HE is faithful.

“Elisha] said, "This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water.  For this s what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink." 2 Kings 3:16-17  

There are probably times in your life when prayers just aren’t being answered in what we would consider to be a ‘timely’ manner; it certainly has happened to me.  Seemingly unanswered prayers can bring a sense of helplessness and hopelessness.  The people that are being described in 2 Kings had no water.  No clouds in sight and not a drop of water could be found in the wells; hopelessness.  Where do you turn when your faucet is dry, when your marriage is breaking up, when your kids are fighting, when medical bills are mounting, when you are turned down for another job or when your doctor tells you that you only have a short time to live?   

The young boy in this photo attends the Bois Marchand School in Gonaives and there is no well at their school.  Before my visit there ended, he followed me to the door and asked if I could do something to get a well at their school.  He had been praying…but the cooks were still hauling water; bucket by bucket.  We need to be patient and remain faithful.  The people in 2 Kings were so certain that God would bring rain that they began to dig ditches…and continued to pray.  Children attending the Lutheran School in Thomassique brought kindling wood to school, knowing that a feeding program would come someday…and they prayed and it did come; in God’s timing.  

Our Triune God has a way of answering prayers, quite often in ways that we don’t understand at the moment but come to enjoy the blessing later on in life.  Our Heavenly Father’s timetable is not one that we are familiar with or can understand.  He provides in His time and in His way and we give thanks for taking care of us.  Have you started to dig any ditches recently to store a stream of water?  Have you begun to store up firewood?  He is faithful.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay ~

The ark.

“So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created; and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground; for I regret that I have made them.”  But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.  This is the account of Noah and his family.  Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.  Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.” Genesis 6:7-10  

This is the first Monday of 2020 and while this is the day for the monthly Trinity/HOPE international day of prayer, I thought it might be good day to share a Facebook post that a good friend shared last week which was written by Traci Jaco.  “Tonight, during the message, my nine-year old son Jay came to the realization that the children who were NOT on the ark, didn’t make it.  He looked to me with such a sad, questioning face.  All that I could say was “Their parents didn’t make sure they were on the ark.”  The weight of that statement is still resting upon me.  Of all the things that I do for the Kingdom of God, NOTHING is more important than making sure that my children find their way to a relationship with Jesus.”  

My daughter Deidre and I talked about this post last week and we both agreed how thankful we are to have a close relationship with Jesus, not just to have a spot reserved in Heaven but more importantly, how great it is to ask the Holy Spirit to use us, to bring more lost souls into the Kingdom.  

This school year, there are over 28,000 children in 141 Christian schools throughout Haiti, learning about Jesus, eating a noon meal from Trinity/HOPE and sharing news that will bring more souls into the Ark before the door closes.  Thank you for answering the call to help spread the Good News.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay ~

Prayer guide for January 6, 2020

We begin our prayer time in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. + Amen. ‘Adoration’ 2 Corinthians 9:10-11; “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”   As you sit reading this, please consider all of the blessings that are surrounding you at this moment along your journey.  You may have purchased some of them with a portion of the providence that He gave to you, some were gifts from family, friends or possibly strangers and then there are the other things, taken for granted but always expected; fresh air, sunshine, water, shelter and family are directly from His hand.  Take a moment to think about the blessings a Haitian child is experiencing at this same moment in time; family, perhaps their Christian school has a Trinity/Hope feeding program and their school has windows to allow ‘bon van’ a nice breeze to move through and keep them comfortable; blessings from your gift and His Hand are at work in their life..

Song of Solomon 1:3-4; “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out.  No wonder the young women love you!  Take me away with you; let us hurry!  Let the king bring me into his chambers.”    

A time of ‘Adoration’ to our Heavenly Father.    

Please take time to sit and consider how our Triune God comes to us through His ‘WORD’ every day and He has impacted your life.

Think about the blessings you have because of His blessing you with material goods and the daily blessings that His Hand provides for you.Give thanks for where God has placed you and the gifts that you were given to use for Him along your journey.

 ‘Confession’

Romans 3:10-18; “As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.  Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.  The poison of vipers is on their lips.  Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.  Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”

We were born, sinful and unclean, through no fault of our own, but because of the sins of our parents, grandparents…Adam and Eve.  God sent His only Son to die for our sins. Jesus did everything right while he was here on this earth. He loved you with a love that cannot be measured.  He gave to the world when no thanks were returned to Him.  He healed when there was no hope, and He died without complaint.  Jesus did nothing wrong and everything right; all this for you.  He lived for you and died for you.  Our sins nailed Him to the cross on Calvary and kept Him there until His life on earth had ended.

Romans 8:3-4; “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” A time of personal confession.

John 3:16-17, 36; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

Our sins are placed at the base of the cross...His cross, and we give thanks that the times we have fallen short in the eyes of our Heavenly Father have been washed clean and we have been forgiven through the Blood of our Risen Savior Jesus Christ.  

‘Thanksgiving’

Where do we begin to give thanks?  So great are the blessings that our Heavenly Father has poured into our lives and continues to daily shower upon us.

Psalm 107:1-3; “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story; those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”

As we begin this new year, let us give thanks for what we have, where we are today and what was given to us without asking.  At the top of our list we should be giving thanks for God giving us His Son Jesus who came down from Heaven to save us from our sins and bless us with Eternal Life.   

Ephesians 5:1-3; “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.”   

We come to You now with hearts, minds and words filled with ‘Thanksgiving’.”

We give thanks for our Creator, Redeemer and Holy Spirit.We give thanks for having a Savior.

We give thanks our providence; monetary, food, clothing and shelter.  As we give of our first fruits may we also give a portion of our best to His children who need the assistance we can provide.

We give You thanks for the Haitian children who are not only the prime purpose of Trinity/HOPE but also Your missionaries for the future generations in Haiti who bring the true message of Christmas to lives who have never known.

We give You thanks for the work that is being accomplished by the Haitian parents, teachers, school principals and Feeding Program Directors who are shaping the lives of young Haitian children this school year.

 ‘Supplications’

January 1st is Independence Day in Haiti and while it is a time of much celebration of freedom from the oppressive control of France it is also a time of violent protests in the streets of Haiti by people without hope, living in a land with corrupt leaders.  May the many young Christian missionaries who have been prepared with the Good News in Haitian schools with Trinity/Hope feeding programs since 1998 bring Hope to the hopeless who are still living in fear of the vodou priest and may they begin to push out corruption in their government and dedicate their country to Jesus Christ.  

Genesis 1:29-31; “Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food.  And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground; everything that has the breath of life in it, I give every green plant for food.”  And it was so.  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.  And there was evening, and there was morning; the sixth day.”  

Heavenly Father, we bring our supplications before You;  

Heavenly Father, this coming year please continue to lead and bless Trinity/HOPE with Your loving hand; may we always strive to accomplish Your will.

Bless the workers here in the U.S. and in Haiti and give them courage as they face challenges from the evil foe.  Provide them with courage, endurance and love.

Heavenly Father, please begin the process to raise up God fearing leaders in Haiti and in our country as well, who will seek your wisdom and directions and lead accordingly, giving You the Glory. 

Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed.  Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith.  May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You sent it; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

2 Corinthians 13:11-14; “Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.  Greet one another with a holy kiss.  All the saints send their greetings.  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  

May God go before you to guide you; may His arms be beneath you to support you, around you to protect you and above you to bless you.  And may the blessings of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you always dear sister and brother in Christ,  

In His love, have a very prosperous and blessed new year. Jay Brinkmeyer

Finishing well...

“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”  As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes.  All such boasting is evil.  If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” James 4:13-17  

What is your life?  The world that we live in urges us to boast of our worldly achievements that ‘we’ have accomplished without help from anyone else; WE DID IT!  Strive to do better, finish well for Him.  Be the kind of person that when you sit up in bed and your feet hit the floor each morning, the evil foe says "Oh Crap, they’re up!"  Life is too short to wake up in the middle of the night or in the morning with regrets; love the people who encourage and strengthen you and forgive the ones who don't; just because you can.  Believe that everything happens for a reason and if you are given a second chance, grab it with both hands.  When you feel your blood pressure rising and muscles growing tense take a few deep breaths, count to ten and think about how to finish well before you speak when you are becoming angry; forgive quickly.  Our Heavenly Father never said life would be easy; He just promised it would be worth it.  

There are over twenty-eight thousand children like this child living in Haiti who only receiving one meal a day and that is at their school; that is a blessing.  There are thousands more who are not eating regularly at their homes and don’t know Jesus; that is an opportunity for you to finish well while on your life’s journey.  Please pray for these children and if the Holy Spirit moves you to feed a few of these children; contact Trinity/HOPE.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay ~

Friendly dogs.

“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?  Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” James 4:4

It is very difficult to serve our Triune God while you are following the delights that this world has to offer; you know that and satan delights in those times when your most precious time is spent giving to the world instead of Christ.     

If you follow Christ, all the ‘friendly dogs’ of this world will be nipping at your heels.  If you are living in worldly ways and have decided that you will turn to Christ just before you take your last breath; you are taking quite a chance.  If you spend most of your time in His word and walk in His ways the eyes and tongues of this world will not speak well of you; you will be under attack daily.  

Do what is right, finish well, and don’t be afraid of what the tongues of this world will say about you or what stone they may hurl at you.  Be strong, be courageous; finish well.  Remain in His word and pray without ceasing.  I close today’s devotion with the words from verse 7 of the hymn ‘If Thou but suffer God to guide Thee’ which was written by Georg Nuemark in 1640.  

“Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving, perform thy duties faithfully, and trust His Word, though undeserving, thou yet shalt find it true for thee.  God never yet forsook in need the soul that trusted Him indeed.”  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay ~

Love your enemies.

“Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.  But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:26-28  

The words of Jesus tell us to ‘love your enemies’ are difficult for all sinners to follow.  As sinful Christians, here in North America and also in Haiti, we will ultimately make enemies.  Somebody is going to hold a grudge against you or blame you for bringing problems upon their physical or financial wellbeing.  

Although it will not be our plan of action, simply believing the truth and doing what is right will cause us to lose many of our earthly friends or acquaintances.  Suffice to say and never forget that there is a Friend in heaven who will reveal Himself to us one day as He gave His life on the cross of Calvary for you, me and that ‘enemy’ if they too believe in Him.  

This young child has an enemy in Haiti; the local vodou priest; and they are afraid of him.  He wants them to believe in the lies of satan and may even want to take their lives so he can use their body parts in his sacrifices to the spirits of the evil world.  Just as Christ instructs us to pray for our enemies, He teaches this child to pray for the vodou priest.  Christ came to earth to seek and save the lost because this entire world needs a Savior.  

Thank you for helping to prepare these children attending Christian schools to finish well in their lives; may their witness bring many more into the Kingdom.     

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay ~

Answering the call.

“Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”  The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?”  He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”  John 21:16-17  

A group of Lutherans from the Nashville, TN area formed an organization called Trinity/HOPE in 1998 following a mission trip to Haiti with the intent of answering God’s call to “feed my sheep” who were not being fed nutritionally.  The team observed children attending a Lutheran school in the Artibonite district who were listless, lifeless and hungry.  Forty-six children were the first group to be fed and now by the grace of our Triune God over seventeen thousand children are being fed daily in their Christian schools.  

The mission of Trinity/HOPE is ‘To actively seek and be careful stewards of each dollar God provides so that the maximum number of students in the schools of the Christian Churches in Haiti have a meal each day.”  Our vision is “to facilitate the Christian Churches in Haiti’s efforts to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the children in its schools as they are being educated.”  

Thank you for answering the call of our Holy Spirit to go into the mission fields of Haiti and join us in ‘feeding His sheep’ and sharing of your time, talents and daily prayers as these children are being prepared to take the love of Jesus to a country that was dedicated to satan on January 1, 1804.   

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay ~

Finish well.

“I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” John 17:4  

I stopped doing New Year’s resolutions decades ago; living in a sinful world meant that their success was limited to my memory.  Now…I just want to finish well.  Jesus did that; He was busy doing His Father’s work; emotionally and physically exhausting days spent healing the sick and driving out demons, confronting false teachers and teaching and correcting the disciples.  He experienced disappointing relationships when people who initially said that they adored Him but later walked away.  As True Man, he experienced every emotion and temptation we experience.  I often wonder if He had a ‘bucket list’.  

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus tell each of us “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  He doesn’t say that our lives will be easy, without frustration and pain.  The only way to ‘finish well’ is to follow His examples, remain in the Word daily and be in and surrounded in prayer throughout each day.  

Today is the last day of this year and there is no better time than now to experience God's love with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength.  Dedicate your life to Him; share your time, talents and treasures doing His work.  If your heart moves you to feed the children in Trinity/HOPE programs in Haiti then joyfully feed His children.  If the Holy Spirit moves you to do His work in other areas of this world, then follow His direction with all of your energy.  Whatever your direction may be, finish well and if you direction seems unclear recall Psalm 46:10 "be still and know that I am God."  Wait, listen for His direction, feel His nudging and finish well.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay ~

Precious servants.

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.” Psalm 116:15  

This verse has been roaming throughout my day and as this year draws to a close it seemed like a good topic to dwell upon today as it touches lives in Haiti and also in the lives of Trinity/HOPE donors.  Our Heavenly Father holds the lives of His saints very dearly within His care.  He hears our prayers, is with each of us in times of sorrow and celebration; He is always there with us.  His saints will not die prematurely; they shall be immortal till their work is done; and when their time shall come to die, then their deaths shall be precious.   This young child from Caredeux is precious to our Heavenly Father; He watches over them in the heat of the night, causes their beads of sweat in the stillness of night to turn into rivers of cool water, He sustains the beating of their hearts, and receives their souls.  All of His children are so very precious to Him.   

The deathbeds of saints are very precious to the church, she often learns much from them; they are very precious to all believers, who delight to treasure up the last words of the departed; but they are most of all precious to our Heavenly Father, who views the victorious deaths of His children with sacred delight.  If we have walked before Him in the land of the living, proclaiming the Holy Gospel from His Son, we need not fear to die before Him when the hour of our departure is at hand.  Thank you for helping to prepare His children to bring the message of Salvation to Haiti during this past year.  

I close today with the words to verse 6 of the hymn ‘Awake, my soul and with the sun’ that was written by Thomas Ken in 1695.  “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise Him, all creatures here below; praise Him above, ye heavenly host: praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”  

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay ~

Being a blessing.

“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” Ephesians 6:24
 
While reading the ‘Nearing Home’ book by Dr. Billy Graham the following quote attributed to Carrie Ten Bloom was shared; “the measure of life is not by the duration but by the donation.”  It struck me like that frozen snowball that hit me in the face so many years ago and gave me a black eye on December 23, and my mom had a Holstein cow cause I was an usher  at St. John’s on Christmas Eve; it still has my attention.  

It really doesn’t matter how many years you are blessed with but rather how much you have been a blessing throughout the span of your life.  It seems that is an accurate description of Trinity/HOPE.  In a span of a little over ten years faithful donors have grown from feeding 46 kids in Tarrasse to just over 28,000.  What a blessing that cloud of young missionaries will be to the country of Haiti.  The vodou priests will cringe when they see them coming from their schools but will be thankful when their closed ears hear the truth of the risen Christ and express joy when they realize that their sins are forgiven.  I close today with the words to the hymn ‘Take my life and let it be’ which was written by Frances R. Havergal in 1874.  

“Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee; take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.  Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love; take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.  Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King; take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee.  Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold; take my intellect and use every power as Thou shalt choose.  Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine; take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne.  Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure-store; take myself, and I will be ever, only, all, for Thee.”  

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay ~