“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased!”
Here is a devotional I read this morning, by Rick Warren. Great reminder for all of us....
So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy. (Ephesians 4:22-24 TEV)Why does it take so long to change and grow up? There are several reasons -
We are slow learners. We often have to relearn a lesson forty or fifty times to really get it. The problems keep recurring, and we think, "Not again! I've already learned that!"—but God knows better. The history of Israel illustrates how quickly we forget the lessons God teaches us and how soon we revert to our old patterns of behavior. We need repeated exposure.Growth is often painful and scary. There is no growth without change; there is no change without fear or loss; and there is no loss without pain. Every change involves a loss of some kind: You must let go of old ways in order to experience the new. We fear these losses, even if our old ways were self-defeating, because, like a worn out pair of shoes, they were at least comfortable and familiar.
Good habits take time to develop. Remember that your character is the sum total of your habits. You can't claim to be kind unless you are habitually kind—you show kindness without even thinking about it. You can't claim to have integrity unless it is your habit to always be honest. A husband who is faithful to his wife most of the time is not faithful at all! Your habits define your character.
There is only one way to develop the habits of Christlike character: You must practice them—and that takes time! There are no instant habits. Paul urged Timothy, "Practice these things. Devote your life to them so that everyone can see your progress." (1 Timothy 4:15 GW)
We've been talking about a couple of my friends that will be spending 50 days in Haiti, and I wanted to pass on to you their two blogs, so you can follow what is actually taking place in the trenches.
Please pray for these two, as they do their part in helping the hurting in Haiti.
Have a great day.
Following are communications written from missionaries in Haiti. Although not originally intended as "news" reports, the letters provide a true, on-site glimpse of the tragedy through the eyes of some who experienced it.
The first letter is from Missionaries Bill and Dorothy Smith, U.S. AGWM missionaries to Haiti who were in Haiti during the time of the quake. The second letter is from a Dominican Republic AG missionary couple, Miguel and Mairelys Ovalle, who are also ministering in Haiti. Of note, Miguel was an AGWM Latin America ChildCare (LACC)-sponsored child, saved and called to ministry in the LACC school.
--Report/letter from Bill and Dorothy Smith, U.S. AGWM missionary to Haiti:
All are ok.
Abraham's pillars and roof are standing. The walls all fell and everything
inside is broken but his family is fine. Cange [ex-Supt] & family are fine.
He has some damage to his house. Haven't heard from Jacqueline but she is next
door to Cange and he did not indicate any problem.
We just visited the churches today and there is lots of damage to Delmas 101
church. Two floors of the school at San Fil collapsed and the church had just
minimal damage. The back wall of the Delmas 33 church is being held up with
2x4s. There will need to be work done on schools, but all in all, everything
looked pretty good. Almost all the other schools I saw were totally
destroyed...many churches also. Our home church fell in.
I almost lost it going down Delmas today. My heart just breaks for the people.
I'm sitting here writing and weeping.We have a group coming across the border tomorrow bringing food and fuel so
that will help.
I have many more responses I need to write before sleep overtakes.
--Report/letter from Miguel
and Mairelys Ovalle, an AG missionary family from the Dominican Republic ministering
in Haiti (translated from Spanish to English):
Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. We are grateful to the Lord to
be able to communicate and for all our family being well, which is not the case
with so many, which this sudden earthquake left trapped beneath the rubble.
When the earthquake took place we had just arrived in the country some 20 minutes before . . . and my wife was in the kitchen and I in the bedroom when the house began to shake violently and we ran out, both of us thinking that our son David was with us, only to discover that he was still inside the house, and I ran back to look for him. He ran out on his own and calmly told me what had happened! We hugged, crying and asking God for peace.
We went out to the street where there was panic and confusion on every side, and some who were injured came to our house where we were able to help them. Our other son, Cadmiel, didn't want to go back into the house; he wanted to return to Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), so we prayed that the Lord would help him overcome his feelings as quickly as possible.
Today we have seen what I can only describe as the greatest human catastrophe I have ever seen with the number of buildings and houses destroyed with their occupants inside them, with chaos reining in the streets . . . and no transportation of any kind, with the people alarmed and time running out for those trapped in the rubble.
This morning is the first day of this year back here in Haiti and the saddest I have ever lived, seeing in my rounds literally hundreds of bodies lying in the streets and knowing that this is only the beginning, that the majority of the buildings, such as schools, fell with the schoolchildren still inside.
I believe that in this moment we need all possible help from our churches in solidarity with us in giving goods and funds to acquire what is needed such as disposable medical materials and medicines such as anti-inflammatory medication, antibiotics, pills or chlorine for water purification, tent materials, sheets and mattresses.
We are rationing food and water, as well as gasoline, because we do not know how long these will be available. We visited some believers in [a nearby part of town] and thank God all the children and brothers are alive. A few suffered cuts and injuries in their homes but are thankful to be alive.
I will communicate more soon; please keep praying.
If you would like to make a donation to the Assemblies of God relief effort click here.
For more information and to view the original post go to, www.ag.org
While I was reading Mark Batterson's new book, Primal, I came a across a challenging quote...
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of the deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; ...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly" -- Teddy Roosevelt
I want my life to me lived in the "arena" risking much, dreaming big, and working hard to see God get the glory that is His. If you are looking for a great read, pick up Batterson's new book up by clicking here.
Here is an update letter form Mongolia:
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your prayers, emails, encouragement this month! We are so blessed to have this group at home who never lets us go!
This has been a very long month and a half working on our visa. I wont bore you with details, but it came down to just two days away from our visa being expired. Lots of things happened. Many NGO's ( non government organizations) and missionaries have been denied visa this year. After all that has transpired we were drawing a blank about what was next. Last night, I was ready to call the embassy, a lawyer and such.
However,Troy said, "No. we are not going to try to pull any more strings. If God wants us to stay HE will make it happen." Then he said, "Shari if we just stop and trust in God to handle this, than whatever happens we know it is His will...especially if we are approved tomorrow...we KNOW it was the Lords work."
I felt peace about this decision also. I just felt like we needed to let it go. We prayed this morning and told the Lord we both did not feel it was time to go, but whatever His will was we were ready to obey.
So with great joy, confidence and peace I share the great news that Troy has been approved to not only be in Mongolia, but to be the director of an NGO here in Mongolia, which takes a different type of visa that is more complicated to receive. We have been given another years residency and permission to direct. This frees up a lot of our student time. Now Troy will attend language school for only 6 hours a week instead of full time...and it gives us a lot of extra space to do the ministry work. Thank you Lord!
I am learning, that all things are possible...when the Lord decides.
Thank you!
Troy and Shari
I am challenged by these thoughts by Eugene Peterson:
"The words printed on the pages of my Bible give witness to the living and active revelation of the God of creation and salvation, the God of love who became the Word made flesh in Jesus, and I had better not forget it. If in my Bible reading I lose touch with this livingness, if I fail to listen to this living Jesus, submit to this sovereignty, and respond to this love, I become arrogant in my knowing and impersonal in my behavior. An enormous amount of damage is done in the name of Christian living by bad Bible reading. Caveat lector, let the reader beware."
Make time to be in the word, and be intentional how you live it out!