Month: September 2013

John 15:13  “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

Tonight, I had an unexpected pleasure.  I had dinner with a young lady, Naomi Hamilton, with whom we met when we lived in Vero Beach, Florida.  We met Naomi’s family when she was about ten years old.   She is the oldest of ten children, and she has grown into a beautiful woman of God.  Naomi loves the Lord deeply and serves Him as a mid-wife working with young women in trouble in the Phillipines.  Her website is http://saferefugeinternational.com/ and you should go check out what she is doing.  She started this ministry over 10 years ago and God is doing great things through her.

Jesus laid down His own life for us.  Her website states, “At age 21, she left the comforts of western life and began working with families in developing countries. She worked as the clinical director of a free maternity and birth clinic situated just outside of a large slum in Manila, Philippines. This birth center provided care for the poorest of the poor at all hours of the day and night. She supervised countless deliveries, prenatal appointments, and postpartum visits. In addition, she led a staff of more than twenty people, modeling compassionate and quality medical care as well as sensitivity to the spiritual and emotional needs of the clients being served.

“Through these experiences, Naomi knew there was something more than just helping these women with their maternity needs, and then watching them  children go back into devastating circumstances and being used in the sex-trade. In January 2007, she opened Safe Refuge. Since then not only has Naomi helped countless woman through medical and pregnancy needs, but she has been able to rescue them out of dire circumstances.”

If you feel like you would want to do more to support this ministry, go to the website and check it out.  I pray that God will continue to change lives through the life of Naomi, but I also pray that God will give Naomi the desires of her heart.

 

Matthew 5:4  “Blessed are those who mourn,
    For they shall be comforted.”

Yesterday we celebrated 3 years since Joel has passed away.  Although, for the most part, I am doing really well with it, at about 5:30 pm, I had a little “moment.”  I cried for about 15 minutes, thinking about my life with Joel and my new life without him.  It seems that time has helped the grieving process, but there are still times when I miss him terribly.

Also, yesterday, a friend of mine frantically texted me and asked me if I could sing and play at her aunt’s funeral that was scheduled for today.  Last night after my little “pity party” I wondered if I would be able to sing and play without breaking down. At the funeral, I sang “His Eye is on the Sparrow” and “In the Garden.”  Both of those songs are beautiful and express the love of our Lord Jesus.  His Word in Matthew 6:25-34 tells us that if He will feed the birds and clothes the grass of the field, how much more will He take care of us.

While I was sitting there listening to the funeral message, I realized that I was strangely and wonderfully comforted by the service.   I was reminded that Joel is in heaven, and although he is praying for us, he is also enjoying the most wonderful existence that is possible.  And that is comforting to me.

 

Ephesians 4:12-13  “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Recently, in one of my classes, the professor relayed that he had heard Jack Hayford speak at a seminar about Ephesians 4:12.  In the seminar, Pastor Jack taught about the Greek meaning of the word “equipping” in this verse.   Two of the meanings of the word are:  (1) the word that is the setting of the broken bone; and (2) the realignment or a placing of a limb back in the socket.

Whenever I have been taught about this verse or when I have read it, I have always thought it meant the pastor or teacher was training and teaching people so they could take that knowledge to do the work of the ministry.   However, with the context and meaning of the word “equip,” the teaching should focus on mending the brokenness of people, instead of focusing solely on a method that they use to do the work.  God has gifted each us with individual gifts and abilities that we can use to do the work of the ministry.

I am not saying that there should never be training in discipleship.  There absolutely should be discipleship training.  However, I am saying that people will be better able to minister with their own sets of gifts and abilities if we help them with their brokenness first.  We are not called to give them what we have, we are called to mend their brokenness, so they can “become mature and attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”