Ain' God good?

“Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.  I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” Psalm 16:1-2

I can still see John Hall look at me and in his warm Tennessee accent tell me “Ain’t God good?”  Yes John, God is oh so good.  I realize that not everything on this side of Heaven that happens in your life is going to be good or the way you wanted it to be.  But God is good; and He is pouring out His goodness into your life here in North America and also in Ouanaminthe, Haiti where these kids live.

The circumstances may be very difficult in their lives and your life right now, but God can take the bad and bring good out of it; you’ve seen that happen.  Even in the worst times, you can trust this: God has a good purpose, a good plan, and a good reason.  The above verses from Psalm 16 tell us that no matter where you are in life right now, you could use a reminder of God’s goodness.  And sometimes the best way to remember something is to talk with God about it through prayer.  I have been intentionally spending more time in prayer with God in 2023.  He desires it and I need it. 

“God, You are so good.  I could never deserve Your goodness.  I’m sorry that I have often forgotten or doubted Your goodness.  Forgive me for my ungratefulness and pride.  I am nothing without You.  Like King David, I would despair if I didn’t know Your goodness.  Open my eyes to see how good You really are and let Your goodness transform my life.  The greatest example of God’s goodness is Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  You, these Haitian children and me won’t fully experience His goodness until we experience His salvation.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”  Now, may God go before you to guide you...may His hands 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 today and every moment along your journey until you reach Paradise.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Lord, are you listening?

“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?  Why do you make me look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?  Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.  Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails.  The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.” Habakkuk 1:2-4

Have you ever felt as though God wasn’t listening to you?  You pray and pray about something that has been on your heart, but nothing changes, nothing happens.  Have you ever thought, “Are you even listening Lord?”

The profit Habakkuk went through such a time.  He once wrote, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear?  Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?  Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong?  Destruction and violence are before; strife and contention arise.  So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth.  For the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted.” (Hab. 1:2-4)

It sure sounds like Habakkuk is crying out, “Are you even listening Lord?”

All of this took place around 600 years before Christ was born.  Babylon was a world power, and they were threatening the people of Judah.  It truly was a time of violence, oppression, injustice, and strife.  Families were torn apart.  People were suing each other for ridiculous reasons.  God’s law was being ignored by the nation, and immorality flooded the land. The few righteous people that remained were being oppressed by the vast majority who had turned their back on the Lord.  And through it all it seemed that the Lord did nothing.

Does any of this sound familiar?  Yep, there is nothing new under the sun.  What happened back then is happening today.  And so the righteous still cry out, “How long, O Lord!?  How long does this have to continue?”  And just like with Habakkuk, there still seems to be no answer.

So then, how do we deal with this?  Well, how about taking our lead from Habakkuk.  You see, he would not permit his perplexity to turn him away from the Lord.  Instead, look at what he writes.  “I will take my stand at my watchpoint and station myself on the tower and look out to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.”  (Hab 2:1)

Habakkuk wasn’t insisting on an immediate answer.  Instead, he was simply going to stand firm in his faith.  He would continue to trust only in the Lord and wait for His answer.  In Hebrew, the word “wait” or “wait for” means, “to look for” or “to hope for”.  It means waiting with confidence, knowing that it will happen, there is no doubt about it.  Waiting for the Lord like this will not end with disappointment.  It may take a long while, but God’s promises will come to pass, as it did with Habakkuk writes, “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end – it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. Behold his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall life by his faith.” (Hab 2:3-4)

What we need to take hold of is that the Lord has indeed heard our cries and has answered in the person of Christ Jesus.  In Christ all of God’s promises are fulfilled.  Forgiveness, peace with God, a close relationship with the Almighty God, a life that has no end, and our home in heaven; all of this is ours right now through Jesus saving work.  So if we actually live out this faith that we have in our Lord Jesus, no matter what we are going through right now, we can wait for the Lord with confidence, with hope, and even with joy.

The mission of Trinity HOPE is, in part, to bring such hope and joy to those who seemingly have so little, that they may wait with confidence, living each day with their faith renewed in the Lord, knowing that He is indeed listening.  May we all wait with that same confidence.

Now, may God go before you to guide you...may His hands 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 today and every moment along your journey until you reach Paradise.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Keith Enko

Digging ditches.

“(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

If you are like me, there have probably been times in your life when prayers just aren’t being answered in what we would consider to be in ‘my way’ or in a ‘timely’ manner; it has happened to me.  Seemingly unanswered prayers can bring a sense of helplessness and hopelessness.  The people that are being described in second Kings had no water.  And there were 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 you 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 every day.  We need to be patient and remain faithful.  The people in second Kings were so certain that God would bring rain that they began to dig some humble ditches…and continued to pray.  Children attending the Lutheran School in Thomassique brought kindling wood for a fire to school, knowing that a feeding program would come someday…and they continued to pray and it did come.

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 to Him for taking care of us.  Have you started to dig any ditches recently?  Have you begun to store up firewood?  He is faithful.  Now, may God go before you to guide you...may His hands 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 today and every moment along your journey until you reach Paradise.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Finish 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 all about?  What is really important in your life?  This sinful…fallen 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!  C’mon man...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 screams "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 and because you are much bigger than them.  Believe that everything happens for a reason and when 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 sixty-one thousand children like this child living in Haiti who only receive one meal a day and that is at their school; that is a finish well kind of 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 with the time that is left 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.  Now, may God go before you to guide you...may His hands 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 today and every moment along your journey until you reach Paradise.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Finish well.

“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 can be very difficult to serve our Triune God while you are following the delights that this broken world has to offer; you know that and satan is really happy with those moments when your most precious time is spent giving full attention 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 in that moment just before you take your last breath; my friend, you are taking quite a chance; you are foolishly hoping for a PowerBall moment.  If you spend most of your time in His word and walk in His ways then the eyes, minds and tongues of this world will not speak well of you; you will be under attack daily.

Put forth the extra effort to do what is right, finish well, and don’t be afraid of what the tongues of this fallen world will say about you or what sharp 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.” 

Now, may God go before you to guide you...may His hands 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 today and every moment along your journey until you reach Paradise.  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’ and that is not an easy thing to do…as those enemies are un-love-able.  As sinful Christians, here in North America and also in Haiti, we will ultimately make a few enemies; just because we are ‘perfect’ and they are not.  Somebody is going to hold a grudge against you or blame you for bringing problems upon their physical, mental, emotional or financial well-being.

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 a few enemies in Haiti; the local vodou priest; and they are afraid of him and also the violent gangs who are not afraid of him.  The vodou priest 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.  The gang members want to either recruit him or hold him for ransom.  Just as Christ instructs us to pray for our enemies, He teaches this child to pray for the vodou priest and the gang member.  Christ came to earth to seek and save the lost because this entire world, friend and foe, 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.  Now, may God go before you to guide you...may His hands 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 today and every moment along your journey until you reach Paradise.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Trinity HOPE.

“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 small group of families who happened to be 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 near Gonaives 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 sixty-one thousand children are being fed daily in 268 Christian schools throughout Haiti.

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.”

The Trinity HOPE 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 nudging from 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.

Now, may God go before you to guide you...may His hands 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 today and every moment along your journey until you reach Paradise.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Last day.

“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 your 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.

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

A precious life.

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

This verse has been roaming in my memory bank throughout yesterday 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 closely 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, young and older, 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

What a blessing...

“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.” Ephesians 6:24
While re-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 cold, hard and frozen snowball that hit me in the face so many decades ago and gave me a black eye; 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 two decades, faithful donors have grown from feeding 46 kids in Tarrasse to just over 61,000 in January.  What a blessing that cloud of young missionaries will be to the country of Haiti.  The vodou priests and gang members will prayerfully cringe when they see them joyfully 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