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!

Pinnacle of Joy

One of the greatest joys of this Christmas was receiving an unexpected message from a girl I haven't seen or heard from since college (7 years). Back then, I was a relatively new believer, learning how to be intentional with sharing my faith. It was a pivotal point in my life when God was beginning to develop in me a mindset for life-long ministry. Samm Bridgforth Poteat poured her life into me all four years of college, lovingly challenging me to give away what I had so graciously been given. Trembling in our boots, courageously so, my best friend and I moved to Scott Hall (the scary party dorm) our junior year with the specific purpose of sharing Christ. It was a hard year of ministry in many ways and we didn't end that year feeling very successful. Keia's testimony (see below) speaks of God's power working through weak, but willing vessels. She was one of the girls I developed a relationship with that year. I loved her dearly but honestly felt discouraged by the unapparent fruits of our labor!
One of the greatest memories I have with her is driving her home to Eastern N.C. from Atlanta, G.A. in the snowstorm of the century! That was a real bonding experience! Remember that Keia?!
I asked her permission to share it with you in hopes that it might encourage you to keep loving, keep sharing, and keep trusting God for the harvest! He may be working through your greatest weakness or insecurity. Whatever you do, don't give up or hold back!

"And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and power that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." I Corinthians 2:4-5

"Hey Heather I know that it has been a long time since I talked to you. I also know that the last time we talked I was so lost in the world and spinning out of control but my life is nothing like that now. Back then if someone was to ask me what the center of my life was, I would have answered," Sports, having fun, drinking, and spending time with guys who only wanted one thing from me." I was so lost then but I want you to know that I now thank God for placing me in that room on Scott Hall so that I would be able to meet you. I want you to know that the things that you told me all those years ago has stuck with me. Now if someone was to ask me what the center of my life is, I would answer with one word, "Christ." So I just wanted to take the time to say thanks for assisting me in making the greatest change in my life. It took me a long time to get to this point but I have made it and some of that has to do with you and others from Campus Outreach. Thank you for planting the seed in me and I want you to know that the seed has been firmly planted in me and I am living my life for Him.
So Thanks again and Merry Christmas to you and your family."
-Keia 

"And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." 1 Timothy 1: 16-19

"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building." I Corinthians 3:7-9

Greatest Mercy

Joni Eareckson Tada who has spent the last 41 years in a wheel chair, prays, “Oh, thank you, thank you for this wheel chair! By tasting hell in this life, I’ve been driven to think seriously about what faces me in the next. This paralysis is my greatest mercy” (Christianity Today, January, 2004, 50).

I may never know the "hell" of living in a wheelchair, but may I count the portion of "hell" given me here on earth as my greatest mercy, that I might consider my heavenly home more than this one! A seriously challenging thought to ponder!

^"Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed."  Romans 8:17-19

Sobering Realities

“Humility is the only soil where grace can take root; the lack of humility is the sufficient explanation of every defect and failure. Humility is not so much a grace or virtue along with others; it is the root of all, because it alone assumes the right attitude before God and allows Him as God to do all.” –Andrew Murray

“There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.” –J.I. Packer

These quotes represent some of what I’ve been learning recently. I just finished reading Knowing God by J.I. Packer and another book called Humility by Andrew Murray. They are two phenomenal perspectives on the character of God as it relates to humankind. I also listened to the sermon John Piper gave at my church last Sunday...all to say, it's been a rich, but intense time of learning. Much sin exposure, resulting in much humility! As hard as I put forth effort to treasure Christ above all (Phil. 3:7-11), as hard I fail to do so. My heart resonates with Paul in Romans 7:15, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” It has dawned on me that a humbling of my soul to the point of possessing nothing (poverty of spirit) is the only hope I have for true change and acceptance of God's magnificent grace. Still, I need the gospel preached to me everyday.

I find it hard to let go of my striving to become a more qualified servant. My efforts to change are so sincere, yet futile and frustrating at best. He is the only one who has the transforming power to effect change in my life. In fact, He wills to do so. I understand so little of His unconditional love; It baffles me to think how unlovely I feel with only a small portion of my sin exposed. Imagine the sight from His perspective; He knows all from beginning to end. He reached out to me in the stark knowledge of all the wickedness about me and chose to love me with the promise of making me like His son.

The increasing exposure of my sin is sobering me to the fact that I have absolutely nothing to offer Him apart from the grace that He bestows. It is as true as it was when He first ripped me out of darkness. This humbling of my soul is my hope for change! The point at which He exposes sin in our lives, is the point which we can more fully grasp the concept of His love! As dirty and unworthy as we are, He loves us because of Christ's humility, manifested in obedience, through His death on the cross (Phil. 2:4-8).

Ephesians 2:4 says it best: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved...and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.”

There is so much more to say, but my hope is that these words will serve to encourage you with the hope that His plan is so much bigger than ours. Romans 8:28-30 shares His heart to work all things for good in our lives for the greater purpose of conforming us to Christ! He is the author and perfector of our faith and only in Him can we find acceptance and hope for change!


Now “Man’s chief care, his highest virtue, his only happiness, now and throughout eternity, is to present himself as an empty vessel in which God can dwell and manifest His power and goodness.” –Andrew Murray

"Aggressive Usurpers"

There is a book that resides on my shelf for periodic re-reading and reflection. The passionate heart of the author reveals a pure devotion to Christ, of which I am most envious. A.W. Tozer’s quiet humility in his book, “The Pursuit of God”, reflects the heart of one experienced in true unadulterated communion with God through the crucible of personal trials. The most striking chapter in the book was chapter 2, The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing. It begins with a quote from Mathew 5:3 which says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This chapter goes on to describe the ways in which fallen man is perverting the gifts of God and consequently ruining the soul of its purest devotion to Christ. These external things man is using to fill the soul are taking over the throne where God belongs, causing extreme turmoil within.

This quote by Tozer sums it up pretty well: “ Men have now by nature no peace within their hearts, for God is crowned their no longer, but there in the moral dusk, stubborn and aggressive usurpers fight amongst themselves for first place on the throne.” His gifts have taken His place in our hearts and have caused terrible spiritual trouble!"

The story of Abraham and Isaac is illustrated to prove this point further. Abraham has finally been given a son after years of waiting on the Lord. Finally, he is a father yet God sees that his heart is becoming idolatrous in his love for Isaac and asks him to give Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham obeys God and trusts that God will raise Isaac up on the altar. God loves Abraham and wants to keep him from an idolatrous love that will ruin his life. The gift of his son Isaac was never meant to become the sole source of satisfaction. Ultimately for us all, God desires to correct the perversion that exists in our love so that our hearts can be satisfied in Him alone. He is jealous for our whole-hearted, love and affection. Indeed, He is most worthy to receive it as well!

Mathew 16:24-35 explains the cost of true discipleship. The one who loses his life for the sake of Christ will gain life for his soul. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” This paradox is apparent in the Christian life in how we try to save ourselves through possessing and attaining and yet our souls wither away for lack of true nourishment. In order to truly save our life for eternity, we must learn denial of temporal things that suppress our hunger for God. He is the object of true satisfaction and nourishment for our soul. All else proves to suffocate our desires for Him and ultimately stifles our joy and fulfillment in life. We were created to love Him with our foremost devotion to bring glory to His name!

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…” -Psalm 42:1-2