A Lesson Learned

"Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." Luke 6:36

I know when I’m ill or suffering from a migraine, the Lord is usually bringing me to a quiet place of “surrender” because He has something to say. Well tonight’s family time brought it all together for me.

I'm so thankful because today, after a grueling episode of food poisoning complicated by a massive migraine, I was able to get out of bed. I’m slow, and not 100%; But I could still get up and get a shower and do some things for myself. I am so thankful to be in a much different place tonight. Thank You for praying. James 5:16 tells us the fervent, effectual prayers of a righteous person avails much, and they do.

I came home to Romania from my trip to California about a month ago. My first day back I found out that some of our gypsy neighbors had begun to encourage one of their younger children to break into houses and abandoned properties to steal things and sell them. JeJe caught them at a home down the street from us during the week prior to my return. They are well aware that the law here states that a minor cannot be incarcerated, and there are no longer youth correctional facilities. However, the parents can be held responsible for the children’s actions and, if found a party thereto, be incarcerated for child endangerment and the children sent to a group home.

For over twenty years this particular group has been a sore spot to this community. We have known the mother, who is in her late thirties, since she was a young pregnant teen. At that time the man who was mayor gave her a shack of a home. In the years to follow, she repeatedly became pregnant, put some of her children in the baby orphanage--took them out--put them in--and it just continued.

Her children are now mostly grown. She, her daughter, her daughter's husband and their baby--along with several more adults and children--all live in that shack. There is no water, no plumbing and it’s a den of filth. Their dirt and trash are often spread all over the common street. 

Thankfully, due to a discussion Jeje had with them a couple of months ago, they have begun cleaning the front area. She doesn’t want to work. She's maintained the attitude that we should all give her money--her son had to break into houses because they didn’t have food. The Mayor has provided her with lumber and tiles for her roof to make home repairs and she sells them.

I wasn’t happy to come home and hear that she was defending her son's behavior, and to also find out that we might need to brace ourselves for a break in.

JeJe assured me not to worry. He had an appointment with the Vice Mayor the next day to talk with him about the situation, and would be talking to all the surrounding neighbors (HOA meeting). The Vice Mayor said a written statement of the situation and hand signatures from affected neighbors would be needed. 

JeJe went door to door, to each and every home (as he did for the trash dump, and the gas project) and came home stunned at how many people said “get rid of them.”  Several actually suggested they should be sent to Auschwitz, which horrified him. This is clearly not the heart of God. We have been praying for wisdom from the Lord, and for JeJe to have wisdom in leading this situation.

He has personally talked with them about no longer having the attitude of “give me,” but to stop and think “what can we do to better our situation?”. He also offered them ideas to earn money, such as washing windows outside of people’s homes, yard work, etc. The twenty year old daughter got it and told her mother, “He’s trying to help us." Jeje explained to them that they need to take responsibility for their own improvement then the community would view them with a much better attitude. It’s not about the color of their skin, or the fact that they are gypsies. We have several wonderful gypsy families in our community who work hard, clean up and are well respected. 

Elli shared this with us during family time: "it’s true that problems are solved when the Gospel transforms a person's way of thinking. There is much less cannibalism in the world today because of the Gospel, and Jesus can transform these people."

We ask for you to pray with us for them--that they will open their hearts to Jesus and allow Him to transform them from the inside out and renew their way of thinking. We will all get to stand back and watch as God moves through our prayers, as He did with the over nine thousand tons of trash and the natural gas lines (pipes were even free). He will move in the hearts of this family--and let’s not forget the neighbors whose hearts cry “Auschwitz” (oh dear).

The light dawned. These past two weeks I had been praying for JeJe to have wisdom in how he handles this situation, and yet I didn’t want to live next to thieves. The words God kept repeating to me while I was sick: "Be Merciful."

In reality, I’m just as dirty with sin as my gypsy neighbors are. But, I’ve been washed by the precious blood of Jesus and He shows me mercy every day. He reminded me that He commands me:

"Be merciful just as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:36
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew 5:7

And my favorite:

"...Mercy triumphs over judgment." James 2:13

As we sat in the quiet evening of family time, JeJe read from a new book on leadership I brought back with me, "How Successful People Think." This is what the opening words were for him tonight:

Good Thinkers Solve Problems. They never lack ideas and they always have hope for a better future. 

May God continue to give my husband His wisdom in leading our home, church and community. May the light of Jesus shine brightly from our home and into the hearts of the people here.

A final note. God often teaches us how to be merciful thru our own sufferings.

by Coleen Jejeran, Missionary to Romania
used by permission from Coleen's facebook posts

 

Consequence of Compromise

"Wherever you set foot you will be on land I have given you--from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites. No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you." Joshua 1:2-4

I'm intrigued by the journey of the tribe of Dan from inclusion in the inheritance of the promised land to a place of compromise to a place of extinction. Earlier the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh had seen how good the land was on the east of the Jordan. They asked Moses to intercede with God for them to receive that land rather than the unknown that lay across the Jordan. 

Years later the land of Israel had basically been conquered. However some of the tribes had not come forward to receive allotment of their land. Joshua prodded them by asking how long they were going to wait to claim what God had given them. (Joshua 18:3) Dan was the last tribe to receive their inheritance, as designated by the casting of sacred lot, meaning God was sovereign in the choice. 

In the 19th chapter of Joshua we read they had trouble possessing their land because the men were big (remember Goliath?), their chariots were many and their weapons were mighty. We don't know how long they wallowed in that state of dissatisfaction in the portion God gave them. 

They were still there when Joshua, toward the end of his life, reminded the nation that God would drive out the remaining enemy before them. The nation served God all the days of Joshua until everyone who remembered God's great work in establishing the nation died. Then the people began to do what was right in their own eyes.

Judges 18 begins:

"Now in those days Israel had no king. And the tribe of Dan was trying to find a place where they could settle, for they had not yet moved into the land assigned to them when the land was divided among the tribes of Israel." Judges 18:1

They sent out men to scout out the land. Along the way, the scouts met up with a rogue Levite priest at the house of a man named Micah. They asked him to consult God about the success of their journey. The priest told them the LORD was watching over them. Subsequently, the men found what they were looking for in the town of Laish.

"So the five men went on to the town of Laish, where they noticed the people living carefree lives, like the Sidonians; they were peaceful and secure. The people were also wealthy because their land was very fertile. And they lived a great distance from Sidon and had no allies nearby." Judges 18:7

The land looked good and and the people appeared easy to conquer. The men returned to their waiting tribesmen with the good news. On the way back to Laish, the scouts pointed out the house of Micah. They looted his shrine of the articles of worship and invited the rogue Levite to come with them by appealing to his pride. "Isn't it better to be a priest for an entire tribe than for the household of just one man?"

First, the tribe was dissatisfied with the gift of God. Then they forgot His promise and looked for an alternative. They didn't question the counsel they received from a rogue priest and their actions ultimately were dictated by what they saw.

In the end, the tribe of Dan isolated themselves from the rest of Israel, living at the northern border. They became the cultic center of worship in the Northern Kingdom. When you tour Israel today, you may see the remains of an ornate temple to the god Pan. It is on the tribal lands of Dan.

Their experience is a caution to us in our walk with Christ today. They had a promise, but were dissatisfied with how it worked out. I have to ask myself, "am I dissatisfied with the circumstances of my life?" If I am, I need to confess that dissatisfaction and ask God to show me His will and His direction."

They searched for a different place that looked peaceful and easy. I have to ask myself, "am I telling God I want an easy life. I'm not willing to stay in a place of hardship?"

They asked for counsel from an unsanctified source. Do I look for counsel that will send me to the word of God or counsel that co-signs what I want to do? Can I recognize the difference?

In the case of the people of Dan, they should have known the priest was unreliable when he wasn't living in a Levitical city or the land designated for them. The big "red flag" should have been the presence of household gods and idols. But, they were so deep into compromise by that time they took the idols and artifacts along with them to use in their worship.

We need to daily ask God to search our hearts and make known to us any improper desire we are embracing, any impatience we may feel as we wait upon Him to reveal His will or change our circumstances. We need to stand firm on His Word and not compromise with the demands of the world.

"For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teacher who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear." 2 Timothy 4:3

Dan ended up following Jeroboam when, following the death of Solomon, he led the ten northern tribes into idolatry. They were captured by the Assyrians and removed from the Promised Land, dispersed to other lands, serving harsh rulers. 

In the end, will they be remembered? 

"And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea. 'Wait, Don't harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.' And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God--144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:" Revelation 7:2-4

Scripture goes on to record 12,000 from each of twelve tribes are sealed. In the list Joseph is named instead of Ephraim. The name of Dan is omitted from the list. That information is all that has been revealed to us.

What we do know is that compromise means we don't fully trust God to be faithful to His promises. It puts us in a vulnerable place. The longer we compromise with the Word of God, the further away from Him we move. We isolate ourselves from the Body of Christ. On the outside we may look like we've got it all together. No Problem. Inside--life is drying up.

Heavenly Father, we ask You to search our hearts and put Your holy spotlight on any area of dissatisfaction or compromise in our lives. In Your tender love draw us to You and speak peace to us. Give us the ability to surrender any area of compromise to You, choosing to trust You to keep Your promise to go before us and defeat our enemies.

by Marilyn Allison

Editor's Note: Thank to autocorrect and a mind fogged by a respiratory infection, two glaring errors appeared in the original publication. These have been corrected. I apologize if anyone was confused by them. 

I Am Among You

"I am God and not a human; I am the Holy One, and I am among you."
Hosea 11:9

I was reflecting on this scripture during a recent devotional time, and I kept sensing over and over again the tender embrace of the Lord. His words assure me that wherever I am, He is with me.  Whatever my circumstance, He is there.  He is ever present, all-knowing, and sovereign over all. 

God is in the thick of things in your world.  You can bank on His everlasting love, even in the biggest trials of life.

*****  

If you feel alone, facing a recent diagnosis of cancer, or for that of a loved one, you are invited to join the Women's Cancer Support Gathering on Saturday, April 14th at 11:30am.

Our desire is to support, encourage, pray and provide practical help during this time of need. 

Please contact Marie Hyepock for more info, or view the link below:
CLICK HERE!

Patient Obedience

“As the LORD had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. And Joshua did as he was told, carefully obeying all the commands that the LORD had given to Moses.” Joshua 11:15

Claiming the land God had promised wasn’t an overnight accomplishment for the Israelites. The battles for each portion of land, north and south, continued for many years. The opposition from the pagans in the land grew in intensity. Numbers increased, as did the sophistication of their weaponry. Eventually they faced an overwhelming coalition of kings and their armies.

“All these kings came out to fight. Their combined armies formed a vast horde. And with all their horses and chariots, they covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore.” Joshua 11:4

Do you ever feel like everything is working against you? Do you have days when you wish you’d never gotten out of bed? You know, the kind of day when unexpected demands intrude on your day before you’ve had time with the LORD, before you’ve had a “cuppa” something hot or even had time to check your calendar for activities already scheduled? You feel as though there isn’t enough of “You” to deal with all the needs calling your name. Everything that can go wrong manages to do it before lunchtime. Overwhelming problems “cover your landscape like the sand on the seashore.”

Joshua looked at his problem and I think he consulted the LORD. Why do I think that? Because the LORD spoke to him.

“Then the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel as dead men. Then you must cripple their horses and burn their chariots.’. . .And the LORD gave them victory over their enemies. . .Then Joshua crippled the horses and burned all the chariots, as the LORD had instructed.” Joshua 11:6, 8a, 9

As we live the days of our lives, God will allow tests to pop up. They will be tests designed to bring us to the point of surrendering our own strength to His power, our will to His. When we seek the LORD for His conclusion, He will give us success and strengthen our faith.

“Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” James 4:8a

Ever practical, James goes on to pinpoint what is often the root of the problem we are facing when obstacles rise up and overwhelm us.

“Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.” James 4:8b

When our world is threatening to come apart, we need to come close to God. That means we need to humble ourselves--take the “ME” out of the equation--and trust God to receive our petition and act on it…in His time and in His way.

“Humble yourselves before the LORD, and He will lift you up in honor.” James 4:10

We need to cultivate patience in waiting on the LORD. Obey Him in what we know to do. Our Pastor has exhorted us: “until you know what to do, keep doing what you know.”

“So do not throw away this confident trust in the LORD. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36

When Joshua obtained the victory, he was to hamstring the enemy’s horses and destroy their chariots. There’s something in us that immediately cringes at the thought of hamstringing the horses.

Ancient battle tactics reveal the practice of cutting the hamstring tendons in the rear legs of horses, rendering the animal useless to be used again in war. For the Israelites, who were admonished by God to refrain from adding to themselves horses (Deuteronomy 17:16), it was a caution against trusting in what they could see--returning to Egypt and trusting in their own efforts and strength-- rather than trusting in the LORD God to deliver them.

Trust in the LORD is the key to patient obedience. We are to hamstring the things that take the place of our trusting in Him—cut the power from whatever we are relying on that keeps us from turning to Him.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5

Heavenly Father, may we choose to trust in You with all our hearts. May we acknowledge You as LORD, and see as You direct our paths.

by Marilyn Allison

It Is Finished

"When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished," and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."  John 19:30

FINISHED!
Chains of sin and death broken, 
The veil was torn,
The world changed for all eternity! 
Hope was born, 
Forgiveness given and received
And love reigns in the hearts of those who know HIM!

Is there anything more to say? Can I even put into words what this truth means? I stop to grapple for words because I am so unworthy for such a precious gift. My heart cries out "Thank You!" And at the same time, it cries "I’m sorry; forgive me!"

He bore the scars of a brutal beating. He was mocked and abused and still, He stood and walked--stumbling--crawling to the cross. Pain beyond comprehension, thorns thrust on His head, nails piercing His skin and then, as He called to Father GOD, the skies darkened. As our sin fell on HIM - HE cried out'

And about the ninth hour JESUS cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My GOD, My GOD, why have You forsaken Me?" 
Matthew 27:46

I wonder how our Savior, the perfect Lamb of God who knew no sin, bore the horrific grossness of our sin. But He endured, He bore the sin, the shame and the pain for us. Horrible? Yes. But God so loved. . .

Good Friday passed and Sunday was Resurrection Day and that's what held Him.

"And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split."  Matthew 27:51

by Eve Montano