Quote for the Night

"Not once in the next billion years to come will you regret that which you did not do for yourself because you cared for someone who was in need, someone who needed to grow in the ways of the Lord. What we will regret is that which we did not spend because we weren’t living as though the Samaritan was really coming back.

The Lord has entrusted to you more than enough to take care of the half-dead people who come our way. The question is, will you release what He’s given you?

Will you let it go?

Will you make the time?

Will you expend the energy?"

-Jon Courson

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Astounding

This devotional reminded me of the verses in Psalm 19.

"Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer." (vs.12-14)

It truly is "astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves!"

"HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ALONE WITH GOD?
"When they were alone, He expounded all things to His disciples." Mark 4:34 Our Solitude with Him. Jesus does not take us alone and expound things to us all the time; He expounds things to us as we can understand them. Other lives are parables. God is making us spell out our own souls. It is slow work, so slow that it takes God all time and eternity to make a man and woman after His own purpose. The only way we can be of use to God is to let Him take us through the crooks and crannies of our own characters. It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We do not know envy when we see it, or laziness, or pride. Jesus reveals to us all that this body has been harbouring before His grace began to work. How many of us have learned to look in with courage? We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves, it is the last conceit to go. The only One Who understands us is God. The greatest curse in spiritual life is conceit. If we have ever had a glimpse of what we are like in the sight of God, we shall never say - "Oh, I am so unworthy," because we shall know we are, beyond the possibility of stating it. As long as we are not quite sure that we are unworthy, God will keep narrowing us in until He gets us alone. Wherever there is any element of pride or of conceit, Jesus cannot expound a thing. He will take us through the disappointment of a wounded pride of intellect, through disappointment of heart. He will reveal inordinate affection - things over which we never thought He would have to get us alone. We listen to many things in classes, but they are not an exposition to us yet. They will be when God gets us alone over them." -Oswald Chambers

May the words of my mouth....the thoughts of my mind....the meditations of my heart.....the actions that I do....be pleasing in my Lord's sight.


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Loyal in Obedience

"Are we going to remain loyal in our obedience to God and go through the humiliation of refusing to be independent, or are we going to take the other line and say - I will not cost other people suffering? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but we shall be a grief to our Lord. Whereas if we obey God, He will look after those who have been pressed into the consequences of our obedience. We have simply to obey and to leave all consequences with Him.

Beware of the inclination to dictate to God as to what you will allow to happen if you obey Him."

-Oswald Chambers

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Flickr Blog and My Space Helmet Bubble

made it to the front of the Flickr blog for today for my bubble photo!
:)


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1 January 2010

"Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him."
Oswald Chambers

I am so looking forward to the future....to all that the Lord has in store for me in 2010....2009 was amazing, such a journey, full of ups and downs and surprises! I began the year in Cali and ended it here in my beloved Romania. Ironically enough, both January in Cali and December in Romania have been pretty warm...not as much snow as I had been promised by everyone, but that's ok, it has been beautiful none the less.

I spent the evening with friends last night just hanging out, eating and playing games, then watching the fireworks over the city from my friend's balcony. It was beautiful and memorable. This year has once again fit perfectly with Proverbs 16:9,

"A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."

My days have been full of my plans....and the Lord has taken those plans and molded them to His own...when I moved to Brasov in March, I never thought I would be working so much with teen Roma (gyspy) girls, but the Lord opened up that door and it has been great. It was also cool to see how the Lord answered my heart's desire to work with the elderly by giving me an elderly neighbor to spend time with!

Such a big part of being a missionary is relationships. I think people get it all wrong when they try to make the big part about a program....or doing doing doing....the Romanian people are a culture of "being"...they like to hang out, they want a friend, they want to know you are not just some American coming in with your ideas to "fix" the "poor Romanians" but that you are here to love them and be there for them. Being light and salt in the world is just that...being a friend, being there and having a real relationship with people.....something that will make a lasting impression.

Well anyway, it's a new year...2010...I can't believe that....I am not really a "goal" person...so I have no new year's resolutions....other than to continue following my Savior wherever He may lead me, to be obedient to His Word and to grow in my relationship with Him....I think everything else will find it's place in my life if I seek Him first.

Happy 2010 friends.

xo



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