Light in the Darkness

"And the light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out." (John 1:5)

As discouraging as it often is to see the Church "dying" in much of the Western world, yet it was encouraging to hear of the growth and work God is doing in the Church in Africa.  Hearing that they pray for our church displays how the Body of Christ is connected, even in different parts of the world.  Seeing how excited they are to get trained and also to be used of God is wonderful.  The story of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8 shows that there was something special about this person to whom God had brought the Evangelist Philip to explain Isaiah 53 one-on-one and tell him the good news about Jesus.   And to hear that today, there are millions of people who are part of the Ethiopian Church.  This one particular story about how a church was started shows once again how God is at work - some missionaries headed for the Sudan made a "wrong turn" (which was God's "right turn") into Ethiopia instead and started a church there, thinking they were in the Sudan.   Yet, this was all part of God's plan.  Praise God for all that He is doing in Africa; and that my church is able to be involved as a part of that.

I was also encouraged to see that there were several positive feedback comments on my class blogsite.  As I read through the blogs this person commented on, many of them were part of the "God is Able" series.   I was reminded of how much insight and comfort God gave to me through that series.

I ran the projector for service yesterday, and I so appreciated the devotional time the worship and AV team had before service.   Hearing my assistant pastor pray motivates me to ensure that my walk with God is so close that He is teaching me daily, in order for me to be able to be truly on fire for Him.   It was so clear to me that God is working in the assistant pastor's life - he was even awoken one day to write a song about the ministry in Africa, talking about the fire of God spreading like the Spirit on Pentecost.

It is also encouraging to hear that our class COA outreach ministry is bearing fruit.   The person who has been giving the messages has been using his gift of evangelism; and several people have place their faith in Christ.  We have also been giving out many Bibles; and I trust that God will be at work as the Word goes out.  I remember when we first started the ministry about two years ago - while we still gave a message, it seemed like we were mainly meeting physical needs by feeding the homeless and needy and supporting the COA organization.   And when the current speaker started, he used to wonder how many people were actually listening, for many often talked among themselves while he spoke and some even had angry words for him.  Yet, now, we are seeing evidence of God at work.  Praise God!

Psalm 37

"Delight yourself in the LORD;  
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
..Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him"  (Psalm 37:4,5,7a)

Psalm 37:4 is a familiar verse, and I have probably even written about it before.   But, as I've been doing devotions in the Psalms and read through the whole chapter, I was struck by the reminders in verses 5 and 7a also.  What wonderful guidelines these are, not only in the area related to my thorn, but also in all other aspects of my life as well.

Messiah in the Passover

As Easter approaches, it was interesting in Church during worship on Sunday, to once again go through the Passover Seder and see how the symbolism points to the Messiah.  Dr. Mitch Glaser (Isaiah53.com) gave the presentation in a very engaging and humorous style.

In Leviticus 23, where the Jewish Festivals are described, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread lasts for 7 days and Passover is 1 day.  The first 2 days of the festival is the Seder, detailed in the Haggadah, retelling the story of the Exodus and briefly described in Luke 22.

• First is the preparation, cleansing the house (or Upper Room) of any leaven, which represents sin -> There must be purity before worship
• To start the Seder, the father looks around for any remaining leaven and removes any that are found, then declares the house clean
• The mother lights the candle, which represents the Shekinah glory filling the home
• The leader wearing the white robe as a symbol of purity represents the priest leading the family to God, and the supper table thus becomes the altar
• There are 4 cups of wine.   The first is the Cup of Blessing or sanctification (Luke 22:17) -> being set apart for God
• The second is the Cup of Plagues -> dipping the pinkie in the cup and dropping onto the plate with the associated plagues represents the blood of judgment and the reminder that disobedience leads to judgment.   Yet the song that is sung with the many verses of how God has blessed His people shows His abundant goodness.
• Then come the elements of the Seder Plate: 1) parsley (life) dipped in salt water (tears); 2) charoset - sweet brown mixture of apples with cinnamon- represents the mortar used when they were slaves in Egypt; the sweetness indicates that when redemption is near, even the bitterness of slavery is sweet; 3) horseradish (bitter); 4) egg in salt water representing the destruction of the temple; but the hope that when God comes back the temple will be rebuilt; 5)shank bone of lamb, represents Exodus 12 where the blood was put on the door posts so that the angel of the Lord would  Pass-Over.
• After the meal, the Matzah would be taken from a pouch with 3 compartments, representing the Trinity.   From the middle compartment, the matzah was broken and half is wrapped, hidden, brought back out, and then passed to all.   This represents Christ's death, burial, and resurrection; and then communion (vs 19)
• Then comes the third cup - Cup of Redemption (vs 20)
• And the fourth cup - Cup of Hallelujah or Praise (Matthew 26:5)
• They sing a song for Elijah, although, John the Baptist was representative of Elijah who prepared the way for the Messiah
• The Seder ends with "Next year in Jerusalem", though what they really are waiting to hear is that the Messiah they await has already come

Cooking

I've been trying a few new dishes lately, mostly soups.  With a chicken or beef stock as base, there are a lot of different types of soups that can be made fairly quickly and easily daily:

•  An Asian soup can be made by just adding some tofu, green onions, and imitation crab meat
•  A Mediterranean stew by mixing curried tomatoes and cucumbers with garbanzo beans
• A Fish stew by mixing curried tomatoes with garlic spinach, and then adding fresh fish at the end
• Any vegetables can be mixed with cooked chicken and rice to make a one-pot meal

Also, in a clay pot, I slowly cooked vegetables with some mock abalone.  Then, when making the soup, I added rice and then fish at the end.

French Onion soup actually turned out surprisingly well also.   Just sauteeing onion in olive oil till it browns, and then adding water and simmer for a couple of hours is already fairly tasty.  Adding broth instead of water would probably be even better.    I baked diced bread mixed with olive oil to make croutons (baking time is short, since it can burn easily).   So, the soup topped with croutons and cheese, then baked, not only tastes good; but, also looks nice presentation-wise.

I've found that stock can be made the normal way, boiling celery, carrots, and any meat bones, mixed in with a variety of herbs (cilantro, parsley, etc).   But, I can also use the bones from marinated meat that is cooked, and the bones removed.  The flavor from the marinade and cooking is then added to the stock.

The other thing I made was a parfait.   I made granola by baking oats, flax seed, chopped walnuts, brown sugar, butter, honey, brown sugar, and maple syrup.   Optionally, coconut flakes and vanilla may be added as well.  Again, baking time is short since this can burn easily.   Then, to make the parfait, layer Greek yogurt (it would be good to get one that is more sweet - the nonfat one I got was a little "bitter") with granola and fruit that has been soaking in orange juice; repeat, and then top with orange zest.  This makes for a nice breakfast, or even for a snack or dessert.

I also tried making a modified version of a sausage paella.  This would seem like a good potluck dish.  I pan fried onions with smoked sausage, then added rice, water, and peas at the very end, until water was gone and rice was cooked.  It seemed like it needed a little more in the dish, so maybe adding the traditional bell pepper may be useful; or maybe just tomato and turmeric, particularly for the added color.

Prayer Works

God has been demonstrating that He is at work in so many areas that I've been praying about.   And, He has also been continuing to teach me about Prayer through a variety of means.

What a difference this past week has made.  While I had felt submerged with all that needed to be completed, I look back and am amazed at the progress made - property taxes paid, income taxes filed, blood tests taken, prescription refilled, doctor's and eye appt scheduled, car 30,000 mile maintenance completed, baby shower gift bought, and outline for next Bible Study series started.  It feels like He has lifted me back up on my feet and allowed me to cross off many of the items on my previously overwhelming TO DO List.

It has also been nice to have a break from teaching class (and I even had a break from teaching small group as well).  The area that I feel the prayers the most, is that the atmosphere of the class has gone back to being less confrontational.   Although I can see that while the critics have merely stopped voicing their disagreements verbally, they still grumble amongst themselves.   My prayer is that this will not erupt one day; and that over time, the truth will become clear to all.

It's encouraging to see that God is using the COA outreach.   We are giving away more Bibles, and there is now a need for helpers to talk to or pray with people who come up after the message. I'm prompted to remember to pray over the Bibles that we order, so that God may use them to touch the lives that we give them to.   Also, just yesterday, a person shared that she had heard a story from someone at another church who had said that a woman who was homeless and "lived" along the river bank was so grateful for the food that was provided at COA, since that was her only meals each day and it is one of the things that helped sustain her through her pregnancy.

The message in worship yesterday was on "Becoming a People of Prayer".  God's desire to stay connected with us is not dependent on our connection with Him: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  (Romans 5:8)  Yet, God is still concerned about our prayer life.  We are asked to be devoted to prayer (Col 4:2), given the model for prayer (Luke 11:1-13), commanded to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17), and are told to pray in order to be healed and that the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective (James 5:16).

While prayer is key to living a more powerful Christian life, yet we still struggle because there are several "connection breakers" that can get in the way:

1. Selfishness (James 4:3) - with wrong motives, prayer can fall powerless to the ground; but, when motives are right, it gives way to worship
2. Harbored Sin (Isaiah 59:1-2) - God doesn't move, so if we feel far from God, it is likely that we have moved away due to our sin and are holding Him at arms length
3. Idols (Ezekiel 14:3) - Is God our first priority?  We all have idols, for as Col 3:5 says, practices of our earthly nature are considered idolatry
4. Stinginess (Prov 21:13) - surprisingly generosity empowers prayer; and 1 Tim 6:17 tells us to place our hope in God and not in their wealth
5. An Unforgiving Spirit (Mark 11:25) - In the OT, forgiveness was motivated by receiving forgiveness in return; but, in the NT, we have already been forgiven, so we must forgive
6. Disrespect in marriage (1 Peter 3:7) - relationship with spouse can affect prayer
7. Underestimating the power of persistence (Luke 18:1-8) - it takes courage to persevere; and giving up shows lack of faith

Suggestions for a breakthrough in our prayer life:

1. Start with simple heartfelt thanksgiving
2. Ask to reveal connection breakers in our attitudes, behaviors, and choices
3. Ask God to meet and come alongside you for victory over connection breakers
4. Be intentional about spending time daily connecting
5. Practice "breath-prayers" - continual unceasing prayer, like breathing

Then, in the evening, we heard Stories from the Field from one of our church missionary couples.  They said the focus of their ministry is to PRAY!  They talked about walking through the fields in Wales just lifting up those they minister to in prayer.   It was interesting to hear that while the church in the western world is dwindling, the global church is growing, particularly in Asia and Africa.   Many organizations now have also implemented "preventative care", rather than having to deal with crisis or even missionaries who drop out due to the challenges of being "alone" in the mission field.  This particular organization, Pioneers, deals mainly with Relief (e.g. providing fish) and Development (e.g. teaching how to fish) in remote regions of the world.

Matthew 14:22-32

My Pastor concluded the "Faith Under Fire" series with a lesson on "Trusting God When the Bottom Drops Out" using the walking on water story as an illustration. Following the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus went away to pray.  It was pointed out that there are some spiritual discoveries we make only when we are alone with the Father, thus the importance of prayer.

Jesus sent the disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee, which directed them to encounter the storm.   This shows that there are times storms are a means in which are tested.   And, when Jesus comes to them, it was at the darkest time of the night; but, we can be reassured that even the darkest night does not hide us from the face of God.  The first thing Jesus says to them is "Be not afraid" or "Take Courage", which literally means to stop being afraid and do not be afraid again.  We can also be comforted in the reminder that "no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." (1 Corinth 10:13)

Storms reveal the Savior, refine the Believer, and remind us the Jesus is in charge.  By faith, Peter was ready to step out of the boat while the 11 other guys stayed in the boat, but as soon as he took his eyes off the Lord, he began to sink.  The real issue is whether or not we TRUST God.   We should remember that through faith, what is humanly impossible for us, is possible for God.

Storms also enable us to testify of God's power and of His Person.  After this episode, those in the boat worshiped Christ as the Son of God.  It is through storms that we learn the strength of the anchor.  We cannot avoid storms any more than we can control the weather; so, be prepared and don't wait until the storm hits, before we bow our knee.  And remember that God often lets us through the storm so that we may learn WHO HE IS.

To summarize the series are the following ten major life principles:

1.  Suffering and testing are to be expected, but being miserable and refusing to believe God are choices (1 Peter 4:12-13)
2. Faith is like a great idea... it sounds good in theory but it is not real until tested (Hebrews 11:1-2)
3. Tested faith is like refined gold... the hotter the fire; the purer and more valuable that faith becomes (1 Peter 1:7)
4. Be prepared...every calling from God gets tested (1 Peter 2:21)
5. Tests come in many forms but the spiritual resources that will carry you to victory do not change (1 Peter 5:6-9)
6. Without faith you cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6)
7. Testing provides us with the greatest opportunity to honestly see ourselves and to truly see God (1 Peter 4:1-2)
8. Our greatest moments in life can happen in our darkest hour (1 Peter 4:16; Matthew 5:11-12)
9. Tests are temporary; rewards are eternal (Hebrews 11:24-26)
10. Testing is not a sign of God's displeasure but a positive sign of His desire to grow us, prove us, and eternally reward us (2 Peter 5:10-11)

Psalm 25

"In you, LORD my God,
   I put my trust...
Turn to me and be gracious to me, 
   for I am lonely and afflicted.  
Relieve the troubles of my heart
 and free me from my anguish. 
Look on my affliction and my distress
 and take away all my sins."
(Psalm 25:1,16-18)

During devotions last night, God led me to Psalm 25 in which these verses spoke the words I wanted to pray better than I could have ever said them myself.   Having felt melancholy all week, these verses really express well what I am going through. 

God is gracious, and I am grateful that He is always with me.