Are you waiting?

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6

Reading devotions is such a wonderful way for me and hopefully you to draw closer to our Triune God.  It keeps me immersed in the Word daily and also gives me another person’s perspective on this world.  Seems that recently I have been doing a lot of waiting and this quote from John Ortberg reminded me that “Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want.  Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be.”

When I look through Haiti photos of children, like these young boys from the school at Pont Quenepe in Gonaives in the attached picture, there are 181 young missionaries there and I wonder how long it will take for their lives to rescue a soul from vodou?  At times I grow impatient waiting for news or stories from our feeding program directors to tell me that a soul was rescued from satan and they were baptized and are now free from sin, death and the devil.  That has happened, I have heard wonderful stories of this happening but am needing that conversion rate to accelerate and I just have to stop being a North American for a moment and be patient and wait...it’s in His time and way.

There is historically a lot of vodou activity in and around Gonaives and I am eager to wait for news of their mission to proclaim the Holy Gospel but am reminded that I should not miss the opportunity to actually bear fruit while I am waiting.  We all need to continually bear fruit in the Kingdom instead of merely waiting for the Lord to fulfill our desires.  We need to allow our heart to be aligned with Him in active patience through prayer, reading of scripture, and receiving of guidance and wisdom.  These are the ways in which we "rejoice in the Lord always." In this way, we can experience the very best He has for us and for the children of Pont Quenepe while we wait

Thank you for daily praying for the over 61,000 children who are being fed spiritually and nutritionally in Christian schools with Trinity HOPE feeding programs.  Thank you for continued support and spreading the word to others who are looking for mission opportunities along their journey, looking for ways to bear fruit for the Kingdom.

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 family reunion.

“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

1 Thessalonians 4:17-18

Back in the day, most family reunions were either at a wedding or a funeral.  When my mom’s side had their reunions at the stone building in the Seward City Park down by the swimming pool, there were people there that appeared to have just arrived from the old country.  I don’t recall how far away they lived from us; they were strangers to me.  We didn’t have any nametags so I had to ask and was prepared to tell them who I belonged to if things were okay and if I had made a mess, point to my Aunt Mildred. 

And then, not quite that far back in the day, when I taught Sunday School and Confirmation to the youth at Christ in Lincoln, there were different opinions about Heaven and reuniting with people from farther back…in the day.  When I was a kid, at St. John’s in Seward, I didn’t really think about heaven that much.  First, it seemed so boring; at least the way the world described it.  Second, it seemed like a long way off.  And third, the only person that I really knew who was there was my dad.  But I know a lot of people who are in heaven now; sixty years later.  And, as I’ve mentioned a few times, I can’t wait to get there and be with them.

In heaven, we’re going to be reunited with our loved ones who love the Lord and Haitian school children like the three in the attached photo.  Those who are in the family of God are all going to be there.

Who would you like to talk to first in heaven?  I doubt there will be the stick on nametags; you will know each of them.  Of course, you’re going to meet and worship the Lord first.  But who are you excited to see next?  Every believer throughout history will be there.  Would you like to talk to Moses?  How about Abraham or Mary or Paul?  We will have ‘forever’ to meet people from throughout Christian history and scientists and world leaders and people from every tribe and nation.  And these three Haitian girls.

One big family reunion.  Can you imagine how emotional, how joyful that’s going to be?  My father, mother and sister are in heaven.  There are a few still born grandchildren in heaven…waiting.  The more of my family and friends who are on that side of death, the dearer heaven becomes to me.

Are you encouraged by the thought of being in the presence of Jesus and reunited with your friends and family?  When we are grieving with someone, we should share that encouragement with them.  If they and their loved one know Jesus as their Savior, then death is not the end.  They will see them again! 

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

Ash Wednesday.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:1-2

Ash Wednesday is upon us and it reminds me, and I’ve already heard several people say that Easter is fast approaching; it causes me to think about the death and resurrection of Jesus.  The real purpose of His life was to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, for the sins of mankind.  Jesus became sin for us so that we could be forgiven and be found sparkling clean in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.  Jesus knew His purpose on this earth and he predicted when and how it would happen in Matthew 26:2.

Do you know your life’s purpose as your journey continues?  Luther would probably say our purpose is to love and joyfully serve the Triune God.  If you have read Rick Warren’s ‘Purpose Driven Life’ you may have a more laid out course that you feel matches your God given talents.  The verses in Hebrews 12 direct us to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the perfecter of our faith; Jesus looked beyond the cross and focused on the joy that would be for us.

The attached photo is pure joy.  This girl in Cap Haitian is holding tightly on to a plate of happiness; you can tell that by her smile and the look of her eyes.  The Bible teaches that there is great joy in heaven whenever a sinner repents and my human mind thinks that there is also a great shout of joy when the over 61,000 children in Haiti are seen with a plate of food that will bring energy to their life as they go out into their neighborhoods sharing the Gospel message of their Savior who died and rose on Easter Sunday.

I have asked this question numerous times over the years, so here it is again.  What is your purpose; what is this girl’s purpose?  Our awesome Triune God gives us many opportunities to share the news of His only Son, our Savior with the lost in this world.  We have been given an opportunity to share of our abundance with a generation of believers in Haiti who will in turn bring the Cross of Christ to the lost.  Your purpose and her purpose can be one in the same; that is a God thing.  Thank you for your continued support of these Trinity HOPE feeding programs.   

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

All the days...

“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6

The boy and girl in the attached photo and you and me have one thing in common.  It doesn’t have anything to do with the plate of rice and beans sitting in front of them although that is what I am having for lunch today.  We have all experienced birth and one day in our lives here in this fallen world, are going to end, but that’s not going to be the end of us.  We’re going to live forever in one of two places: heaven or hell.  Our bodies are going to die, but we’re not going to die; because we were made to last forever.  How long?  ALL the days of my life.  Forever!

I listened to an Evangelist on the radio driving home on last week Sunday tell his listeners that we will never know how to really live until we’re ready to die.  Only a fool would go through life totally unprepared for something that everybody knows is inevitable. 

It’s a done deal that these Haitian kids and you and me are going to die someday.  If you’ve invited Christ into your life, then you’re going to go to heaven for Eternity…forever.  In heaven, each of us will be released from pain, sorrow, suffering, depression, and fear.  For Christians, death is somewhat like a transfer, a promotion.  It’s on to better things and no more problems.

Those truths should change everything for you!  It doesn’t mean life is going to be easy.  There are challenges all over this world.  And it doesn’t mean you will always be happy here, or always know what you should do, or that you will never sin again.  But it does mean you can face the future without fear.  God has taken care of your biggest problem, your salvation.  He is never going to leave you, and you will live with him forever!

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

You need to be you.

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30

Today’s quote from Will Rogers seemed appropriate for a Monday; “People that pay for things never complain.  It’s the guy you give something to that you can’t please.”  Two things grab me about that quote.  These days, it seems that to live an abundant life that overflows with God’s goodness, the first thing you need to do is start being grateful and stop complaining.  The second thing you need to do is start being content and stop comparing.

God made you to be you.  He doesn’t want you to be anybody else!  When you compare yourself to other people, you get envious and resentful, and you might even try to copy them.  The girl in the attached photo is a one of a kind and she too may have complained or compared about something.  

That girl and you and thankfully me are one of a kind.  God didn’t create any clones.  God only makes originals.  If you won’t be you, then who will be you?

When we try to compare, the floodgates of complaints open wide.  The truth is that comparing only gets you in trouble.  We learn from the wise words of one of the wisest men in history, Solomon, that “It is better to be content with what little you have.  Otherwise, you will always be struggling for more, and that is like chasing the wind” in Ecclesiastes 4:6 (NCV).

In this sin filled world that we live in, it seems that it’s easier than ever to compare yourself to others.  When you see posts on FaceBook that shout, “Look at me! Look what I can do! Look what I’ve got!”, it can draw you into a state of envy and discontent or it might just be an invitation to a pity party.  It can even cause you to try to impress others with your own posts.  But the thing is, you don’t have to impress anyone.  A key to living a life overflowing with joy is to just be yourself, content with who God made you to be.

Contentment comes when you enjoy what you have rather than waiting for something else to make you happy.  Please, this week as we begin Lent, stop comparing yourself to other people, and start being content with what God has given you; and then watch your joy overflow!

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

Please...wash your hands.

“The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.  (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)  Mark 7:1-4

When were you taught to wash your hands before you ate and say a prayer before you eat?  As a child, I remember getting my fingernails checked for traces of dirt by my mom’s hands and eyes after I had ‘washed’ my hands.  My dad came in from the farm chores and scrubbed his hands with Lava soap and I still recall how white his hands looked and how clean they smelled.

In the attached photo the children attending the Lutheran school in Cap Haitian are washing their hands before they enjoy their Trinity HOPE lunch.  This is one of the ‘lessons’ that is done at every Trinity HOPE lunch program, along with prayers.  Washing of their hands is so important now especially with the cholera outbreak of recent times.

Trinity HOPE is not just about feeding body and soul in Haiti, they also teach hygiene and reinforce the importance of turning our thought of giving thanks for all that we receive every day from our Heavenly Father.  Thank you for continuing to be a blessing to each of the over 61,000 souls who are so thankful for your daily touch in their lives.

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

Blessed assurance.

“But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.  And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:32

In this passage, Jesus is praying for one of His disciples; Simon Peter.  What a wonderful reassurance; when we pray in the name of Jesus; He intercedes for us.  This passage was a time when satan was seeking to separate Peter from Christ; it daily happens to us too.  When we see something more exciting in this world than fixing our eyes upon His cross, we need to be reminded that He is still in our presence; it is us that are turning away.

Too often we don’t know how abundantly we have been blessed, rescued, gifted, healed or been comforted by our Savior’s prayers.  At the completion of our journey, when we are brought into our Heavenly home, we will hopefully be able to realize all of the times He has touched our lives and we will have an eternity to thank and praise Him.

These children attending the Lutheran School in St. Marc pray for you daily.  They ask their Savior to bless your journey, they give thanks for you and rejoice for the blessings that you have provided for them, through HIM; a meal at their school every day.  That day when you stand at the feet of your Savior, look around you and see their joy filled faces next to you as they join in praising our Savior.  I would like to close this devotion with the words from the first verse of the hymn ‘While yet the Morn is Breaking’ which was written by Johannes Muehlmann in 1613.

“While yet the morn is breaking, I thank my God once more, beneath whose care awaking, I find the night is o'er, I thank Him that He calls me to life and health anew; I know, whate'er befalls me, His care will still be true.”

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

The Lord is always near.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:4-6

Back in the day, when I lived in Haiti, my home congregation there was Bon Berger Eglise Evangelique Lutheriene in Caredeux, which is a suburb located off of Delmas 75 in Port-au-Prince.  Bon Berger is Haitian Creole for “Good Shepherd” and the mother and child in the attached photo live nearby and worship there too.

The photo was taken by Lori Wolfe-Beerenstrauch probably in the summer of 2000 while there with a mission team from Christ in Lincoln, NE.  It has always been one of my favorites as the smile on the mother’s face exemplifies the above verses from the fourth chapter of Philippians. 

Her expression speaks volumes of gentleness...the Lord is near and don’t be anxious about anything.  If you knew where she lived, saw her small dwelling, no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no ample supply of food or clean water…well you just have to ask how can she be so calm, at peace and seemingly happy.

When you see a group of school children walking to school down a dirty path in their clean school uniforms, coming from similar living conditions, with broad smiles on their faces…how can this be?  The mother has her child in her arms and is confident that God is taking care of her today and will again tomorrow.  After all, HE took of them yesterday.  The children walking to school are also delighted that they are heading to school where there is a promise of food, every day, and they too know that God took care of them yesterday, will take care of them today and will again be there tomorrow.

How often are we like that mother, at peace and comforted in the knowledge that our Triune God is taking care of us?  Living in North America, we are so self-dependent; we get our food whenever we need, buy more clothes than we care to look at, buy our cars, home, health insurance and pay no attention to our electricity, indoor plumbing, clean water and heat in the winter and AC in the summer.

When was the last time you were in a crisis?  When was the last time you were on your knees praying for deliverance from the hole that you dug yourself into?  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Every situation should be brought to our Heavenly Father in prayer.  Thank you for supporting Christian education in Haiti and for being His servants for His children in Haiti, providing food for them every day and continuing to rejoice in the fact that we are saved because of His Son.

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

Meeting our needs.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:19

Back in the day, when I was a boy, one of my chores was to help my mom with laundry.  We lived in an older home, built around 1910.  Our laundry area was in our unfinished basement.  She had a small ‘antique’ Maytag washing machine and my job was to fill it with about six buckets of water, three hot and three cold and then fill the rinse tub that sat next to the washing machine with eight buckets.  I was told that when I was a baby, my family bathed in this same rinse tub before we got our indoor bathroom.  My laundry story was in 1959 and I joyfully recall when years later my mom bought a washing machine that had hoses connected to the waterline and that put me out of the water hauling business.  To make up for one less chore I then was taught how to do my own laundry in the washer and dryer.

For the two young girls in the attached photo, it is laundry day.  They are on the east edge of Gonaives and walking to a drainage canal to probably help their mom with laundry.  No machine there, just a board or stones to rub at the soiled clothing.  No clothes dryer or line, there they spread out the clean clothes on the large rocks, bushes or gravel lined banks and let the sun bake them dry.

Back in the day, when I first moved to Haiti in March of 2001 it became quite clear after just a few days that my North American “B-O” would soon become a problem for me as there didn’t appear to be a Laundromat in all of Port-au-Prince and my perspiration would soon become legendary if my clothes did not get washed.  I was told by Pastor Thomas Bernard that I could take my clothes to the dry cleaner and after a couple of visits there that became cost prohibitive.  I decided that the best option for me was to return to my childhood lessons and did my laundry in the sink with Woolite, ringing out my clothes by hand and then hung them up to dry on a piece of rope with wood clothespins.  My needs were met, my mom would have been proud of the lessons that I learned hauling water and helping hang clothes on the line for her. 

Just as the Apostle Paul wrote, “my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” the needs of the two children from Gonaives are being met, clothes to wear, shoes on their feet and a couple chunks of sugar cane.  Our daily needs are always met, maybe not in the way we expect them to be met, but they are met by our loving Heavenly Father who gave His only Son to meet our ultimate need, forgiveness of our sins. 

His children attending Christian schools are saved, and are prayerfully making disciples of the lost in their neighborhood, bringing the saving message to them as well.  Thank you for supporting Christian education in Haiti through Trinity HOPE school feeding programs.

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

Endure hardship.

“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5

Enduring hardship, we have all most assuredly at one time or another asked how much more weight we will be able to withstand before we crumble under the suffering that this world had dumped on us.  We all have different hardships as satan creates something special for each of us, knowing our weaknesses and finding ways to gnaw away at our patience.

Back in the day, while living in Haiti, one hardship that continually gnawed away at me was walking with my artificial knees and crabby feet.  There were many times when I asked my Heavenly Father “Why me, why here, why now?” as my being there walking downhill on a rocky steep slope seemed like such a cruel task.

The attached photo is one of those rocky paths.  This is the non-ADA Compliant Haitian sidewalk that children take on their way to school at Chincheron which is high on top of the mountain North of Arcahaie.  It is a rural school and most of the 161 children attending there walk for miles on paths such as this day after day, getting their education, Spiritual growth and a noon meal of beans and rice from Trinity HOPE.

I made the trip to Chincheron several times and always wondered how many children have walked this path over the years and where there feet have taken them while sharing the love of Christ with others in their families and neighborhoods.  How many feet tramping in the sand and rock did it take to make this defined pathway?

I also thought about the poem titled “Footprints in the sand” as I had that poster in my office in Petionville.  Identifying with the verses of that poem was easy to do as I questioned my hardships from time to time…daily!  Here is the 1936 version from Mary Stevenson. 

“One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.  Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.  In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.  Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was only one.  This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord, “You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always.  But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.  Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”  The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

May the hardships along your journey be manageable and may you always be reminded of Who is with us, every day, and every step of the way.  Trust always in Him, just as the children walking ahead of you, beside you and behind in Haiti do every step of the way.

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