Monday, March 14, 2011
“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever… When I awake, I will see You face to face and be satisfied.” –Psalm 16:11, 17:15
Moments before the teens arrived for True Love Waits last Friday, my whole body began to drown in what felt like a sea of sickness. After pushing through to reach out to the youth, I eventually had to lie down and find a local South African friend to take me home from the church. I ended up being sick in bed for the next seven days.
After two visits to the emergency room, six prescription medications, two over-the-counter medications, having my blood drawn, getting hooked up to a drip with two other medications, and a full week’s worth of bed rest – I was finally feeling better!
Though I delight in pouring over Scripture and writing out my prayers, attempting to do anything literate made me incredibly nauseous. I wasn’t even able to verbally share the things on my heart, because I had no company to converse with. Physically-speaking, it was a rough week, but spiritually-speaking, it was a refreshing retreat.
Instead of utilizing different avenues to draw near to the Lord, I had to simply tune into the Spirit who reigns within me. God used each breath of sickness to show me how to delight in HIM. Granted, it is important to dive into Scripture and journal one’s thoughts, but it cannot compare to the greatness of getting lost while staring into the face of Jesus.
Just like the Psalms say, as God awakened me from countless naps during the days and nights, I realized my healing was not dependent on the medications I was taking, but my satisfaction could only be found by looking straight into the face of Christ.
After 2011’s week of death (exaggeration), I was blessed with the chance to spend the weekend with the Even family. I am so grateful God has made me feel like a daughter to David and Liz, and a sister to Matthew, Grace, and Andrew. It was absolutely splendid to be able to enjoy the company of a family whom God has given such deep love and wisdom.
Again, just as the Psalms say, I felt an abnormal amount of joy from simply being in the presence of the Lord, and He seemed to shower me with His direction and desires for my life throughout the weekend. I intentionally did not bring my journal with me so I would spend more time dwelling on the Word of God and resting at His feet.
This weekend God answered several of my prayers in a supreme fashion I would have never anticipated. I found myself both energized and in awe of the work of His hands. He made His commands and callings clear to me, and gave me a peaceful acceptance and desire to move forward in obedience to His will.
After such a trying week, God gave me a weekend to treasure. The Holy Spirit spent the whole week preparing my soul to discern and receive the radical messages He had for me this weekend.
How often do we leave everything at the Cross and fall into the arms of Jesus? Not often enough. Why do I sometimes get so caught up in all I am doing for God, I lose sight of all He has done for me?
Friends, join me in asking God to help us seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. We cannot direct our thoughts toward our King on our own, but He will center our thoughts on His character when we let go and intentionally give Him the control He has always had in our lives.
Praying we will be a people who live, and move, and breathe in and by the power of the Spirit,
Meghan
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Feed My Sheep
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
God has revealed more to me this week than I could ever express in a blog post. But I am praying the Spirit will enable me to share with you a glimpse of what He showed me.
After such an incredible day with Sterling and Gabrielle when the Lord opened the door for me to share the Gospel with both of them, I was desperate to find ways to feed God’s sheep that surround me here in South Africa – those outside the walls of the American Christian office I spend my days writing in.
Thursday morning I discovered my first opportunity to serve the community with the love of Jesus by accompanying Sue, a woman from my church, to a nearby orphanage. Lambana Sanctuary has 5 homes, but we spent our morning in the home dedicated to AIDS orphans who are not allowed to attend school.
Less than five minutes after I arrived I knew I had officially stepped out of my comfort zone. Juju, a seven-year-old who can’t really walk or talk, was missing his mom Thursday and kept screaming the whole time we were present. I was also told that if you’re a first-timer, Juju gives you a hard time – that explains the punch-in-the-right-eye greeting he welcomed me with.
Don’t get me wrong, I love kids when it comes to babysitting one night at a time, and if God wills it, I hope He will give me a few of my own someday – but children’s ministry is one of the last things I would ever sign up for. Granted, I was not leading a Sunday school lesson in a church building, but I was there to share the love of God with children.
While we were playing a game of Memory with the kids, I was holding a four-month-old baby boy whose twin sister rested on a blanket beside us. As I reached out to turn over the card I hoped would match my playing board, the baby boy spit up all over me. Gross.
You see, I have always preferred to work with teens and older. Once you become a teenager you reach the point in life where you are trying to decide who you are and who you want to be, and you are willing to process with people as you journey through life together. I thrive on sharing the Good News and the powerful truths of God with those searching for something to live for. Teens would never punch me in the eye or spit up all over me – or at least, I hope not.
As I attempted to clean myself up in the washroom, God began to teach me a crucial lesson He expanded on the very next morning as I took a moment to read Friday’s devotion from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
The Destitution of Service
“Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.” -2 Corinthians 12:15
Jesus Christ’s idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet – that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God.
Though my view of sharing God’s love has always been sharing His words of truth with others, is radically altering my perspective. Those little children will never know God’s love if I just tell them about it, rather, I must truly BE God’s love for the children to experience it. Those precious kids have no one left to love them without ceasing, but God has filled me with His everlasting love to pour out on His children – even the ones who punch me in the eye and spit up on me. Granted, I may not see direct fruit from my service, but in loving on those little children I was serving Jesus just as much as when I shared the Gospel with Sterling.
When God opens doors for us to do ministry, we do not turn them down because they are not our “style”. Rather, we step forward in humility, faithful the Lord will reveal something to us, and perhaps others, through our service, and prayerful that He might be glorified in our surrender.
Throughout the Sabbath God continued to captivate my thoughts with His view of a life surrendered to serving the Most High. In the midst of seeking the Lord through prayer and meditating on His Word, the Holy Spirit revealed an incredible vision to me! I cannot boldly share that vision with you all today, but it was sobering to sit in the presence of the Lord as He flooded my mind, body, and soul with an overwhelming passion to serve Him in complete surrender – no matter the cost.
Several times in life God has opened my eyes to see just a glimpse of a mighty vision He has called me to, but God often makes it clear I must take the necessary steps of obedience in order for the vision to move forward as planned. These commands are never easy to obey, as they often include a hovering fear of rejection, but also a greater fear of the Lord – a reverence before the One who equips me with all I need to obey.
Friend, if God is laying something on your heart, and you know it’s there, but you don’t know what to do with it – seek after Him in prayer. Ask Him to give you clarity and guide you in the direction He has planned for you to take for His glory. I promise you, He will listen and answer your prayer! It may take a long time or no time at all, but He will be faithful to show the next step He desires for you to take. Though you may not understand His calling just yet, He will show you how to follow Him in obedience.
Should we not trust God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are far higher than our thoughts? So when God chooses to reveal a taste of His purpose to us, should we not seek to follow His will above our own?
This afternoon I saw the face of Africa when I entered the over-crowded and poverty-stricken township of Alexandra. Tagging along with Trisha, an SIM missionary from my church, I was severely impressed by her ability to weave through the cramped roads peppered with children walking home from school and goats escaping from their owners. Eventually we arrived at the support center for orphaned high school boys.
While I was getting acquainted with the locals who pour into the boys, Wayne and Moses, I could not help but look out the window to see hundreds of young souls continue to walk past – praying the Lord would meet them face-to-face and keep them from walking past their one and only Savior.
As I got to know Quinoso, a 19-year-old orphaned 11 years ago and recently tossed to the streets, I enjoyed listening to him share about the USA history he learned in school, and his dream of becoming a lawyer and changing the world.
“Are you a Christian?” I asked.
“Ehh… I believe in God, but I just don’t know about being saved,” he responded.
“Well Quinoso, I believe you can change the world, but only if you have Jesus,” I said. “Jesus is the only one who is strong enough to change the world. Without Him, I can do nothing. But with Him, life is an adventure I never could have planned for myself.”
“Yes, I pray to God often, I just don’t know what is keeping me from following God,” he said. “There is more I must do first.”
“Quinoso, you know there is nothing you have to do to be ready for God to save you, right?” I asked.
“All you have to do is believe in God, believe in His Son Jesus, and desire for Him to be in charge of your life because He loves you, and you love Him.”
“Yeah?” Quinoso asked.
“Yes, really,” I assured him. “You know you are the only one keeping yourself from following God. You pray to Him as though you love Him, but have you given God control of your life yet? I will be praying for you, that you will be able to do that.”
“Yeah, yeah – I understand,” Quinoso began. “So maybe it’s like tomorrow I will be praying to God and I will ask Him to take control of me, and I will be saved.”
“Well, don’t do it just for me, Quinoso,” I said, looking him in the eye. “But I’ll definitely keep you in my prayers – seriously, my friend.”
I pray God will continue to teach me how to share His Good News of great joy through love and good deeds. Having the opportunity to share the Gospel is a powerful blessing, but it is not the only way we can demonstrate God’s love to those who surround us each day. I pray the Lord will use me for His glory in every moment – this life is not about me, it is all about Him – I hope He will strip me of my everything so He might continue to cover and consume me with His everything.
I pray God’s Spirit will open our eyes to see His sheep all around us, and give us a desire to feed them with His love in words and actions.
Until next time,
Meghan
The center is at Ikemeleng at Scripture Union in the township
Gladys has been loving on the orphans for 9 years
Sue is such a blessing to know and serve with!
Juju is excited about his lunch!
Had fun teaching these Alexandra boys how to play rock, paper, scissors!
Oh the game of Memory brings back so many fond memories ;)
God has revealed more to me this week than I could ever express in a blog post. But I am praying the Spirit will enable me to share with you a glimpse of what He showed me.
After such an incredible day with Sterling and Gabrielle when the Lord opened the door for me to share the Gospel with both of them, I was desperate to find ways to feed God’s sheep that surround me here in South Africa – those outside the walls of the American Christian office I spend my days writing in.
Thursday morning I discovered my first opportunity to serve the community with the love of Jesus by accompanying Sue, a woman from my church, to a nearby orphanage. Lambana Sanctuary has 5 homes, but we spent our morning in the home dedicated to AIDS orphans who are not allowed to attend school.
Less than five minutes after I arrived I knew I had officially stepped out of my comfort zone. Juju, a seven-year-old who can’t really walk or talk, was missing his mom Thursday and kept screaming the whole time we were present. I was also told that if you’re a first-timer, Juju gives you a hard time – that explains the punch-in-the-right-eye greeting he welcomed me with.
Don’t get me wrong, I love kids when it comes to babysitting one night at a time, and if God wills it, I hope He will give me a few of my own someday – but children’s ministry is one of the last things I would ever sign up for. Granted, I was not leading a Sunday school lesson in a church building, but I was there to share the love of God with children.
While we were playing a game of Memory with the kids, I was holding a four-month-old baby boy whose twin sister rested on a blanket beside us. As I reached out to turn over the card I hoped would match my playing board, the baby boy spit up all over me. Gross.
You see, I have always preferred to work with teens and older. Once you become a teenager you reach the point in life where you are trying to decide who you are and who you want to be, and you are willing to process with people as you journey through life together. I thrive on sharing the Good News and the powerful truths of God with those searching for something to live for. Teens would never punch me in the eye or spit up all over me – or at least, I hope not.
As I attempted to clean myself up in the washroom, God began to teach me a crucial lesson He expanded on the very next morning as I took a moment to read Friday’s devotion from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
The Destitution of Service
“Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.” -2 Corinthians 12:15
Jesus Christ’s idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. The real test of a saint is not one’s willingness to preach the gospel, but one’s willingness to do something like washing the disciples’ feet – that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God.
Though my view of sharing God’s love has always been sharing His words of truth with others, is radically altering my perspective. Those little children will never know God’s love if I just tell them about it, rather, I must truly BE God’s love for the children to experience it. Those precious kids have no one left to love them without ceasing, but God has filled me with His everlasting love to pour out on His children – even the ones who punch me in the eye and spit up on me. Granted, I may not see direct fruit from my service, but in loving on those little children I was serving Jesus just as much as when I shared the Gospel with Sterling.
When God opens doors for us to do ministry, we do not turn them down because they are not our “style”. Rather, we step forward in humility, faithful the Lord will reveal something to us, and perhaps others, through our service, and prayerful that He might be glorified in our surrender.
Throughout the Sabbath God continued to captivate my thoughts with His view of a life surrendered to serving the Most High. In the midst of seeking the Lord through prayer and meditating on His Word, the Holy Spirit revealed an incredible vision to me! I cannot boldly share that vision with you all today, but it was sobering to sit in the presence of the Lord as He flooded my mind, body, and soul with an overwhelming passion to serve Him in complete surrender – no matter the cost.
Several times in life God has opened my eyes to see just a glimpse of a mighty vision He has called me to, but God often makes it clear I must take the necessary steps of obedience in order for the vision to move forward as planned. These commands are never easy to obey, as they often include a hovering fear of rejection, but also a greater fear of the Lord – a reverence before the One who equips me with all I need to obey.
Friend, if God is laying something on your heart, and you know it’s there, but you don’t know what to do with it – seek after Him in prayer. Ask Him to give you clarity and guide you in the direction He has planned for you to take for His glory. I promise you, He will listen and answer your prayer! It may take a long time or no time at all, but He will be faithful to show the next step He desires for you to take. Though you may not understand His calling just yet, He will show you how to follow Him in obedience.
Should we not trust God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are far higher than our thoughts? So when God chooses to reveal a taste of His purpose to us, should we not seek to follow His will above our own?
This afternoon I saw the face of Africa when I entered the over-crowded and poverty-stricken township of Alexandra. Tagging along with Trisha, an SIM missionary from my church, I was severely impressed by her ability to weave through the cramped roads peppered with children walking home from school and goats escaping from their owners. Eventually we arrived at the support center for orphaned high school boys.
While I was getting acquainted with the locals who pour into the boys, Wayne and Moses, I could not help but look out the window to see hundreds of young souls continue to walk past – praying the Lord would meet them face-to-face and keep them from walking past their one and only Savior.
As I got to know Quinoso, a 19-year-old orphaned 11 years ago and recently tossed to the streets, I enjoyed listening to him share about the USA history he learned in school, and his dream of becoming a lawyer and changing the world.
“Are you a Christian?” I asked.
“Ehh… I believe in God, but I just don’t know about being saved,” he responded.
“Well Quinoso, I believe you can change the world, but only if you have Jesus,” I said. “Jesus is the only one who is strong enough to change the world. Without Him, I can do nothing. But with Him, life is an adventure I never could have planned for myself.”
“Yes, I pray to God often, I just don’t know what is keeping me from following God,” he said. “There is more I must do first.”
“Quinoso, you know there is nothing you have to do to be ready for God to save you, right?” I asked.
“All you have to do is believe in God, believe in His Son Jesus, and desire for Him to be in charge of your life because He loves you, and you love Him.”
“Yeah?” Quinoso asked.
“Yes, really,” I assured him. “You know you are the only one keeping yourself from following God. You pray to Him as though you love Him, but have you given God control of your life yet? I will be praying for you, that you will be able to do that.”
“Yeah, yeah – I understand,” Quinoso began. “So maybe it’s like tomorrow I will be praying to God and I will ask Him to take control of me, and I will be saved.”
“Well, don’t do it just for me, Quinoso,” I said, looking him in the eye. “But I’ll definitely keep you in my prayers – seriously, my friend.”
I pray God will continue to teach me how to share His Good News of great joy through love and good deeds. Having the opportunity to share the Gospel is a powerful blessing, but it is not the only way we can demonstrate God’s love to those who surround us each day. I pray the Lord will use me for His glory in every moment – this life is not about me, it is all about Him – I hope He will strip me of my everything so He might continue to cover and consume me with His everything.
I pray God’s Spirit will open our eyes to see His sheep all around us, and give us a desire to feed them with His love in words and actions.
Until next time,
Meghan
Me with Quinoso at the support center in Alexandra
Fun times groovin' and snappin' with Alexandra boys :)
Ride the horse, spot the cow, cast the lasso - YEEHAW!!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Deception
Sunday, February 20, 2011
As we pulled up to a run-down flat in the downtown of an urban center in South Africa, I looked to my right to see a beautiful park filled with willow trees and happy children playing, and I looked to my left to see several young adults crammed in the narrow drive.
I stepped out of the car to join my teammate and a new friend, Charity*, who ministers to people of all ages living in the inner-city. We walked a few feet down the sidewalk to greet a few 20-something year old girls whose bodies were stiff and still, but their eyes were screaming at me with hurt.
After a few quick exchanges, we continued on our mission to find Sterling*. As we neared the flat, I looked up above me to see clusters of guys on the landings looking down on the girls with fixed glances like vultures eyeing their prey. A honking car pulling into the drive jolted me out of the trance I had been in, trying to soak up all my surroundings, and back to the search for Sterling.
“Can I help you with anything?” asked a man who I assumed was the landlord, just because he was the only white man in sight. Although South Africa came to independence in 1994, remnants of the Apartheid remain scattered across the country.
“Umm, no sir, I’m with them,” I answered, swiftly rejoining my friends who were circled around a man.
Dressed in white cargo capri pants and a charcoal grey wind jacket, a tall and slender black man spoke in a low voice with the small group. Upon my arrival, I extended my hand and introduced myself.
“I’m Sterling,” he said, reaching his hand out and grabbing mine.
I had prayed to the Lord about this day, asking that He would help me to see people with His eyes and not my own. I had been briefed for a Friday of interacting with “pimps” and “prostitutes” to be better equipped to write human trafficking stories for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, but I did not want to look at a person and define them by the sin that pollutes their life. I would hate for a stranger to pass me by on the street and refer to me by the enemy’s strongholds in my life.
As soon as Sterling shook my hand and I looked him in the eye, I felt like I was looking into the depths of his soul and God gave me a great love for him.
Friends, Sterling deceives girls and forces them into sexual slavery. He is a human trafficker. He is a modern-day slave-owner. He beats girls, drugs girls, and sends girls to the street day after day to sell their bodies for his profit and their humiliation.
When I was 12 years old I was shocked to discover how many girls are trapped in sexual slavery in India. I could not imagine what sort of men could do such evil things to innocent girls. Over the years, as I have learned more and more about the human trafficking industry, I have been sickened by the people that enslave over 27 million people world-wide.
Here I was shaking hands with a man that should disgust me – and the only emotion I had for him was compassionate love. Praise God for His unending faithfulness! What an answer to prayer! I could never love Sterling on my own – but God gave me His love for His lost son in need of a Father.
After a short time we all piled in the car to head to another flat just down the road. When we reached our destination, I was burdened to know people lived in such a forsaken building. The fading sign said something about “mansions”, but all I could see was an old white concrete building, browning from the ground up, with shattered glass windows, and homeless people sprawled out on couches around the perimeter they had likely found in the garbage.
Sterling hopped out of the car to fetch Gabrielle* – one of his girls whom we had come to pick up. Gabrielle has an 18-month old baby girl who was recently taken to a safe home in a nearby city due to child neglect. We were there to provide a ride for Gabrielle to see her daughter and meet with social workers to decide if she was going to keep her daughter or give her up for adoption. The hope of Charity was that Gabrielle would allow her daughter to be adopted so the child would have a chance to grow up in a loving Christian family instead of a life on the streets.
I looked out the backseat window to see Sterling quickly approaching. Following Sterling was a beautiful black girl in a bright pink skirt, pink satin shirt, and pink flats, gripping her back while massaging her pregnant belly – Gabrielle.
After Sterling and Gabrielle got into the car, we started off on our journey to the children’s home. On the drive I found out that Sterling is 25, and Gabrielle is seven months pregnant with her second baby and is the same age as me – 21. The uncomfortable drive was softened with laughter caused by a handful of funny stories Charity had to share with everyone.
When we finally arrived at the children’s home, Sterling and Gabrielle waited anxiously outside the front door. Then there was the precious baby girl, Abbey*. Tears strolled down Gabrielle’s face as she reunited with her little girl. Even Sterling was moved, although Abbey is technically not his daughter.
As we entered the home, the social workers requested to speak with the mother, Gabrielle, alone for a while. Sterling was left with Abbey, another baby boy, my teammate, and me. As my conversation with Sterling progressed, I could feel the Spirit’s leading to ask him his story.
“Oh, it’s long,” Sterling said in a mumble.
I didn’t push it and we continued to make small talk while I saw him interact with the babies. It was clear deep down Sterling dreamed to be a father. Then God told me to ask him his story again.
“It’s long,” Sterling said once more.
So the conversation continued as I discovered he was originally from Nigeria. I asked him what his dream was when he was growing up in Nigeria. He told me he always wanted to be a professional soccer player and he still plays soccer every day. Then I felt the Spirit’s nudging yet again to ask him about his story.
This time Sterling was open to share with me.
Though I had been informed about what Sterling and Gabrielle do for a living, as far as I was concerned, I had no idea.
“There’s nothing good about what I do,” Sterling uttered. “There’s no good in what I do. There’s nothing good about who I am.”
All I could do was look into his eyes while passionately praying the Spirit would radically move through our conversation.
“I never wanted to be where I am today,” Sterling continued. “I never wanted to do what I do. I know what I do makes God angry. I know I make God angry because of the things I do.”
Sterling fled from Nigeria a year and a half ago because of the fighting. It took him two months to get a visa from a guy who told him about a business opportunity with a Japanese company in South Africa. When Sterling arrived he discovered that it was all a lie.
Having spent all his savings to get to South Africa, Sterling was stranded in the city in need of a job. With South Africa being a difficult place to find a job, and him being from Nigeria, he said his only option was to be a security guard. Sterling has a business mind – he can’t imagine wasting his intelligence by guarding an apartment complex for hardly any pay.
After playing soccer with some friends he made in the neighborhood, they told Sterling about their own business opportunity. Selling drugs and girls is a quick and easy income to obtain in South Africa, and many immigrants who come to find a better life but cannot obtain a job find themselves deep in the street business.
“I want to get out of this,” Sterling said with an angry undertone. “I am sick of my life in the city. I just want to leave and be done with this kind of life.”
“Sterling, do you think someday there could be something good about what you do?” I asked in surrender to the Spirit’s leading.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch all of that, what?” Sterling asked.
“You said there is nothing good about what you do – that there is no good in what you do,” I began. “My question for you, Sterling, is: do you think someday there could be something good about what you do?”
“Ahh, I don’t know,” Sterling said.
“Tell him about my love, Meghan,” I felt the Lord speak to my soul.
I began to tell Sterling the Good News about Jesus Christ. Sterling grew up in a Christian home, so he knows who God is and he has heard about Jesus. He knows Satan is attacking him. He believes he is the one who is holding himself back from following God.
“Sterling, until you know God – you cannot get out of this,” I shared in love. “You can continue to try, but you’re never going to get out because you’re just not strong enough. You need God to get out of this. He is stronger than you. He is stronger than Satan. It is not just you that is holding you back from following God – Satan is putting up a fight too.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” Sterling agreed.
“The only way there can be something good about what you do and who you are is if you have Jesus,” I told him. “Sterling, there is nothing good about us. There is no good in me and you. Jesus is the only one who is good. We cannot make ourselves good enough to be ready to follow Him, because we’ll never get there.”
“I don’t know,” Sterling said – his face revealing the shame he is trapped in.
“Sterling, God loves you just as much as He loves me, and God loves me just as much as He loves you,” I encouraged. “All of the bad in our life, all of the things we do that we hate – Jesus took all of that upon Himself when He died for us on the cross. That is why He cried out, ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?’ Jesus was carrying the sin of the whole world. But the Bible says that ‘while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ Even when we feel like we are at our worst – when we feel we have become the person we hate – at such a time as that, Christ died for us. He died for me and He died for you, Sterling.”
“Yeah,” Sterling spoke quietly in contemplation.
“Sterling, imagine I brought you a gift today, even though it’s not your birthday, I brought you a present,” I said with my hands holding an invisible gift box. “But here’s the thing, until you take that gift, until you receive it, the gift is not yours. I can sit here and hold it out to you, ready to give it to you, but if you don’t receive it you would get up and leave without the gift – and I would be left here waiting to give it to you. It’s the same with God. He has this incredible gift of love and forgiveness that He is ready to give you through His Son, Jesus, but until you receive it – it’s not yours. God isn’t going to force you to love Him – that’s not love. But until you receive that gift, God is not going to live in your life.”
“Ahh, I just know I am keeping myself from God, but it’s not my fault,” Sterling said.
“Sterling, until you give God control, this is never going to end,” I spoke plainly. “I promise you that God will give you the strength you need to get out and will provide for all your needs, but only if you believe in Him and ask Him to take control of your life. No matter how hard you try, you’re not going to be able to get out of this on your own. The only way you can be set free from this is with God, because He is stronger. I promise to pray for you every day. But I can’t make you choose to follow God. I do hope you will give Him control sooner rather than later, but it is not my choice – it’s yours.”
“Thank you,” Sterling said. “I’ll think about it.”
“Has anyone ever shared that with you before?” I asked him.
“No, not exactly,” he answered. “Not in those words.”
“Sterling, are you ready to come join us?” the social worker asked as he entered the room.
God burdened me to write Sterling a letter and to give him my Bible. I committed to pray for him every day – and I am. I ask that you will pray for him too. God has begun a good work in Sterling and I am faithful He will bring it to completion.
After we took Sterling and Gabrielle to lunch and dropped them off at their flat, we prepared for a weekly service that a local inner-city ministry holds. The ministry had arranged for a former drug dealer and pimp who received Christ to come share his testimony and invited girls and guys of the streets to participate in the evening.
When the service came to a close I saw Gabrielle across the courtyard reading the Bible I had given Sterling. She said Sterling wasn’t able to make it, but she wanted to know if I got a chance to talk with him while she was meeting with the social workers. I told her what we talked about and she said she was hungry.
Once she got her plate of chicken and rice the ministry had prepared for the homeless, she told me how they both want to get out, and how God is clearly working. Just the night before, they had been kicked out of their flat because Sterling owes the landlord 11,000 rand (South African currency), which is why they were in different flats that morning.
“We don’t know where we’re going to sleep or what we’re going to eat in the morning,” Gabrielle said. “I would like for Abbey to be adopted by a family that can love her and care for her. Things are really difficult for me and Sterling as it is right now, not including Abbey.”
We talked about God’s perfect timing and how they both want to get out of this business.
“It is like God is saying, ‘Get out of there. I don’t want you here. I don’t want you doing this anymore.’ Meghan, how did you leave the life you were living before?” Gabrielle asked.
“God,” I answered. “Really. When I decided to follow Him for the rest of my life, I gave Him control. He just shows me the next step – which usually doesn’t make any sense and it scares me to death – but He gives me the strength I need to take it. He never leaves my side and He meets all my needs. I promise you, if the two of you believe in God and ask Him to take control of your life – He will save you.”
“But I’ve prayed for a year now of doing this business, and nothing has happened,” Gabrielle said. “Some people tell me there is no God.”
“I can never believe that because I have seen God work in my life far too much for me to even think about the idea that He does not exist,” I shared in honesty while giving examples of His faithfulness. “If you both follow God with your life and pray to Him with FAITH that He can bring you out of this – I am faithful He will. But you must have faith. If you don’t have faith in God, you don’t have anything. You must believe in Him and not yourself.”
“It’s just, I have promised to never leave Sterling and he has promised to never leave me,” Gabrielle admitted. “I love him. No matter how difficult or not difficult life is, we both don’t want to leave without each other.”
“But if you both don’t want to leave each other behind and you both want to get out, I cannot imagine a better time to get out,” I said. “But the only way you guys are going to be able to truly get out of this and start a new life is with Jesus. There is just no way you guys can do this on your own – you’re just not strong enough – but God is.”
“I keep telling Sterling to go to church and fight against Satan, but he just doesn’t,” Gabrielle said as we headed toward the car to take her “home”.
“Well you keep encouraging him,” I told Gabrielle. “I’m sorry the Bible has my name in it and it’s got markings through it, but every time you see my name or the markings you can just remember that I’m praying for you – because I am.”
As we drove up in the dark to the same flat where I had met Sterling that morning, I felt nauseous looking at how many girls lined the sidewalks on both sides of the street waiting to be picked up and used, their owners not far away.
Gabrielle thanked us and exited the car. I opened my door and stood to hug her tight.
“I love you, and I’m praying for you sweet friend,” I spoke quietly. “You are beautiful.”
As my teammate and I drove off into the night to head back to our homes, I tried to understand how God chose for me to live in freedom while these girls are slaves. I tried to grasp why my opportunity to come to South Africa was not a lie while guys my age were deceived by an opportunity to come here. And I cannot understand – all I know is God is abounding in grace and shows us new mercies each morning. I did nothing to deserve the life He has given me, but He called me His daughter and has given me life so that I might take every opportunity to share that gift of life with all those dying around me.
Human trafficking can be summed up in one word: deception. Guys are deceived. Girls are deceived. The enemy is the ultimate deceiver and it disgusts me to see his work flourish. God is in control. He has reigned since before time began and will forever reign and conquer the enemy. God can bring an end to the slavery that plagues every nation on earth.
Do we have faith that God can do that? Are we ready to face the costs that come with surrendering to His will? Do we have the endurance to persevere through the persecution that will come our way? Do we believe God will give us the strength we need to fight to free the over 27 million slaves around the world? Here’s the thing, there are far more than 27 million slaves around the world. In a world of 6 billion people, billions of souls are slaves to the enemy – are we ready to do whatever it takes to help them find freedom in Jesus Christ?
We have been set free from sin. Should we keep our freedom to ourselves believing no one else deserves it? By no means! There are plenty of excuses we can hide behind that keep us from devoting our days to knowing God and making Him known by sharing the Gospel with the hurting souls that surround us at home and abroad. But those are not sufficient excuses. There is no excuse for not living a life worthy of God sending His Son to die for. Sure, we’re going to screw up – that’s our nature. But what’s our aim? What’s our motivation? What’s our purpose?
On Friday I shared with Sterling and Gabrielle my favorite verse in Scripture, and I feel led to share it with you today:
“I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.” –Philippians 3:13
Praying over this dark and desperate world in need of our Savior,
Meghan
*Name changed
As we pulled up to a run-down flat in the downtown of an urban center in South Africa, I looked to my right to see a beautiful park filled with willow trees and happy children playing, and I looked to my left to see several young adults crammed in the narrow drive.
I stepped out of the car to join my teammate and a new friend, Charity*, who ministers to people of all ages living in the inner-city. We walked a few feet down the sidewalk to greet a few 20-something year old girls whose bodies were stiff and still, but their eyes were screaming at me with hurt.
After a few quick exchanges, we continued on our mission to find Sterling*. As we neared the flat, I looked up above me to see clusters of guys on the landings looking down on the girls with fixed glances like vultures eyeing their prey. A honking car pulling into the drive jolted me out of the trance I had been in, trying to soak up all my surroundings, and back to the search for Sterling.
“Can I help you with anything?” asked a man who I assumed was the landlord, just because he was the only white man in sight. Although South Africa came to independence in 1994, remnants of the Apartheid remain scattered across the country.
“Umm, no sir, I’m with them,” I answered, swiftly rejoining my friends who were circled around a man.
Dressed in white cargo capri pants and a charcoal grey wind jacket, a tall and slender black man spoke in a low voice with the small group. Upon my arrival, I extended my hand and introduced myself.
“I’m Sterling,” he said, reaching his hand out and grabbing mine.
I had prayed to the Lord about this day, asking that He would help me to see people with His eyes and not my own. I had been briefed for a Friday of interacting with “pimps” and “prostitutes” to be better equipped to write human trafficking stories for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, but I did not want to look at a person and define them by the sin that pollutes their life. I would hate for a stranger to pass me by on the street and refer to me by the enemy’s strongholds in my life.
As soon as Sterling shook my hand and I looked him in the eye, I felt like I was looking into the depths of his soul and God gave me a great love for him.
Friends, Sterling deceives girls and forces them into sexual slavery. He is a human trafficker. He is a modern-day slave-owner. He beats girls, drugs girls, and sends girls to the street day after day to sell their bodies for his profit and their humiliation.
When I was 12 years old I was shocked to discover how many girls are trapped in sexual slavery in India. I could not imagine what sort of men could do such evil things to innocent girls. Over the years, as I have learned more and more about the human trafficking industry, I have been sickened by the people that enslave over 27 million people world-wide.
Here I was shaking hands with a man that should disgust me – and the only emotion I had for him was compassionate love. Praise God for His unending faithfulness! What an answer to prayer! I could never love Sterling on my own – but God gave me His love for His lost son in need of a Father.
After a short time we all piled in the car to head to another flat just down the road. When we reached our destination, I was burdened to know people lived in such a forsaken building. The fading sign said something about “mansions”, but all I could see was an old white concrete building, browning from the ground up, with shattered glass windows, and homeless people sprawled out on couches around the perimeter they had likely found in the garbage.
Sterling hopped out of the car to fetch Gabrielle* – one of his girls whom we had come to pick up. Gabrielle has an 18-month old baby girl who was recently taken to a safe home in a nearby city due to child neglect. We were there to provide a ride for Gabrielle to see her daughter and meet with social workers to decide if she was going to keep her daughter or give her up for adoption. The hope of Charity was that Gabrielle would allow her daughter to be adopted so the child would have a chance to grow up in a loving Christian family instead of a life on the streets.
I looked out the backseat window to see Sterling quickly approaching. Following Sterling was a beautiful black girl in a bright pink skirt, pink satin shirt, and pink flats, gripping her back while massaging her pregnant belly – Gabrielle.
After Sterling and Gabrielle got into the car, we started off on our journey to the children’s home. On the drive I found out that Sterling is 25, and Gabrielle is seven months pregnant with her second baby and is the same age as me – 21. The uncomfortable drive was softened with laughter caused by a handful of funny stories Charity had to share with everyone.
When we finally arrived at the children’s home, Sterling and Gabrielle waited anxiously outside the front door. Then there was the precious baby girl, Abbey*. Tears strolled down Gabrielle’s face as she reunited with her little girl. Even Sterling was moved, although Abbey is technically not his daughter.
As we entered the home, the social workers requested to speak with the mother, Gabrielle, alone for a while. Sterling was left with Abbey, another baby boy, my teammate, and me. As my conversation with Sterling progressed, I could feel the Spirit’s leading to ask him his story.
“Oh, it’s long,” Sterling said in a mumble.
I didn’t push it and we continued to make small talk while I saw him interact with the babies. It was clear deep down Sterling dreamed to be a father. Then God told me to ask him his story again.
“It’s long,” Sterling said once more.
So the conversation continued as I discovered he was originally from Nigeria. I asked him what his dream was when he was growing up in Nigeria. He told me he always wanted to be a professional soccer player and he still plays soccer every day. Then I felt the Spirit’s nudging yet again to ask him about his story.
This time Sterling was open to share with me.
Though I had been informed about what Sterling and Gabrielle do for a living, as far as I was concerned, I had no idea.
“There’s nothing good about what I do,” Sterling uttered. “There’s no good in what I do. There’s nothing good about who I am.”
All I could do was look into his eyes while passionately praying the Spirit would radically move through our conversation.
“I never wanted to be where I am today,” Sterling continued. “I never wanted to do what I do. I know what I do makes God angry. I know I make God angry because of the things I do.”
Sterling fled from Nigeria a year and a half ago because of the fighting. It took him two months to get a visa from a guy who told him about a business opportunity with a Japanese company in South Africa. When Sterling arrived he discovered that it was all a lie.
Having spent all his savings to get to South Africa, Sterling was stranded in the city in need of a job. With South Africa being a difficult place to find a job, and him being from Nigeria, he said his only option was to be a security guard. Sterling has a business mind – he can’t imagine wasting his intelligence by guarding an apartment complex for hardly any pay.
After playing soccer with some friends he made in the neighborhood, they told Sterling about their own business opportunity. Selling drugs and girls is a quick and easy income to obtain in South Africa, and many immigrants who come to find a better life but cannot obtain a job find themselves deep in the street business.
“I want to get out of this,” Sterling said with an angry undertone. “I am sick of my life in the city. I just want to leave and be done with this kind of life.”
“Sterling, do you think someday there could be something good about what you do?” I asked in surrender to the Spirit’s leading.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch all of that, what?” Sterling asked.
“You said there is nothing good about what you do – that there is no good in what you do,” I began. “My question for you, Sterling, is: do you think someday there could be something good about what you do?”
“Ahh, I don’t know,” Sterling said.
“Tell him about my love, Meghan,” I felt the Lord speak to my soul.
I began to tell Sterling the Good News about Jesus Christ. Sterling grew up in a Christian home, so he knows who God is and he has heard about Jesus. He knows Satan is attacking him. He believes he is the one who is holding himself back from following God.
“Sterling, until you know God – you cannot get out of this,” I shared in love. “You can continue to try, but you’re never going to get out because you’re just not strong enough. You need God to get out of this. He is stronger than you. He is stronger than Satan. It is not just you that is holding you back from following God – Satan is putting up a fight too.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” Sterling agreed.
“The only way there can be something good about what you do and who you are is if you have Jesus,” I told him. “Sterling, there is nothing good about us. There is no good in me and you. Jesus is the only one who is good. We cannot make ourselves good enough to be ready to follow Him, because we’ll never get there.”
“I don’t know,” Sterling said – his face revealing the shame he is trapped in.
“Sterling, God loves you just as much as He loves me, and God loves me just as much as He loves you,” I encouraged. “All of the bad in our life, all of the things we do that we hate – Jesus took all of that upon Himself when He died for us on the cross. That is why He cried out, ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?’ Jesus was carrying the sin of the whole world. But the Bible says that ‘while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ Even when we feel like we are at our worst – when we feel we have become the person we hate – at such a time as that, Christ died for us. He died for me and He died for you, Sterling.”
“Yeah,” Sterling spoke quietly in contemplation.
“Sterling, imagine I brought you a gift today, even though it’s not your birthday, I brought you a present,” I said with my hands holding an invisible gift box. “But here’s the thing, until you take that gift, until you receive it, the gift is not yours. I can sit here and hold it out to you, ready to give it to you, but if you don’t receive it you would get up and leave without the gift – and I would be left here waiting to give it to you. It’s the same with God. He has this incredible gift of love and forgiveness that He is ready to give you through His Son, Jesus, but until you receive it – it’s not yours. God isn’t going to force you to love Him – that’s not love. But until you receive that gift, God is not going to live in your life.”
“Ahh, I just know I am keeping myself from God, but it’s not my fault,” Sterling said.
“Sterling, until you give God control, this is never going to end,” I spoke plainly. “I promise you that God will give you the strength you need to get out and will provide for all your needs, but only if you believe in Him and ask Him to take control of your life. No matter how hard you try, you’re not going to be able to get out of this on your own. The only way you can be set free from this is with God, because He is stronger. I promise to pray for you every day. But I can’t make you choose to follow God. I do hope you will give Him control sooner rather than later, but it is not my choice – it’s yours.”
“Thank you,” Sterling said. “I’ll think about it.”
“Has anyone ever shared that with you before?” I asked him.
“No, not exactly,” he answered. “Not in those words.”
“Sterling, are you ready to come join us?” the social worker asked as he entered the room.
God burdened me to write Sterling a letter and to give him my Bible. I committed to pray for him every day – and I am. I ask that you will pray for him too. God has begun a good work in Sterling and I am faithful He will bring it to completion.
After we took Sterling and Gabrielle to lunch and dropped them off at their flat, we prepared for a weekly service that a local inner-city ministry holds. The ministry had arranged for a former drug dealer and pimp who received Christ to come share his testimony and invited girls and guys of the streets to participate in the evening.
When the service came to a close I saw Gabrielle across the courtyard reading the Bible I had given Sterling. She said Sterling wasn’t able to make it, but she wanted to know if I got a chance to talk with him while she was meeting with the social workers. I told her what we talked about and she said she was hungry.
Once she got her plate of chicken and rice the ministry had prepared for the homeless, she told me how they both want to get out, and how God is clearly working. Just the night before, they had been kicked out of their flat because Sterling owes the landlord 11,000 rand (South African currency), which is why they were in different flats that morning.
“We don’t know where we’re going to sleep or what we’re going to eat in the morning,” Gabrielle said. “I would like for Abbey to be adopted by a family that can love her and care for her. Things are really difficult for me and Sterling as it is right now, not including Abbey.”
We talked about God’s perfect timing and how they both want to get out of this business.
“It is like God is saying, ‘Get out of there. I don’t want you here. I don’t want you doing this anymore.’ Meghan, how did you leave the life you were living before?” Gabrielle asked.
“God,” I answered. “Really. When I decided to follow Him for the rest of my life, I gave Him control. He just shows me the next step – which usually doesn’t make any sense and it scares me to death – but He gives me the strength I need to take it. He never leaves my side and He meets all my needs. I promise you, if the two of you believe in God and ask Him to take control of your life – He will save you.”
“But I’ve prayed for a year now of doing this business, and nothing has happened,” Gabrielle said. “Some people tell me there is no God.”
“I can never believe that because I have seen God work in my life far too much for me to even think about the idea that He does not exist,” I shared in honesty while giving examples of His faithfulness. “If you both follow God with your life and pray to Him with FAITH that He can bring you out of this – I am faithful He will. But you must have faith. If you don’t have faith in God, you don’t have anything. You must believe in Him and not yourself.”
“It’s just, I have promised to never leave Sterling and he has promised to never leave me,” Gabrielle admitted. “I love him. No matter how difficult or not difficult life is, we both don’t want to leave without each other.”
“But if you both don’t want to leave each other behind and you both want to get out, I cannot imagine a better time to get out,” I said. “But the only way you guys are going to be able to truly get out of this and start a new life is with Jesus. There is just no way you guys can do this on your own – you’re just not strong enough – but God is.”
“I keep telling Sterling to go to church and fight against Satan, but he just doesn’t,” Gabrielle said as we headed toward the car to take her “home”.
“Well you keep encouraging him,” I told Gabrielle. “I’m sorry the Bible has my name in it and it’s got markings through it, but every time you see my name or the markings you can just remember that I’m praying for you – because I am.”
As we drove up in the dark to the same flat where I had met Sterling that morning, I felt nauseous looking at how many girls lined the sidewalks on both sides of the street waiting to be picked up and used, their owners not far away.
Gabrielle thanked us and exited the car. I opened my door and stood to hug her tight.
“I love you, and I’m praying for you sweet friend,” I spoke quietly. “You are beautiful.”
As my teammate and I drove off into the night to head back to our homes, I tried to understand how God chose for me to live in freedom while these girls are slaves. I tried to grasp why my opportunity to come to South Africa was not a lie while guys my age were deceived by an opportunity to come here. And I cannot understand – all I know is God is abounding in grace and shows us new mercies each morning. I did nothing to deserve the life He has given me, but He called me His daughter and has given me life so that I might take every opportunity to share that gift of life with all those dying around me.
Human trafficking can be summed up in one word: deception. Guys are deceived. Girls are deceived. The enemy is the ultimate deceiver and it disgusts me to see his work flourish. God is in control. He has reigned since before time began and will forever reign and conquer the enemy. God can bring an end to the slavery that plagues every nation on earth.
Do we have faith that God can do that? Are we ready to face the costs that come with surrendering to His will? Do we have the endurance to persevere through the persecution that will come our way? Do we believe God will give us the strength we need to fight to free the over 27 million slaves around the world? Here’s the thing, there are far more than 27 million slaves around the world. In a world of 6 billion people, billions of souls are slaves to the enemy – are we ready to do whatever it takes to help them find freedom in Jesus Christ?
We have been set free from sin. Should we keep our freedom to ourselves believing no one else deserves it? By no means! There are plenty of excuses we can hide behind that keep us from devoting our days to knowing God and making Him known by sharing the Gospel with the hurting souls that surround us at home and abroad. But those are not sufficient excuses. There is no excuse for not living a life worthy of God sending His Son to die for. Sure, we’re going to screw up – that’s our nature. But what’s our aim? What’s our motivation? What’s our purpose?
On Friday I shared with Sterling and Gabrielle my favorite verse in Scripture, and I feel led to share it with you today:
“I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.” –Philippians 3:13
Praying over this dark and desperate world in need of our Savior,
Meghan
*Name changed
Sweet Baby Abbey :)
Gabrielle reading the Bible I gave Sterling :)
Praying for these three souls daily :)
Charity and me listening to a former drug dealer/pimp share
his powerful testimony of God's transforming grace!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Worship
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
This past week God has taken every moment of each day to teach me something about Him and about myself. I do not even know where to begin, but I am praying God will reign over all I write and hope just one word He lays on my heart will draw you nearer to Him today.
While I was interviewing a man for a story today, he said he believes as Christians we are called to worship God with our whole being – with everything we are. I fully agree with him, but why do my heart, mind, body, and soul not reflect such a complete call to worship God?
God has compelled me to worship Him more and more with every breath, but why do I still worship so many other things on this earth? I don’t believe God wants me to worship Him above all else – I believe He wants me to worship Him in the place of all else.
With every breath I take I am surrounded by a world filled with idols fighting for my devotion.
After being sick last week, I spent most of the weekend resting as I watched some movies I had never before seen, such as “Australia” with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The film is by no means Biblical, but I felt the Lord speaking to my soul as the plot continued to unfold.
There is a scene toward the end where a little boy is overflowing with joy as he skips toward his new family, but he has no idea his first father is aiming to shoot, kill, and destroy him. And his first father does not realize the boy’s grandfather is looking out for him from above as he shoots an arrow through the evil father.
I could not help but feel like the little child in the scene. I live life in delight, not having any idea my first father, the enemy, is aiming to shoot, kill, and destroy me while my Heavenly Father is looking out for me from above as He forever conquers the evil one. There is a spiritual battle taking place all around me, one that never dies down, and I walk through life oblivious to who wants to take my life and the One who continues to give me life – Jesus Christ.
I never before realized how many things I worship until the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see the idols in my life this week. Sure, I have grown up hearing the command to worship God above all else – but no one ever told me to worship God instead of everything else. Maybe it was a given, but I never got it until now.
I worship my family – being with them and loving them. I worship my appearance – embarrassed when people see me before I have had a chance to clean up. I worship my writing – conscious of my editor’s opinion. I worship evangelism – struggling to find purpose outside of sharing the Gospel and loving those who do not know love. I worship youth ministry – feeling selfish if I am not pouring into teens. I worship musical worship – seeking the Lord more in that segment of a service than other times of the day. I worship money – always wavering about whether to give or to save. I worship sleep – upset if I do not get the rest I desire. I worship Texas A&M – identifying with the past instead of embracing the present place God has placed me: Baylor. I worship friendships – looking forward to how the Holy Spirit is going to move in our conversations instead of experiencing Him work right now. I worship writing out my prayers – burdened with the feeling that if I truly care about something, I will take time to write it out. I worship Scripture – more sensitive to receive from God in His written Word than in His spoken Word. I worship marriage – praying for and hoping to meet the man God desires for me to serve Him with for the rest of my life. I worship food – giving into every craving and holding tight to addictions. I worship God – loving Him because He first loved me.
You see how my worship of God is just an afterthought in the midst of everything else? Most of the idols I took time to note are not evil, but when they take away from me wholly worshipping my King, they sure are.
Yesterday I discovered and completed further research to find out my favorite nutritional items are causes to the health problems I have faced for years. Even though I know I need to change my diet because the benefit far outweighs the cost, I am deep in doubt that I can successfully change and no longer feel the void left by foregoing certain nutritional products.
I know this sounds silly, but it is seriously a struggle of mine. There are certain things I feel like I need each day, when the only thing I need each day is God, and He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me. I say I trust God. But I do not trust God to enable me to make the change. I am putting more faith in my 21-year history of living than the unending, timeless, and unchanging God whose Spirit reigns in me.
I keep looking to so many things to satisfy me – whether physical, emotional, spiritual, relational or nutritional – but God is the only one who is able to satisfy me beyond measure.
I desire to hunger for nothing else but the Lord. I desire to worship no one else but the Most High. I desire to seek after God alone. I pray He will truly take my everything and be my Everything.
What do you worship? What is battling for your attention as you read this? Ask God to conquer and destroy the idols in your life so you will worship Him in the place of all else.
In loving prayer,
Meghan
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” –John 10:10
This past week God has taken every moment of each day to teach me something about Him and about myself. I do not even know where to begin, but I am praying God will reign over all I write and hope just one word He lays on my heart will draw you nearer to Him today.
While I was interviewing a man for a story today, he said he believes as Christians we are called to worship God with our whole being – with everything we are. I fully agree with him, but why do my heart, mind, body, and soul not reflect such a complete call to worship God?
God has compelled me to worship Him more and more with every breath, but why do I still worship so many other things on this earth? I don’t believe God wants me to worship Him above all else – I believe He wants me to worship Him in the place of all else.
With every breath I take I am surrounded by a world filled with idols fighting for my devotion.
After being sick last week, I spent most of the weekend resting as I watched some movies I had never before seen, such as “Australia” with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The film is by no means Biblical, but I felt the Lord speaking to my soul as the plot continued to unfold.
There is a scene toward the end where a little boy is overflowing with joy as he skips toward his new family, but he has no idea his first father is aiming to shoot, kill, and destroy him. And his first father does not realize the boy’s grandfather is looking out for him from above as he shoots an arrow through the evil father.
I could not help but feel like the little child in the scene. I live life in delight, not having any idea my first father, the enemy, is aiming to shoot, kill, and destroy me while my Heavenly Father is looking out for me from above as He forever conquers the evil one. There is a spiritual battle taking place all around me, one that never dies down, and I walk through life oblivious to who wants to take my life and the One who continues to give me life – Jesus Christ.
I never before realized how many things I worship until the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see the idols in my life this week. Sure, I have grown up hearing the command to worship God above all else – but no one ever told me to worship God instead of everything else. Maybe it was a given, but I never got it until now.
I worship my family – being with them and loving them. I worship my appearance – embarrassed when people see me before I have had a chance to clean up. I worship my writing – conscious of my editor’s opinion. I worship evangelism – struggling to find purpose outside of sharing the Gospel and loving those who do not know love. I worship youth ministry – feeling selfish if I am not pouring into teens. I worship musical worship – seeking the Lord more in that segment of a service than other times of the day. I worship money – always wavering about whether to give or to save. I worship sleep – upset if I do not get the rest I desire. I worship Texas A&M – identifying with the past instead of embracing the present place God has placed me: Baylor. I worship friendships – looking forward to how the Holy Spirit is going to move in our conversations instead of experiencing Him work right now. I worship writing out my prayers – burdened with the feeling that if I truly care about something, I will take time to write it out. I worship Scripture – more sensitive to receive from God in His written Word than in His spoken Word. I worship marriage – praying for and hoping to meet the man God desires for me to serve Him with for the rest of my life. I worship food – giving into every craving and holding tight to addictions. I worship God – loving Him because He first loved me.
You see how my worship of God is just an afterthought in the midst of everything else? Most of the idols I took time to note are not evil, but when they take away from me wholly worshipping my King, they sure are.
Yesterday I discovered and completed further research to find out my favorite nutritional items are causes to the health problems I have faced for years. Even though I know I need to change my diet because the benefit far outweighs the cost, I am deep in doubt that I can successfully change and no longer feel the void left by foregoing certain nutritional products.
I know this sounds silly, but it is seriously a struggle of mine. There are certain things I feel like I need each day, when the only thing I need each day is God, and He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me. I say I trust God. But I do not trust God to enable me to make the change. I am putting more faith in my 21-year history of living than the unending, timeless, and unchanging God whose Spirit reigns in me.
I keep looking to so many things to satisfy me – whether physical, emotional, spiritual, relational or nutritional – but God is the only one who is able to satisfy me beyond measure.
I desire to hunger for nothing else but the Lord. I desire to worship no one else but the Most High. I desire to seek after God alone. I pray He will truly take my everything and be my Everything.
What do you worship? What is battling for your attention as you read this? Ask God to conquer and destroy the idols in your life so you will worship Him in the place of all else.
In loving prayer,
Meghan
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” –John 10:10
Friday, February 11, 2011
Fight
The Lord awakened me in the middle of the night and enabled me to write this prayer. I felt compelled by the Spirit to share it with you:
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Father, as I lie here awake in the late hours of the night, my small room gently lit by the light of the moon, my whole being is burdened with the reality of what is happening to millions of girls just like me tonight.
Never before have I truly put myself in the place of sexually trafficked girls, but as I look out into this small space, my mind is flooded with the emotions that are drowning so many girls tonight. Fear, anger, shame, addiction, hunger, hopelessness, insecurity, confusion, hatred, emptiness, pain, and abuse. I know those few emotional descriptions cannot measure the sorrow that weighs heavy in the hearts and minds of so many girls tonight.
I cannot act as though I know their story, because I don’t. I cannot act as though I’ve heard their story, because I haven’t. Father, I can’t even truly tell their story – because if I did, there would not be a dry eye or calm soul in the room, but rather, an army of warriors committed to fight for the freedom of the millions of girls around the globe trapped in slavery at this very moment.
Father, how can it be that the most beautiful gifts You have given Your children – love and intimacy – have been so radically warped to be the root of evil in the lives of so many these days? The picture of love that these girls have is so tainted with the darkness that the enemy and our flesh create. Your precious gift of sex that You have designed for a man and his wife to rejoice in the love that You have enabled them to share is no longer remotely similar to the original in countless lives tonight.
I live in a dark world, but You have shown me the light. So should I aim to stay in the light and never face the darkness that surrounds me? By no means! You have shown me Your light, so I may be the light of the world. Your light is so bright it can pierce through the darkest night. Your light can radiate and restore all that has been lying in the dark. You have broken me over Your creation, now let me rejoice!
There is nothing I can do on my own. Apart from You I am nothing. But may You give me a spirit of surrender to Your strength. Guide my every thought, word, and step. I don’t simply want to honor You in all I do. I want to fight for You in all I do. I am Your ambassador. I am Your daughter. I am Yours. Help me to live like it.
Love, Meg
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Father, as I lie here awake in the late hours of the night, my small room gently lit by the light of the moon, my whole being is burdened with the reality of what is happening to millions of girls just like me tonight.
Never before have I truly put myself in the place of sexually trafficked girls, but as I look out into this small space, my mind is flooded with the emotions that are drowning so many girls tonight. Fear, anger, shame, addiction, hunger, hopelessness, insecurity, confusion, hatred, emptiness, pain, and abuse. I know those few emotional descriptions cannot measure the sorrow that weighs heavy in the hearts and minds of so many girls tonight.
I cannot act as though I know their story, because I don’t. I cannot act as though I’ve heard their story, because I haven’t. Father, I can’t even truly tell their story – because if I did, there would not be a dry eye or calm soul in the room, but rather, an army of warriors committed to fight for the freedom of the millions of girls around the globe trapped in slavery at this very moment.
Father, how can it be that the most beautiful gifts You have given Your children – love and intimacy – have been so radically warped to be the root of evil in the lives of so many these days? The picture of love that these girls have is so tainted with the darkness that the enemy and our flesh create. Your precious gift of sex that You have designed for a man and his wife to rejoice in the love that You have enabled them to share is no longer remotely similar to the original in countless lives tonight.
I live in a dark world, but You have shown me the light. So should I aim to stay in the light and never face the darkness that surrounds me? By no means! You have shown me Your light, so I may be the light of the world. Your light is so bright it can pierce through the darkest night. Your light can radiate and restore all that has been lying in the dark. You have broken me over Your creation, now let me rejoice!
There is nothing I can do on my own. Apart from You I am nothing. But may You give me a spirit of surrender to Your strength. Guide my every thought, word, and step. I don’t simply want to honor You in all I do. I want to fight for You in all I do. I am Your ambassador. I am Your daughter. I am Yours. Help me to live like it.
Love, Meg
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Permanent
Monday, February 7, 2011
This weekend I attended the 10 Year Celebration of J-Life at Camp Eden with the Even family. It was inspiring to meet so many brothers and sisters who are devoted to the Lord’s calling on their life.
{Friday}
As I road-tripped with a friend that direction on Friday morning, I spent the car ride reflecting on my week’s worth of work covering the rising tensions in Egypt, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Sudan. In the midst of sharing what the Lord was teaching me through writing those stories, my friend asked if, because I am in another country, I am allowing God more space to work in my life.
To some degree, I think that is true – with each day that passes here in South Africa, I am giving God more of myself, and thus, giving Him more space to work. However, I do not think I had to fly to the other side of the world to experience His increasing work in my life.
For the past few years it seems as though with each day the Lord continues to reach deeper into my soul to captivate every part of me to use for His glory and not my own.
As I shared how the Lord brought me to where I am today, I could not help but be both comforted and awe-struck at the work of the Lord’s hands. When my friend asked practical questions about finances and life goals, it was beautiful to hear the answers my Teacher provided me with as He reminded me of His unfailing provision.
{Saturday}
At the celebration dinner Saturday night, I was encircled by a group of young adults who had previously surrendered to the Lord’s calling on their life to serve with J-Life for anywhere from a few months to a few years.
To my right was a man my age, James, who speaks both English and Afrikaans and is passionate about South African sports such as rugby and cricket, but is even more driven by the voice of the Lord.
As we exchanged basic information and short stories, I told him I would be leaving June 27 to go back to the States.
“Permanently?” James asked.
Permanent: a word that never before has been a part of my vocabulary.
All I could manage to say as my friend, Robyn, motioned for me to join her in the dinner line was, “Well, I’m a one-step-at-a-time kind of girl and I don’t think I have ever said I will do anything permanently.”
The single-word question rang loud in my head and my heart the rest of the evening.
Permanent is forever, concrete, and unchanging. God’s love for me is permanent, but is anything else?
Before I went to bed that night I prayed no matter where the Lord takes me by the hand each day, I am ready to be permanently poured out as an offering to God.
{Sunday}
Sunday morning the Lord led me to read Luke 1:45 as a part of the in-depth study of Luke I am doing with the young adults of my new church family, Edenvale Baptist.
“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.”
I found myself fixating all my attentions on those few words the whole morning.
You: Mary, but in my context, me.
Are: Not something in the past or in the future, but a present state of being.
Blessed: Having received a precious and undeserved gift.
Because: A cause or reason for something.
You: Personal, me.
Believed: Prior faith that never falters.
That: Something worth putting my trust in.
The: Singular, one and only.
Lord: God, Ruler, Savior, King, Most High, Redeemer, Lover of my soul, Emmanuel, Alpha and Omega, Father, Master, Comforter, Protector, Fortress, Encourager, Provider, Almighty, Sovereign, Best Friend.
Would: Will, promised, accomplished.
Do: Follow-through, act of doing or being, manifesting a previous mystery.
What: Specific, tangible, reward.
He: Lord, the subject, everything.
Said: Spoken, heard, believed, followed, obeyed.
“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.”
That afternoon I wondered if I permanently believed that the Lord would do what He said. He has showered me with blessings, but do I truly believe He will make present that which He has promised? Do I trust He will empower me to permanently believe He will do what He has spoken?
A few hours later Liz and Robyn joined me for the evening worship service back at Edenvale Baptist. Never before have I experienced a Sunday worship service where the praise team and preacher have been so in sync with one another in the Lord.
Carl shared his testimony as he led the congregation to worship before the Lord when he urged the body of Christ to seek after the King and follow the next step He reveals.
Pastor Richard sifted through Ephesians 3:1 through 4:8 to clearly show the pure truth of 3:20-21 and its application in 4:1.
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.”
God is able. God is permanent. God called me before time began. I am to permanently pour myself out as an offering to Him as I live a life worthy of His calling, trusting in His mighty power at work within me.
{Today}
Last night I surrendered to honor God with my every thought, every word, and every breath. This morning the Lord woke me up and His Spirit led me in this prayer:
“Thank You for giving me a desire to truly honor You in EVERYTHING I do by living a life worthy of Your calling. I ask that You will continue to remind me all the days of my life of the commitment I made to You yesterday. I do not want this life You have given me to be about me, but to bring praise to You. I trust that You will daily empower me by Your Holy Spirit with all I need to fully surrender to Your will. I trust You with my time here in South Africa, my time back at Baylor, and my beloved. I trust You with my everything. Lord, I know not the journey, but this I do know: I long to follow hard after You in faith and love all of the days of my life.”
Immediately upon my arrival at work this morning, the enemy attacked full-force. But the Lord strengthened me and conquered the enemy as He continued to show me that no matter the cost, it is more than worth it to live a life that aims to balance the life He gave for me.
In faith, hope, and love,
Meghan
This weekend I attended the 10 Year Celebration of J-Life at Camp Eden with the Even family. It was inspiring to meet so many brothers and sisters who are devoted to the Lord’s calling on their life.
{Friday}
As I road-tripped with a friend that direction on Friday morning, I spent the car ride reflecting on my week’s worth of work covering the rising tensions in Egypt, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Sudan. In the midst of sharing what the Lord was teaching me through writing those stories, my friend asked if, because I am in another country, I am allowing God more space to work in my life.
To some degree, I think that is true – with each day that passes here in South Africa, I am giving God more of myself, and thus, giving Him more space to work. However, I do not think I had to fly to the other side of the world to experience His increasing work in my life.
For the past few years it seems as though with each day the Lord continues to reach deeper into my soul to captivate every part of me to use for His glory and not my own.
As I shared how the Lord brought me to where I am today, I could not help but be both comforted and awe-struck at the work of the Lord’s hands. When my friend asked practical questions about finances and life goals, it was beautiful to hear the answers my Teacher provided me with as He reminded me of His unfailing provision.
{Saturday}
At the celebration dinner Saturday night, I was encircled by a group of young adults who had previously surrendered to the Lord’s calling on their life to serve with J-Life for anywhere from a few months to a few years.
To my right was a man my age, James, who speaks both English and Afrikaans and is passionate about South African sports such as rugby and cricket, but is even more driven by the voice of the Lord.
As we exchanged basic information and short stories, I told him I would be leaving June 27 to go back to the States.
“Permanently?” James asked.
Permanent: a word that never before has been a part of my vocabulary.
All I could manage to say as my friend, Robyn, motioned for me to join her in the dinner line was, “Well, I’m a one-step-at-a-time kind of girl and I don’t think I have ever said I will do anything permanently.”
The single-word question rang loud in my head and my heart the rest of the evening.
Permanent is forever, concrete, and unchanging. God’s love for me is permanent, but is anything else?
Before I went to bed that night I prayed no matter where the Lord takes me by the hand each day, I am ready to be permanently poured out as an offering to God.
{Sunday}
Sunday morning the Lord led me to read Luke 1:45 as a part of the in-depth study of Luke I am doing with the young adults of my new church family, Edenvale Baptist.
“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.”
I found myself fixating all my attentions on those few words the whole morning.
You: Mary, but in my context, me.
Are: Not something in the past or in the future, but a present state of being.
Blessed: Having received a precious and undeserved gift.
Because: A cause or reason for something.
You: Personal, me.
Believed: Prior faith that never falters.
That: Something worth putting my trust in.
The: Singular, one and only.
Lord: God, Ruler, Savior, King, Most High, Redeemer, Lover of my soul, Emmanuel, Alpha and Omega, Father, Master, Comforter, Protector, Fortress, Encourager, Provider, Almighty, Sovereign, Best Friend.
Would: Will, promised, accomplished.
Do: Follow-through, act of doing or being, manifesting a previous mystery.
What: Specific, tangible, reward.
He: Lord, the subject, everything.
Said: Spoken, heard, believed, followed, obeyed.
“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.”
That afternoon I wondered if I permanently believed that the Lord would do what He said. He has showered me with blessings, but do I truly believe He will make present that which He has promised? Do I trust He will empower me to permanently believe He will do what He has spoken?
A few hours later Liz and Robyn joined me for the evening worship service back at Edenvale Baptist. Never before have I experienced a Sunday worship service where the praise team and preacher have been so in sync with one another in the Lord.
Carl shared his testimony as he led the congregation to worship before the Lord when he urged the body of Christ to seek after the King and follow the next step He reveals.
Pastor Richard sifted through Ephesians 3:1 through 4:8 to clearly show the pure truth of 3:20-21 and its application in 4:1.
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.”
God is able. God is permanent. God called me before time began. I am to permanently pour myself out as an offering to Him as I live a life worthy of His calling, trusting in His mighty power at work within me.
{Today}
Last night I surrendered to honor God with my every thought, every word, and every breath. This morning the Lord woke me up and His Spirit led me in this prayer:
“Thank You for giving me a desire to truly honor You in EVERYTHING I do by living a life worthy of Your calling. I ask that You will continue to remind me all the days of my life of the commitment I made to You yesterday. I do not want this life You have given me to be about me, but to bring praise to You. I trust that You will daily empower me by Your Holy Spirit with all I need to fully surrender to Your will. I trust You with my time here in South Africa, my time back at Baylor, and my beloved. I trust You with my everything. Lord, I know not the journey, but this I do know: I long to follow hard after You in faith and love all of the days of my life.”
Immediately upon my arrival at work this morning, the enemy attacked full-force. But the Lord strengthened me and conquered the enemy as He continued to show me that no matter the cost, it is more than worth it to live a life that aims to balance the life He gave for me.
In faith, hope, and love,
Meghan
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Good News
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Don’t you just love when God radically alters your perspective?
My first week in South Africa did not go as I anticipated, but it went exactly how God planned. For the past week and this upcoming week a few of my teammates are facilitating a Storying Training for Trainers (ST4T) conference at my office. Over 20 world-changing Christ-followers from all over Africa came to learn about how to utilize storying to bring God’s Word to unreached people or their target ministry. Prior to last Sunday I had never heard about storying, but I am grateful I was given the opportunity to participate in the conference last week. Storying works well for oral learners or illiterates, but honestly, storying is for anyone and everyone.
Imagine only having Scripture in spoken word with no written word. That is storying in a sense. It takes several stories (not children’s stories, just stories) from the Bible and puts together a simple story set that covers the over-arching story of the Bible in terms applicable to all cultures. The stories are written so that you can take them to your ministry and craft them further to cater to your audience’s specific worldview and, in time, craft more stories to fill in the gaps. But essentially, the stories cover Scripture from Creation to the Church.
One of my teammates, Sean, who is at a ten-day orientation in Botswana had a quick introduction to storying and learned a general story called “Creation to Church” that he was able to share with a small group of people from a local village that some missionaries are currently serving. In his story group, he ended up leading three people to the Lord! This is just one quick example of how incredibly effective storying can be for evangelical purposes, but it can also be great for discipleship.
I found great joy in storying this week and in the discussion that came from simple questions that followed each story. Each day the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to deeper truths because He was my Teacher as I listened to brothers and sisters share His Word through stories.
One story that was a part of the 21-story set that we went through this week (you usually just do one per week) was titled “Alive” since it covered the resurrection of Jesus. As my friend Keelee was sharing the story with us, I could not help but be overwhelmed with the Spirit when she explained Luke 24:44-47 through storying (after Jesus appears to the disciples and they think He’s a ghost): “Then Jesus explained to them that all this took place to fulfill God’s plan, that He, the Promised Savior, would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. This is the Good News you must take to all peoples.”
When you look throughout the Scripture at the Old Testament prophecies and what Jesus spoke throughout His ministry including the Great Commission and the empowering of the Holy Spirit – God makes it clear that the Good News about Jesus Christ is to go out into the entire world – that we must take it to all peoples.
The Holy Spirit convicted me with this concept because He opened my eyes to see what the Good News is that I am commanded to take to all people – the Good News of Jesus Christ. You see, God never commanded me to go and tell every person I meet my name, where I’m from, what I like to do in my free time, and so on and so forth. The only thing God commanded me to go and tell every person I meet is the Good News of Jesus Christ! So why do I look back and think of all the people I have had the opportunity to meet, but so few of which I have actually shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with? Because I didn’t take God’s commands seriously.
A wise man in my storying group who works with Wycliffe Bible translation, Sebastian, quoted a friend of his during one of our small group discussions. His friend had the opportunity to visit several places throughout the earth where revival has taken place, and this is what he said each story of revival shared: “All of the revivals took place because people took seriously the commands of Jesus.”
Friends, what good will it do someone to know my name and my hometown and what I like to do in my spare time? How easy is that to forget? But the saving Name of Jesus Christ cannot be forgotten – and it will not only do good to others, but it will save others, “for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” (Romans 10:13).
Can you imagine what this world would look like if each one of us did just that? God has already told us through His Son and throughout His written Word what He desires and is consistently commanding of each one of us – all we have to do is believe and obey. I can see this world being shaken with the mighty love of God rushing forth from within each one of His children so that the whole world would know the Good News about Jesus Christ – and many would believe. The God we love and serve, and who lives within us – the God we have 24/7 access to in personal prayer – is the Creator of all things and is capable of ANYTHING. Are you with me? I ask that you would join me in prayer that God would use you and me, and our brothers and sisters throughout the earth to wholly surrender to the perfect and glorious will of our Heavenly Father.
In my reading of Romans 10 this morning, God spoke His message loud and clear to my soul as I hungered to pray as Paul prays: “Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved… For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, ‘How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
Do we really care about those around us? We are surrounded by a dark world that is headed toward eternal destruction unless they come to know the only One who can save them from an eternity of fear and loneliness – Jesus Christ. God did not adopt us as His children so that we might live life in the comfort of knowing where we will be when we die and enjoying life for ourselves while we wait for that day when He will bring us home. What nonsense! We have been saved – and so we are equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit who reigns within us and we are sent to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with all people!
Join me in taking this daring step of faith to desire to obey God in everything we do by truly loving Him, and therefore loving others, because He first loved us.
Prayer requests:
- Please pray for my roommate, Kristin, as she will be in Madagascar all week.
- Please pray for my two team members, Sean and Neil, as they return to Joburg from Botswana on Tuesday.
- Please pray for the Easley family as they seek the Lord’s discernment to know where in South Africa He wants them to serve come August.
- Please pray that God would open my eyes to seize the opportunities He places before me. Also, I got my first sunburn on Saturday (it’s bad), and it is making me feel sick – so just pray that God would heal me quickly.
As always, let me know how I can be praying for you or if you have any further questions!
In the Name of Jesus,
Meghan
Don’t you just love when God radically alters your perspective?
My first week in South Africa did not go as I anticipated, but it went exactly how God planned. For the past week and this upcoming week a few of my teammates are facilitating a Storying Training for Trainers (ST4T) conference at my office. Over 20 world-changing Christ-followers from all over Africa came to learn about how to utilize storying to bring God’s Word to unreached people or their target ministry. Prior to last Sunday I had never heard about storying, but I am grateful I was given the opportunity to participate in the conference last week. Storying works well for oral learners or illiterates, but honestly, storying is for anyone and everyone.
Imagine only having Scripture in spoken word with no written word. That is storying in a sense. It takes several stories (not children’s stories, just stories) from the Bible and puts together a simple story set that covers the over-arching story of the Bible in terms applicable to all cultures. The stories are written so that you can take them to your ministry and craft them further to cater to your audience’s specific worldview and, in time, craft more stories to fill in the gaps. But essentially, the stories cover Scripture from Creation to the Church.
One of my teammates, Sean, who is at a ten-day orientation in Botswana had a quick introduction to storying and learned a general story called “Creation to Church” that he was able to share with a small group of people from a local village that some missionaries are currently serving. In his story group, he ended up leading three people to the Lord! This is just one quick example of how incredibly effective storying can be for evangelical purposes, but it can also be great for discipleship.
I found great joy in storying this week and in the discussion that came from simple questions that followed each story. Each day the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to deeper truths because He was my Teacher as I listened to brothers and sisters share His Word through stories.
One story that was a part of the 21-story set that we went through this week (you usually just do one per week) was titled “Alive” since it covered the resurrection of Jesus. As my friend Keelee was sharing the story with us, I could not help but be overwhelmed with the Spirit when she explained Luke 24:44-47 through storying (after Jesus appears to the disciples and they think He’s a ghost): “Then Jesus explained to them that all this took place to fulfill God’s plan, that He, the Promised Savior, would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. This is the Good News you must take to all peoples.”
When you look throughout the Scripture at the Old Testament prophecies and what Jesus spoke throughout His ministry including the Great Commission and the empowering of the Holy Spirit – God makes it clear that the Good News about Jesus Christ is to go out into the entire world – that we must take it to all peoples.
The Holy Spirit convicted me with this concept because He opened my eyes to see what the Good News is that I am commanded to take to all people – the Good News of Jesus Christ. You see, God never commanded me to go and tell every person I meet my name, where I’m from, what I like to do in my free time, and so on and so forth. The only thing God commanded me to go and tell every person I meet is the Good News of Jesus Christ! So why do I look back and think of all the people I have had the opportunity to meet, but so few of which I have actually shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with? Because I didn’t take God’s commands seriously.
A wise man in my storying group who works with Wycliffe Bible translation, Sebastian, quoted a friend of his during one of our small group discussions. His friend had the opportunity to visit several places throughout the earth where revival has taken place, and this is what he said each story of revival shared: “All of the revivals took place because people took seriously the commands of Jesus.”
Friends, what good will it do someone to know my name and my hometown and what I like to do in my spare time? How easy is that to forget? But the saving Name of Jesus Christ cannot be forgotten – and it will not only do good to others, but it will save others, “for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” (Romans 10:13).
Can you imagine what this world would look like if each one of us did just that? God has already told us through His Son and throughout His written Word what He desires and is consistently commanding of each one of us – all we have to do is believe and obey. I can see this world being shaken with the mighty love of God rushing forth from within each one of His children so that the whole world would know the Good News about Jesus Christ – and many would believe. The God we love and serve, and who lives within us – the God we have 24/7 access to in personal prayer – is the Creator of all things and is capable of ANYTHING. Are you with me? I ask that you would join me in prayer that God would use you and me, and our brothers and sisters throughout the earth to wholly surrender to the perfect and glorious will of our Heavenly Father.
In my reading of Romans 10 this morning, God spoke His message loud and clear to my soul as I hungered to pray as Paul prays: “Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved… For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, ‘How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
Do we really care about those around us? We are surrounded by a dark world that is headed toward eternal destruction unless they come to know the only One who can save them from an eternity of fear and loneliness – Jesus Christ. God did not adopt us as His children so that we might live life in the comfort of knowing where we will be when we die and enjoying life for ourselves while we wait for that day when He will bring us home. What nonsense! We have been saved – and so we are equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit who reigns within us and we are sent to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with all people!
Join me in taking this daring step of faith to desire to obey God in everything we do by truly loving Him, and therefore loving others, because He first loved us.
Prayer requests:
- Please pray for my roommate, Kristin, as she will be in Madagascar all week.
- Please pray for my two team members, Sean and Neil, as they return to Joburg from Botswana on Tuesday.
- Please pray for the Easley family as they seek the Lord’s discernment to know where in South Africa He wants them to serve come August.
- Please pray that God would open my eyes to seize the opportunities He places before me. Also, I got my first sunburn on Saturday (it’s bad), and it is making me feel sick – so just pray that God would heal me quickly.
As always, let me know how I can be praying for you or if you have any further questions!
In the Name of Jesus,
Meghan
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