Front Line Warriors

I found myself anguished today and with so many exciting things going on in life, I wondered why.  Finding a few moments of solitude I asked the Lord what was hurting my heart so and a flash of tenderness hit me.  Many of my dear friends are leaving or have already left to join the group of selfless souls that spread the word of God through a passionate display of Love.  I found myself on my knees for these that are so heavenly minded as to work endlessly to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

One friend, in particular, comes to mind.  For so many years, Don has sought after God’s will to serve ‘the least of these’.  He has served the destitute and the homeless; after one trip to China he found his niche and the Lord has since taken him all through Africa bringing the Word of God and the love of the Father to those in small villages and communities.  But, the Holy Spirit continued to cry out to Don for more and his heart began to set upon the pygmies.  He studied them, he consulted the Lord and these past years Don & his wife, Jenya, have found themselves in the midst of a particularly beautiful pygmy tribe in the Congo.  Within days the Favor fell upon his hands as he obtained entrance and acceptance and is now able to walk freely among those he feels called to.

Another set of friends work in a sensitive area of the world doing a delicate work.  They are literally saving children from the enemy’s plot to lie, kill and destroy.  Wells are being dug, schools are being built, children are being healed, and gardens are cultivated.  Smiles rule the day and the favor of the Lord rains down on them even through the tears and pain of children having to be pulled from subjection.  We shipped them some women’s totes through visiting missionaries.  When the travelers received the totes they were worried about the weight and how they would get them there.  They were asked to open the boxes to see how many they could fit in their already swollen suitcases; when they did they were blasted by a wave of Love that came out of the boxes..their very words were "I felt the Love of God pour out of them".  When they got to the airport, they were not charged for the 'over' weight. Favor. 

There are so many stories of God's precious hand stretched out to His children; my friend who almost lost her life during an attack of malaria has now built a medical clinic on their property in Uganda with a birthing center in construction as well; another who just had emergency gall bladder surgery is, just a few days later, up and taking care of the many she serves in Rio De Janero; a sweet woman who lost her husband a few years ago continues their dream by running a large ministry in Kenya freeing people to live self-sufficient lifestyles; those who travel back and forth to serve for the few weeks they have vacation from full-time jobs are taking the needed supplies and supplements to pass on. Just this week, a dear team in Nepal were taken in for interrogation and imprisoned after lies were spread about them. We still await their fate. 

And the Lord says pray for them as the persistent widow in Luke 18. "..and shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge the speedily". God will certainly reply to the continual prayer of believers. He will respond to the injustice and religious persecution handed over to His people and in the end He will turn all things to good. Jesus is exhorting believers not to lose their enthusiasm, their heart or their faith but to stand strong in the throes of intercession as we lift those that go to the uttermost parts of the world, taking the love of Christ to a starving people. 

And I fall to my knees. 

Easter Sunday

Lamentations 3:22-23
"The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh each morning". (NLT)

1 Corinthians 1:20
"So where is the wise philosopher who understands? Where is the expert scholar who comprehends? And where is the skilled debater of this time who could win a debate with God? Hasn't God demonstrated that the wisdom of this world's system is utter foolishness?"

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I love Resurrection Day. The beauty of what the Lord has done for us reduces me to tears and brings me to my knees. I am humbled. I rejoice. I am contemplative. I am giddy. I am seriously in love with my Father, my Lord and the One Who loves me most.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday.  When I was young we always got new Easter clothes. Even if we couldn't afford clothes all year we dressed up fancy on Easter. Dad & Mom made sure we honored what the Lord did on our behalf. Patent leather shoes shined from under, dare I say, crinoline skirted dresses and little white purses hung from our wrists. My brother sported black pants, little precious coats and bow ties. We were too cute.

This year I have the perfect pastel beads that a Kenyan lady friend strung for me, but I have nothing to go with them. It's still chilly and I'm not prepared for spring attire. I'm comfortable to stay cozy, delve deep under the quilted covers and remain firmly planted in my fuzzy, flannel PJ bottoms.

I think it's the same feeling I get when God reveals a new prophetic pronouncement over my life. The excitement is there, it wells up inside me but it seems too far away from the moment I'm living to grasp. I'm not sure how to wear it, balancing the climate of now. It's hard to embrace what I don't comprehend. I would feel safer to stay where I'm at.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. Sometimes the season changes before the weather catches up, however it is time to put away the heavy coats, boots and leggings that bind us. It's time to say goodbye to dead leaves strewn throughout the yard so we can pamper the little grass growths underneath. It's time to look past the dreariness of the wind and rain to rejoice in the new life it brings to the rose bushes, apple trees and daffodils. It's an opportunity to reach out for what we can trust will be there. Spring comes every year; God's Word never returns void. There is a brilliance in the sun today belying the chill of the air and I'm ready for winter to be over.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I think I'll take the Word I heard from the One who rose out of His grave for me and run. Arms outstretched. At the ready. Not looking back. Racing straight ahead, without fear but with anticipation that many more will come to the knowledge of His Saving Grace because of it. Spring has finally sprung in my heart once again and with it the birth of promise.

SPRING FORWARD

One of my favorite days of the year is the day we set our clocks forward an hour. I love daylight savings time. To me, it is a call to spring. It is the springboard to a new season. I no longer have to close my home up at 4:30 in the afternoon; drapes & doors can stay open into the evening, the weather warms up just a bit, and the sun begins to show its face to melt any loitering snow.

My heart just soars! I feel a quickening in my spirit of the pre-requisite to a ‘new thing’ as it says in Isaiah.  This year is no different. It’s been a hard winter in our little town. One we aren’t used to.  But today nature is having its own revival.  Today, our grass is practically springing up in joy, our apple trees are pushing forth their little pink buds and the forsythia has become a yellow gift overnight, framing my front door.

Revival. Webster Dictionary defines it as a "renewed attention or interest in something". Synonyms: reanimation, rebirth, regeneration, rejuvenation, renewal, resurgence, resurrection, revitalization and revivification. 

Revival gets a bad rap. They go on for a few months or years changing cities, towns, countries and even the islands only to die off leaving everyone to go back to their old lifestyle. Revival ends and we allow the doors to open once again, letting the enemy swarm our gates with 7 times the demons of before. Our nation needs a rebirth right now. The whole world needs rejuvenated. We need a resurrection in the land. 

In John 11, we read about the resurrection of Lazarus. We know Jesus didn't run to His friends immediately but waited, saying "This sickness will not end in death for Lazarus, but will bring glory and praise to God. This will reveal the greatness of the Son of God by what takes place." And "for your sake, I'm glad I wasn't there, because now you have another opportunity to see who I Am so that you will learn to trust in me."  3 days later (what a beautiful shadow of what was to come) Jesus met Martha as she ran to Him. Martha said to Jesus, "My Lord, if only you had come sooner my brother wouldn't have died. But I know that if You were to ask God for anything, He would do it for You." Jesus told her, 'Your brother will rise and live.' Martha replied 'Yes, I know he will rise with everyone else on resurrection day.'" But Jesus said she didn't have to wait until then as He was the Resurrection and Life Eternal and that anyone who clings to Him in faith will live forever. Martha agreed that she believed and ran to get Mary. Jesus wept with compassion at the emotion of those around Him and "gazed into Heaven and said 'Father, thank you that you have heard my prayer, for you listen to every word I speak. ow, so that these who stand here with me will believe that you have sent me to the earth as your messenger, I will use the power You have give me.' The with a loud voice Jesus shouted with authority: 'Lazarus! Come out of the tomb!'" Lazarus hobbled out tightly wound in his grave clothes which they unbound to let him loose. "From that day forward many of those who had come to visit Mary believed in Him, for they had seen with their own eyes this amazing miracle!" (TPT)

This is such a beautiful example of revival and I believe it is time again to show the power and authority of Christ to the world. Right before this, in Chapter 10, at the Feast of Renewal, the Pharisee's tried to stone Jesus for truthfully affirming their question of whether He was the Messiah or not. As they came after Him, He told them "You stubbornly refuse to follow Me, because you are not My sheep. As I've told you before, My own sheep will hear My voice and I know each one and they will follow Me. I give to them the gift of eternal life and they will never be lost and no one has the power to snatch them out of My ads. My Father, who has given them to Me as His gift, is the mightiest of all and no one has the power to snatch them from My Father's care." (TPT) 

We are those beautifully adorned-with-the-Holy-Spirit sheep. Many have stayed in the shadows too long. Many just lost the vivre for life in His abundance. Many grew fearful of the Pharisee's responses. We may have waited, but now we have another opportunity to watch God move, to reveal the greatness of the Son of God by what takes place. No-one or nothing can snatch us from Papa's care. Even as the enemy opens the floodgates of division, hate, immortality, murder and infiltration, we are the salt!  We carry the Light of the World in our very beings. As we share the fruit of His goodness with others around us, as we bear the mandated authority to heal and deliver, as we cry out in prayer declaring freedom for the nations and decreeing God's Word over the people, we will see revival storm the globe. Beginning in the individual hearts of man and spreading across the ocean's waters the manifest presence of God will transform lives and cultures. There will be complete resurrection of life and many more will come to know the gift of the eternal and never be lost. 

Yep. I love this time of year. It brings a smile to my face as I watch the kids start playing outside again, listen to the sounds of lawn mowers and neighbors calling to each other from across the street. There is a reverberating expectancy of life as the sun frees our long-shivering winter-clad bodies. Jesus also frees. A glorification of the warmth of the Son over the Nations. It's my prayer. It's my hope. It's my Spring Forward.