Merry-go-round Faith

Our faith-walk can be like a merry-go-round. We seem to go around the same spiritual struggles, again and again- never getting sick of the turmoil and strife. Or so it seems. However, there comes a time, when we should get sick of sin and its inevitable consequences. The spirit world is not for the faint-of-heart or the immature for that matter. In order to be effective, I must first allow the Holy Spirit to deal with sin and procrastination in my own life. The Apostle Paul declares, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways" (I Corinthians 13:11). Leaving selfish motives and taking up the cross that Christ declares is each believer's duty calls for maturity.  II Timothy 1:6-7: urges us: " For this reason, ... to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you...[;] for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control." In essence, we are instructed to move in the power and in the authority of the Holy Spirit by allowing self-control to determine our decisions and then use power and love to defeat the evil one.  Ponder these Spirit-inspired words that God gave me one night:

Walk your own road to crucifixion

I cannot walk your road

Nor can you walk mine

But, when we meet in the middle

With Christ between us

Let us walk that road together

For the time we have, my friend

The dusty highways before us

The time before Emmaus

Lies in our path

An hour awaits- unsuspected

Maybe death or another road altogether

And we must separate

Not age, gender, or any

Inconsequential difference

Should keep us travelling

These hard-packed miles

Apart

Now

We are the voice of God that

Confuses the enemy

God wrapped in a flesh suit

He sees flesh and blood

But he hears the voice of God

Which makes him tremble

It makes the darkness peel back

Its layers of hidden depravity and wretchedness

We reach our hands and

Deliver the innocents and victims

Of Evil

The roar that erupts from our spirits

Filets the Principalities and Powers

Rattling the thrones upon which they sit

Unity does that

It is a tsunami in the spirit-realm

It causes nations to realign

It is the earthquake that upsets governments

It took the Nazi and Communist regimes down

It destroyed Rome

We are that powerful

We just don’t know it

Or believe it

We are the spittle that emits  from

The very mouth of Christ

Sent for transformative miracles

He takes this simple dust at our feet

Mixes it with the

sweet spray of His lips

and transforms it

It is power

to change the nations

 As we walk this path,

to our mutual and individual

crosses



A path of decision lies before us! Around and around or a straight path to the cross.



The Necessity of Faith

During my two weeks in Brazil, I taught English to missionaries, pastors, and future missionaries and leaders.  Yet, I was often taught by my students. Flavia,  one of the students at the school, shared her testimony during one of our English classes.  She began to asking what excuses do we give for not doing God's will. She shared how she, a single-parent of two, with little education, felt a call to the Muslim world. Given the cultural and linguistic barriers for this poor Brazilian young woman, the demands looked insurmountable. Yet, here she was studying English, finishing her second year of Bible school, and on her way to a conference on Islam in her own country of Brazil. Nothing is too hard for God. Read the poem and reflect on what is keeping you from faith in the call on your life. 

Fear does not nibble

Fear gobbles until

It Devours
All of  Your Shalom *
It Conquers all of your Victories
 
It is not content to merely subsist
It must needs be Consuming
Wholly and Entirely All Joy
Until what is left
………………………… is but a crumb
 
Refuse Fear
For it’s a snare
Choose Wisdom
For it’s L’ Chaim*
 
I have seen a man
Made so afraid
That his own shadow
Seemed a Giant
 
I have seen a weakling
Made a hero
Through Faith
 
I have seen fear make
Cowards of many
And children of men
And Bullies of  youth
 
I have seen fear
Handcuff possibilities
And kidnap Futures
 
Resist  Fear   
at all Costs
 
I have seen fear
Level a monarch
To his knees
And faith raise a beggar
To his throne
 
 
Fear comes to master You
To tame you
Ultimately, to enslave
and encage you
 
It encroaches like a true despot
It gives nothing back,
 but the dead.
It offers only crematoriums----
Wisps of smoke
Where once substantial lives existed!
 
Resist Fear!
 
For in your resistance,
You become strong.
 
Resist Fear
Scale its rocky crags
Reach deep into its terrible wonders
Excise its irrational power
And plant your feet on its summit
 
Or
Plummet to its Abyss
 
 
Shalom:  Hebrew for Peace- Wholeness experienced in the spirit, the soul, and the body
L’Chaim: Hebrew for Life
 

Return to the Mission Field- 12 years later

As I enter into  the city of Curitiba, in the region of  Paranha, Brazil,  it's hard to believe that 12 years have passed since I was here last. Many hours of prayers and walking have bathed this city since I left its bosom years ago. My heart rejoices in God's provision to return. When I left, there was only one Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base; now, there at least 4 bases. God certainly deals in multiplication. 

I have traveled through much of Europe, the Caribbean, North America, South America, and Israel. Yet here, the beautiful land, verdant and alive, fills my spirit. I see God's bounty and goodness in this place.

New friends and old places. Words of promises. I hear God  speak to my very soul: "Come and rest in Me."  And tiredness slips away from me like an old skin.  I stay in a little house on a hill. Everyday, I walk the hill or sit beneath the trees and listen to Him.  The lush green grass is a fresh carpet beneath my feet and the trees overhead provide an exhilarating canopy. I sing and pray in this quiet place.  I allow God to heal my pain and give me a new vision for working things out for me to go full-time on the mission-field. Africa is next, perhaps. Then from there to where?

As I prepare to leave teaching in one place and embark on teaching God's word wherever He leads, I know I must remain centered in His presence. When I first joined YWAM, I was given a life-verse- one, I hate to admit, that I immediately dismissed; since then Psalm 16:11 has become the banner for my life: "In your presence is the fullness of joy, and at your right hand, there are pleasures for evermore." I have experienced much in life in the way of worldly successes, but nothing compares to being still in His presence.

I pray that these entries will help you remain rooted and grounded in Christ as we seek to together to bring His kingdom in fuller measure here on the earth. I invite you on this journey as God completes what He began in me 12 years. Who knows where it will lead next? I've determined to follow the Shepherd where're He leads.

Your Fellow-traveler,

M.J.

It's been hard for so long,
but You are carrying me
when I hear nothing
when I see little
When I feel too much


You carry me

When I fall down
When I feel defeated
When I only want to give up
You carry me


From day to day
You stay the same
You carry me

You carry me


I don't know how
I stand up or walk
or how I can even crawl
but You lift me up


and You carry me

You carry me


This waiting room of trials
and expectations
beneath a load of cares
makes heavy feelings deepen
to despair




But even now O' Lord
with awe in my heart
I know You hear me and care
for You carry me

You carry me


Over the threshold into eternity
Carried in Your arms
for all to see


A beautiful Bride
I will always be