There is Rejoicing in Heaven!
Posted in Ukraine by Jessica Bauman on 10/22/2009
Last
night, our last time at the Teen Challenge Coffee House was incredible!
Nothing seemed any different than any other week up until the time that
everyone gathered together as a large group. During this time, my
teammate, Chris shared some of his testimony and lessons he has learned in His
life. He shared how he had tried to fix his life on his own by earning
something. By trying to work harder or do more “good”
things. He made it clear that this is a dead end road. He learned
that you can fix yourself, you need to come to the point where you realize you
have a desperate need for Jesus and you throw your life into His hands.
How true those words are!
After
Chris, another visitor, Anna Marie from Norway, spoke with such passion and joy
what God laid on her heart. She talked about how Kiev is full of big
beautiful churches that people cover in gold and finery trying to make a house
suitable for God. Then she said that’s great and all, but in God’s eyes
those churches are nothing. He doesn’t need us to build him fancy houses
to live in. He has created His own houses that are far more precious to
Him…us.
Anna Marie
compared people to old, ugly houses that are falling apart. Imagine if a
rich king were to buy it. How amazing could he make it look with his
resources? That is what God does with us. He bought us with His
riches and filled us with His glory and spends our whole lives restoring
us. He sweeps away the dirt and the cobwebs. He repairs the holes
and leaks. But He doesn’t just give us a quick paint job to make us look
good on the outside. No, He strips us bare and starts fresh to make us
pure and whole.
Anna
Marie ended her talk by quoting Romans 10:9-10, “That if you confess with
your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart
that you believe and are justified and it is with your heart that you confess
and are saved.” God created you to pour His love into you.
Confess and invite God in to fix your house; to clean and beautify His temple!
After
Anna Marie sang a song and Sergey stressed how important her message was, one
of the drug addicted men spoke up and said he wanted to be cleaned. He
wanted to let God into his life to restore him and make him beautiful.
This man believed with his heart and confessed with his mouth and I am hear to
testify to you that there is a party going on in heaven still, rejoicing
because one of the lost sons has come home! This is a man that Sergey has
been witnessing to for over 6 months. He kept saying he wanted nothing to
do with God. He was angry with God and didn’t trust him. He came to
the coffee house for the first time last week and then again last night.
He is now a fellow brother in Christ and I can see the hope that now lives in
his eyes! Rejoice with us, dear brothers and sisters….the family is
growing!
