant leap. We don’t realize that the in between part is where God equips us to walk in His promises for us. That by embracing each struggle, we can gain the strength, wisdom, and love that is needed to fulfill the plan and purpose that He has for us.

Father, help me to embrace the challenges and to use them to grow closer to you! Let me be content in the moment, not missing any opportunity to become less of me, so that more of you can fill my heart!

Today is the Inauguration of America’s president, Barack Obama.  He is beginning his second term in office,  the very first African-American to hold this position.  I can only image what Dr. King would be thinking, if he were alive today.

I just dropped Carson off at school.  He is marching in the MLK Parade today with his JROTC team.  He has a desire to go into the military, the Navy, to work on a submarine and to become a nuclear scientist.  I don’t even know what that is, but Carson has a dream.

David tells us in Psalms 37:3,4, Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

God wants us to have the desires of our heart.  He has a plan for us, and it’s a good one.  Jeremiah:11:29, says: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Ultimately, regardless of what goes on in the here and now, we have hope and a future – eternity with God, through our acceptance of his son, Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior.  That is our ultimate goal,  our dream for eternity.   As Paul explains:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:12-14)

What’s behind might not have been so good, but what’s ahead, well, that is a dream worth pressing on for!

That decision ruined the next seventeen years of my life. The shame and guilt of the realization of what I did haunted me. I spent many years trying to drown my past in drugs, alcohol and meaningless sex.

Even after I met a wonderful man, married and gave birth to two special little boys, the offense of my past kept me from living in the reality of my present.

I had a hard time connecting to my boys. I loved them dearly, but I just couldn’t seem to develop a relationship with them. I didn’t know that my inablity to be a ‘normal’ mom and wife was a by-product of the abortion. In fact, I had so many by-products that I really didn’t know if I would ever be okay. And I didn’t understand why I was so disfunctional. I never forgot the abortion, but I didn’t know that all the negative in my life stemmed from it.

They didn’t tell me the day I killed my baby that the rest of my days would be filled with numbness, because I would stop feeling life because of the pain of what I had done. They didn’t tell me that I would remember that day for the rest of my life, that even today, twenty seven years later, it is engraved in my mind.

They didn’t tell me that I may have trouble carrying a child. Yes, I have two wonderful little boys, but I also experienced two miscarriages and a still born baby. Babies that were greatly loved and wanted and never able to even breathe their first breath. And with each loss, my heart broke even more.

I am sharing this today for one reason. Someone out there is considering having an abortion. It may be you, it may be your sister, it may be your friend. I don’t know who it is, but God does.

Don’t believe the lie that it isn’t a baby. It is. Don’t believe the lie that it’s the right thing for you to do. It’s not. Don’t believe the lie that you will soon forget, you won’t. Don’t believe the lie that you can always have more babies, you may not. Don’t believe the lie that this is the only option, it’s not.

Yes, today I am free of the guilt and shame, Jesus healed my heart and my hurt ten years ago, but remembering what I did, allowing myself the emotion to truly think on what happened that day can still bring me to tears.

I want to say to you today, abortion kills. It kills that little life inside of you. That little life that didn’t choose to be there. That little life that deserves to live. And it kills your spirit. Don’t think you will be the one that isn’t affected by it. That is a lie as well.

And yes, Jesus is the great healer. If you are suffering from the hurt and pain of your past, he will heal you. But how much better would it be to not have made that choice? If you still have the option … please please please choose life.

This was written by King David.  The guy has had an amazing life.  Some really good.  Some really bad.

And yet the one thing he asks of God is to spend time with him.  David could have sought gold and silver or more power or really anything he wanted. But all he wanted was God. God loved David, he called him a man after his own heart.

I believe this is why.

I want to be like King David.

Lord I want you to be my one thing!

And he does and they do!

I love this! What a perfect example of our roles as followers of Jesus.

Only God knows who will receive his truth. We are not to pick and choose who we share the good news with. Rather, we are to speak to all, proclaiming that God can bring life back to those whose spirits are dead, whose lives seem without hope.

I want to be like Ezekial …

Throughout my life, as I made mistake after mistake, I thought about that etch-a-sketch. I wished I could turn my life upside down, shake it and get a fresh start. But every day, I awoke with the same issues. The same insecurities. The same resentments. The same struggles. Year in and year out. I felt like my slate was full and there was never going to be a way to erase it.

Then one day, I accepted Jesus into my life. I simply realized how much he loved me, how he only wanted good for me and I received his love. I didn’t have to do cartwheels or stand on my head. In fact, my part was simply saying yes to him.

And I realized that Jesus did for me what I could not do for myself. My slate became clean. His word says:

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (Hebrews 8:12)

Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you white as wool!” (Isaiah 1:18 TLB)

I am so thankful for the new beginning he gave to me. Today is the begining of a new year. A time of fresh starts. Maybe you are worn out from life? Maybe you are tired of the struggles, the issues, the junk? Maybe today is the day to allow Jesus to wipe your slate clean!

… but the greatest of these is love. (I Corinthians 13:13)

His Love Conquers All!
Joyce

We looked it up, it was a Chromebook.  And it was affordable.  But I didn’t make any promises.  Even if I was going to get it, I was going to make him sweat it out a bit, afterall, it was Christmas.  He needed to be surprised!

But I went online the next day, did my research and by the end of the day, two new Chromebooks were ordered and assured of Christmas delivery and my heart was happy.  Both boys would get new computers.  I knew this Christmas would be extra special for them.  Computers were a given ‘good gift’.

But on Christmas morning, Carson opened his, played with it for about 20 minutes, closed the lid and it sat on the table the rest of the day.  Chase did play on his on and off during the day, but the next morning he came to me and confessed that it really wasn’t what they wanted.  Could I take them back?

Ouch … that hurt.  Here I was thinking I had gotten them just what they wanted, and they did.  But once they received them, they realized they weren’t what they wanted afterall.

They still had their old computers, it was easy to return the new ones, no harm, no foul.  But had I gotten rid of their old computers, it might have been a different story

This is a wonderful illustration of our lives.  We think we want a new car, a new home, a new job, maybe even a new spouse.  But once we get what we think we want, we may realize that it really isn’t the thing that is going to make us happy.

Sometimes the result is the same as our computer situation … no harm, no foul.  But sometimes, we throw away a part of our life that God wants us to hang onto.  Sometimes we hurt people in the process.  And sometimes, we actually destroy what we had seeking something that never will be.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us that if we seek God first, the rest of our lives will fall into place.  Why do we have it backwards?

My desire is to not get caught up in the things of this world.  My desire is to seek God first.

Today I will choose to seek God.