Happy Thanksgiving! I can not believe that it's already November 25 - the semester has flown by... only one month until Christmas!
It's nice to be home with time to relax. Usually, when I come home, I'm rushing to do all kinds of things before sunday afternoon rolls around, and I make my treck back to Norman. I'd much rather spend the hours that I'm in Tulsa laying in the living room with all 5 members of my family, laughing about random things...
Last night I was laying on the floor with the christmas tree next to me... It was lit up and beautiful with all kinds of white, red and gold ornaments and snow flakes and berries and buttons; For the past couple years, Barb has been in charge of decorating the tree - and if you were here, you'd be able to tell :) But, I was laying there laughing about something, when it struck me that most of the United States never gets to do this.
There are families with broken relationships - there are living rooms with elephants occupying too much space.
Some of us have dads that left when we were young, and moms that sit with Jesus today... Some of us were beaten and abused, some of us maybe still are. Some of us are dealing with self issues, and wonder if we will make it through the holiday, some of us have sisters and brothers across the world fighting for our freedom, and some of us have never known what it is to have a "thanksgiving meal".
The holidays aren't bliss for everyone. For some of us, it's hard to get through. The holidays bring back painful memories, and a sense of lonliness. We wonder what could be different if we had our mom or our dad back. We are angry at the family member who crossed the line of appropriateness when we were young and robbed us of our innocence, some of us have never had enough money to taste the famous pumpkin pie...
This is for the elephants in the room.
Today isn't the easiest day of the year for a lot of us... I hope the intensity in your living rooms are replaced by peace today. I hope that laughter and joy fill your homes. I hope there is something for you to PTL about.
Terrible things happen in this world, and most we will never know why; but rest assured that the Lord knows exactly what we need when we need it - and He takes care of us. Even though you are in immense pain, Jesus has not forgotten.
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. Psalm 146:4
Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances. For this is God's will for you. 1 Thess 5:16-19
Happy Thanksgiving - I hope that is exactly what it is.
11.25.2010
11.10.2010
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
One night, The Lord spoke to a man about what He had planned for this man's life. The man was just an average joe, just like the rest of us... No better, no worse. To the eyes of the world, he was a normal man. To God, he was a willing heart - a heart that dared to say "Lord, wherever you want me and whatever you want me to do - I'll do it." the Lord replied...
"Raise up your students to hear My voice, to go where My light is dim, where My voice is heard small, where My healing power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Their work will exceed yours, and in this I am well please."
The man was Oral Roberts - Oral Roberts University is an internationally known school. Great leaders have come off of that campus - all because one ordinary man said "yes" to an extraordinary God.
The other day I was having a conversation with my friend and we were talking about how we want our lives to be worth something - We want to do outrageous things for Jesus... there is one issue that tugs hard on both of our hearts and it's the issue of human trafficking and the growing industry of the sex trade.
Women and children are being sold, beaten, and raped day in and day out. Planes, trains and automobiles are carrying these innocent people who have been stripped of their innocence, their youth and their rights. A young female who has been kidnapped and trafficked lives, on average, for three years after the day she was kidnappped. Her body, her fearfully and wonderfully made body, becomes absolutely mutilated due to the number of times she is raped daily.
We have got to put an end to this.
"...He created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he deteremined their boundries... for in Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17: 26-28
God annointed each and every one of our lives for this time period. For this year. For this week. For today. None of us were born in the wrong decade, or the wrong era. He decided beforehand when we would rise and when we would fall. He already determined our boundaries.
Some of us long to travel the world and to bring the message of Jesus to the uttermost bounds of the earth - others of us are terrified of leaving the U.S. The Lord created us and wired us exactly the way he wanted us to be... When we offer our bodies as living sacrifies to God, we are worshiping God in the truest form.
When my friend and I were discussing our plans of how we want to serve God, he began to tell me a story - there was a man and a wife and they were serving as missionaries in the Dominican Republic. She was pregnant and her babies were born deaf - they ended up having to leave the Dominican for one reason or another and the man cried out to God "Lord, why is all of this happening? We are serving you with our lives as missionaries! Why would you take us out of the Dominican... this country that our hearts have grown to love?"
Brace yourself.
The Lord replies to the man, "Are you going to serve me the way you want to, or the way I call you to?"
"We seek selfish ambition far more than we seek the will of God." - Tim Mannan
I want my life to mean something - but I want to serve Him the way He calls me to... not the way that I want to. If He calls me to the uttermost bounds of the earth, I'll leave in a heartbeat; because that is my dream. But what if he calls me to stay in Oklahoma City for the rest of my life? Or what if He calls me to run a children's day care? - This is when you discover your true motives...
Are you going to serve God the way he calls you to, or the way you want to?
"Raise up your students to hear My voice, to go where My light is dim, where My voice is heard small, where My healing power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Their work will exceed yours, and in this I am well please."
The man was Oral Roberts - Oral Roberts University is an internationally known school. Great leaders have come off of that campus - all because one ordinary man said "yes" to an extraordinary God.
The other day I was having a conversation with my friend and we were talking about how we want our lives to be worth something - We want to do outrageous things for Jesus... there is one issue that tugs hard on both of our hearts and it's the issue of human trafficking and the growing industry of the sex trade.
Women and children are being sold, beaten, and raped day in and day out. Planes, trains and automobiles are carrying these innocent people who have been stripped of their innocence, their youth and their rights. A young female who has been kidnapped and trafficked lives, on average, for three years after the day she was kidnappped. Her body, her fearfully and wonderfully made body, becomes absolutely mutilated due to the number of times she is raped daily.
We have got to put an end to this.
"...He created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he deteremined their boundries... for in Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17: 26-28
God annointed each and every one of our lives for this time period. For this year. For this week. For today. None of us were born in the wrong decade, or the wrong era. He decided beforehand when we would rise and when we would fall. He already determined our boundaries.
Some of us long to travel the world and to bring the message of Jesus to the uttermost bounds of the earth - others of us are terrified of leaving the U.S. The Lord created us and wired us exactly the way he wanted us to be... When we offer our bodies as living sacrifies to God, we are worshiping God in the truest form.
When my friend and I were discussing our plans of how we want to serve God, he began to tell me a story - there was a man and a wife and they were serving as missionaries in the Dominican Republic. She was pregnant and her babies were born deaf - they ended up having to leave the Dominican for one reason or another and the man cried out to God "Lord, why is all of this happening? We are serving you with our lives as missionaries! Why would you take us out of the Dominican... this country that our hearts have grown to love?"
Brace yourself.
The Lord replies to the man, "Are you going to serve me the way you want to, or the way I call you to?"
"We seek selfish ambition far more than we seek the will of God." - Tim Mannan
I want my life to mean something - but I want to serve Him the way He calls me to... not the way that I want to. If He calls me to the uttermost bounds of the earth, I'll leave in a heartbeat; because that is my dream. But what if he calls me to stay in Oklahoma City for the rest of my life? Or what if He calls me to run a children's day care? - This is when you discover your true motives...
Are you going to serve God the way he calls you to, or the way you want to?
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