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mercy

I’ve started reading more - collected a small stack of books on theology, prayer, missions, and personal testimonies. I picked up a study Bible, have podcasts on my phone, and love to grow in my knowledge and understanding of the Word. I’m hungry for it. I could sit reading and underlining all day long. Today, I put down my books and went for a walk.

And I’m full of wonder again - at how God speaks. He speaks to me through creation, reminding me that He is Mercy. He speaks through the South Sudanese man at my church, with his wife and ten children; whose eyes light up with joy as he asks me “how is your family?”

I see His fingerprints everywhere. God reminds me in the quiet that He is calm, He has everything under control. He is sovereign, He is near. He is perfect in all of His ways. He is compassionate, He is good. He is on His throne. He is at work. He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine THROUGH his power that is at work IN us.

I went for a walk, and how beautiful it is to see the Word come to life. How sweet to encounter the living God and feel His presence! What a gift! Just think - He didn’t have to send us his Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts, but He did! (John 14)

And I think of the people in many unreached places of the world. They don’t have Bibles or teachers or churches. They don’t have thick theology books and podcast sermons. They wake up every day and feel emotions and have fears and hopes and plans just like we do. I want them to know the Lord and the sweetness of fellowship with Him. I want them to know the hope and peace of taking all those fears, hopes, and plans to our Father and laying them at His feet. I want them to taste the Kingdom of God and one day enter in. And I feel a precious hope, because maybe somewhere, someone else is walking by a river, or carrying sticks up a mountain, or watching a baby enter the world… And maybe God is speaking to them in that moment. Maybe the Holy Spirit is stirring their hearts. Maybe they’ve heard the Creation story, and He is meeting them there. He is calling people to Himself as they see Him unmistakably in the work of His hands.

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. (Romans 1:20)

Today, I know that He is mercy. In the midst of our humanness and mess, He is kind.

Where do you find Him today? Where do you learn His heart? What do you see?

My prayer is that whatever the day holds, the Lord will use to draw me closer to Him. Whatever I feel when I wake up in the morning, let me bless the Lord. Whatever takes place in me and around me, may the Lord use it to teach me to worship Him. To teach me to pray. That He will be glorified in this life of mine.

And I pray that for anyone who finds themselves reading this. May you find deep satisfaction and peace and life in your walk with the Lord. For His glory and your joy!

May we never lose our wonder.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

Does missions separate families?

Yes. For a time.

But it also expands them. By inviting the lost into a family. Those who had no family, no hope, who were on the outside and separated from God. (Ephesians 2)

There may be a few empty seats at our next Thanksgiving dinner. But by those seats being empty, it will mean that other place settings are being made ready for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. Because lost brothers and sisters who live across the ocean, whose skin is darker than ours, whose language is different than ours, will be invited into God’s family, and will be called for the first time sons and daughters, and will be given a place at His table forever.

#missions #God #called #Banquet #kingdom of heaven

God doesn't open Heaven's gates to us because we're perfect servants but because He knows us, He formed us, He calls us and enables us to become sons and daughters. "Your inheritance and the favor of God on your life is not dependent on your faithfulness but on His."

Jesus, we are told, is the Good Shepherd. On the other hand, we are His sheep, whose duty is following. The responsibility to leading to take us where we ought to go belongs to God. It is His job to know where we are going, to bring us back if we get off track, and to seek us if we are lost. Do you see the beauty of letting God be God? Your only obligation is to have a heart willing to be led, and you will always be in the will of God.

Michael Wells

#will of god #Shepherd #good shepherd #god #follow

Most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality.

Tony Merido

#gospel #ministry #jesus #christ #mission

Godliness with contentment is great gain.

1 Timothy 6:6

jessirynn

But God is the God of the waves and the billows, and they are still His when they come over us; and again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm. Once more by His interposition deliverance came. We were cast down, but not destroyed.

Amy Carmichael (via jessirynn)

kind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djrY_eFDOwE

"You’re a good, good Father - it’s who You are."

Our God is kind.

The Lord will surely comfort Zion and look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. [Isaiah 51:3]

My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm. [Isaiah 51:5]

“I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips.” [Isaiah 57:18]

In all of this, I read kindness.

Perhaps that’s just where He has me. Isaiah proclaims bold truth:

His salvation will last forever; His righteousness will never fail.

He puts His words in our mouth and covers us with the shadow of His hand.

His justice is a light to the nations.

Our Sovereign Lord defends His people.

And our walls are ever before Him.

I would not say that I grasp God’s mightiness – His authority, His reign over the world, His perfect righteousness and justice – but it seems fitting to God.

The qualities of God that my human mind struggles with are His gentleness, His defense of His people, and His pursuit of us. That He would claim rebellious people as His sons and daughters. That our walls are ever before Him.

It’s His kindness. As I sit here and think through what the Lord has taught me over this season, that’s what it comes down to. I’ve known Him as my Ever Present One; a shield around me, the one who lifts my head high; my friend; my Shepherd; the One who turns tears sown into a harvest of joy.

Mostly, I’ve known Him as my good, good Father.

I see Him in the boy who Sixty Feet was able to move from prison to vocational training to home. The Lord’s grace provided us the opportunity to visit the boy a few weeks later, where we learned his house had burned to the ground and he did not have the correct supplies for his new job as a mechanic. The Lord’s compassion moved someone to give the funds needed to provide initial rent payments and new tools. The Lord’s kindness found us walking the boy along dusty roads to his new home, with his arms full of supplies and his face a mess of thankfulness.

I see Him in the manyatta where the poor mama just delivered her fourth baby in the bush, with no support, into a family already struggling to survive. Older daughter has a crippling infection and mama’s still waiting on a promised business start-up and there is no food. But God. He is their help and their Constant One. He’s the One they lift their voices to when they’ve reached their limitations. And when the baby smiles – I know He’s kind.

Our social worker knocks on my door after an exhausting day and asks if we can all pray, while her babies are sick hours away and things are not as we hoped they would be here. I exhale and smile, thankful that God uses us to lift each other’s eyes to Him. We sit, three under a mosquito net, and as we close our eyes we know He’s present. She prays, “Lord, make us a blessing,” and I marvel at His heart in her.

Things happen that threaten my trust that He is in control – and then He shows me something. Gently, though He doesn’t have to. He could fulfill His purposes without another thought of me, but He kindly answers my prayer for this one. The girl who was lost is found. We find each other in a slum, I meet her mama and we rejoice. We find more mamas, gather under cover to show pictures of their children and talk about the hope God has for them. We stumble over ourselves in Nga’karimojong and English and laugh at how He writes grace in this story. Then the sky is dumping buckets of rain and we’re standing in a circle, heads bowed as one of the mamas prays. “I’m born again,” she says. Amen, sister, and our Father smiles.

We link hands and see Him satisfy thirsty souls as we come, gathered in the Name of the One who we’ll wait for expectantly. We’ll wait in hope.

And a week later, I got to see the girl and her mama board a bus home. The Lord’s victory, not ours, but He allowed us to see. How He cares for His children and gathers them up one by one, carrying them home.

Oh, He’s kind.

He reigns in grace.

He’s perfectly faithful, despite us, and in kindness He answers our prayers.

I hope you find Him in the middle, the waiting, the loneliness and the darkness, and that you experience new depths of His love as you find that He’s always, always with you. And He’s a good, good Father.

still

We love the lovely.

Wildflowers gathered, trimmed and thirst quenched in a glass full of water. A flowing river, the stillness of morning, a story of redemption. We’re made to delight in beautiful things. Yet do we miss Jesus in the middle, the messy and unfinished? Do we trust He’s in the moments and chapters we don’t find lovely? Do we believe that His ways are always good, perfect and loving? Jesus was born to a virgin and placed in a manger. His disciples came to Him with dirty feet and simple lives. He had no place to lay his head. He did not preach the Word of God in pristine chapels but in large, impromptu crowds. He loved the poor, the weak, the tax collector, the overlooked, the undone. His life and death were messy. Yet every detail was ordained by the Father. And our real lives, the ones we don’t like for people to see, are messy. Crumbs on the counter & tangled thoughts & wavering hearts that want to trust Him, but our faith feels small. We can go through life so unsure of ourselves that we hide from people and our God who really love those unedited pieces of us. Our God who purposed storm clouds and night, the valley and the desert, the waiting and the barren, weeping and dancing. We’re only in the middle of the story. He loves the little one who lets the tears stream down; the one who runs to the farm because the world is too much today; the one whose heart tumbles out of her mouth before she’s ready; the one who lets himself be known even before he’s approved. He LOVES the one who dares to be true, raw, vulnerable, and also the one who will keep running, hiding, doubting. He loves the mama who leaves the dishes and laundry a while ‘cause it can wait and He’s here to be found, even before we’ve cleaned up our lives. Some of us need to be reminded today that where you are, with your unfinished business and unknown future and imperfection is okay. Even beautiful. I don’t mean okay in an “Aw, its alright, you’ll get there” way, but an in this moment, not conditional on your performance, you-can-be-messy-forever way. Where His grace is found by you and its more than sufficient, because you’re not striving anymore to be enough. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Cor. 12:9) I love this not-enough place, ‘cause I never had what my soul thirsted for anyway. Only when I’m admitting my weakness do I learn what it means to rest in His power. So come, beautiful as-you-are people. Let the Father’s rest encompass you today and rescue you from the desperate desire for your life to be perfect. You are His work in progress. In the middle of your story. And I hope you find the fullness of life He made you for; the freedom and life and purpose and rest. We don’t have to know what all the loose ends mean, don’t have to justify ourselves in this place. His grace covers, and He has you where He wants you. Remember that the Author isn’t rushing to the ending. His delight is wrapped up in every moment of your story.

John 13:1-7 is a beautiful picture of His love. Jesus chose a handful of regular joe fishermen to become his disciples, to walk with him, partake in him, and learn love from him. And in Jesus’ final days on earth, he paused, knelt to the ground and served them. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Peter protested, and Jesus answered: "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." He took a knee and touched the roughest, most vulnerable parts of his people. He cleaned their dirty, calloused feet and said “this is necessary for you to partake in me.” Its so much easier trying to serve God and make things beautiful for Him than to sit still and let Him minister to us. So my challenge to you, wherever your faith and your pile of dishes stands, is to pause - let Him wash your feet. Let Him touch the calloused and tender parts of you, and you’ll partake in Him. You’ll see Him and know Him and so you’ll know the Father.

You’ll see Him in the middle of the mess and you’ll whisper, “there He is.” Like a child who spies fireflies and excitedly points so his friends can see too: sparks in the darkness.

Lets decide together to quit sizing ourselves and each other up and just be true. Lets dare to admit we need Him and live the sweetness of a song that’s still being sung.

He’s here to be found,

here in the middle.

Hi Maggie, I've been thinking about you. You're blogs are full of hope. Truly it's a blessing to be able to see into your world. You're in my prayers. Let me know how I can pray for you specifically.

Kkmreader,I am somehow just seeing your message! This blesses my heart, thank you for your encouragement. :) You can pray for the Lord's ministry here in Uganda to the Karamojong people. If you want to learn more, you should check out my blog specifically for Uganda: oureternalhope.tumblr.comBless you!!

oureternalhope-blog

Matthew Henry’s commentary on Isaiah 25 says this:

When God is punishing the kings of the earth upon the earth and making them tremble before him, a poor prophet can go to him, and with a humble boldness say “O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name.” Those that have...

isaiah351-blog

On praise.

Lessons in Uganda.

oureternalhope-blog

isaiah351-blog

God’s priorities are beautiful. [JA]

You, Israel, will be gathered up one by one. Those who were perishing and those who were exiled will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. [Isaiah 27:12-13]

See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic. [Isaiah 28:16]

In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength.[Isaiah 30:15]

He will send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground. [Isaiah 30:23]

"I have forgotten nothing. And I am not passive about my approach to this problem. I deal. I deal with this sickness and pain and death. I do not forget. I bleed out for this. So as you walk past me on that cross into a place that feels out of control and full of suffering, don’t see a weak, distant, forgetful God. You see a God who tells oceans where to stop and tells evil where to stop. You see a God who bleeds out for those you hurt for. You see a God who suffered first. I AM with you. And I have a plan here.” [JA]

He is God in the sorrow and in the injustice. He is God over the pain and the suffering. He is the God who brings us through the fire, to a place of abundance. [Psalm 66:12] Even in the grave, He is Lord.

And His greatness manifests even in the small.

"Joseph knew God deeply and trusted him. So much of his life was seemingly inconsequential, like scrubbing floors in Potiphar’s house. But to him, scrubbing a floor with excellence mattered to God.

Staring at a prison wall for years mattered because it was building the character of a man who would forgive the evil of his brothers, and who ultimately - and most importantly - would lead a country out of ruin.” [JA]

The smallest things done unto Him bring Him honor and glory.

Wiping runny noses and holding hands and feeding the baby porridge and learning names and singing along and listening and affirming every crayon-colored picture matters to God. Walking with a crowd of kiddos to the farm just because they want to see the crops that have sprung from the ground, want to name flowers and hold hands, matters to Him.

Your tiny moments matter to Him.

And I get so caught up in the injustice that they’ve been stuck in a prison for a long time where it seems nothing has budged in their lives. Kids run away and truckloads more get dropped off and mothers get turned away and children cry. And it can feel like He’s not winning; but my heart knows better. It can feel like we fight long and hard and see no fruit; but He reminds me hope not only whispers in the dark, it grows there. His grace finds me in these moments of children leading me hand-in-hand to gaze on His glory.

And I smile, fall into rest, as He reminds us of the truth that He is with us.

With you, whether you feel your role is significant or mundane.

The slow down is sacred. And He is present in your moments.

We can walk humbly and let him be God, who fills all in all, covers all our shortcomings and shows us how to love with excellence, how to do small things unto Him.

The brokenness cannot deny His goodness. We have to learn to live in the tension and claim His promises, which are truer than the facts of this temporary world. The suffering can’t make His redemption story any less true. In fact, the depth of “shouldn’t”s magnifies our hunger for the healing, the making right. We thirst for righteousness and justice. We hate what is evil (and we’re supposed to), because it is wrong and broken and this world is not our home.

So we cling to what is good. [Romans 12:9]

No matter how small they feel, we praise Him for every sighting of His Love at work.

We yearn for heaven to come, for Jesus to make all things new, and we embrace the fires He has ordained for us to walk through for His glory. We let Him take us by the hand and lead us through. We pray for His Spirit to claim our moments. And we PROCLAIM that He has all power and authority. He tells evil where to stop and His light is doing a work in the darkness.

[JA] : Jennie Allen, author of “Anything” and “Restless”

[on hope] : http://www.aholyexperience.com/2013/10/when-youre-missing-hope/

"Progress is man’s ability to complicate simplicity." - Thor Heyerdahl Sometimes we need to go back to simple faith and steady devotion.

- peterdwebb.tumblr.com

How is it that such a grave disparity persists in 2014, with all the wealth in the world? Why do we allow some women to suffer so needlessly because they happen to live in a country without the resources to care for them properly? This isn't a Uganda...

It’s what the fields of wheat tell you: You were made to grow and that only happens if you are fragile and brave enough to break.

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joy of the redeemed