Tag Archive - love

Paid In Full

I received this story in my email today. I know it’s slightly corny, but I’ve been asking God a lot lately what my purpose is here on earth, and I think this was just a reminder today that He’s got it all in control and I just need to keep trusting in him until he reveals his plan more to me.

After living what I felt was a ‘decent’ life, my time on earth came to the end.

The first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what I thought to be a court house..

The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a seat by the defense table.

As I looked around I saw the ‘prosecutor.’

He was a villainous looking gent who snarled as he stared at me. He definitely was the most evil person I have ever seen.

I sat down and looked to my left and there sat My Attorney, a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed so familiar to me, I felt I knew Him.

The corner door flew open and there appeared the Judge in full flowing robes.

He commanded an awesome presence as He moved across the room. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Him.

As He took His seat behind the bench, He said, ‘Let us begin.’

The prosecutor rose and said,

‘My name is Satan and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell.’

He proceeded to tell of lies that I told, things that I stole, and In the past when I cheated others. Satan told of other horrible Perversions that were once in my life and the more he spoke, the further down in my seat I sank.

I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t look at anyone, even my own Attorney, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten about.

As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these things about me, I was equally upset at My Attorney who sat there silently not offering any form of defense at all.

I know I had been guilty of those things, but I had done some good in my life – couldn’t that at least equal out part of the harm I’d done?

Satan finished with a fury and said, ‘This man belongs in hell, he is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise.’

When it was His turn, My Attorney first asked if He might approach the bench. The Judge allowed this over the strong objection of Satan, and beckoned Him to come forward.

As He got up and started walking, I was able to see Him in His full splendor and majesty.

I realized why He seemed so familiar; this was Jesus representing me, my Lord and my Savior. He stopped at the bench and softly said to the Judge, ‘Hi, Dad,’ and then He turned to address the court.

‘Satan was correct in saying that this man had sinned, I won’t deny any of these allegations. And, yes, the wages of sin is death, and this man deserves to be punished.’

Jesus took a deep breath and turned to His Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, ‘However, I died on the cross so that this person might have eternal life and he has accepted Me as his Savior, so he is Mine.’

My Lord continued with, ‘His name is written in the Book of Life, and no one can snatch him from Me.

Satan still does not understand yet. This man is not to be given justice, but rather mercy.’

As Jesus sat down, He quietly paused, looked at His Father and said, ‘There is nothing else that needs to be done.’

‘I’ve done it all.’

The Judge lifted His mighty hand and slammed the gavel down. The following words bellowed from His lips..

‘This man is free. The penalty for him has already been paid in full. ‘Case dismissed.’

As my Lord led me away, I could hear Satan ranting and raving, ‘I won’t give up, I will win the next one.’ I asked Jesus as He gave me my instructions where to go next, ‘Have you ever lost a case?’

Christ lovingly smiled and said, ‘Everyone that has come to Me and asked Me to represent them has received the same verdict as you, ~Paid In Full~’

‘Stop telling God how big your storm is.
Instead, tell the storm how big your God is!’

Thrive Africa: A Little Part of My Heart

Jesus talks in Matthew 25:40 of doing things for the “least of these.” In other words, those who for whatever reason cannot do it themselves. Whether it’s to provide food, clothing, shelter, medicine, etc, we as Christians are supposed to take care of everyone. An organization that is doing an amazing job at this is Thrive Africa.

The goal of Thrive Africa is to “equip and mobilize indigenous leaders to become strategic, Godly influences in their cultural communities.” When it comes to making societal changes, it’s great to have grassroots efforts, but you MUST have leaders to propel and champion change. This is what Thrive is doing by educating pastors, young people, and people of all ages.

We see poverty and heartache all over the world every day, but let’s go over so facts about South Africa that you may not know (I don’t think I did):

  • Did you know that South Africa is one of the few 1st world countries (like the United States, England, Japan, etc) that have 3rd world problems?
  • Did you also know that 1 in 4 South Africans has HIV?
  • 88% of the population is unemployed, and 75% of the population is chronically hungry.
  • 3 out of 4 children live in poverty.
  • There are 250 HIV positive babies born every day.
  • 1500 people become infected with HIV every day.

Those are sobering statistics in any country. Thrive Africa is training pastors, indigenous leaders, and youth through discipleship classes, AIDS prevention through abstinence, and in leadership. Their primary area of influence is with the Basotho people living in the Intabazwe and Qwa Qwa areas. This region is considered to be the poorest in the country. Thrive has also purchased what has to be an amazingly beautiful 2,500 acre game reserve as a operations base for their ministry.

Clearly, based on the information above, they have a fantastic team in place to attack such a massive problem. But you should meet Alece. She’s the founder and president of Thrive Africa. You know that list of people you have that you’d like to meet because they make you look really lazy and yet inspire you at the same time? Yeah, Alece is on my list.

So, what can you and I do? How can we help? Why now?
Part of my sudden interest is that Thrive Africa just recently came on my radar. I hadn’t heard about the organization until recently, and it’s a cause that’s close to my heart. Also, I believe and trust in the people and what they’re doing. I’m not going to encourage you to support an organization that I don’t believe in myself. They’ve got a proven track record of success; what they’re doing is working. I got this statistic from Sara’s blog:

Thrive Africa is feeding their needs. Before they began this program, one school averaged 40 pregnancies a year among 7th, 8th and 9th graders. In the four years Thrive’s program has been taught, there has not been one single pregnancy.

So what’s the best way to help? I’ll let Thrive tell you themselves.

We are facing one of the most difficult financial hardships we’ve ever experienced at Thrive Africa. We are pushing forward, assured that God’s not done with us, but the challenge confronting us is real and urgent.

Right now our financial situation is so dire that, unless there is a significant increase in funds, we will not be able to pay the bills at the end of April. We will have no choice but to scale down our AIDS prevention program and other ministry initiatives. We may be forced to decrease our staff team, affecting the 52 nationals we employ and the families who are dependent on their income.

We have taken action by reducing our expenses as much as possible. We have launched an online store and are making efforts to raise awareness through radio, billboards, and an increased online presence. Our founder will be traveling along the West Coast this spring, promoting Thrive in at least 8 cities in 6 weeks.

We have set a goal to raise $80,000 in new support by June 1.

$60,000 in one-time gifts by April 15
to get us up-to-date on our operating expenses

$20,000 in new monthly commitments by June 1
to continue our programs at current levels

We know this is a God-sized goal, but He’s given us a God-sized vision. We are trusting Him to move mightily, and hope your heart is open to Him moving mightily through you.

We humbly yet boldly ask you to help us reach this goal.

We ask you to give generously. Invest in the continued training of African leaders.
We ask you to speak up. Tell others about the need, the vision, and the opportunity to get involved.
We ask you to pray hard. Petition God for abundant provision and divine favor.

Together we can impact South Africa.
(See the nicely formatted version here)

So, I ask you to give. And spread the word. And of course pray.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ -Matthew 25:34-36

Don’t Blink

Don’t Blink by Kenny Chesney

I turned on the evening news
Saw a old man being interviewed
Turning a hundred and two today
Asked him what’s the secret to life
He looked up from his old pipe
Laughed and said “All I can say is.”

Don’t blink
Just like that you’re six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you’re twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don’t blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your “better half”
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you’re praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don’t blink

I was glued to my tv when it looked like he looked at me and said
“Best start putting first things first.”
Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
You can’t flip it over and start again
Take every breathe God gives you for what it’s worth

Don’t Blink
Just like that you’re six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you’re twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don’t blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your “better half”
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you’re praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don’t blink

So I’ve been tryin’ ta slow it down
I’ve been tryin’ ta take it in
In this here today, gone tomorrow world we’re livin’ in

Don’t blink
Just like that you’re six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you’re twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don’t blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your “better half”
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you’re praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster then you think
So Don’t blink

Naw, don’t blink
Life Goes Faster Than You Think

Best Friends

Have you ever wondered if Jesus had best friends?

I’ve never really thought of Jesus having friends. You just always think of him with the twelve disciples. But multiple times in scripture, Jesus spends quality time alone with Peter, James, and John. The most important is when he goes to the garden of Gethsemane and prays before he’s arrested:

32 They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.”33 He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed.

Mark 14:32-33

You just think of Jesus getting all his strength inwardly from the Father, and while that clearly is a majority of it, Jesus is still somewhat human. So when things get really bad, when it says Jesus’ soul is “crushed with grief,” he brings his three best friends along with him for some of the toughest moments of his life here on earth. And just like a friend, even great friends, they still make mistakes and let Jesus down by falling asleep.

But Jesus also brings his best friends along for some of his best moments here on earth. At the transfiguration, which I truly haven’t spent any time studying before other than what I’ve read right out of the bible, there are Peter, James, and John to see all these amazing miracles, Elijah and Moses, and they get to hear the voice of God.

2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed,

Mark 9:2

Yeah, that’s pretty cool. Jesus even tells them to keep this event to themselves, even keep it from the other disciples, until after his death.

How cool would it have been to be Jesus’ best friend? To be there in those moments, both good and bad, to see things that not even the rest of the disciples got to see. They let him down and he doesn’t hold a grudge, he doesn’t get on the cross and say “I’m dying for everybody but Peter, James, and John; they let me down a few days ago, and I’m just not over that yet.” He forgives and continues on.

What’s even more amazing is that he does the same thing with us every time we sin and hurt him. He continues to forgive is and keeps loving us the same as before. He died on the cross for us knowing full well that we would continue to sin day after day, and he didn’t even blink about doing it.

And we’re not even his “best friends”.

Got any grudges you know you should be forgetting about and forgiving? I know I do.

God's Finest Work

I’m reading Wild at Heart for the second time, and I’m also halfway through Captivating. Both of these books are amazing. To be a mouse in the Eldredge household must be an amazing thing. But as I’ve read through both of these books, there are certain things that have made a huge impact on me, and so I’ve decided to take my heart out of it’s protective little box and set it on the table and write a few things from it to the females.

First off, let me say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry that we as males have not lived up to who we were created and designed to be. This isn’t some male-bashing statement to say that men aren’t good enough or that we aren’t living up to some set of standards set by culture today. We all know that we get enough of that from evening sitcoms. I’m saying we aren’t living up to who we were designed to be and who we are fully capable of being, myself included. I’m sorry that as men, we are so stuck on not failing that we have indeed failed by doing nothing. God has given us an amazing example to follow in Himself, and we just put Him back on the shelf and decide we’re afraid to fail, and it has caused heartache after heartache in relationships throughout history. I also want to apologize for the fact that we continually fail in our ability to tell you how much you mean to us and how much we truly delight in you.

In Captivating, one of the best parts so far is when the creation of Eve is talked about. As I was reading it, I think I was nodding my head in agreement. Something females clearly do not hear enough is that you are God’s finest creation. The way he created you today; not once you lose a few pounds, get that new haircut, or buy that new outfit. Each step of the way, as God the artist is creating, He is becoming more delicate, more intricate, and creating more amazing works of art. Light, sky, land, plants, birds and fish, wild animals, Adam. And still God said things weren’t good enough; something was missing. His final creation, the greatest thing that He creates, His masterpiece, the thing with the most beauty and intricacy, is Eve. The world God created was not good, not complete, without you in it.lassie-and-timmy

Clearly, we as men suck at telling you this. Whether it’s your father as you’re growing up, boyfriends along the way, or a husband that seems to be completely emotionless and distant, we’re terrible at it. Lassie has a better chance of explaining that little Timmie is stuck in a well before we have a chance of explaining how riveting, amazing, and beautiful you are, and how much we delight in you. So, please, consider the following from all of us:

You are the most beautiful thing we have ever seen, hands down. When you walk into a room, we can’t help but look at you. We do everything we can to make you laugh, even if it’s just a hint of a grin. When we look into your eyes, we get lost, sometimes to the point of speechlessness. We are intrigued by you, and do whatever we can to get to know you more. We know you’re smarter than us, and that scares us a little, but in a good way. Your strength is amazing, as history has shown in Rahab, Ruth, Mary, Mother Teresa, and countless others. You are the beauty that each and every man deep down in his heart is longing to fight for, and we desire to live a life of adventure with you.

Also, there’s someone who has pursued you from the beginning, someone who is much better at this than any man, and that person is God. Truly, He’s the only person that can answer the question of every girl’s heart, just like he’s the only person that can answer the question in every guy’s heart. Take a look at Song of Solomon, and then pair that with the fact that God considers himself a bridegroom, and you are his bride. When Heartyou put those two things together, there’s no question how God feels about you and your beauty. When you take away all the religious trappings we’ve thrown on that statement, and add in some Song of Solomon, I don’t think there’s any question. Please keep in mind that God loves you, desires you, and delights in you infinitely more than any of us could.

I know this all may not feel like a lot of consolation if you’re spending a Valentine’s Day weekend by yourself, and this may just feel to you like another “Valentine’s Day Post to Sad People” or something like that, but I beg you to examine your heart, and run to God to get the questions answered that you find there.

(I’ve taken ideas liberally from both Wild at Heart and Captivating, but these books have been instrumental lately in helping me to understand who I am and I wanted to share those ideas with you.

99 Balloons

Apparently this video has been around for a while, but I recently saw it for the first time and I wanted to share it with those of you that haven’t seen it.
I saw it on Stuff Christians Like, and I think he got it from Brad Lomenick’s site.

Dreams of Leaders

I hadn’t really planned on writing something related to Martin Luther King Jr. day today. I don’t feel overly qualified to talk about race relations or about truly suffering for a cause. But, after watching the video posted by Michael Hyatt today and subsequent discussion of leadership lessons learned from Dr. King, I just had to write down some of the thoughts going through my head.

I honestly cannot fathom what African-Americans went through, especially during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. When I sat down and considered what the equivalent would be in my daily life to be African-American up through the 1960s, I’m quickly humbled. Being a white male, I’ve never truly experienced that other than one time, and that one experience was incredibly uncomfortable.

After listening to Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, it put some great perspective to the historic event of Barack Obama being elected president. Regardless of any political affiliation, it’s amazing where we’ve come since 1964. On the other hand, I have a feeling that Dr. King would be disappointed that the media seems to make every issue related to the president somehow about race, like the recent events in Haiti.

I think Michael had it right when he discussed Dr. King’s leadership. Above all else, he was a leader. There very well may have been no civil rights movement without Dr. King’s vision, tenacity, and heart.

So, Dr. King, thank you for showing me what it takes to follow my dreams, be a visionary, and most of all, lead with a relentless passion that encompasses God and those that are struggling. It gives me renewed strength to pursue my own dreams.

To Write Love on Her Arms

I’ve had friends that have supported To Write Love on Her Arms for a while, and I just recently began supporting them by buying some gear from them. I encourage you to support them as well. It’s an amazing organization with an amazing story.

You can check out the story here.
And you can buy gear to sport in support of TWLOHA here.

Commitment

1176741_68006109So, why this site? Why the name “Jesus in Disguise”? What does that even mean anyway? I got the idea for the title of this site from Mother Teresa. In an interview she gave, she was quoted as saying:

The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved, they are Jesus in disguise.

This goes along with a verse that has had a huge impact on my life over the last year, which is Matthew 25:40:

40 “Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’”

This part of Matthew describes a final judgment, and one of the aspects of that judgment is that those who were judged to not have a relationship with God; one of the aspects of that was that they did not help those who were less fortunate or unable to help themselves. To God, this is the same as not treating him this way. I’m not saying that if you don’t help people who are less fortunate you’ll go to hell, but God does expect us to help those less fortunate.

Along with this, I prayed a while back for God to break me. I prayed for God to break my heart for the same things that break His heart. I know, a very dangerous prayer. God has done just what I asked Him to. At first I thought maybe I was depressed or something, but once I took a look at what was making me sad, I realized what was happening.

God had broken my heart. He had broken it for the homeless, the voiceless, and the helpless. Those that couldn’t help themselves, or didn’t have a way to help themselves. So now I’ve made the choice to actively help those that can’t, to do something I feel God has asked me to be a part of.

There’s one problem. I started this site, and intend to keep bringing to light those situations where people need help. The problem is, I don’t know how to get actively involved, and I don’t fully know how active God wants me to be. So I could really use some help in how to get seriously involved. I don’t know where it’ll take me, or what I’ll be doing, but I’m committed to making a difference.

Do you have suggestions for me? How have you committed to living out what God has called you to?

blood:water mission

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