On the Auction Block

I was once on the auction block.
 A slave.
 Weighted down.
 Enchained.
 Afflicted.
 Full of Shame.

 My master, who had once lured me into His trap, had promised me freedom, peace, and a joyful life. He gave me instead a life full of pain, shame and oppression. I was trapped in his grip and unable to escape from his wicked clutches. Though he promised to care for me, all he did was take from me. He took and took and took and took, until I had nothing left to give. I was used up. And now that he had no use for me, he placed me on the auction block, hoping to squeeze one last bit of profit from my existence. As I stood on that block, I heard the words of my Master. “For Sale, one slave woman. Useless and of no account. Sold to the highest bidder.” He grinned a merciless, sly grin as he said these words. It was then that I realized that he had no intention of letting me go. He seemed to find great pleasure in giving me the hope of freedom, and completing dashing away all possibilities of escaping his evil clutches. I sighed a deep, painful sigh. It was a sigh that came from the very pit of my stomach. There was no hope for me. None at all, for of course, no one would purchase me. Why would they?

But a man appeared and said, “I'll buy her.” I saw my Master's look of utter shock and annoyance at the man's proposal. As for me, I was too afraid to hope again. I knew my wicked master would find a way to destroy my hope again. But I did appreciate this valiant man's attempt. For a moment, I felt human again. I felt worthy of love—for just a moment. I tried to hold on to this moment for as long as I could, for it was the only joy I had felt in such a long time. This man wore a Royal Robe, and was obviously of great wealth. Yet, he put on no airs. There was a tenderness about him, a gracefulness in the way he moved and a searching quality in the way he probed the scene. This was no ordinary man. There was something about this man that gave me hope, though I was certain there was no hope. This man intrigued me.

My master responded to this man's offer to buy me, by setting my price at a price no reasonable person would accept. I wasn't surprised. As I said before, he had no intention of letting me go. And yet, this mysterious man responded again, “I'll buy her.” My master decided he would play a game with this noble man. I knew my master well. He was a shrewd businessman and he would not miss the opportunity to profit from this man of great wealth. So he increased the price again, and again the man replied with, “I'll buy her.” Well, obviously even these absurd amounts were nothing compared to this man's great worth. My master greedily continued increasing my selling price, with the full intent of keeping me and swindling this man out of absurd amounts of his fortune.

Finally, my master informed the regal stranger that he would only let me go if someone volunteered to take my place. That was the only payment he would take. Well, that would do it. At this point I knew my master had accomplished his wicked scheme. Who would dare to take my place? My state of affairs was a most pitiful existence. No one would choose my fate for their worse enemy, and because I sensed that this man was of high and noble character, he would not place my fate on any other. But something unexpected happened. It was a strange twist of my fate, and it rocked my world to its very core. The man persisted in pursuing me. He offered His life in exchange for mine. I didn't understand how this royal man could pay such a high price for me. He was of great importance in the world. I was useless, helpless and of no value. The world needed someone like him. I had nothing to offer anyone anymore. The man's offer was ludicrous and I honestly could not allow him to pay such a price for me. Though my life meant nothing, I knew this man didn't deserve my fate. I would accept my fate with the knowledge that there was some good in the world.

As I was pondering these strange and peculiar circumstances, this royal man stood before me. He uttered no words. He only smiled lovingly at me. Tenderly, he embraced me. I distinctly remember feeling such a sensation of joy and peace as I'd never known before. This was love. I wanted to say something to this man, but I could not utter a word. Not even a syllable. I wanted to say thank you. I wanted to say, “Don't do this.” Instead, I sobbed in His arms, and somehow I sensed that he knew. He knew all that I wanted to say. He removed His royal robe and placed it around me. He took the rings from his fingers and placed them on mine. He told me that everything he owned, was now mine. Honestly, I had no idea what this meant. I never owned anything. I had only been “owned”. He told me his servants would take care of me. My mine was in a daze. I was dumbfounded. And just as I had gathered my wits enough to speak, my master's servants snatched this man away from me. They released me from my chains and placed them on this man. This man wore MY CHAINS. This was wrong!!!! No! No! No! No! My mind began to race. My heart felt like it would escape my chest. How could they take this man?

I somehow managed to scream, “Why?!”

He replied, “Because I love you.”

And then they took him away.

So there I was left standing on the auction block, dressed in a royal robe, with rings on my fingers, and servants waiting to respond to my every command. And this royal man was taken to the place of my torment. The place of my shame. I could not understand it all.

 Suddenly the reality of it all began to take shape in my mind.

I was free.

Paid for by the precious life of this Royal and noble man. My life is not my own, I have been purchased at a great price. So I live to honor the One who paid such a high price for me.

Divine Intervention

We're all in desperate need of divine intervention.  When Jesus is interjected into life's circumstances,
we are dramatically changed.
The Real Jesus,
the Jesus with all power and authority,
the Jesus whose life was given to pay the price of ALL my sin,
the Jesus whose love is lavish,
whose compassion is perfect.
The One who is able to Rescue us from our deep, dark, and tangled mess.
The Real Jesus.
Often life is like quick sand,
the more we struggle to get ourselves out,
the deeper we sink.
We need a rescuer.
We need someone to grab our hand and pull us out of the mess we're in,
placing our feet on solid ground.

Jesus is the hand God offers us.

He is the only hope for our rescue from the tangled mess of life.

My New King

I've been rescued from the Kingdom of Darkness
I now pledge my allegiance to a new King.
A Righteous, Holy, perfect and loving King
A King that brings only good
A King that is generous and kind.

The old king was a tyrant.

The old king hated me
The old king lorded his power over me
oppressed me
belittled me
and used fear to keep me submissive and weak.
He does this to all of his citizens.
He is a liar.
He made big and bold promises in order to trap me, but once I surrendered myself to him, he immediately accused me,
bringing guilt and shame.
His rules brings hopelessness and despair.
It is a life that is no life.

It is death.

His citizens are the walking dead.
Empty
Lifeless
hopeless
pressed down under the extreme weight of his tyrannical rule.

But I've been set free!

And My new King loves me!
I'm free!

I've been given life that is full
complete
satisfying
I've been given hope that does not disappoint.
I've been given love that is free,
flowing
and abundant.

I've been given  power--
an All-surpassing power
to rule with the King.

I've been given an extravagent supply of gifts with the promise of more,
with NO END in sight.
His gifts are FAR BEYOND my capacity to imagine or understand

He gives and gives and gives.

Every word that comes out of His mouth is true.
I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again
He loves me,
And He is my friend.
I trust this King,
and I gladly and willingly give my life to serve Him.
For serving Him brings utter joy
and the deepest satisfaction
I am satisfied in ways I never even imagined.

It is so good!!!!!!!!

My Trip to Haiti--Nicole

While in Haiti, we were able to interact with some awesome interpreters.  Our group had four interpreters, all male.  They were great.  I learned so much about the Haitian culture from them.  I spent much of my time asking lots of questions, and they were extremely gracious.  On our last day in the village, we specifically asked for a female interpreter because the women of our group wanted to interact with other women in the village of Simonet.  It's a bit awkward having a conversation woman-to-woman with a male interpreter.  God provided.

Nicole is her name.  She's 20 years old and the first orphan in the Mission of Hope orphanage.  She still lives in the orphanage, and attends the school there.  She  plans to become a heart surgeon and a business woman.  She wants to import cars from America and sell them in Haiti.  This girl has BIG dreams!  I love it!  But what I love more, is her love for God.

While in the village interacting with women, we encountered this woman sitting in an open commons area.  We began to talk to her, getting to know her.  I asked her what her favorite song was in church.  I told her I would sing my favorite song if she sang hers.  Though I didn't understand her words, I certainly understood her body language.  She felt uncomfortable, even shy about it.  She said she couldn't sing well.  So I told her I would sing first, and if she sang, I would sing another song.  I sang Amazing Grace.  As I sang, people all around began to come.  People sat and listened as I sang.  Then the lady (I don't remember her name) sang Amazing Grace in Haitian Creole.  Beautiful!  After singing, one of her cousins came and sat next to her.  By this time we had a small crowd of people gathered.  Everyone pointed to this cousin saying that she didn't follow Jesus.  So I sang "Jesus Loves Me (You)" to this lady. As I sang the chorus, Nicole sang with me in Haitian Creole.  What a treat! 

We began to talk to this lady. We asked her questions about her life.  We asked her why she had chosen not to follow Jesus.  I could read her body language.  She didn't want anything to do with Jesus, and she really wanted us to leave her alone.  Yet... she listened and I saw no anger or frustration.  She even smiled throughout our interaction, but insisted that she would follow Jesus....later. 

That's when Nicole took over!

She went on for 10-15 minutes passionately talking to this lady and the crowd.  I had the biggest grin on my face.  Wow!  This girl was preaching!  And the people around were hanging on every word.  The men were nodding and smiling. The women's eyes were fixed upon her with great interest.  That was a moment when I wished I understood exactly what she was saying.  Yet, it was clear that she was sharing the good news of Jesus.  She later told me that she was sharing her testimony of how God rescued her and completely gave her a new life. 

When she was five years old, her mother was killed.  She lived in Port-au-Prince.  Someone asked her if she wanted to go and live in the MOH orphanage, and she said yes.  She's been there every since.  She went from having nothing, to having a wonderful life and a great future. And because of the transforming work of Jesus, she's now being used to transform the lives of other Haitians.

As we road the bus back to the MOH campus, I thanked her for helping us and for sharing the gospel so boldly.  She thanked us for giving her the opportunity to share the gospel.  Because she lives in the orphanage, she doesn't go into the village unless she's going with a group.  I was so blessed to set the stage for her to shine.  I'll set the stage for her anytime!

Please pray for Nicole. That she will stay strong.  That she will stay focused on the work that God has for her. 

God has big plans for this lady!

40 Days of Discovery - Day 13

God speaks in the present tense since He is outside time.  He is always in the present tense since He's ever-present.

I must be so busy following Jesus that I don't have time to worry about all the voices around me telling me how to live.  There are so many gospels being preached--in and out of churches.  These gospels tell me how to live and how to receive a full and satisfying life.  But any other gospel outside of Jesus is a FALSE GOSPEL.

John 4:13 "...whoever drinks the water I (Jesus) give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  

Only Jesus can satisfies the deepest needs of the human heart. Only Jesus.

Revelation 22:17 says "The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

40 Days of Discovery- Day 11

God has spoken powerfully through His word to me today.  I read from Romans 3 and 4 today, and man was I lifted up!

Here's a snippet of what I gleamed:

Against all hope, Abraham believed (God's promise to him), and became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him.

Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was good as dead--since he was about 100  years old--and that Sarah's was also dead.  Yet...
He did not waver through unbelief  regarding the promises of God. This amazes me!

but he was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God being fully pursuaded that God had the power to do what he had promised.

That is why... 

Because of his unwavering belief in the Promise-keeper, God assigned righteousness to him. Simply put,  He was made righteous.  These words are for us as well.  We aren't righteous because we do good things, think good things, because we're moral, hard-working, or anything.  God offers us his righteousness.  If we believe God's promise to us:  For God loved the world so much that he gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him would not live apart from the source of life (God Himself) and as a result experience death, but instead have life the bubbles up and overflows bringing life that has no end.  Thank you Jesus!!!!!

Help me to believe all your promises.  Help me to be FULLY PERSUADED that you can fulfill your promises in me and you will do it.  Help me to believe.

So these are the questions that I ask the Holy Spirit.
What are the realities of life that I need to face and not allow these things to weaken my faith? 
limited finances, limited time, health problems, not having all the answers, not able to do everything perfectly like my type B+ personality wants. (I'm not as type A as I used to be.)

What promises have you given me that I need to trust you to bring to pass in my life?
That you will lift me up with no striving on my part
That anything I ask under the authority and power of King Jesus, you will give
That I will be a truth revealer
That my prayers are powerful, and effective!
That my prayers, offered in faith (believing in the One who is able to heal), will make the sick well; The Lord will raise him up. (not me)

40 Days of Discovery- Day 10

Wow!  I'm a quarter of the way through my 40 Days.  It's been so good!  I feel like I'm being deluged with so much.  I'm having to take a step back to take it in a little slower.  The question I'm asking God is, "What do you want me to do with this information?"  I'm just a mama.  Nobody special.  Why is He showing me so much?  It's BIG picture things.  I have gotten one clear answer, "Pray".  He's even given me someone who is committed to pray with me.  That is a gift and I thank Him wholeheartedly for it.

I'm experiencing more of God's power in my life than ever.  It's humbling, and I'm not sure what to do with it.  I feel like a 2 year old learning to walk, talk and feed my self.  I feel like, more than ever, I'm saying, "Holy Spirit, teach me."  I'm currently reading the book of Matthew, and as I read,  trying to gleam everything I can from the life of Jesus.  I want to understand how He lived, because I want to emulate His life.  By the power of the Spirit!  Apart  from His Spirit--forget it!!!

I'm encouraged that there are many others who seeking to do the same.  Oh, Majestic, Supreme Ruler, be glorified through your people.  Awaken us to Higher things.  Give us your thoughts.  Give us your mind.  Teach us how to walk confidently in your  power.  Teach us.

Today I was reminded how it important it is to communicate clearly.  When I was in college I interned at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and IBM.  I remember feeling like an idiot when I first started.  I'd hear all of this jargon:  P-14 and such.  I'd hear all of these acronyms flying around.  Everyone seemed to understand perfectly what was being said, and I didn't have a clue.  It was like I was hearing a foreign language.  But everyone acted as if I should understand, so I couldn't let on that I was clueless.  I just had to keep listening, until I was able to decipher the code.  I'm wise enough now, to just ask questions.  Who cares if others think I'm stupid.  If you don't know, you don't know.  Anyway, I wonder if much of our christian jargon is the same with people.  Words like salvation, repentance, resurrection, born-again, etc. fly from our lips as if it's common knowledge in our culture.  I think many are familiar with the words, but the bigger question is, do they understand what we mean?  I can ask, "Do you believe in Jesus?" and many will say yes.  Yet scripture says demons believe as well.  So what do we mean when we say believe?  Living in a culture where Christian words are pretty common, and people think they know what they mean, we need to step back a define our words.  I'm asking Jesus to  help me to speak in language that the general culture can understand.  God certainly knows how to speak to each of us in a way that we can understand and respond to.

I pray that He will give me that gift of communication.  I have ideas for stories I'd like to write that could do that.  My art can do that.  I just pray that it will.  Supernaturally, enable me to communicate with such clarity, love, and grace, that people are compelled to respond.  Compelled.  May the words you give me never be ignored.  I have no ability to do this.  I am just a woman.  Yet I am the servant of the one is fully capable of doing this through me.  I am willing, Master.

40 Days of Discovery- Day 3

Today was a day of discovering something old.  The Holy Spirit brought me back to the basics of my life's mission:  sharing the gospel.  Everything should come back to the gospel, right?  If the gospel really is good news, why would I not want to share it?  God has chosen the church, his followers, to be the means by which the mystery of the gospel is revealed.  What an awesome privilege!  God certainly doesn't have to use us.  He's God!  He could have a donkey to proclaim it.  He could write it on a wall.  He could have the birds to sing it.  But He chose people like me.  And I've neglected this great privilege.  Oh, Lord I repent.  Forgive me.

There are people around the world dying because they're sharing the gospel.  They're just that passionate.  They're just that committed.  And I don't want to offend.  Poor excuse.  I was reading an article a month or so ago about a woman and her husband in Iran who prayed EVERYDAY that God would show them who they are supposed to share the gospel with.  Everyday!  And this is in a country that is hostile to Christianity!  What's wrong with me?

So I asked the Spirit this question:  How can I share the gospel in a relevant way?  with creativity, boldly, wisely, lovingly  The gospel message isn't foreign here.  Many have heard it, and tune it out.  I'm asking for fresh creative ways to share the ancient message of truth.  I'm asking for passion, and power to do this great work.  Creativity means nothing if there is no power.  God's power changes people's lives, not my convincing words.

I echo the prayer of the early church when they were under persecution, "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."  and the response  "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."  (from Acts 4:29-31)

Here are a few other scriptures that the Spirit gave me as I asked the question:

 Colossians 4  And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. [4] Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. [5] Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. [6] Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Give me an awareness of the opportunities that you provide me--those doors that you open for the message.  Enable me to proclaim the message clearly and allow my actions confirm my beliefs and bring you honor.

 Matt10: [16] I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

Holy Spirit, give me practical ideas, a great sense of discernment of people and situations, and intelligence beyond my physical capability so that I am able to speak with sincerity, boldness, and simplicity.  Do this for my children, my husband, and all of your people. Awaken your people to great boldness in proclaiming the gospel.

I do need to give myself some grace, for God has lavished His grace on me.   I tend to be hard on myself.  I have shared the gospel.  I'm just not nearly as committed as I should be. Thank you Holy Spirit for revealing the truth.

40 Days of Discovery- Day 2

Recently, I've been reading two very different books.  One book is a collection of essays and articles written on the "inner spiritual life" or meditative prayer.    I thought the book looked interesting.  I'll be honest, you almost have to have a PhD to read it.  It is a book written by intellectuals to intellectuals--though it continually encourages the reader to engage the heart in prayer rather than the mind.  It takes the most simple concepts and describes them in such complexity that they become unrecognizable.  I am gaining insight into other sides of Christianity-- Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic faith.  It's good to hear other perspectives and see what nuggets of wisdom can be gleamed.  But there is MUCH sifting to be done.  MUCH!  I am honestly most disappointed with the lack of devotion to Jesus.  It's Jesus and...  It's "the Christ" or "the Christ in us" or "the divine is us".  One article even proposed that Jesus came so that we could become God.  There is no gospel message spoken.  If meditation doesn't compel us to "Go and Make disciples..", then Christianity simply becomes one of many paths that one can take to somehow achieve the "divine is us"--as some say. 

On the other hand, I just finished reading Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand(www.persecution.com).  What a powerful and passionate book!.  It talks about the author's experiences in Communist Romania working in the Underground Church and his 14 years in prison being tortured, as well as giving lots of stories of others who have been persecuted for the name Jesus.  What a stark contrast to the other book I've been reading.  This book isn't some theological discussion about higher plans, and such, but a book written about people who have fallen deeply in love with Jesus.  It's plain and simple.  People are going to prison, refusing to renounce their faith, refusing to hate their enemies, and refusing to STOP preaching the gospel.  And the Church continued to grow in spite of the intense persecution they are under.  This book inspires you to support our brothers and sister who are being persecuted around the world through prayer, and financial support.  It's also convicting!  People around the world are excitedly sharing the gospel and publicly declaring their love for Jesus amidst intense opposition! What excuse do I have?

Oh Jesus give me such intense love for you that I long to live in your presence, allowing you to fill me to overflowing that I may be a fountain for a world that is thirsty for your redeeming grace.  Amen.