New place!

For now, I will blogging at my new site. Not sure what I will do here but please hop over to bethandjimherring.com and join me there at "walkin' it out"

Thank you so much!

It's hot in Belize!

Today marks the sixth day of our return to Belize to do  ministry. We were here for 3 weeks at the end of July and flew back in last Tuesday for another 3 weeks. The weather here is very hot and very humid. The air outside is so heavy at times and the sun is very intense. I miss the cool comfort of indoor air-conditioning, but will settle for the fan that at least stirs up the air and does cool us off a little. I am very thankful for electricity where we are staying but when it goes off it is stifling to say the least. All that to say, be thankful for the conveniences that we have and never take them for granted!

We are here to do some ministry with The Baptist Tabernacle. It is a small church on the outskirts of Belmopan and the pastor is a precious young man named Job Lopez. Jimbo and I are working along side him and his church members to try and help them in their outreach program and also in some church planning and organization.

Those of us from the states really can't understand the workings of the church in various parts of the world. Things are so different here. Life is so different here. People are so different here. Many of these churches are in very poor areas and the people that come to them must be within walking distance as most of them don't  have vehicles for transportation. A lot of people around this area ride bicycles but it is hard to bring a family to church on a bike. There are a lot of children that attend church without their parents. We have noticed a huge majority of the people in this area do not attend church at all. Apathy and complacency are not just in America, but here in Belize as well.

It is good to see that there are still people that love the Lord and who have a desire to grow in Him. I am looking forward to working with the women of the church and help them to develop some bible study habits and to help them organize a time for women to come together for fellowship and the study of God's Word.

We love having the opportunity to come back to places that we have been because it enables to begin to develop relationship with the people and that is so important when you are trying to minister God's love to them. When we were here in July, there was a young couple, Mike and Bessie, in the church that already had 2 young children and she had just given birth to premature twin boys. They weighed 3 pounds each at birth and wound up spending several months in the hospital. One of the babies was really sick while were here and had to have a blood transfusion. He wasn't doing very well at all. The church and our mission team began praying for this precious little boy and his brother and God heard our prayers. I was able to go visit the family on Saturday and the boys are home and growing and doing so well! They are over 6 pounds now and are healthy and thriving.  I love seeing how God works and I love seeing His goodness in all parts of the world!

Please pray for us as we endeavor to do what God has called us to do. Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes we get tired and frustrated. Sometimes we just want to be back home where things are comfortable and convenient. But, for now, God has called us to be out on the mission field. He has called us to be His hands and feet in a world that needs Him so desperately. We just continue to follow where He leads and trust in His provision and His protection. He has never let us down and He has provided abundantly and sweetly to our ministry. He is so good and I love Him so.

"I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!" (Psalm 27:13)

Truth

"If you abide in My Word, you are my disciples indeed.

 And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free"

(John 8:31)

If we desire powerful prayer lives, we must be abiding in Him and His Word. Through the power of the Word, the Holy Scriptures, we can know the truth. And His Word tells us that the truth will set us free! If we want freedom, if we want power, we must dwell on the Word of God. Our prayer lives are only going to be as effective and as mighty as the effort we put into them. 

May we long for a time of communion with our God and may we purpose to strive for consistent time spent in His presence. Then we will see Him begin to work in our lives and the lives of those we pray for. His Word is truth.

Amen

---

Please visit The Prayer List and pray with us.

Conviction

I am absolutely in love with the Word of God. I can't wait to dig into the scriptures when I wake up and I love the way God can take just a few words and impact my heart. Do you know that feeling? When you read one verse or even just a part of a verse and it just slams into your spirit with such force that you can feel it? 

As I opened the Word to my place in the book of John this morning, I began reading in chapter 9. There is so much 'good stuff' in that chapter and I was soaking it all in and then I came to verse 25 and read these words,

 "One thing I know: that thou I was blind, now I see."

Wow. Those words hit me with power. 'One thing I know...'. The Lord spoke to me as soon as I read those words. 'What do you know, Beth?' My mind started working as I pondered that question. What do I know?

I know that God is Creator of all things. I know that He is all power and authority. I know that He is love and that He loves me. I struggle with that one sometimes because I also know that I am so unworthy of His love and I fail Him daily, but I still know it is true. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is the only way to Heaven. He is the only acceptable sacrifice for my sins. He gave His life for me on Calvary and I know that I am His. I know He is my LORD and Savior. 

If I know all this, why do I live my life in direct opposition to this at times? Why do I live defeated when I know that I have Victory? Why do I fail to trust and obey when I know that He is TRUTH?  My spirit sinks and my heart grows heavy.

If I know these things to be true, I need to be applying these truths to my life. I need to be walking in victory. Walking in love. Walking in His ways. I need to be filled with joy and experiencing peace. I need to act like He is LORD instead of acting like I am. I need to be spending more time on my face before Him and on my knees surrendering to Him. 

I love Him. Now it's time to behave accordingly. It's time to deny myself and submit to Him. It's time to surrender my will and delight myself in His ways. It's time to get over myself and get under Him. It's time to walk like He walked and act like I truly believe what I proclaim. I need to make my theology my reality. 

I sit here convicted and refreshed at the same time and then I read the rest of the verse. "...though I was blind, now I see." Oh, thank you, Jesus. I was blind, but praise God now I see! I was blind, helpless and hopeless in my sin, but now I KNOW that I am forgiven and redeemed. I KNOW!

We can know. We don't have to live defeated. We can have confidence in our God that what He says, He does. What He says is true. One thing I know.... I am His and He is mine.

Drink the water

On the last day, that great day of the feast, 

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, 

let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, 

as the Scripture has said, out of his heart 

will flow rivers of living water." (John 7: 37-38)

Where are the rivers of living water flowing out of our lives ? If we aren't seeing it, it is because God isn't being glorified in our lives!

Are our lives reflecting this in a way that others can see?

Are we enslaved to the things of this world rather than the things of  God?

Are we drinking of the wrong wells? Are we filling people's heads with knowledge of a God they don't know? 

What is flowing out of our lives?

1. Materialism

2. Immorality

3. Pornography

4. Pride

5. Jealousy

6. Selfishness

Look what happened to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2. They left their first love. They were so busy doing the Lord's work that they didn't have time for the Lord Himself. They had forgotten the important things and forsaken them for their own selfish desires. They had become a compromised people.

Are we as guilty? Is Christ our first love? Do people know this about us?

If we profess Him to be our Lord and Savior, if we profess Him to be our first love, we must behave as if this is true! We must spend time with Him. Our busiest time should be time spent with God. We need to be truly thirsting for Christ. We need to be beggars, searching for life giving sustenance. Poor in spirit. Needy. Desperate for Him.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 5:3)

Our minds, hearts and wills must come to a place of being poor in spirit. A place of humility. A place of sacrifice. A place where our sin grieves us deeply. Where our sin and wickedness produces a river of tears. 

Does it drive us to pray?

Are we drinking from His well?

We have stifled and quenched the power of the Lord in our lives. We have stopped up the flow of living water into our spirits. 

It's time to begin hungering desperately for Christ. It's time to begin thirsting after Him and after righteousness. It's time to put Him first. When we begin to do this then we open up the way for Him to begin filling us with rivers of living water.  Once we begin to be filled, our lives will begin to glorify Him and we will reflect Him to those around us. So, drink deeply of His well and begin a renewed and restored relationship with our Savior.

get some satisfaction

Are we ever satisfied? Or is there always just one more thing to buy, one more piece to eat, one more place to go, or one more thing to entertain us? Truly, our flesh is almost incapable of permanent satisfaction.  Our  flesh just longs for more. Our flesh is continually seeking to experience something new. Something different. Something better. And therein lies the problem. Our flesh. We allow it rule our hearts and guide our journey and it takes us down the wrong path every time.

Why can't we derive such sweet satisfaction in godly things? Why isn't reading the precious Word of God entertainment enough for us? Why isn't living a simple life enough? Our homes are overflowing with stuff. Our minds are over stimulated with too much information. Our spirits are being filled with material lust and worldly aspirations and we still aren't satisfied. We have too many choices. Too many options. We simply have too much. And this overload is to the detriment of our souls.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,

 where moth and rust destroy and where

 thieves break in and steal." (Matthew 6:19)

"No one can serve two masters..."'

(Matthew 6:24)

Our God knew that we have this problem. He knew that we would struggle with fulfilling the lust of our flesh as opposed to allowing the spirit of God rule our hearts. He gave us many verses in His Word to help us see this and to help us overcome this. Yet we still spar daily with ourselves and we don't have a very good win record.

If we desire to experience satisfaction in our lives, we must start seeking those things that will satisfy! It won't come in the accumulation of things. It won't come in the quest for more. It will only come when we begin to desperately seek relationship with Christ. It will only come when we nourish our intimate relationship with our LORD. When we begin seeking Him and allowing Him to control our wants as well as our needs, we will have our eyes opened to the true satisfaction life has to offer. A life that glorifies God. A life that edifies Christ. A life that looks like Jesus.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 

and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33)

Faith or feelings ?

“For without FAITH it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6)

We can’t allow our feelings and emotions to dictate our faith. Our faith has nothing to do with feelings. Our faith has nothing to do with our emotions. Our faith is based solely on the Word of God and who He is.

We absolutely can't please God without faith . The Word says it is impossible!

Faith takes prayer. Faith takes patience. Faith takes endurance. We must never give up but we must stand fast and believe!

We are willing to try everything else first, but not faith. You see, our faith begins with perception. It is truth. It is not seeing but just believing. It's about imprinting our minds with the truth of God’s Word and the truth of who He is. That knowledge of His power and authority is what  strengthens our faith in God. Our faith is only as strong as the object of our faith. If our faith is in anything other than our Creator, we will be let down and disappointed.  When the object of our faith is God, we can't fail. It's all about knowing who He is and what He can do, and then believing.

Our faith will follow our trust. What we trust is what we place our faith in. Do we need other things to prop up our faith or do we cling to the truth and allow that faith in God to stand alone? 

So, is it our feelings and our emotions? If that is the case, they will always let us down. They will always fail us. They will always disappoint us. Feelings falter  and emotions change from day to day. So, when we place our trust in those things that are temporal and not permanent, we get temporary satisfaction.

But listen to God’s Word:

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly  abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” ( Ephesians 3:20)

We can't do anything worthwhile on our own. But through our faith in God, we can please Him. It is through His Power in us that this is possible. It is because He is constant and unchanging that we can place our trust and our faith in Him. He can do more than we could ever imagine in our lives if we would completely give Him the control that is already His.

By faith, Abraham walked in obedience. Immediate obedience. By faith, Enoch walked with God. By faith, Abel had a heart for God and offered the acceptable sacrifice. By faith, Sarah trusted in the promises of her God!

So, what about us? Has our faith set us apart? Has our faith made us different?

Is our faith causing us to be prayed up? Is our faith causing us to be surrendered?  Surrendered totally and willingly and lovingly with no questions asked?

Do you know what pleases God? Our submissive and immediate obedience to Him. Obedience when we can't see the end results. Obedience when our flesh is screaming ‘no’. Obedience when it seems impossible.   Obedience when it seems too hard. Faith requires response. It must be put into practice. And that is only accomplished through a deep faith in our God. Faith grabs hold of the truth in God’s Word and is energized by it and inspired by its Holy fire!

Faith determines our relationship with God. The whole weight of our faith rests in His Word. It is us looking to God and trusting in His promises. If we want to know what those promises are than we must be studying His Word. If we want that kind of relationship with our LORD, we must be cultivating our faith by looking deep into the scriptures. 

Believing God. Resting in Him. Trusting His Word.

True bible faith is not just submissive obedience, but it is also confident obedience. It is knowing that in spite of the situation or the circumstances or the consequences, we have placed our trust in the perfect source. We can know that God will never let us down. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. He will always lead us down the perfect path that He has ordained for us.

“…For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear…” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

When we develop our faith in Him, several things will begin to take place in our lives. We will begin studying His Word more. We will begin to have a strong desire to read the bible and hear from Him. We will begin seeking Him in all that we do. We will start to listen for His Voice and we will hear.

God speaks – we hear and  we trust and believe.  So, then we act.

Our faith is our total response to what God has revealed to us.

When our total response is simply obedience, we begin to set our minds solely on Him.

“Set your mind on things above not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2)

* Christ has to be first and foremost in our lives.

* When He is first, we will seek those things that are above and not just here on earth. 

* We come to Jesus for Jesus, not for a rescue out of a situation or from a situation.. But we         come just for Him.

Do we only want God when we are desperate? When we need something? When we have reached the end of ourselves and our solutions?

Do we want a healing or do we want a Healer??

Do we want merely salvation or do we truly want a Savior??

We can't have heaven without a sacrifice. Jesus isn't merely a rescuer. He is a Redeemer and a Restorer. He doesn't just save us from a situation but He will walk beside us through them.

Truly, when our faith is based on Him, it removes our eyes off of our own weaknesses and places our focus on Christ. Our life is then hid in Christ with God. We begin to understand what it means to be crucified with Christ and live no longer. We begin to die to self.  

We are transformed into a people of faith. Faith in Him and Him only. When this happens, our lives will show it and we will be the “different people” that God has called us to be. We no longer base our trust in God on our feelings or our situations. Instead, our faith is based on the power of God. For His honor and His glory and His praise. Forever.

Real faith says:

I will…. I do… I accept it and I receive it!

Just like us....

As I read about the children of Israel and their continued acts of disobedience, lack of respect for God, idolatry, wickedness, stubbornness and blatant sin, it causes me to be shocked and almost horrified at their actions.

But then, the LORD taps me on the shoulder and whispers to my heart, "How are you any different?"

Indeed....how am I different? How are any of us different? We may not have taken such extreme actions and our sin may not have been so continual and blatant, but we are still just as guilty as the Israelites.

Do we neglect His Word? Do we study the bible with indifference? Do we neglect His teaching? Do we refuse to hear or even to listen? Don't we act just like they did? We leave behind the commandments of the LORD and erect false gods for ourselves. We do evil. We provoke our God to anger.

Just like Israel, we've lost our land and disobeyed its law. We've angered the LORD and it seems we have not learned our lesson. We have compromised ourselves to the world.

What does compromise do? It continues to grow out of control and fester. Then evil begins to triumph over a weakened people. 

"A little leaven, leavens the whole lump of dough." (1Corinthians 5:6)

A little sin corrupts the body just the same as a lot of sin. Any sin in our lives is totally unacceptable. We have allowed the sin of the world to infiltrate our churches, our fellowship, our lives and our minds. It quietly grows and pollutes all areas of our life until it eventually takes over.

We have turned our churches into social clubs instead of a place to worship. We invent programs to draw the world in instead of just teaching the Word and pushing the world out! We have compromised our belief system.

We need to be about engaging in true praise and worship. We've turned our focus to entertainment instead of pure, unadulterated worship of the One True and Living God. Just like the children of Israel we have disregarded the God of redemption and conformed ourselves to be a godless nation.

We practice wickedness in secret. We practice idolatry daily in the name of materialism and entertainment. We repeatedly neglect God's warnings. We have forsaken our LORD and Savior.

It's time.... It's time for us to turn our eyes back to God. It's time for us to seek His face. Seek to follow His ways. Seek to be obedient. It's time to confess, repent and begin a new walk, looking like Christ. 

When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, 

"Your face, LORD, I will seek. (Psalm 27:8)

oh, how I love Jesus....

Oh, how I love Jesus!

 

Master.... Savior... LORD

 

He reaches down with His mighty arms and rescues me when I feel hopeless.

 

He reaches out with His loving arms and embraces me when I am weary.

He stretches forth His nail scarred hands and issues healing when I am in need.

 

He is Powerful.

Mighty.

Strong.

 

He sees broken hearts. He is aware of shattered spirits.

He tenderly touches the tears upon my face and wipes away the evidence of grief.

 

My God, the God who can walk on water;

 raise the dead;

 give blinded eyes their sight;

make the lame to walk and the deaf to hear.

 

He takes what is wrong and makes it right.

 

He cares about our hurting souls. He listens to our wounded cries. He hears the despairing utterances of our lips.

 

He knows.....

He knows the problem. He knows the pain and agony. He knows the outcome, because....

 

He is....

He is the first and the last.

He is the Almighty.

He is all Sovereignty and all Authority.

 

Master of the Sea.

Keeper of the Stars.

Creator of all things.

 

He is Maker. Redeemer. Righteousness. Ruler of all.

 

He is seed to the sower. Bread to the eater. God of the whole earth.

 

He knows the way that we take. He is our souls delight!

 

When we cry out in our frailty and deep need,

He extends sweet mercy upon us and responds.

 

Our unknown is known by Him. Our blindness of spirit becomes His surety as we follow Him.

 

He is HOPE.

He is LIGHT.

He is GRACE.

He is TRUTH.

He is FORGIVENESS.

 

The God who formed the earth and all that is in it,

 

loves us,

tends to us,

comforts us,

heals us,

saves us...

 

He is the great I AM. The beginning and the end.

 

He is faithful. He is true. He is peace. He is Holy.

 

The mere knowledge of who He is becomes our refuge.

 

We can trust without fear because He is our strength and our song and our salvation.

 

He leads us and guides us and never forsakes us.

 

He is the WORD. Perfect and Holy and Righteous.

 

Reaching down to lift me up. Reaching down to fill my heart.

 

Loving.

Caring.

 

He is my all.

 

Oh, How I love Jesus.

Master... Savior.... LORD....



send me...

"She has done what she could..."

(Mark 14:8a)

 

~~~~~~

 

 

After an exhausting few days of ministering in Honduras, my body screams for some rest. My mind wonders how in the world I thought I could live a missionaries life at the age of 52. My flesh allows doubts to surface and cloud my vision. The heat is extreme and the sun is intense. For a brief flash of time, I falter in my call. And then....

 

God taps me on the shoulder and whispers so sweetly in my ear. Remember, Beth. Remember the people you have touched. Remember the children's faces. Remember the joy. Remember what I called you and Jimbo to do.

 

My focus begins to clear and I begin to feel the stirrings of that initial call once more. God begins to send precious reminders of why we are doing what we are doing. He sends me brief glimpses into the depth and reach of what He has commissioned us to do in His Name.

 

He sends a little girl named Jamie. We were at the Caribbean coast after having a baptismal service this morning. Grabbing some refuge from the heat and sun, we ducked into a shaded café. As we sat and enjoyed some cold bottled water, a little girl carrying a big basket approached our table. She was selling fresh coconut rolls and cookies. We talked with her and found out that she was 8 years old. Every day, either after school, or all day on the weekends, Jamie walks up and down the beach selling bread and cookies for her mother. On the weekends, she starts at 8:30 am and sells until 8:00 pm.

 

Our hearts just broke for her. We were all so burdened that a precious little girl, 8 years of age, spends 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday, walking among scores of people in the hot sun to help her family make a living. We asked her how much for the whole basket of goodies and she quickly added up the total which came to 300 Lempira or about $13.50. We all pooled together the Lempira that we had and bought all of her bread and cookies. We then gave it all back to her. She was surprised but grateful. Our friend Saul had a chance to share Jesus with her for just a brief moment. It doesn't always require a lengthy ordeal. Sometimes it's just a small seed to be planted. But little Jamie taught us plenty this morning. My mind is still filled with the image of her sweet face. My heart forever touched by her life. As little Jamie walked off, God nudged my heart, "Do you see? Do you remember?"

 

It wasn't very long after that, we noticed a commotion on the beach. We could see scores of people running out of the water and the atmosphere was one of panic. I then saw someone running into the water with a large inner-tube. I looked at Jimbo and said, "What if someone is drowning out there? We need to pray." I quickly said a brief prayer, asking God to help whoever was trying to save that persons life." After a few minutes, things begin to calm down. One of the guys on our team went down to see if he could find out what happened. In just a short while, he came back and told us. His sister is a nurse and she is the head of the medical team on this mission trip. She saw them running to the beach with a young lady just hanging limp and unresponsive. She ran to them and told them she could help. When she reached the teenage girl, she had no pulse and wasn't breathing. She began doing CPR and got her pulse back. She continued doing mouth-to-mouth and finally the girl began to breathe. Monica had saved that girls life. As I was praying for the person that would save her, I had no idea I was praying for a member of our team. Once again, God nudged my heart.

 

Tonight, I am tired but refreshed. I am energized by the work of the Holy Spirit. I am ready for what tomorrow will bring. I look forward to helping countless people in the medical clinic with their physical problems and their spiritual problems. I look forward to leading bible school tomorrow afternoon and touching the lives of hundreds of precious children. I anticipate a glorious worship service tomorrow night.

 

But most of all, I am ready for the influx of blessings that these precious souls bestow upon me each time I encounter them. I look forward to the impact that they have on my life and the lessons that God teaches me through them.

 

Yes, Lord, I remember. Here I am.... please, keep sending me.

Preparing and serving

1 Samuel 7:3-4,8

As we look at this passage of scripture, we see Samuel addressing the Israelites. After a period of approximately 20 years with no Word from God, the children of Israel were finally repenting. Finally putting away their idols. Finally turning from a life of idolatry back to life in the LORD. The history of Israel is about to bend in a new direction as they demand a king to rule over them.

Samuel told the people of Israel that if they truly wanted to return to the LORD with all of their hearts, they had to put away their foreign gods. He also gave them 2 pieces of advice.

1. Prepare your hearts for the LORD
2. Serve the LORD only

The scriptures tell us that the children of Israel did what Samuel advised them to do. They drew water and poured it out before the LORD, signifying self-denial and humility. It was an act of pouring their hearts out to God. They also fasted and prayed as they acknowledged their sin before God.

Yet, when the Philistines rose up against them, their first response was fear. They asked Samuel to cry out to God for them. They asked Samuel to petition the LORD for their safety.

Listen to verse 8:

“Cease not to cry unto the LORD our God for us, that He will save us from the Philistines.”

The children of Israel knew that He was their God. They referred to Him as “the  LORD our God”. They just didn't feel confident that He would hear their cries. They wanted Samuel to petition God for them. Why was that the case? It was because there  was no relationship between them and the Lord. They didn't have close, personal intimacy with their God.

Do we truly desire intimacy with God? If we do, we must know that it won't happen accidentally. It won't happen just by chance. If we desire intimacy, we must pursue it, we must purpose our hearts for it. When we prepare our hearts and diligently seek it, we will find it.

If we honestly desire a relationship with Christ, we must search for Him. We must do the things that are necessary to find Him. Read the Word. Study the Word. Pray without ceasing. Be thankful. Praise Him in all things. It's about cultivating a godly lifestyle that brings glory, and honor to our God and King!

If we do those things, then when we fall into bondage or face a crisis or trial, we can be confident of our intimate relationship with Christ. We can cry out to Him our own selves and know that He hears our voices and that he cares about our problems!

When the enemy rises up against us, we can be sure that “greater is He that is in us, than He that is in the world” (1 John 4:4)

We can be assured that His power and His authority reign in us because of our relationship with Him. We can begin to pray with confidence because of the work of Christ in us.

Let's look at this verse:

“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that please Him” ( 1 John 3:22)

We must look at the whole verse to get the entire context of it. If we only look at the first part, it seems like we get whatever we ask of God. And we know that this simply is not true. It wouldn't be healthy for us to get our every desire in life. While there is no doubt that our God loves us and wants us to have good things, it wouldn't be the best thing for us to get everything we ask for.

The word ‘because’ in this verse is very important. It is there to show us that we have a responsibility that comes with being the recipient of God’s love and goodness. We can receive from God because we keep His commandments. He is instructing us here to do what His Word tells us and we certainly can't keep His Word if we don't know His Word!

We must not only read and study the Word daily, but we must learn to be good listeners when the Word is being taught! We must allow His Word to penetrate deeply into the marrow of our bones. It needs to abide deep within us. We must allow it change us. Transform us. We must hear it and do something with it. It must be applied to our lives if it is going to be of any use to us.

Do we desire for God to hear our prayers? Do we desire for our prayers to be answered? If we do, we must be obedient. If we want to be obedient, we must love God.

“If you love Me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15)

Those are the words of Jesus. He is telling us that if we truly love Him, we will keep His Word and do what He says.

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love” (John 15:10)

Do we want to be like Jesus? Do we want to be Christlike in our walk and our talk? We must abide in His love. We must keep His Word.

The last part of the verse in 1 John 3:22 says, “and do those things that are pleasing in His sight”

Such powerful words. Words of instruction. Words of command. Words of great importance.
If we are desperate for intimacy with God, we must do those things that please Him. Not things that only please ourselves. There is no sacrifice in that. But it is about the things that bring joy and glory to God.

1. Reading His Word
2. Abiding in His Word
3. Abiding in His Love
4. Loving others more than ourselves
5. Communing with Him in prayer
6. Being selfless
7. Preparing our hearts
8. Seeking His will
9. Serving Him

When our lives please God, He finds ways to delight in us. When we begin to delight in God, the desires of His heart quickly become the desires of our hearts. When we are truly seeking God’s face, when we are truly seeking a close relationship with Christ, when we are desperate for intimacy in His Word and in His will, we open the door for Him to do a mighty work in our hearts and in our lives.

We begin to fade in the background as we begin to see Him in the reflection of our mirror. Our wants and desires no longer seem important. Our focus turns to seeking and developing the most intimate relationship with our Savior possible.

Draw near to Him. Seek His face. Deny ourself. Delight in Him. Begin to see Him move and work in ways we never thought possible.

God working in Nicaragua

It's our third morning to wake up in Nicaragua and we have 23 more to go. It's hot here and the sun is intense but we are very thankful for a nice breeze during the daytime! We have already seen the Lord work in ways that only God our Creator can do!

We are doing several different things while we are here. Our first few days have been spent in the home of our interpreter that we met in December.  Sigard and his wife are family now and have blessed us immeasureably. We came here with the funds to bless a needy church. A church that needed a roof finished, a wall built and concrete for the floor. We spent 5 hours yesterday purchasing the materials and working out details with the Pastor and  one of his workers. It was such a joyful time as we see the humility of Pastor Francisco and how truly grateful he is for what we can do. Truth is that even with the improvements we are helping them make, the church looks nothing like we would expect in America. We wouldn't want to worship in a building like it and that is a pitiful fact. What we can't express to you in written words is how precious the worship is in the church. The Spirit of the Lord is so present there! We enter in with joy and gladness and are filled to overflowing in Him. The sad truth is that we are spoiled. Help us, Lord.

We met another Pastor on Friday. Pastor Nelson has a church here in Vera Cruz and we stopped in to visit him. He shared the churches need with us as well as his vision for the church. The Lord immediately impressed upon Jimbo and I that we could help. Or rather that we were going to help. The Lord had blessed us with a monetary gift that we needed for our own finances, but instead we were able to use this to purchase bars for the church windows, a door and enough concrete, sand and gravel to cover the dirt floor.  It truly blessed our hearts to see the love and gratitude the Pastor had when we told him what the Lord wanted to do. We are excited to see God work. We were able to speak and preach last night at their church service and they had a full house. Their people had such a reverance for church and prayer and worship. We were blessed abundantly! We will be be doing bible school for the kids when we come back this fall.

We will be at Villa Holland tonight and then tomorrow we head out for the remote area of Bluefields. Keep us in your prayers and pray that God continue to work through us and in us!

where are you going?

As I study the scriptures, God sometimes uses very familiar stories to illustrate new TRUTH to my heart. He can take something that I have known for many years and completely revolutionize my understanding of it to open my eyes and my heart to something new.

Looking back in the Old Testament this week, I have read and reread the story of Hagar in Genesis chapter 16. We all know that her story is in two parts and the second time she finds herself alone in the wilderness, we see a beautiful illustration of the grace of God. She has an encounter with the God who sees.

As I was reading the first part of Hagar's story, my eyes kept going to verse 8 where the Angel of the LORD said this to her, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from and where are you going?"

I don't know why I became fixated on those words, but they just kept going over and over in my head. It was like the Spirit of the Lord was asking me that same question. 'Beth, where have you come from and where are you going?"

Hagar knew where she had come from, but she certainly didn't know where she was going. She was leaving one place but really had no where to run to. She had no destination in mind. She was just going.

I fear that a lot of us are in that same place. We are just going. We don't really have a destination in mind. We don't really have a place to go. We are simply leaving something behind and just going.

No place that we have come from can prevent us from the journey of where we are going. If we have left a place of uncertainty and a place of unrest, we can be assured that there is a better place ahead of us. A place where Christ is waiting with open arms to welcome us back into fellowship. If we have left a place of sin and shame, we can head to the loving arms of Jesus who wants to forgive and redeem and restore.  There is a better place!

We have all come from somewhere and God certainly knows that place. There is no place too bad. No place too far away. No place that is unseen by our heavenly Father. 

One reason I think so many of us are wandering in the wilderness is because we have let the world come in and snatch away our time and attention. There are so many things vying for our time and so many things that occupy our minds when we should be spending time in the Word of God letting Him fill us up with holiness and righteousness!

We need to be filling our selves up with the Bread of Life. We need to be devouring His Word and allowing it to penetrate deeply so it can change us. His Word will transform us. His Word will give us a destination. 

I came across something online this week that just blew my mind. It was an article about a young Jewish woman with a crazy Jewish mother and she has started a website where she posts all of the texts that her mother sends her every day. The texts have absolutely nothing to do with Christ. They aren't encouraging or uplifting. They have no scripture in them and they don't glorify God in any way. Yet, this young woman has over 300,000 people following this account.  I don't know about you, but that saddens me greatly. If she were posting scripture, I doubt if she would have 300 followers. I don't have that many followers on this blog and I try to glorify God in each post. 

Do you see the problem? We don't know where we are going. We are wandering in the wilderness and we have lost our focus and lost our sense of priority. We must get God back into our lives. We must allow Him to be our guide and we must purpose to follow Him and obey Him and do those things that glorify Him. We need to look up! This life is short and we are wasting our time on things that are not kingdom minded. We are wasting our time being voyeurs into the lives of other people instead of being investors into those same peoples lives to win them for Christ!

It's time to go to a new place of Grace. It's time to leave the past behind and look to a future that is focused on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

"Restore us, O God;

Cause Your face to shine

and we shall be saved"

(Psalm 80:3)

Available

My husband and I have had a heart for missions for a very long time. Jimbo went on his first foreign mission trip almost 20 years ago when he was blessed to be able to spend a month in the Philippines serving the Lord.  I was still raising 3 young girls at the time, so I was quite content to stay home and be the prayer warrior while he was ministering overseas. He has since been on trips to Romania, India, Africa (3 times), Nicaragua and Costa Rica. 

In November of 2007, I was led by the Lord to go on my very first mission trip to Nicaragua. It was a huge thing for me due to my intense fear of flying (or crashing). I knew that the Lord had stirred my heart with a desire to be part of this trip, so I put all that aside and was simply obedient. That trip began a process of longing in my soul for more. More of Him, more of the work of the Holy Spirit and more missions. Since that first trip in 2007, I have been back to Nicaragua 4 more times as well as Honduras and Africa. God has done a tremendous work in my life as He enabled and empowered me to overcome some very large obstacles along the way. He did things that only He could do.

So, here we are in 2015 with a new story. A new journey. One that really began almost 20 years ago, but one that started to really come to fruition in August while my husband and I were in Africa. God began speaking to his heart about full-time missions. A place where his heart had been for awhile but a place that didn't seem feasible or possible. As the Lord continued to speak to him, He also began tugging at my heart. A tug that I tried to ignore and tried to avoid. But that tug grew stronger and it wasn't long before I knew that my heart was joining my husbands heart for a change in our lives. An enormous change.

When the Lord does something, He does it in a mighty way. Within weeks after we returned home, we both knew that God was calling us into full-time ministry and evangelism. We weren't sure exactly what that looked like, but we knew that it was going to be a dramatic change for us. It was going to be a giant step in faith as we began intently listening and heard His voice and His instruction for our lives. 

My husband had been a pastor for 20 years and we had been at Goodwill Baptist Church for almost 8 years. All of the sudden, God was telling my husband that it was time to resign. It was time to leave the church and step into our new calling. I was like, 'Wait a minute, Lord. Surely you don't mean right now. Surely you mean later on. Down the road. After we get things all figured out and get our finances together!". 

No, that is not what God meant at all. He was leading us to resign our pastorate which promptly would leave us without a paycheck or a place to live. We lived in the parsonage that the church provided and it was a very nice and very large home that we had grown to love. Yet, that's exactly what God was asking us to do. Leave our church, leave our home, and trust Him.

So, here we are almost 3 months later and we are surviving.  We stepped out in faith and God has not been anything but kind to us. He has loved us and He has provided for us and He has walked step-by-step beside us on this journey into the unknown. We have been on a short trip to Nicaragua which opened up several new doors for us in ministry and we are preparing to head back there in about 3 weeks and will stay for a month.  He is showing us each day that He will take care of our needs. He is showing us each day that it isn't about us at all, but that it is all about Him.

When we open our hearts to fully trust, God will open His arms and fully protect and provide. I don't know why we don't comprehend that He is the provider and He is the giver of all things. So, why do we worry? It's our human nature to doubt. It's our human nature to feel a lack of control. Over and over our God has provided for us in ways that only He can orchestrate. He works out the details in ways that leave us with our mouths hanging open. What a mighty God we serve! What an amazing God we get to worship! What an honor and a privilege it is to be His child. 

I don't know what God has in store for us next. But, I do know this. He is already working out the details and all we have to do is stay deep in His Word, listen for His Voice and respond in loving and eager obedience. All we have to do is be available. The rest is simply up to my God. 

"And Jesus, looking upon them saith, with men it is 

impossible but not with God; for with God

 all things are possible" (Mark 10:27)

Glory, Hallelujah. 

Speak, LORD!

I love reading passages in the bible that are very familiar to me only to have God open up new understanding and new truth. I think, as Christians, that can be a dangerous place for us as we allow ourselves to feel like we have 'read that already' or that we 'know that story well' and therefore, we don't allow the Holy Spirit to impart new wisdom or new revelation to our hearts. We don't allow the scriptures to speak to us.

As I opened the Word to 1 Samuel yesterday, I felt myself drawn in to the scriptures and I read it like I had never encountered it before. I wanted God to show me something new. I have always loved the story of Hannah and her longing for a child and her persistence with the Lord. She yearned for a child so much that she was willing to give him to the Lord for His service. Not only was she willing, but she was obedient. As she conceived and gave birth, she didn't forget her promise to God. She was a woman of her word. She kept the vow that she made with her God. 

"There is none holy as the LORD; for there is none beside Thee; neither is there any rock like our God." (1 Samuel 2:2)

Hannah's words are beautiful and they come straight from her heart and into the ears of a Holy God. A God that she trusted and a God that she loved. Hannah delivered her son to Eli, the priest, just as she had promised God and the scripture tells us that Samuel grew, and was in favor both with the LORD and with men and that he ministered unto the LORD. 

We see in chapter 3 that Samuel was ministering in the temple under the guidance of Eli at a time when God wasn't speaking to His people. The spiritual leaders were corrupt and not obeying the law. The nation of Israel was experiencing the silence of God in their lives that was akin to judgement.  But things were about to change. God would choose to speak His sweet and Holy Word to a young lad who had ears to hear and a heart to obey.

Samuel was about 12 years old at the time the LORD called his name. He was asleep in the temple and the lamp of God was the only source of light in the Holy place. The light that was a symbol of God's truth. It may have been burning dimly, but it was still burning. What a beautiful picture of the mercy of God in our lives. His light may be burning dimly, but there is still light and there is still the ability for that light to flourish and grow brighter!

The LORD spoke to Samuel 3 times and Samuel thought it was Eli calling. He went to Eli each time saying, "Here am I" and Eli told young Samuel that he didn't call him and to go lie down again.  The third time Samuel approached Eli, the scriptures tell us that Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. 

We see in verse 7 of chapter 3, that Samuel didn't know the LORD and that the Word had not been revealed to him. I found that interesting as I just assumed that Samuel would have been close to God as he had been ministering in the temple for around 9 years. Eli tells Samuel to lie down and if the LORD called to him again, he should respond "Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth"

God, in his mercy and grace, called out to Samuel a fourth time. In fact, the Word tells us that the LORD came and stood and called Samuel's name. This time Samuel responded,  "Speak; for thy servant heareth". His response left out the title of God as he lacked a true knowledge of God and was careful not to accept it as the voice of JEHOVAH God because he just wasn't sure. 

Samuel, in his obedience, heard a Word from the LORD. He had no idea about the message to Eli that had been delivered through an unknown prophet, but the Word that God spoke to this young boy, who had ears to hear, confirmed it. God found an obedient child among a land of disobedient adults and used that child to deliver a powerful message to Eli and the nation of Israel. 

Samuel demonstrated a humble heart. He heard and received the message of God, yet in the morning, he still rose up and tended to his tasks. Only when Eli inquired of him did Samuel share the LORD's message. We see that Samuel grew and the LORD was with him. He had influenced an entire nation and was recognized as a prophet of God who declared the Word and the will of God. It marked a new beginning for the nation of Israel. New challenges, new blessings and new victories. 

Do we desire new beginnings? New victories? If we do, it's time to open our ears and be attentive to what God has to say. We have to be listening with our hearts wide open to receive. We must be purposed deep within our hearts to walk in obedience and surrender our all to Him. We must listen with the intention of receiving. We must listen with the intention of obeying.

If we remain in the Word and we remain humble before Him, we prepare our hearts to hear and respond to the voice of God. Get still before Him and allow Him to do a new work within. When we bow our hearts before Him in this manner, in true desire and true surrender, we will hear.

"Speak, LORD, for thy servant heareth."