I’m
halfway done w/my World Race, 5 1/2 months into it, & God’s teaching me this:There’s NOTHING
more SCANDALOUS than God’s GRACE.He loved Hitler just as much as He
loved Mother Teresa.Her good works couldn’t make Him love her more &
his evil deeds couldn’t make Him love him less.That’s His
radical,reckless LOVE for us that goes beyond the limits of our human logic/reason.We cant earn it & we don’t deserve it but yet He freely gives it.That’s how endless and amazing His love is for everyone on this Earth whom He has created. We spend many hours, days, and years attempting to “do good” and “achieve” and “earn” His love and grace and we miss the whole point of the Cross. He died so that we could receive His free hand out of grace and forgiveness. His bloodshed covers all of our mistakes, failures, mess-ups, inadequacies, sins, strongholds, addictions, etc. We don’t have to clean up our lives for Him to accept us.
halfway done w/my World Race, 5 1/2 months into it, & God’s teaching me this:There’s NOTHING
more SCANDALOUS than God’s GRACE.He loved Hitler just as much as He
loved Mother Teresa.Her good works couldn’t make Him love her more &
his evil deeds couldn’t make Him love him less.That’s His
radical,reckless LOVE for us that goes beyond the limits of our human logic/reason.We cant earn it & we don’t deserve it but yet He freely gives it.That’s how endless and amazing His love is for everyone on this Earth whom He has created. We spend many hours, days, and years attempting to “do good” and “achieve” and “earn” His love and grace and we miss the whole point of the Cross. He died so that we could receive His free hand out of grace and forgiveness. His bloodshed covers all of our mistakes, failures, mess-ups, inadequacies, sins, strongholds, addictions, etc. We don’t have to clean up our lives for Him to accept us.
HE ACCEPTS YOU! HE ACCEPTS YOU! HE ACCEPTS YOU! HE ACCEPTS YOU!
HE LOVES YOU! HE LOVES YOU! HE LOVES YOU! HE LOVES YOU!
THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO MAKE HIM LOVE YOU MORE OR LESS!
THERE’ S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO MAKE HIM LOVE YOU MORE OR LESS!
THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO MAKE HIM LOVE YOU MORE OR LESS!
Ephesians 2:8-9 “Because it is by grace that you have been saved through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit.”
1 Corinthians 1:31 “Whoever wants to boast must boast of what the Lord has done.”
Anything you read in my blogs that is good or amazing, is me boasting about what my Father, God, has done. Not boasting about anything i have done or achieved or accomplished. All credit goes to Him. Who am i? I am just a simple servant who stumbles and falls just like everyone else. I have my mess ups and failures like everyone else. That’s the kind of people God uses. He says in His word that He uses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. I’m finally realizing that’s what i am. Haha. He loves me and uses me, but compared to Him, i am foolish and simple, nothing special outside of Him.His amazing GRACE is so scandalous that He even chooses to use a sinner like me to travel the world to share of His Good News and love to others. He doesn’t call the equipped; He equips the called.
Here in Central Malawi, we are again living in a very remote village this month. Even more remote than last month (it took us over 2 hrs by a flatbed truck to travel to a small town that had an internet cafe) We are literally living in the middle of the African wilderness!And loving every minute of it! He is teaching me how to be joyful , content & thankful in ANY circumstance. We wake up & go to bed with the sun….so is life with no electricity.We live by candlelight at night and walk to the well to pump water when we want to take a bucket “shower” in the outhouse or wash our dishes/hands. It is a very conservative village and us women have to wear skirts/dresses to our ankles if we leave our house. Yes, even when we run in the mornings to work out. Long skirts to our ankles! haha.It’s quite the sight.We are living in the middle of lush green forests, mango and banana trees, and acres of tobacco fields. (Malawi is one of the biggest harvesters of tobacco in the world) We are partnering with Joy to the World ministries. Some of the ministries we have been involved in the last 2 weeks have been working with the Feeding program, which feeds over 500 poor children Pala once a day (like oatmeal/pouridge). We have also been working in the fields, helping them plants crops for their harvest. Everywhere we go we have mobs of beautiful, curious Malawian children following us everywhere, even peeking in our windows at our house. When we cook, we cook over a charcoal burner outside. I think in one week all 13 of us consumed more than 300 eggs!! Eggs and rice have become our meals. It is hard to believe that im 5 1/2 months into my World Race! 5 1/2 months to go! Every morning and throughout the day i still pinch myself and am in awe of God’s grace to even allow me to be able to have this as MY LIFE daily.So thankful and blessed for all of your prayers and donations and support and encouragement! I feel it each day and God has also continued to bless me with health and has protected me, so thank you for your prayers.
Our team has been praying about where God will lead us for the month of January, and we feel that He is leading us to Swaziland! My team mate Rachel has contacts there and she ministered there last year, so they are welcoming our team! They have an orphanage there and a ministry to widows, so i am excited to see what is in store. I am also blessed to have another 2 weeks here in Malawi, God willing! We are in the rainy season here now, in December, so we get to experience the rain and thunder/lightening here in our village almost daily.
My prayer for the rest of this month and for the rest of my life: to be someone who has nothing to be proud of. Read that a few times and let that sink. I know i have. To be someone who has NOTHING to be proud of. Nothing to boast in, EXCEPT to only boast in what the LORD has/is doing. If i have nothing to be proud about, than i’ll never be insulted or offended. I’ll never be prideful.(even though i know pride is something that i will struggle with the rest of my life, since im a human who sins, i still want that goal to be the desire of my heart.) To chase after humility. To honor others above myself. Jesus, the King of Kings, came to serve, not to be served! I hope i can get back to the internet cafe before Christmas and New Years, but if the rain=mud prevents us to travel a few hrs to get here, i want to wish all of you a blessed Christmas with your loved ones and an amazing New Years! Before i go, i want to wish my beautiful mother aka my best friend…a very wonderful birthday this week! She has been an amazing model of God’s grace and unconditional love in my life. She and my father have both been great examples of grace and love in my life. Thank you mom and dad! Love you!
“To be alive is to be broken; to be broken is to stand in need of GRACE.”- Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel. (i recommend reading it)
