With all of the uncertainty that exists these days, we can trust in the steadfast love of a good God and rejoice in His salvation through Christ. We can sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with us.
May this song, written and performed by friends of the ministry encourage your heart and faith during this time of uncertainty! God is good. He’s in control. He pursues us with a steadfast love.
I run. That’s my coping mechanism. Just ask any girl that I’ve ever lived with, they’ve definitely heard me say something along the lines of “after ___ happening I need to go run.” I run when I’m stressed. I run when I’m anxious. I run when things don’t go my way. I run not only in a physical and literal sense, but I also run from things that scare me. I see my friends being bold in talking to new people, in advancing the Kingdom, in fully surrendering. But I run from those things. I feel unworthy, not good enough, that I could never do those things. So I run.
You might already know this, but in July 2019 I spent two weeks in a refugee settlement in Uganda. I tried so hard to run from not going. I truly didn’t feel equipped. The enemy attacked me every single day while on that trip - telling me I wasn’t good enough to serve. That God couldn’t use Africa as part of my testimony. That I would never be redeemed from feeling unworthy of His love and of an earthly love from those around me.
But you know what, He did it. He used 500 students to braid my hair, call me beautiful despite the mess that I was, and cover me in hugs and hand holds to redeem my heart. To set me free of feeling unworthy. So I returned home feeling fresh. I felt loved. I felt that my life had purpose - to love no matter your story and no matter your past because in that settlement, I felt the greatest love I’ll ever feel this side of heaven.
I came home and felt at peace. I felt peace with never going back to Africa. My work there was done. Oh but God, in all is power and might, sweetly reminded me that I was not finished. One night, I sat in a circle on the floor at my friend’s house. We were having a small group, but not just any small group. The Holy Spirit was so present. We were praying bold prayers, healings were taking place, darkness was coming to light. And God whispered to me, “I’m not done yet.”
Ask any of my prayer warrior friends and they’ll tell you that I struggled with this. Deep in my heart I knew the Lord was calling me back to Africa. But like I’m so good at doing, I ran. I refused to apply. I refused to even think about going back. Again, the enemy was telling me I had no purpose, I was unable to go again because I wasn’t enough.
But I can no longer run. I can’t run from the fact that God isn’t finished. That there are more people to love, more villages that need the gospel, and more grace to give. I can’t run from a calling to advance the gospel, no matter how hard I try.
So I’m going back. Back to the place that made me feel alive. That gave my life purpose. Back to Africa. Yet, I can’t run from the fact that the feeling of purpose I felt in Africa also can’t be felt here in Eastern North Carolina. Because freedom and redemption live here too. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Because my testimony is one of redemption. I can no longer run from my story, from the goodness of God, or from the places that he is calling me to.
In July 2020, I will be spending two weeks in Zimbabwe with Africa Freedom Mission. I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord will do big things during those two weeks. If you feel led to partner with me to make this trip possible you can visit the link below.
Donation link: https://fcsmnstry.io/mkr/bs7QfF
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If you would like to follow more of Allie’s story you can visit: https://www.allielinkphoto.com. She’s also an excellent photographer!
This New Year begins for me with a lot of uncertainty. Right now I don’t know what the future holds. At the end of last year, my husband and I felt a very clear call from God to move our family back to the United States, after almost seven years living and working in Zambia. When God calls and moves, we will answer and follow. We will make every effort to choose His path. But it’s not always easy. It can be really hard. It can really hurt. Right now, we are jobless and homeless. In a holding pattern, we are waiting on God to show us which path to take. Maybe you can relate. Maybe you find it difficult to make resolutions or even plans this New Year because you just can’t see past today.
In this place where I find myself at the start of this new year, all I can do is submit myself, my family, my situation to God and wait. The only resolution I know to make is to live coram Deo (under the gaze of God).
Living coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God. To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God. God is omnipresent. There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze. ~R.C. Sproul In Genesis 17:1 “the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.’”
Walk BEFORE Me
This word translated BEFORE is the Hebrew word Paniym, which means in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of.
Coram Deo
If I have envisioned myself walking with God, it has usually been a picture of walking beside Him or even behind Him and following His lead. But when I think of God’s command to walk before Him, the picture changes.
If God were only ever walking ahead of me, leading the way, following would be a pretty straight-forward, easy thing to do. I could do it with my ipod blaring and distractions all around me, because I would just have to follow in His footsteps. He is the Shepherd and His rod and staff guide me. And sometimes our walk is like that.
Walking before Him, on the other hand, takes careful attention. I must be completely tuned in to His voice so that I will hear His leading. I must trust that He is watching my every step and that I am safe under His gaze, even though I cannot see Him with my eyes.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left,your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,“This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21
This New Year I will focus on listening. I will tune in to the voice of God behind me. I will walk forward trusting in His guidance. I will delight in the fact that His gaze is upon me. I will remember His faithfulness in the past and look to the future with great hope! Living coram Deo!
For You have delivered my soul from death,Indeed my feet from stumbling,so that I may walk before Godin the light of the living.Psalm 56:13
Live Free. Live Loved.
~Kerri
(This post was provided by Kerri Roberts and was written when her and her family were returning from Zambia after serving as missionaries for 7+ years. We pray that these truths learned during their transition will be a blessing to you as you approach the New Year.)
I’ve been studying through the book of Acts lately. It’s hard not to read that book of the Bible and see a church and body of believers who ministered in word and power. You see stories of God using guys like Peter, John, Paul, Stephen, Phillip, etc to bring physical healing. All were definitely leaders, but not all were apostles. If you then step back into the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), you see Jesus healing many and him sending out others to do the same.
I’m not here writing this blog to get into an online argument with those who believe these gifts have ceased. I’m not trying to teach and spread some form of theology of healing either, but I do want to testify to something that I believe is at the heart God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. I want to tell a personal story that is very real and very true, where the Lord showed up and touched someone in a very intimate way, healed them and saved them.
In the summer of 2018, I went with a small team on a mission trip to Zimbabwe. Our team stayed on a houseboat for almost 2 weeks and visited remote fishing villages along the shorelines of the Zambezi river on Lake Kariba. During the day, we would spend time in worship, prayer, teaching and just having fun together. But in the evening, we would visit different villages to teach, share the gospel, love on people and pray for the sick and oppressed. On this particular evening, we were visiting a village that our ministry partner had been to many times before.
In order to get into the village, we had to use a smaller fishing boat. The villagers knew we were coming and would line up at the shore to greet us. It was a very humbling experience seeing these dear people who have nothing, stop everything just to make us feel welcome. As we walked in, it seemed like the crowds continued to grow. We were headed to the center of the village. As we were setting up and finding places for our team to sit, I had something out of the normal occur. I started to feel pain in my right ear. It was weird though, because I immediately sensed that the pain was not my own. Our host, asked me to share for about 10 minutes. So, as I prepared and was rehearsing in my mind what I was going to say, I just couldn’t get it out of my mind that the Lord was trying to tell me something.
As I stood up to speak, I felt the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit asking me to hold off on sharing with them until I addressed this word He had given me for someone. I stood there for a minute questioning Him and questioning myself. Was this pain a revelation of someone else’s pain or was it just a silly old ear ache? I’ve learned that God will sometimes give you words or impressions for others, but will not always show you their full meaning. He wants you first to step out in faith and respond before showing you the full context of the word. This pain was a word from the Lord for someone in that village. I didn’t know who, or the extent of his or her situation, but I did understand that there was someone present who needed to be touched by God.
Before I did anything else, I quieted the crowd and told them that I believed there was someone there with a problem with their ear. When I said this and began scanning the crowd, I noticed two drunk men sitting beside one another on a stump talking. They then looked across the crowd and pointed to one of the other men in the village. I believe he was a bit embarrassed at first because he just sat there for a minute before confirming he had a problem with his ear.
As he came forward, he mumbled something in Tonga to my interpreter. He told him that his ear had been hurting and draining for several weeks. He then proceeded to remove a small cotton swab from his ear and show us. Without much hesitation, I asked him if we could pray for him right there in front of his village, to which he agreed. My interpreter, Teech and I just said a short prayer. Nothing elaborate. We just asked Jesus to touch him by His Holy Spirit and bring complete healing to his ear.
After praying, we opened our eyes and looked at him. He was smiling. He said the pain had gone away while we were praying. He was excited. But then he did something peculiar. He took the cotton swab and stuffed it back into his ear. I then asked the interpreter to ask him something for me. I asked this man to take the cotton swab back out and leave it out while I spoke. If God had healed the pain, I believed that he would stop the draining as well. So, he took it back out and went back to where he had been previously sitting.
For the next 10 minutes, I shared about God’s love for us and how He sent Jesus to die in our place as a payment for our sin. I talked about how if we respond in faith and trust Christ with our lives that He would forgive us completely, give us new life that can never be taken and restore us to relationship with him. As I finished, I closed our time by praying for the crowd. After praying, I didn’t have to track the young gentleman down, because he immediately went and grabbed Teech and then cam back to speak with me. He told me that while I was speaking, the draining in his ear had completely stopped as well. Now, the pain and the draining were gone!
The Lord had this man on His heart that day. It was a divine appointment. I could see it, Teech could see it and now, the man was beginning to see it. After he told me that he had been healed, I immediately asked him if he knew Jesus. He responded that he did not. I explained to him that Jesus loved him so much that he gave someone else a word just for him that day that brought His physical healing. I then asked him if he wanted to know Jesus and receive spiritual healing as well. He didn’t hesitate. He said “Yes, I do!”
I don’t know why God chooses to heal some immediately and for others it’s a not yet and still for others it’s not this side of seeing Jesus face-to-face. I don’t know why He chooses to heal some people who we might would think are unworthy, but chooses not to heal some of those we esteem as saints. I don’t know. But that’s ok. Like I said at the beginning, my purpose isn’t to argue some theological point on healing. It’s just to share one specific story of how the Lord used an unworthy person like me to bring healing to someone he dearly loved in the middle of a village in the remote bush of Zimbabwe. It’s also to testify to the fact that God still LOVES to miraculously heal! He still uses healing to reveal himself and he uses ordinary believers like you and me to pray for the sick that they might be healed and turn to the one who Loves them completely!
“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” ~ Galatians 6:2
I remember reading this in NY the night I met my team. Lets be real. I never expected to go to Africa for two months and leave with a family. Yes, I knew I would get close to people. But the friendship I built with my team wasn’t just a friendship, it became family. I was beyond stoked when we landed in Uganda and was so ready to go to orphanages, do street evangelism and feed the homeless. Pretty much everything you expect to do on a missions trip, but the Lord had other plans for Uganda. We didn’t get to do loads of mission work like we had thought we would and I kept asking God “why”
Didn’t He send us to Africa to do missions work. So why then was there not a lot of opportunities to do it?
On a sunny morning in Uganda when I was asking God these questions this is what I got.
“If you want to serve my people, you need to serve me first. If you want to teach my people about me, you need to surrender everything to me and live every day sold out in my name. If you want me to use you, start opening up your heart so it can be used. And if you want to share my love, start knowing my love for yourself.”
God wasn’t about to send me out to the people of Africa to tell them about Jesus when, first, I wasn’t truly living for him and, secondly, if my life wasn’t one that radiated Jesus.
That first started with me and my team having to be open with each other. Our past, our hurts, why we do things the way we do, our struggles and sins. We had to know each other’s hearts. Let me just tell you, when you open your heart to fellow believers in Christ and let Jesus move, freedom comes like you have never seen. The kind of freedom that brings you to tears and breaks what Ephesians call “the spiritual forces of evil.”
This kind of freedom can only be attained by the power that is in Jesus Christ. That’s what changes missions trips to be more then helping people. I now could go out and share Gods love because I was experiencing that love for myself. I could proclaim freedom and healing over someone, because I knew God was proclaiming it over me, and I could serve along side my team with love and joy because I knew them and their hearts. I will never take for granted what I got to do last summer.
I’m still in awe that I get to do it again next summer! If I would tell you something it would be this.
Be vulnerable with God and fellow believers, let Christ come into those parts of you that you have kept hidden. Let Him change you. Also.. go on a trip with Africa freedom Mission. You will be forever changed by what God does in and through you. You will also have a family that loves the heck out of you. Not just the best parts of you, but all of you and when you encounter a God and people who love like that, freedom over flows into every part of you, freedom that only He can give!
~ Mena Fox
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Mena Fox is 19 years old and lives in Southern California. Her desire is to serve full-time as a missionary in Africa. She will be going to Zimbabwe in the summer of 2020 to serve with Africa Freedom Mission’s summer leadership program. If you would be interested in supporting her trip this summer, you can do so at the following link: MENA FOX
“18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.” ~Acts 9:18-22
The context of this scripture is the conversion of Saul (Paul). Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee (Philippians 3:5). He knew the scriptures, but, now, for the first time in his life, they were made alive. He was seeing them from a completely different perspective. Before conversion, he thought that in the Scriptures he had eternal life (John 5:39). But now, he realized that the Scriptures were testifying to Christ and that in Christ, he had eternal life.
The light had come on, he was now alive proclaiming it. But he also had to grow in his newfound knowing of Jesus. Notice the scripture didn’t say that he was growing more and more in knowledge, but in power. It’s also translated strength. He was becoming more and more powerful or strong in his faith. I imagine that this verse speaks both to ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit and to growing in strength of relationship with Christ. It’s the latter I would like to focus on. He was growing in strength. Paul had the scriptures all along, but now he had the Christ in the scriptures.
As Paul spent more time with Jesus, he was strengthened for the work to which he was called. We cannot neglect time with our Savior – time spent basking in His presence, listening to His Holy Spirit, studying His Scriptures with the intent of knowing Him better, worshiping Him through song for who He is and what He has done, and laughing, crying and just talking with him as you process all this life has to throw at you. For it is this time spent with Him, when no one else is watching, that strengthens us for the work to which he has called us, mainly confounding the world with the knowledge and beauty of Christ.
“Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word..” ~ Acts 8:4
A great persecution had broken out. Everyone except for the apostles were scattered (Acts 8:1). They literally had to flee for their lives. The natural response would have been to hide and just keep quiet. But God does not ask of us the natural response in the midst of trials. He ask of us the Spirit led response.
Psalm 23 says “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all of the days of my life.”
In the midst of Life’s toughest trials, we can rest because we have the voice of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct. We’re not left to our own faculties. The voice was telling Phillip to proclaim Christ to the new community that he found himself surrounded by. The voice was telling the Apostles to stay in a heavily persecuted area while everyone else fled. The voice of the Holy Spirit provided stability and direction in the midst of the chaos. There’s a stability in a life that is submitted to the Lord and to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Don’t you want that life?
“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. NO soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the One who enlisted him.” ~ 2 Timothy 2:3-4
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We are called to be Soldiers of the Gospel and to take His name to the ends of the earth. Soldiers are mission-minded with one objective that they carry from the very one who sent them. Soldiers are active and they are obedient. They are attentive and they are loyal to their Commander. And it is NOT accidental that God’s Word calls for His disciples to be likewise.
Soldiers face death daily; they go through hardship and they endure suffering for what they believe in. They live a life on the battle field and aren’t oblivious to their surroundings. Some of us today are living a life in the middle of war as if we are on vacation: completely careless and ignorant to the spiritual warfare around us and the mission that is set before us. We need to WAKE UP to what is happening NOW! We can no longer sit back and watch as the world is starving and thirsting to know Jesus Christ when we are the ones with the GOOD NEWS! If we don’t tell them, who will????
With that being said, a good solider of Christ is one that is willing to risk it all like a REAL Soldier. Following Jesus costs your life...are you willing to risk your life for the gospel? Are you ready for the battle ahead? Will you obey the very One who is sending YOU? It’s time, soldiers, to be ready for battle and obedient to the mission laid in front of us TODAY! — @carlyorcutt
A Blog by Rob Buck (joy-in-the-journey.com)
Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? (Galatians 3:3 NIV)
It’s taken me decades, but I think I’m beginning to get it. As believers in Jesus Christ, the only way we’re to live is in the flow of the Holy Spirit. We’ve been indwelt by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ and our life is to be a life of continuing to recognize our spiritual death and depending on Christ’s life within.[1] Any other way of living is a dam against the flow of the Rivers of Living Water within us.
Abiding, walking in the Spirit, depending on Jesus are not just nice suggestions, not just good ideas, but vital to living life the way God intends. After all, Jesus tells us that apart from a life of remaining in Him as our nourishing vine, what we do is worth nothing. I’ve grown tired of wearying myself out doing things to please God in my own strength. It’s a sobering thought to hear what Paul says about our attempts to please God by our own feeble efforts:
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly. (Galatians 2:21 NASB)
It’s a cool spring morning. The trees are blanketed in leaves and the birds are chirping. The breeze is crisp. As I look down toward the barn, where the hens are scratching, the winter rye is still emerald green.
I recognize the Lord’s nearness. This is not necessarily a feeling, but an acknowledgement of the truth. The Lord Jesus indwells me by His Holy Spirit. He wants me to abide in the flow of His Spirit. This means being about what He wants and not what I want.
He’s all I need. He’s my Great Reward, my One Thing, my Pearl of Great Price. I declare these things because I know they are true, even when I don’t feel them. I also recognize that in spite of the way others might treat me and regardless of what I do or don’t do, the Creator of the universe wants to be with me. He delights in me and was willing to die to be with me forever.
These truths are stunning. Allow them to wash over you and settle into the deep parts of your heart. The eternal truth are greater than our thoughts feelings.
As I walk forward, believing these truths, yielding to Christ in me, longing for what He desires, isn’t this walking in His Spirit?
A humming bird hovers at the feeder a few feet away on the other side of the back-porch screen. Several birds begin to sing melodious songs back and forth. An impatient hen squawks for a nesting box down in the coop.
Lord, guard me from discouragement. I want to focus on you and not on circumstances, but times are hard. A good friend has brain surgery in a couple of hours. They found cancer on Wednesday.
Yesterday, another friend lost a nephew suddenly of a heart attack. He was a young man with a wife and six children. Members of my own family are going through deep emotional pain.
Lord, how do we make sense of it all? I call You near for the comfort of Your presence. You bring joy to my heart.
It’s raining now. Freshly laid zoysia sod soak up the drops. A red headed woodpecker pecker is so long it has to hang under the feeder as it pecks some seeds.
Lord, how do I stay in the flow when I leave this serenity and turn my attention to tasks? Love must lead in the midst of duties. Please keep me from doing anything apart from your leading. I wait upon you as a waiter attends a table. Please teach me how to be attentive to your nearness and your desires.
I’m called away to do something. As a work, I remain conscious of the Lord’s nearness. May every word and deed bring glory to my Savior.
Eating strawberries now. I praise you, Lord, for taste buds and for a wife who cut them up for me and poured on cream. You’ve given me so many things to enjoy! May I rejoice in Your nearness as appreciate life’s moments.
It’s raining harder now. My bride brings me extremely fresh eggs and oatmeal with cinnamon.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law (Galatians 5:16-18 NASB)
Lord, as I seek to walk only by your Spirit, I ask you to show me quickly when self rises up. I know when I insert my-self in any situation the flow of your Spirit in my life is blocked. My flesh is opposite to your Spirit. I never want to hamper what you want to do, so please guide me in bringing self desire, self dependence, self achievements, self glorification, self defense, self whatever to your cross where self was crucified with you.[2]
[1] Galatians 2:20
[2] Romans 6:4-11
