Standing in My Place

I came across this picture I took while I was teaching in Bogota, Colombia. My friends and I took a trip to a place called Zipaquira, a large salt mine in the mountains. Inside we saw this cross that was carved in one of the wall with a light illuminating it. It was beautiful! My friends and I all stood and looked at this large cross. One of them stood in it and I took a picture. Looking at it now makes me think of what Jesus does for us when we get to heaven. He stands in our place in front of His Father. Though we are still filthy with sin we are covered in His blood and are accepted into our heavenly home. What right do I have for Jesus, who is perfect, to stand in my place and take MY punishment?! I am so thankful I don't have to face God with out Jesus.

"Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

Walking in the Wind

Today I decided to take a walk at a near by park. My intention was to spend time with God, to pray to him and clear my mind. As I began, my mind started to wander. Quickly I refocused it and began to pray...more like poor out my burdens! I stopped myself again. This was not why I had come out here. After almost an hour of "refocusing" my thoughts I decided to think about listening.

My shoes crunched the sand and rock below my feet, the birds chirped and the wind blew. Oh the wind...I remembered back on the times I would walk and the wind would blow me around. I use to pretend the wind was God speaking to me. When it blew softly He was whispering and real rough, he was trying hard to get my attention. The wind blew in all kinds of ways today. I noticed that when my thoughts began to wander the wind would blow harder. I stopped and sat by the lake (thankful that a family was feeding the geese off to the side so they wouldn't come bother me :)

Closing my eyes I asked God to speak to me. All I heard at first was

Listen

I am I said to Him.

Listen He said again. I suddenly felt like Peter when I responded,

I am trying God.

Then he said....trust me.

That was hard. Though I feel I do trust God I realized this was a deeper kind of trust. A trust that meant completely, wholely, with everything you deam important and valuable....TRUST ME.

I continued to walk and spotted some flowers on the path. A passage I had recently memorized came to mind. "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?....See how the lilies of the field grow? They do not labor or spin....If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you? Oh you of little faith?"

Matthew 6:27-28,30

These verses reminded me of others. Psalm 139 speaks of God knowing me. He was there when I was created. "for you created my innermost being, you knit me together in my mothers womb...Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book, before one of them came to be...search me, O God, adn know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts, see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting"

"Seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness" Matt 6:33

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give you." John 15:16

How awesome it is to have a God who loves us, who brings scripture to mind when we need it, know knows our every thought before we do. When I asked him to speak to me, He spoke through His Word....His word was my comfort as I walked this trail.

As I sit here I think of the people who do not feel God's comforting word. They do not realize they could take a walk with God.

Thank you God, for your Word, that it is hidden in my heart. Thank you for calling me and prusing me as I live each day.

The heart of a child

The last day of school one of my students came over to say goodbye. Her face was beaming with pride. In her hands she held a note. Taking the note I opened it to find a letter from her parents and a one dollar bill. Chuckling I remembered a conversation I had recently had with her parents regarding their daughter. She was a picky eater and they told me that if I could get her to eat a slice of pizza at the class party they would give her a one dollar bill for her piggy bank. She received money for obedience. As I read through the note I realized this was not a dollar FOR her but a gift FOR me! She was giving it to me so I could fly to Papua New Guinea and teach the little children about Jesus. With heavy eyes I hugged her and thought, "I might be able to buy some peanuts!"

This little girl was given the opporunity to hear about God's love through His Word. She heard about Him every day in a language that touches her heart. Children all over the world should be given the same opportunity. Hundreds of them do not have God's word in a language they can understand or express love in. Of the nearly 7,000 languages in the world 2,200 of them still do not have God's word in their language. Many more may have a translation started but they can not read it. My hearts desire is to give people this opportunity. A chance for them to meet their Father and accept his precious gift to them....his son Jesus as their Savior.