Yesterday was the 4th of July, which marked our
country’s independence and freedom. If you really stop and think about all that
was done to achieve our independence, it is truly an amazing thing to
celebrate…but what about freedom in Christ? Yesterday many people pledged
allegiance to the flag…but what about our allegiance to Christ? We live in a
shakable country and fallen world…. but what about living in God’s unshakable
kingdom? The 4th of July reminds me of how grateful I am that we are
free in Christ, and that we serve a God that is unshakable. There are going to
be times during these next 11 months that are going to be hard. There are going
to be times of frustration where I might ask the question, “Why?” We may be
asked to serve people in ways we don’t understand at the time, but the thing
is…it is not about our comfort. It is all about Jesus! Even though we may not
understand it, I trust that God is moving and working in those moments even if
we cannot see it. Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “Now to Him who is able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…. to Him be glory.”
These next 11 months I will be traveling to these 11
countries in this order….
Ireland, Ukraine, Russia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique,
India, Nepal, Cambodia, Challenge Asia, and Malaysia.
**NOTE** We are officially leaving tomorrow evening and will
arrive in Dublin, Ireland on July 7th in the morning. Whoo-Hoo!!!
For the first month we will be combining with Team Kingdom Come and Team
Aletheia. We will be staying in Greystone, Ireland where we will be ministering
in a gypsy community.
I pray that God will use me to help be a light for Christ. The
cool thing about it is that I know that He is going to be faithful. Even in the
times of friction and frustration, His love will shine off of me. Isaiah 60:1,3
says “Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord arises
upon you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your
dawn…” It is not me but Christ through me. I may feel that the friction or
irritation is too much for a ministry to be successful at the time…but God can
and will use these times to grow His unshakable kingdom. He will use these
times to make beautiful pearls for His kingdom through using me to plant a speck
of sand in their clamshell. Only when a speck of sand has gotten into the
clamshell can a beautiful pearl begin to grow. I hope that everyone had a Happy
4th of July and got to take in beautiful fireworks. More importantly
I pray that you will have fireworks in your heart that are bursting for Christ
and have the freedom that He gives us when we believe in Him.
All packed and ready to go….
Watching the fireworks…
