Holes

"You earn wages, only to put them in bags with holes in it" (Haggai 1:6).If one were to compare one's life to a purse or a bag, it might be an apt metaphor. Sometimes it feels as if there are holes in the bag and our very life seems to seep through the seams. Our life, like a  poorly-constructed bag seems to be shoddily put together and doesn't seem capable of holding all the pain, suffering, affliction, and difficulty that it seems forced to carry. So heavy are the weights, like rocks, that it appears the very fabric of our lives will fray and fall apart. That the handles of the bag will be ripped from its seam.Of course, one bag looks dissimilar in appearance from another. In fact, one person may carry what appears only to be a small wallet or daintily-made evening pouch; while others seem to be loaded down with a carpet bag or even something akin to a Samsonite valise. But all in all, we all have baggage. But what really matters is not the size of the suitcase but would we put in it. 

How does one go about making a life that resembles something of value, of tenacity, of persistence, of resilience, of strength? That is the question. So we ask that God do what He promised. He said in Ecclesiastes 3:7 that there is a time to tear but that there is also a time to mend. We ask that He will come in and mend, sew, and repair the broken places. We ask Him to fill our purses with love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, patience, faithfulness, joy, and self-control by His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). There are holes caused by all the wounding, brokenness, pain, and grief of life which cause our power to leak out. "Come now, let's settle this," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool." (Isaiah 1:18). We know the truth that the things that are broken need to be healed: "He is the healer of the brokenhearted. He is the one who bandages their wounds" Psalm 147:3. The holes need to be repaired. Let God sew them together to hold the treasures of His joy and power. Then, we will have something worthwhile to share with others.

Fellow Carpetbagger,
Mella

 

The Leper

 I once knew a leper
 And the leper, she was me
 Numbed by harsh realities
 And wasting away because of the enemy

 Bitterly isolated
 Waiting to be freed

 A foreigner
 Now, citizen of the kingdom from above

 Hasten quickly down
 To show fruit of the healing tree
 Granted by Israel's Messiah
 To one so bereft as me

 Once a leper
 Wasting away
 In my sin
 Destroyed from within and without
 Pain without end

 Bit by bit falling
 Asunder
 Appendages peeling away
This leperous disease of the sin nature
No longer has its sway

 It is Jesus who has saved me
 And brought true shalom to my soul
 None other would have touched me
 And undone sin's wrong

The Light

The truth be told I was having a rather difficult day and I was wondering why am I here in South Africa? The seriousness and the bleakness of the situation surrounding me was almost like a blanket of heaviness. I’d just finished ministering in Riverview and decided, as I dropped a couple of the kids who helped me from Avian Park at their homes, to do some home visits. As I did so a number of children began running after mescreaming :”Miss Mella! Miss Mella! Can I have a Bible?” They followed me up the road and I stopped my car and began to teach them. While I was in the process of teaching them, a young boy approached me, to ask me for a Bible. I admit as was a bit incredulous and so I said to him:“Why do you want the Bible?” He said he wanted to study the word of God. I said: “Can you read English?” And he responded that he could. 

So I opened up the Bible to a passage and he began to read about Jesus, though bein g in the very nature God humbledhimself and took on the position of a servant. I asked him if he knew what it meant in very nature God. He said it meant that Jesus was equal to God and even though he was equal to God he came and served man. I was astounded. This showed not only comprehension buta depth of understanding and an ability to put into simplistic words the very deep truth about who Christ is. As he was speaking, there was the palpable presence of the Holy Spirit and it was clear to me that this child André was anointed to teach. Right then and there I gave him the Bible and proceeded to lay hands on him. Not that he would be anointed, because he was already anointed, but that he would use the giftings that Jesus had placed in him to begin to teach the little ones that were gathered around his feet. I am acutely aware that I cannot do all things in Avian Park, and that just as Jesus had those who ministered beside him, I  too need those who will take the teaching and the truth of the word of God into Avian Park. The darkness under which I had been laboring immediately lifted and I knew it was for this reason I was doing what I was doing. 

Despite all of the disappointments, challenges, and hardships, the light of the glory that was present in this child brought light to me. I knew that the Greater One, that Christ had chosen André and others in Avian Park and in Riverview and gifted th to share His truth and love. He had already called them and anointed them for this purpose and it was by job to get teaching and the Word of God into their hands and hearts so that they would be empowered to do what they where called to do and to live out their destinies. And I had hope once again that the light would overcome the darkness. That the light would shine in the darkness and the darkness would not comprehend it. And the light was in a boy, a simple child, standing in the streets of a shanti town called Avian Park.

Your Own Two Feet

Many times, I am tempted to reduce myself to my weakest area, to define myself by my failures. In the Bible, we see that there are nameless people who are identified only by their lack, their sin: the man born blind, the woman caught in the act of adultery, the foolish rich young ruler, the prostitute carrying the alabaster jar. All of these nameless people represent our own lives today. It is easy to allow what is broken, what is wounded within us, to define who we are, and so by doing to remain stuck in that brokenness. 

In order to enter the destiny and plan that God has for us, we must by all means assume a new role. A role not defined by our brokenness, our woundedness, our sin, our illness. Obviously, we acknowledge we are broken, wounded, that we were in sin, but we can't stop there. In order, to move past that label, past those established parameters that have defined and limited us, that have served as boundaries and as prisons for who we could become, we have to submit ourselves to the touch of Jesus.

Submit, I use that word carefully, because many times Jesus has to ask us: "do you wanna get well?" Some of us, me included, can be so satisfied in our brokenness. We like the mat where we are lying and we don't want anyone to tell us to get off of it. That mat, that security blanket, that set of crutches, that support our emotional lameness; we don't want to get rid of it. It's comfortable, it's, as my mother would call it, our pet demon, or as in the words of Golem "our precious." And we don't want anyone touching our Precious. 
Standing upon your own 2 feet, whether than having someone carry you, assuming responsibility for your own physical health, whether than accepting hand-outs is all rather frightening when you get down to it. So is it any wonder than many people determine that it's safer, and just a whole lot more comfortable, to remain broken?
But if we're more to be than the nameless individuals that pass through the pages of the Bible, we have to press forward into Jesus. We have to touch the hem of his garment, so that His healing can flow from us to him. So that we can put down our soiled garments, lay aside our soiled mat, leave the crutches behind us and walk into new life. 
Standing Upright,
MJ

Little engine

There once was a little engine, who could, at least she thought she could. Many times she moved much like a locomotive, so quick, so speedily down the track. Then one day, she came upon a derailment. A piece of the track had been dislodged, and in her hurry, she didn't recognise it. And as her wheels speed down the track, she suddenly found herself in mid-air, wondering how she could ever land safely upon the track again.



During that burst of sudden airborne flight, Grace was given to her. Divine calm, and a peace, that she would have never known had it not been for the derailment. Life has its unexpected realities. Sort of like that little train's unsuspected flight lesson. But if we are quiet and still long enough to sense God's presence, those still moments can lead to a greater treasure than the one we thought we were heading toward speeding so recklessly, carelessly and casually on our way to who knows what or where.

We then exchange our 'could' for His 'can.' And we soon learn that what we can do through Christ is much greater that we could do in our own strength. Jesus said it best in John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." 
On Track,
MJ




Sent from my iPhone

The Princess and the Pea

Holy Spirit can be like that irritating little pebble at the heel of your shoe that keeps grounding and digging until to we just get to that point of telling the truth. It is His nature as the Spirit of Truth to lead us into all truth, but many times, we are hesitant to speak the truth in love to ourselves and to others. So, we begin a process of self-deception, of keeping secrets, of covering sins and simply lying and deluding ourselves. If we continue in this process, we will likely end up with a completely seared conscious that is described in Ephesians 4: "We will be given over to a reprobate mind which will no longer allow us to distinguish between truth and lies."

I have found that, Holy Spirit is an equal opportunity exposer. He will expose my sin; He will expose others. This fact is an important idea for me, because many times when I'm convicted I want to point fingers at the other person, to say he is also to blame. But because I know that Holy Spirit is a Person of justice, a Person of equity, I can trust that the same Holy Spirit, that is convicting my heart in the ways that it needs to be convicted, is also convicting his. Now, obviously it's my choice and that individual’s choice whether we choose to get to the heart of the place of repentance.

Some people are incredibly resilient to the truth. They can walk around with a boulder-sized rock in their shoe, and it doesn't seem to bother them. However, I've recently learned it, that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit isn't digging, isn't poking, and isn’t pressing them to repent. It's just that the heel where that rocks sits has become so callous and hard, that it's resistant to the truth. Now, that doesn't give me an excuse to become hard and callous to the truth or to point a finger and say "I'm waiting for that person to repent; when he repents, I repent." No, I repent as soon as I feel that gentle digging irritating pebble that I know is keeping me from being levelled in my walk with God. That is keeping me separate from His best for me. That's keeping my prayers bouncing off the ceiling and coming right down because I'm walking in disobedience and unforgiveness.

So, in the end, Holy Spirit is an equalizer whether he comes as a small pebble, a gigantic rock, or even a large mountain that people don't see, He still comes whether people receive Him or not. I'd like for him to come with just the strength and size of a small pea so that being the princess that I am, I recognise his presence.

Smoothing Away Callouses,

MJ

Lessons from Brazil

The shoe is now on the other foot. There is a team here now from Curitiba, Brazil, and its curiously ironic that when it was time for me to do my Discipleship Training School (DTS) Outreach as part of Youth with a Mission's (YWAM) program it took place in that city. 

 
At that time, in 1998, there was only one base; now there are six. In 2011, I returned to Curitiba to teach at the English Language School serving in the place of my former DTS roommate. Some members of our team were Brazilians who had completed the English Language School at the Richmond, Virginia base.

Our team was multinational composed of Americans, Brazilians,  Swiss, and Dutch, and because of that we had an advantage over this small team that is now in South Africa. I would often share in English and then members of my team would translate for me into Portuguese. But these individuals are now in South Africa, where English  is normally spoken as well as Afrikaans, so the dilemma that they have in reaching the people is more acute. In essence, someone needs to translate first into English and then into Afrikaans. 

This group modeled service by washing feet and loving on the
least of these.  The translators, minister director, and assistants,
many and diverse, served
 alongside of them.

This small group of four girls and four boys really impressed me as they move outside of their comfort zone and are ready to create unity in the body of Christ and bring joy to God's people, especially to the little children in the ministry where I work in Avian Park and River -view. It's got me to thinking about community, about access, about moving pass one's comfort zone, about unity and the purpose of God. And I see myself standing in Curitiba before a large church audience and my Brazilian sister, Karina translating, as I share God's love with another nationality and a far different place.Who would have thought it, that one day I would be the one hosting a team of the nation, the city, the missionary base, that first welcomed me?

God literally wastes nothing. If we've experienced it, we can expect to see it again. 

That English school where I taught in place of my roommate Licia, while she was pregnant, also came back to be a help. I ended up serving as the pronunciation teacher at the English Language School at this YWAM base in Worcester, South Africa.  By the way, she had learned English while a student at the Richmond ESL school as well.


And we know that all things work for the good of those who are called according to God's purposes (Romans 8:28). Some water; some plant, but God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6).

A Haunting Tale

  Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between the towns of Mizpah  and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (the stone of help or thus far God has been in our help)
 (I Samuel 7:12)

Because of undealt with issues, unmet needs and unhealed hurts it may feel sometimes as if one is carrying around a ghost. Like the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, we too have three ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future. The ghosts of our regrets about past decisions, tensions about present circumstances, and fears about unrevealed futures can lead to restless nights and sleepless ones as well. In the midst of all this uncertainty and unrest, God comes and speaks, "Peace, be still." But ultimately like Ebenezer, we must need face the past, we must need face our unmet expectations, unfulfilled longings.

In an earlier part of the story, Ebenezer so longed to marry a beautiful young woman, but his brokenness and wounded-ness inhibited that relationship and ultimately destroyed it. It is for reason also that his relationship with his associate, Bob, also goes badly. It must have seemed to Ebenezer that wherever he turned there was loss and a sense of incompleteness. So he hid behind any wall that he could find. In his case, he hid behind money and success. Isaiah 30:12 talks about building walls that eventually collapse upon one and leaves one with nothing but ruins; only scraps of building material providing little enough to hold a cold drink of water.

Ebenezer was a keen example of that. It's rather ironic that his name means "Rock of God" or "Strength of The Lord." But he trusted in his own wisdom, in his own abilities; he did not lean and rely and trust in God. For that reason, everything he feared, just as Job said, had come upon him (Job 3:25). He lived a miserable life surrounded by emotional and spiritual squalor, isolated and separated by people, eaten up and destroyed by the very things that he coveted. His life of greed created a cell wall around him. He became imprisoned by the very things he cherished more than people and was almost destroyed by them, except for the three ghosts.

I wonder if God allows us to be haunted for a season at least or may be just for a night by our own ghosts of regrets so that we too, like Ebenezer, can take that haunting to heart, repent and find life once again. When we make idols of our money, accomplishments, or even families, be sure that God loves us enough to allow us to experience some sleepless nights so that we can turn our eyes and hearts back to the One who alone is the Mountain of Our Salvation. As we reflect on 2014, may we also realize that all our help has come from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1),


Sleepless,
MJ

The Royal Dry cleaner

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27).

Holy Spirit is the Royal Dry Cleaner. So, it's his job to remove every spot, blemish, and wrinkle in order to prepare us for the second coming of Christ. See Jesus is coming for a bride who is spotless. 

And as the royal and official dry cleaner,  it's Holy Spirit's duty to make us ready as a fit vessel to wear the royal diadem and the pure white linen for the righteous acts of the saints.

But, how does he do this? David said: that God desired truth inward parts. That's where the Holy Spirit comes on the scene. He is the spirit of truth, and it's his job to reveal wherever there is deception, wherever there is falsity, wherever there is any spot, blemish or wrinkle that does not reflect the nature of Christ. We are encouraged to take captive every thought that exalts itself above our knowledge of Christ. So He shines his divine spotlight on the broken places, on the blemishes, that He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

His truth puts out of doors, the fear, the anxiety, the lies of the enemy, and in their place, we have the cleansing power of Christ's blood and the truth of his word on that spot, that blemish. That wrinkle is ironed out and is removed and bit by bit, He prepares the righteous linen. He prepares us to be the Bride of Christ to become the inhabiting place of God's presence to come to rule and reign with him.

I haven't always understood the purpose and the ministry of Holy Spirit. But for the first time in my life, I have a personal intimate understanding of his working of his presence, of his purpose here on earth. which is to prepare the bride to make her ready. Every step toward healing, every dealt-with issue, every healed hurt, every wound sutured shut, is a blemish, a spot and a wrinkle that has been removed- another step in the preparation of making me ready and making you ready 

to receive our husband Jesus Christ. It really is a simple assignment: The one that takes a great deal of patience, kindness, and faithfulness. Holy Spirit is ultimately a gentleman who handles our dirty laundry with care and concern.

Gone to the Cleaners,
MJ

The Woman doth protest too much!

If asked whom I resembled in the Bible, likely the least person I would mention would be Saul. But recently as the Holy Spirit has been dealing with me, I recognize that there is some of Saul in me. 1st Samuel 15 tells the story of God asking Saul to destroy the Amalekites. In 1^st Samuel 15:3 to go to attacks and destroy everything to that belongs to them,  do not spare them, put to death men, women, and children and cattle sheep, camels, and donkeys. However, Saul did not follow instructions; instead he captured, rather than destroyed God’s enemies. Instead of killing the terrorist king Agog, he spared his life and saved the best of the livestock to sacrifice to God.

 He believed that his ideas were somehow better than God’s. But God rebukes hi in verses 22, “Do I delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices in as much as obeying my voice. To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” I have been guilty of this kind of misguidance, to say the least. Unfortunately, I have cared more about what people have thought, put a greater impact of being a people-pleaser. Now, I have followed instructions, I have been obedient; I have done what I was told, but in my heart of hearts, I am like Saul. These people that you gave me- they wanted- that was always Saul’s excuse for not following instructions. The people, the people, the people.  And, that’s me. What do people say? What do the people think? And God is saying, I am more concerned about what I think, what I say, what I required of you.  Hmm. If I am listening to God’s voice, He has made it clear that what He has asked for is obedience. He didn’t ask for my opinion. He asked me to live beyond whatever is rooted wound in me that makes people’s opinions for more inflated and valuable than his command to simply follow instructions. See, man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart, and that becomes particularly frightening because my  motivations are revealed for the crass, base things that they sometimes are- they need for man’s approval.

Abounding Like David

The Word of God says that the fear of man is a snare. We can trust in chariots and horses,  but if  we fail to put our trust in God., our trust is in vain. Men are unreliable, God states that He is not a man, thus He cannot lie. When  I don’t choose to rest in God, but put my trust in value and esteem and worth in the hands of men, I trust myself to marauders and killers. 

I have learned about the folly of Saul, of how he sought to please the people and in so doing displeased God, and in the end, his life was destroyed. His legacy was relinquished and what he thought that he could gain from people, he never got. But in the example of David, a man after God’s own heart, as he was purified, refined, and received wisdom, God caused him to ride upon the heights of the land. God gave him favor and an everlasting legacy as God’s king and the peoples’ king- the very things Saul wanted but failed to receive because of his disobedience and ultimately, he was destroyed because of His brokenness.

God promises that when our ways please Him, He will make even our enemies to be at peace with us. He gives us favor and causes us to be the head and not the tail. To be above and not beneath. He goes before us and behind us- hemming us in with His favor, and no good thing will He withhold from those who love and seek Him.  He only asks that we seek him and his kingdom first- that we love Him with our all heart, soul, and mind and love our neighbor as ourselves.

We must seek Him and his kingdom, not accolades and acceptance by people. We must realize that we are his servants, his obedient servants, and that is what He values obedience more than sacrifice, listening and obeying more than the blood of goats and rams, or whatever type of sacrifice we can create. We can do nothing without Him for it is in Him that we live, move, and have all our being. Through Christ, we shall do valiantly, for it is he shall tread down the enemy. We make progress of the mountains of our responsibilities as He enables our feet to go up like hind’s feet on the steeps. He goes before us and we speak grace to every mountain. He brings truth ad revelation so that we can go forward. He causes grace to abound to us so that at all  times, in all things, having all that we need, we can abound in every good work.

Seeking His approval most,
MJ

Now, You Realize

 

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come (John 16:13).

 

The Holy Spirit is the Epiphany Giver. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth, but exactly how does He do that. In my case, the Holy Spirit will allow me to experience something and then quietly reveal information and understanding that I have lacked.  Often I have walked a road, then suddenly an epiphany occurs. For example, I have come to understand the most of the negative images I have projected onto other people as holding are really my own true feelings and attitudes that I hold against myself. How did I learn this lesson?  Simply, by allowing Holy Spirit to bring healing and balance in my emotions. David said that God desired truth in the inmost parts of our being (Psalm 51:6), and Jesus said that the Holy Spirit leads us into such truth.

Here’s an ordinary, but meaningful example for me. I had been self-medicating for three weeks trying to get rid of a cough and bronchitis, at least what I thought was bronchitis. Holy Spirit had gently, through a friend of mine, told me that I might have a secondary infection and should go to the doctor. I, being of a homeopathic mindset, decided to continue medicating myself, thinking I was getting better. I was coughing less and sleeping through the night.

What I didn’t recognize was that I indeed had a secondary infection. After I went to the doctor, and received corticosteroids, pain medication, cough syrup, and antibiotics, three days in , I was still suffering. Holy Spirit gently queried to me, as he often does, you realize you have walking pneumonia? That is the way He does things. It is not I told you so or why don’t you listen; why don’t you pay attention; it’s you realize, don’t you?

Now, you realize.  In His quiet matter of fact way, not overbearing or condescending, after I have made some healthy progress, Holy Spirit comes alongside of me and says, now, you realize ? He is the  Epiphany-Giver; without Him, none of us can realize anything. We will keep going our own stubborn ways, doing our own stubborn things and failing miserably at life. We will project all of our pain onto others, assume that the problem rests in someone else’s bosom, and  it is really the brokenness that is in our own hearts...

That is why I love the Holy Spirit. He gently reveals the truth and the healing that he has been doing all along in me. Sometimes, it is at night, but always when I am quiet and when I least expect it that I hear his gently voice say, Now, you realize. And when I hear those words, I know that another lesson is almost complete and  more truth has entered my heart.

 

Becoming a Better Listener,

 MJ

 

.

The Woman doth protest too much!

If asked whom I resembled in the Bible, likely the least person I would mention would be Saul. But recently as the Holy Spirit has been dealing with me, I recognize that there is some of Saul in me. 1st Samuel 15 tells the story of God asking Saul to destroy the Amalekites. In 1^st Samuel 15:3 to go to attacks and destroy everything to that belongs to them,  do not spare them, put to death men, women, and children and cattle sheep, camels, and donkeys. However, Saul did not follow instructions; instead he captured, rather than destroyed God’s enemies. Instead of killing the terrorist king Agog, he spared his life and saved the best of the livestock to sacrifice to God.

 

 He believed that his ideas were somehow better than God’s. But God rebukes him in verses 22, “Do I delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices in as much as obeying my voice. To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” I have been guilty of this kind of misguidance, to say the least. Unfortunately, I have cared more about what people have thought, put a greater impact of being a people-pleaser.

Now, I have followed instructions; I have been obedient. I have done what I was told, but in my heart of hearts, I am like Saul. These people that you gave me- they wanted- that was always Saul’s excuse for not following instructions. The people, the people, the people.  And, that’s me. What do people say? What do the people think? And God is saying, I am more concerned about what I think, what I say, what I require of you.

Hmm. If I am listening to God’s voice, He has made it clear that what He has asked for is obedience. He didn’t ask for my opinion. He asked me to live beyond whatever is rooted wound in me that makes people’s opinions far more inflated and valuable than his command to simply follow instructions. See, man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart, and that becomes particularly frightening because my  motivations are revealed for the crass, base things that they sometimes are- the need for man’s approval.

Scrutinizing,
MJ

On the Other Side

Some of us wonder, when, if ever, we will receive a reward. First, we must understand that there are those of us who received their reward on this side and then there are the other-siders. Yes, I know that other-siders is not a real word.  But I use it to express the idea that some people spend all their lives without ever seeing the fruit of their efforts.  It is easy to get discouraged if you're one of these people. Luckily, Jesus makes a promise to those of us who have to wait to see the reward of their labor. Jesus promises that although some people's good works are apparent while they are still living, He reminds us that some people's good works and deeds will not be revealed until Judgment Day. Paul also reminds us that "the sins of some people are obvious, leading them to certain judgment. But there are others whose sins will not be revealed until later.  In the same way, the good deeds of some people are obvious. And the good deeds done in secret will someday come to light. (I Timothy 5:24-25).

So what does one do if you are one of the other-siders? Will one continue to work joyfully when one doesn't see one's reward? Well, it's really about focus: focus on the reward or the Rewarder?
Why I am doing what I am doing? Is it for the praise of man or the praise of God? In the end, "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad" (I Corinthians 5:10).

Galatians 1:10 says if I'm serving man then I could not be a servant of God When we do not understand this principle, we easily become disillusioned and disappointed with God in life. We ask questions such as: why do bad things happen to good people? But the real question is about payout. Some people get paid in advance in this life and others get paid in eternity. This truthful enigma answers the same dilemma about why some people get punished for evil while others seem to go unpunished? Again, the principal of the other-side provides the answer. In the end, we must trust God's ultimate sovereignty and wisdom in how He metes our both punishment and reward. We can only do so if we trust in the inherent goodness of God's nature.

Jesus told us plainly that there would be those who would be rewarded for both good or evil in this life and others who would not see their recompense, except in the life to come. So, why are we so stressed? Do we really think that God would defraud us? That God is not fair? Did He really is asleep at the wheel? He is simply a Divine watchmaker who started everything, but won't take care of us till the end?

Great news. God is not asleep at the wheel. Every tear we shed has been saved and written in His book (Psalm 56;8), so how can He forget everything we have done for Him?  Hebrews 6:10 says God is not just; he will not forget our work and the love we have shown as we continue to help his people.

I want to end with Jesus' own words as an encouragement:

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.“ So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,  so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matt. 6:1-4).

 

Holding on for the Other Side,

MJ

 

Jesus said, “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener… Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me” John15:1-4

What does it mean to be an ornamental grapevine? It means that one has had all the life bred out of it. One is merely decorative. No birds to feast upon its ripe fruit. It is stately, a pretty adornment, but little more. Little to no maintenance is needed to maintain its respectful pose, but there is no life. Yes, the messiness of dropping grapes, the sour smell of rotten fruit, and the nasty poo of those pesky birds all averted. But, something more important and precious is also lost.

Jesus made a promise of bearing fruit, just looking good is not enough. Imagine a bowl of juicy ripe- looking fruit. Oops, it is made of wax. How disappointing. So the poser vine is the same way. It looks beautiful but it has no fruit- see that comes from living in a world of messy birds which poach, steal, and peck at one’s soul. It requires wrestling, struggle, transparency, vulnerability, and confrontation . To be real.

Here is a down-to-earth example- one that I understand from over twenty years of teaching in a variety of educational settings: you see a twenty-veteran teacher and you think:  Ah, I will benefit from the accumulated wisdom and life experience that this sage one possesses. Then, one day you enter this person’s classroom to find that the quiet and order you believed were the skills of a well-managed environment, were merely a result of a no-contest fight with the students; you discover the students are asleep, heads atop desks; others are making out; the rest are blissfully comforted by social media. So much for the lesson. 

This teacher has decided not to enter the fray. The teacher remains unaffected by life. The teacher remains stoic in the midst of the pain and misery and burdens of his charges. No attempt to discipline, mentor, redirect, or challenge is discharged. This disaffected teacher is content to poise and appear engaged- all the while dead. There is no grasping and pulling firebrands from the pit of hell where they are tumbling; no vicious tears and cries of desperation escape his lips in intercession.

But by remaining outside the fight, no growth can happen. No pruning can be done, for there is nothing to prune. One only prunes a vine to bear more fruit, and this one is bearing no fruit.  It matters not where this vine is planted: concrete, sand, or moist soil, it will produce no fruit. It will command no harvest. So, today, I must ask myself which do I prefer: to merely look beautiful or to be effective.

Blessed is the teacher who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  That one will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. That one does not fear when heat comes; that one’s leaves are always green. That one has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7)

Confession: My delight is in God’s word and upon it I meditate constantly. I trust and have confidence in God. Therefore, I do not fear hardship. I am resilient, during troubles, storms, and calamities. I continue to bear fruit that remains and yield the fruit of the Holy Spirit (i.e., peace, joy, gentleness, kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness, and longsuffering- Galatians 5:22-23)

 I am planted in the moist soil system of a praying group of family, friends, ministry partners, and a stable church family to help me remain balanced and sold as my roots  gather life from the river of life which provides joy and peace in God’s presence.

Bearing Fruit,
MJ

Sneaky Thief

The Sneaky Thief

It has been awhile since I have seen with the eyes of the Spirit. I feel rather sad to admit that, but it is the truth. A few days ago, as I travelling into Worcester from a farming community, I witnessed a very agile young man climb the equivalent of a two-story truck in order to retrieve some green apples. In actuality, he was stealing them. As the truck driver drove on, completely unaware of his uninvited visitor, the young man proceeded to throw the apples out on to the street corners to the passersby who readily accepted them and asked for more. At first, I was a bit flummoxed by it all. I thought:  my goodness that’s a rather dangerous, albeit bold move, and all for some green apples.

How is he going to get down? was my next thought. The drivers in South Africa, at least in my understanding, are notoriously bad about not considering a stop sign, a stop sign; it is more of a hesitation, pregnant pause, or perhaps even not that.  And even the best drivers of those big wheelers find it difficult to come to a complete stop, without lurching back. In fact, that is what a complete stop represents-one has to stop, and the forward motion is contradicted by a backwards lurch. I begin to wonder what would be the outcome of the surreptitious thief.

When I first related the story to a friend of mine, a white South Afrikaner, she put into words my initial thought: only in Africa would something like this happen. But, let me end the story. Miraculously, the driver stopped  at the stop sign, all without lurching back, and the agile young man got out of the truck, all while holding a bag of apples with which he had absconded. Amazing!

At first, my thoughts were simply- he’s blatant enough, and really pretty foolish, to try such a stunt.  But later at night, I began to reflect that the supernatural had to really have occurred for the young man to leave the site without injury or incident.

First of all, the truck driver stopped – almost unheard of in South Africa. Second, of all, he stopped at the stop sign, not beyond it. Third of all, he stopped completely still and no lurching. Fourth of all, he stopped long enough so that although the young man had problems getting all of his stolen loot, the apples, in his bag , (they were literally dropping them back into the cart in his haste to exit the moving vehicle), he somehow managed to get his stolen wares clumsily into his bag and was still able to descend the two- story truck, climb down its sides, all without injury.

 The miracioulous. Then the supernatural.

Part II

 Wait a minute.  What if God showed me this whole farcical scene so that I could pray? So, I began to take my spiritual authority and declared just as he, the thief, had surreptitiously entered that truck, that God would use this self-same stealth weapon, this thief, to surreptitiously enter closed- nations. God would use this young man to steal souls’ from the devil’s kingdom. I begin to declare God’s will and purposes for his life. You might wonder why you haven’t been doing this before. I have been seeing things in the natural, which admittedly is rather sad.

 Back when I did my DTs in 1998, I was given the worst DTS of all times- I had to pick up used condoms, unopened bottles of beer, cigarettes, and other horridly disgusting items. During that season, Holy Spirit instructed to pray over every lip, every body part that had touched those items. Including dirty diapers. Somewhere between those beginning years in missions to this last stint, I had a bit of spiritual anemia- I forgot that God has a calling and purpose on people’s lives even while they’re being used by the enemy mightily.

I am sure that my frustration with the way South Africa does not work blinded my ability to see that God’ has a plan and destiny for the ne’er-do-wells, vagrants, and the infidels that camp out on the streets. But I bless God that He opened my eyes again, and I felt the strength of the anointing, power, and authority as I prayed for this young man. And I am certain that I will see that thief in heaven. He will no longer be known as the thief of green apples, but the thief of millions of souls, in Jesus name.

Days of Our Lives

Everyone wants to be remembered. No one wants to think of their live as  a story that is merely written in the dust of time simply to be forgotten. However, Jeremiah 17: 13 says that those who do not trust in their Lord are ultimately writing a story that will soon be forgotten: one that is written in the dust and sands of times.

LORD, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust.

In order to have a memorable a story, a story that leaves an inheritance for others, one simply can not afford to live for one's self. One must live beyond the pages of the banality and mundaneness of life. To escape the meager offerings of everyday existence, one must collaborate with a Being with a higher purpose and greater initiative. We must leave off the writing to God. We must surrender the pen to His hand, to His plan, to His foresight; in other words, we leave our story to His divine script and rest in the promise that what He does with the pages of our lives will have  meaningful value in the present and eternal value after we die.

Who best to write our story than the author of our lives? God writes every day of our lives, from the moment of conception to our dying breath: "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:16).   Psalm 56:8 testifies that "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book."

No one wants to think that their existence has no value- that they are simply dis-remembered once they are placed into the ground, once dust has returned to dust. One wants to believe that one's days have had significance and worth and value, but how can one be sure that is the case, how can one leave a lasting legacy? Simply, by resting and trusting in the truth that God's plan and hope for a future which He promises in Jeremiah 29:11 is a reality.  It  is not a bogus promise on which He has no intention of keeping.

My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter; I speak the things which I have made touching the king: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. (Psalm 45:1). The psalmist is able to proclaim that God's praises are the only things he needs to inscribe, for he truly believes that goodness and mercy shall follow him all the days of his life as He dwells in His King's presence (Psalm45:1).

The psalmist is not in denial: Indeed, You have made my days as hand breadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah.(Psalm 39:50. Selah means pause and think on these things. He is inviting the reader to recognize the brevity of life and its indeterminate length. All that remains of consequence is what we have done for others and our God.

A striking story of Jesus finds him stooping low one day to write in the dust (John 8:6). Some people think that He was cataloguing a list of the offender's sins- those hypocrites who dared stoned a woman for committing adultery, but who conveniently left the man alone. But what if Jesus was writing done all the hopes and dreams that the Creator had for these men, for that solitary woman; what if He were chronicling the story of their lives in the dust?

Adam in the Hebrew means earth. From the earth we have come and to earth our bodies return for  awhile, but our souls, the eternal parts of us live on. Our lives can tell a precious story if we surrender the pen to our Creator.

Still Being Written,

MJ

The Miserable Glorious Donkey

The Tale of the Miserable Glorious Donkey

We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what’s enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the longer we become” (Romans 8:25).

We continue to shout our praises even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate p[patience in us and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do net” (Romans 5:3-4)

A story is told about a pitiful donkey that one day fell into an open well. The donkey was merely traipsing about as was its routine until one hoof connected with a large stone, and tumble after tumble it landed in a deep well.

When his master, the farmer, came upon the downtrodden creature held captive in the well’s mouth, he tried immediately to free him, but after numerous hours without success, he decided to call his neighbors and friends for additional assistance in the hopes of freeing the miserable unfortunate creatures, all without success.,

Seeing that the donkey was old and almost infirm, he reckoned that making the well his tomb was his only option. He could always get another donkey and dig another well, but another back, one simply couldn’t get.  So he now decided to enlist the help of his neighbors and friends as cohorts in the sad burial and funeral of the poor animal.

After hours of listening to it piteous moans and braying, it seemed cruel not to put the animal out of its torturous existence. So, one by one, shovels of dirt fell upon the broken animal’s back. At first, the creature knew not what to make of the earth landing in clods and lumps upon it, but soon realized that the dirt was meant to harm, not, help its estate.

Brought back to his senses, the donkey began to shake the dirt from its dusty coat.  Still, more and more gravel landed upon its already injured body and soiled his coat. This too, it shook off again and again. Bit by bit the dirt began to fill the well, and with each shovel-full, the donkey would take a step up and closer to the well’s mouth. Eventually, he emerged triumphant from his make-shift tomb while the stupefied neighbors and his master shook their heads in utter disbelief.

I fully understand and commiserate with the plight of that donkey. I admit that at times I must shake off disappointments and disillusionments hourly, certainly, every day like the donkey.  Yet, like the donkey, I refuse to give up, to merely play dead and roll over. Life will attempt to suffocate you with deferred dreams, broken promises, and failed and relationships and commitments. It is up to us to shake of the fistful of debris, even when the next second, your back is once again covered in grime. It becomes wearying, but shake we must if we are not to be overwhelmed with despair and simply collapse under the weight of disappointments.

 

Faith is not simply a patience that passively suffers until the storm is past. Rather, it is a spirit that bears things- with resignation, yes, but above all, with blazing, serene hope- Corazon Aquino

 

Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken form you- Oscar Wilde

 

I've got life on a string

Some people appear to be simply stringing it together, life that is, as they go alone. They have no plan or course set. Instead, they merely amble through their days.  God promises that a man plans his way, but God directs his path (Proverbs 16:9). The Bible declares that there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death (Proverbs 14:21).

Some people seem to take great joy in stringing others along, like collecting fish on the end of  a line, they collect mates, kids, and possessions with little thought to the effect that they have on these persons. They merely focus on meeting their needs in the present moment.

You have heard the expression, stringing people on; it means to cheat, lie, and feed people false hope. Thank goodness God never does that to us. He doe not see us as a list of possessions that proves His value and worth. He doesn't make promises which He has no intention of ever keeping. No, He pulls us tight and draws us with the strings of love kindness: "I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love!" (Hosea 11:4.). He declares,"The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness" (Jeremiah 31:3).

Instead God considers us pearls, a treasured possession, which He places lovingly around His neck to display His glorious splendor to the world: "For you are a people holy onto the Lord our God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the nations" Deut.7:6). We are his treasured possession" (Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:12; 26:18; Psalm 135:3; Malachi 3:7).


Some people seem to have a string of hits in their live versus the one-hit wonder. No matter, in the end, what counts is to whom you have attached the end of your rope.


Held by Ties of Love,
MJ

The Simple String

Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. (Eccl. 4:9-12)

What ability does the simple string possess? It has so many uses. It can keep items that are destined to fall apart from doing so, at least for a season. It brings two disparate parts together. I have seen it hold a car together. Leave those strings untied, and a frightful stumble is likely to happen as one walks about. 

The ubiquitous string. A jack of all trades, but it can so easily be misapplied. When you think of a string, probably the first thing that comes to mind is your shoe. We are taught from early on that independence resides in our ability to come out of the Velcro-strap shoe and tie our own laces. When we achieve this feat of individualism, we are quite proud. Likely more proud than we would have been if we had learned our alphabet. A singular triumph, the tying of one’s shoes reaches in our minds at least, past that of saying, “Mama” or ‘Papa.” But the above passage implies life is not done alone, but in community.

Genesis 38 talks about a scarlet thread; Rahab used it to show the Israelite spies where she lived, and thus spare her life and that of her family. Sometimes, our lives seem to be tied with a scarlet thread of shame. We seem to be damaged and cannot escape our past. Much like Esau felt I am sure. When he came from the womb, he was tied with a thread to show that he was the firstborn, but in the end, he lost his inheritance and the blessing (Genesis 25:21). Isaac was the child of promise, but when Abraham bundled together the wood for sacrifice, it likely seemed that his future was not assured. What He needed to remember was that God was ultimately holding the strings. No matter who or what appears to pulling the strings in our lives so to speak, God will always have the final say: Not sickness or disease.
 

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37-39).

I have a  not-so simple question for you: what string is holding your life together? Is it a solid string, three-cord stranded; how is the knot tied? And frankly, who tied it and to whom is it tied? Are you willing on wealth, 501K, an inheritance, a good education, a well-placed match of a marriage, to get you through life?

Any pioneer worth his salt refused to go on the trail without salt and string. If you are on the trail without either on those two, stop, turn around and start over. Make sure that you have tied yourself securely to the immovable Rock, Christ. Like a hiker scaling mountain, you need a sure hope that when you tumble, the one holding the other end will keep you from falling off the cliff's side. No one but God can make such a promise. He has told us that He will make feet like hind's feet on the mountains that stand before us, and He will.

 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights (Psalm 18:33).

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
It is always good to have a traveling companion, but the best and most surest friend, is found in God himself.   The verses above promise that those who choose their companions wisely will find compounded dividends in the areas of security, labor, and companionship. So, again, I ask you, with whom and to what have you lashed your anchor? Will that anchor hold in a storm? Even God worked in team to create Eden; Elohenu Ehad, the Multiple One, always chose a team. Be mindful of who you invite to scale the mountain of life with you and make sure your partner can hold both your weight and his own.

Roped to Christ,
MJ