Take heart...

Just because something is today doesn't mean it will always remain.

There is a time for everything and a season for 

every activity under the sun.  Ecclesiastes 3:1

Praise be to the name of GOD for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons. Daniel 2:20

He will swallow up death forever. The sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all the faces; he will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. Isaiah 25:8

Then again, some things never change.

I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. Ecclesiastes 1:14

God Does Not Change...

...His mind

God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human that he should change his mind.
Does He speak and then not act?
Does He promise and then not fulfill?
Numbers 23:19
...What He has Established
He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved. Psalm 104:5

...What He has promised

He remembers His covenant forever, 
the promise He made for a thousand generations... 
1 Chronicles 16:15 

...What He has planned

But the plans of the Lord stand forever, 

the purposes of His heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11 

Therefore, those who TRUST  in God will not be MOVED

For great is his love towards us, and the faithfulness of the LORD 

endures forever. Praise the LORD.  Psalm 117:2

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, 

which cannot be shaken but endures forever. 

Psalm 125:1

Gospel Hospitality

I read this today and it struck me how deep an impact gospel-centered hospitality can have.
This is a dream for me:

The Elliot home was always wide open to friends, including missionaries from many parts of the world. The impression this made on the four children (Jim Elliot being one of them) was deep, teaching them the grace of hospitality as well as giving them priceless opportunities to know many kinds of  people. "The children loved to have company, even though it meant giving up their beds," said Jim's mother, "and because they met new acquaintances so often at home they were cheerful and free and uninhibited in public." 
Fred Elliot (Jim's Father) read the scriptures daily to his children, seeking to show them the glory of Christ above all else, striving always to avoid legalisms or a list of "don'ts." "I prayed with them as well as for them," he says. And each of the children at an early age heard the call of Jesus and set his face to follow. 


-Shadow of the Almighty


The impact of growing up in such a home would have a ripple effect in the lives not only of their children, but countless others. Not to mention the impact on their guests who enjoyed the refuge of such a Christ-exalting and welcoming home! This resonates with my heart so much having been on both ends, giving and receiving hospitality. My hope and desire is to grow in this ministry and be given opportunities to exercise it generously and in Christ-exalting ways.

 "This Gospel of Hospitality invites people to come with their hopes and failures and questions to a place where they will be unconditionally accepted and, over time, brought to an understanding of their failings and God’s forgiveness. It is a place of refuge for the weary traveler. It welcomes the stranger, the neighbor, the pilgrim. Our only motivation is the fact that, being ourselves recipients of God’s hospitality that made us members of His household, we now have the joy of becoming conduits of His hospitality to others." David Black

Evidence of the impact: When Jim Elliot was twenty years old, he prayed,  "Lord make my way prosperous, not that I achieve high station, but that my life may be an exhibit to the value of knowing God." (Amen!)  Jim Elliot later became a missionary to the Auca Indians in the jungles of Ecuador and was murdered by the men for whom he had prayed for six years. His wife later wrote: "Jim's aim was to know God. His course, obedience-the only course that could lead to the fulfillment of his aim. His end is what some would call an extraordinary death, although in facing death he had quietly pointed out that many have died because of obedience to God."


He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose -J.E.


Romans 12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Hebrews 13:1-2 Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Impossible! Unless...

I love to hear about far-reaching dreams that become reality with God's creative touch and a steadfast perseverance of faith. I recently took time to read through some of my own journals of which are filled with pleadings that at the time seemed far from reach. One of my favorite things to do is go back and highlight all the requests that have since been answered, sometimes making notes as to how and when. This not only encourages me, but gives great hope for future plans that have yet to unfold. I do WANT to see the Lord do great things, but often I lack faith to pray it through.

One of my most memorable prayers answered is the one I prayed after meeting with the recruiter for English teachers to go to China. At the time, a senior in college, desiring to find God's will for my life in ministry, but not with intentions of moving overseas...much less to China! My simple challenge to the Lord  for Him to change my heart was this: "Lord, if you want me to go to China, do the impossible and get me excited about it!". I couldn't imagine what the next year would hold if he actually answered that prayer. There were too many obstacles in my mind! Now, I find that laughable because the one year commitment turned into four! He did indeed get me excited about China, though most of that excitement did not come in the method or timing that I expected! Even as my plane was leaving American soil, I thought to myself, "What am I doing?". My actual leaving was in faith. It wasn't until after I got to China that the desires of my heart really changed. As I spent countless hours pouring over lesson plans for my students, really struggling with feeling inadequate for the task, I noticed my heart begin to change when scores of students lined up after class with curious questions about my life in the West. This was only the beginning of what culminated in and through me.


Not only did He take me to China, He used China to transform my heart, which then had a ripple effect in my friends and family's lives! To be honest, at first I did not have a "heart" for overseas much less Chinese people. It took my going there and experiencing it firsthand in order to even understand why I should care about these people and why God cared! It was hard and humbling! There are countless stories like mine of people going overseas thinking they have something to contribute and finding out they have only begun learning for themselves what the gospel actually means. Then, it can be fleshed out. The heart can only overflow what has been poured in by the Lord. Personally I had nothing to boast in, except my participation in the gospel of grace.

Faye was one of the faces God used to change me.

I guess my point is, don't be afraid to dream larger than yourself! Honestly I lose sleep over this sometimes because it's so exciting and scary! Just the other night I tossed and turned with this phrase running through my mind, "Don't be afraid to dream bigger than I can... or I will... Instead dream, I can't..., but God can if He wills!" It might be obvious, but lately God has renewed my desire to live beyond what I think I can do so that His power is shown more mightily through me. I love to dream things that are doomed to fail unless God intervenes. Then I get to brag on Him to everyone about how He saved the day!
My faith is small so I need a lot of encouragement to keep going, especially when I don't see tangible success. God is patient though, and His grace is bigger than my apparent weakness. When I need encouragement to keep pursuing these 'impossible' dreams that I believe God has placed in me, I find old prayer journals or a missionary biography to read; They are testaments to His faithfulness past and that I cannot exhaust the provision of His resources! The point is keep asking and keep risking in faith  for His glory!