True Fellowship with Him/ Poem

No longer a servant,

Now Jesus calls me a friend.

He will be with me till the end.

He shared His plan,

On this I can stand

I''m in the inner circle.

Jesus wants fellowship with me.

Oh, how incredible to be

No longer a servant,

But a true friend.

The Beauty of God's Presence

 
A glimmering, golden orb floated in the dark sky over the pulsing waves. A halo of light engulfed its brilliance. In the distance, a lighthouse blinked its lifesaving beacon. The charcoal pier reaching out across the horizon was outlined by lights. The shimmering gold shaft of light on the water reminded me of God's hand of love reaching down to touch my heart.

 While at the beach observing this spectacular display of beauty, I was reminded of how close I always feel to God in these moments. Recently I read John 15:15 "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."

 You may wonder how I related this scripture to my view of the full moon reflected on the water, but to me it is all tied together. My life has been characterized by my asking God to bless everyone I know, and show me how to be His servant. But Jesus said I am no longer a servant who only does what the master says. I am called His friend, and I am part of the inner circle of fellowship with God and Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit working in me, I can know what message God wants me to hear and understand. I am being taught that I can speak to Jesus and not only tell Him to bless people, but to have a conversation with Him. A conversation means one person speaks and the other answers. It is a two way street. I am being made acutely aware of my need to draw away from the world and be alone in communion with God. As I gaze on the beauty of the sky and ocean, I am better able to feel His presence and hear His response.

 Through this conversation with God I am brought into the inner circle by Jesus. Only my sin can break the connection. I can learn what God is doing, and what He wants to do with my life. He has a purpose for me. I just have to wait and listen to His Word to find the reason He has me living in this world at this particular time, and with the specific circumstances I find myself facing.

 Each of us can enter in this holy communion with God. As Christians, we are all united with Christ and can have the tremendous joy of knowing God's will for our lives. We can look out at all the beauty of God's creation and know we are friends with Jesus. We are not just servants. We have been placed in the inner sanctum of God's presence. I pray we will all take advantage of this great and awesome privilege.

 

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The Miracle of New Life

We walked down a set of stairs to a small apartment. The room was dark, the walls were brick covered with plaster. Behind us was a shiny blue tarp. It may have covered a hole in the wall. A flat screen TV on a high stand was playing.

We were met with smiling, welcoming faces. Several family members, a young couple and a baby were occupying the room. The young mother took the baby out, but brought her back and let me hold her.

“Do you know this baby is a real miracle?” I asked everyone. “I’d like to tell you about the miracle of Jesus’s love for you.” I described how God is pure and holy. He cannot look on our sin. Our hearts are dark with sin, but God bestowed His love on us by sending His Son to die for us.

 I then went on to explain to them that in the Bible, Jesus told Nicodemus he needed to be born again. I used the pictures on the Evangecube to tell the story. When I showed them the picture of Jesus on the cross, I quoted John 3:16 and continued by relating the story of Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection. Pictured next is the cross spreading out as a bridge to heaven, and I explained to them Jesus provided that bridge.

 Next, I opened the cube to show Jesus reaching down to take our hand.  I clarified how we can be with Him in heaven instead of separated from God forever.

 I asked them if they would like to pray with me to accept Christ as their Savior.  All ten of them prayed with me. We left amazed at how God’s Spirit was touching the hearts and lives of everyone we met. They will now have a new life in Christ. “Thank you, Jesus, for letting me be a part of this miracle.”

 

God's Power Over Spiritualism

We were told Spiritualists lived in the home we were going to visit in Sao Paulo. Spiritualism is a system of belief or religious practice based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead especially through mediums.  I didn’t really know what to expect. Tom, my teammate, was going to present the evangecube plan of salvation.

The pastor, several members of the church, our interpreter, and Tom and I entered the kitchen. Several birds in cages mounted on the wall began to chirp. As Tom began presenting the gospel to the woman,  her mother, whose gray hair was twisted into a ball on top of her head, stormed up to the door from the hallway outside, and began to holler at us. I guess she was telling us to leave. Her daughter was embarrassed and hung her head and kind of laughed. Just as Tom began showing the cube, her brother came in. Their mother came back to the door and rebuked us loudly and rapidly. You could feel a spirit of darkness in the room. After the mother repeatedly shrieked at us, the pastor moved across the kitchen and gently led the mother out of the entrance way. I was standing behind Tom praying as hard as I could and rebuking Satan from the room. The birds quit twittering, and Tom was able to present the message of salvation. The young man and his sister both prayed to receive Christ as their Savior. We gave them a Portuguese New Testament. The brother said he could use it to show Catholics about Jesus’s love.

The pastor came back into the kitchen. He held the woman’s son and prayed for him, too. Then we all went down the walkway to a basement area, and the pastor prayed with sister and brother again. Our interpreter said he thought the pastor was talking to them about having a meeting at their house. When we left, I saw the mother standing against the wall. She was so quiet, I almost missed seeing her. As we walked back to the church, we talked about how the Holy Spirit had definitely worked at this home.

 

The Power of God's Love

The Holy Spirit is definitely at work in Brazil. Catholicism is the dominant religion, but the evangelical population is around 55 million or 25% of the population and is growing every day.

I just returned from a mission trip to Brazil. I am so thankful that I was able to be used by God. I felt like I was in a Spiritual cloud, and was just being an outside observer of the Holy Spirit at work.  My teammate, Tom Boorde, and I worked with two churches for ten days. We were part of the Friends of Good News Missions. Our team of 11 people was made up of Baptists from Greensboro and High Point, North Carolina and Tampa, Florida. It is the 25^th year of this ministry. We were given the privilege of aiding the pastors in the work they had started. Pastor Anderson is 35 and has been at his church for 5 months. He has taken over the leadership of an after school program for at risk students also.

Pastor Anderson and many of the young people of the church took us out to visit family and prospective members of the church. One of the families we visited will always have a special place in my heart. We entered the home and as we proceeded to sit down, we saw a person in the bedroom with an oxygen mask on his face. His sister told us he was her brother.  After her husband finished eating, all the family of twelve gathered around. Some were sitting on the couch and others standing in the doorway.  I started showing them the Evangecube. When I revealed the section about the resurrection of Jesus, I told them about my friend’s daughter passing away, and how she placed her ashes at the base of a waterfall. I shared with them how we felt when we came back to take a picture and saw butterflies around the ashes. I conveyed to them that now I always associate butterflies with the resurrection. When I asked them to pray and accept Jesus into their hearts and lives, all of them prayed. Afterwards I asked them to give us their names so we could pray for them. I also asked the sister if it would be alright to talk to her brother.

She took us into the bedroom, we watched her strain her back to pick her brother up and put him in the chair. He could not move or speak, and she said he had been bed ridden for five years.  When she got him in the chair, she pulled him forward to stretch his legs. He began to boohoo like a child. It broke my heart. I began to tell him of God’s love by showing him the cube. I told him one day he could be in heaven where there would be no more pain or sorrow. I asked him to bow his head and to pray after me, I looked to see if he was praying, and he was making a gurgling sound in his throat. I know in my heart he accepted Jesus as his Savior. He started crying again, and my teammate, Tom, told him in heaven there would be no more tears. The sister gave me a big bear hug, and we all left with hearts full with the precious power of God’s love.

Humbleness

   “…Don’t think you are better than you really are…” Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.”… Be patient in trouble and keep on praying.” “Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!” Romans 12: 3, 11, 12, 16

 

I am getting ready to go on my mission trip to Brazil. We are reading scriptures every day to prepare us. We read Romans 12 to remind us we should be working together as a team. I will be paired with a pastor, an interpreter, and my teammate, Tom Boorde, who has been to seminary. We will be going to do evangelist work. From what I’ve learned we will be leaving our hotel from 1pm to 3pm and may not return until midnight. I am a morning person so this will be hard for me.  I am not lazy, and I am usually very enthusiastic when serving the Lord. I get so excited sometimes I talk before I should. I went out with my church evangelist team. I was paired with a couple from our church. Before he could tell the lady about Jesus, I jumped in and told her why were there and asked her if she had a church home. My Aunt Ann said I move to a different rhythm. So I need to match my rhythm to that of my fellow laborers for Christ.

 

Tom called me and prayed for our trip and the people of Brazil. He said we will pray every day before we go out. I believe as He does that we must saturate our evangelist efforts with prayer. I pray I will work in harmony with him and with the people we meet. I don’t want to be too proud when dealing with them.  I guess I think I have the best approach to leading people to a personal relationship with Jesus. 

 

I am asking people to pray for me that I will keep my mouth shut when I am supposed and let the Holy Spirit do His work. I am supposed to be praying while my teammate is presenting the gospel.   We are trying to bring hope to the people of Brazil. I want to be totally dependent on the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to convict the lost of their sin. Lord, please help me to wait patiently and humbly for you to work in the heart’s and lives of the people of Brazil.

 

Poem -Rooted in Christ

 

 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”  John 15: 1-2

 

Pruned

Disciplined, cleansed

Cutting, tuning, refining

Tried, challenged, grafted, formed

Clinging, abiding, bearing

Produce, Render

Fruitful