 There are times when it seems that my heart cannot contain the joy God brings to me through His work. I just received an email from our “Timothy” in Myanmar that they want to translate God’s Plan for Little Disciples (GPLD) into the Burmese and Chin languages for children. This is a movement that is happening in many places where church leaders realize the need to train children early so they have a biblical foundation. We strongly support this and ask that you join us in prayer and financial support for printing these resources.
In another place close to us, an island in the Caribbean that is suffering from economic and political oppression, God is working in special ways. A dear couple who completed God’s Plan for His Disciples(GPHD in Spanish are spreading the news of what this resource is doing to strengthen the faith of many in these difficult times. As others hear and see the changes taking place, they want to go through this training as well. This increase in demand for our training and resources is a challenge because of the conditions in Cuba. Electricity is only available for about four hours each day. Printing just 100 books may take as much as a week. They do not complain knowing what the books will do in hearts. Please pray for a return trip to this island for training other churches. Consider Peter’s words: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6–7).
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 From day to day, I never know what God is going to ask me to do or what new connections He gives that become the key to an “effective door” of ministry.
Through a “Timothy” in South America, I received a request for our resources in Spanish for a pastor in Virginia (USA) who assembled a team for a mission’s trip to Nicaragua. He had worked through God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) and is well prepared to present this training material to sister churches in Nicaragua. With connections we already have in this country, we have brought them together so this mission trip can be effective. This situation reminds me of how Paul strengthened believers when he heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus. “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel” (Colossians 1:3–5). Please pray for this mission trip and the churches that will be visited.  One of our Timothy’s has been teaching Burmese groups through God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) in Burmese. You will notice from the pictures that Bibles and GPHD books cover the tables and these students are very serious about what they are learning. These is largely due to our brother’s commitment to disciple others with the New Testament principles for the Church. His own passion for the growth of others makes his work very effective.
In his own words he wants “to make disciples of believers. May the name of the Lord be glorified.” Please pray for this brother. He comes from a place that is difficult because of conflict and economic instability. This has not stopped him from pursuing God’s work. “So, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” (2 Corinthians 4:16–17). Due to the amount of administrative work and translation formatting, we are cutting back on the number of blogs to once a week. They will be published every Friday evening so they can be viewed over the weekend and the coming week.
Your prayers and support are needed even more than before. God is working in ways we have not seen before. Our dependance on Him is also felt more than ever. Thank you for prayerful understanding. “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20–21). As a continuation of our theme yesterday on the role of “mothers,” I want to narrow our focus to widows. There are several widows that we know who devote time each day to prayer and specifically pray for this ministry. There is no doubt they are heard by the Father who answers in unmistakable ways. One of these dear ladies sends a small gift every month with a note to encourage us. We treasure her faithfulness to the Lord and us!
This reminds me of how Paul speaks of these saints. “She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day” (1 Timothy 5:5). We sense her devotion to the Lord is very real and has been very special to us in many ways. You may be a widow or widower, or an older person who is home bound. Because of your circumstances, you are not able to serve in your local church or community. This should not stop you from praying or writing a short note to encourage someone. Remember how the Lord valued a “poor widow” in Luke? “Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on”” (Luke 21:1–4). The Lord’s esteem is far better than man’s! There are so many good things that could be said about mothers, but I am certain that some feature or quality would be overlooked. The reason for this is that God has equipped each mother with unique qualities that He designed for her specific place and time in history.
Paul never wrote a separate letter to Berea, thouugh they were very close to Thessalonica. His initial visit to both places were together in Acts 17:1-15. Berea would have known how Paul and Silas were mistreated in Thessalonica, and in that sense shared similar experiences. There is not a significant difference in what Paul and Luke said about them. Thessalonian believers received “the word in much affliction, with joy in the Holy Spirit.” Then “the word of the Lord sounded forth from [them] in Macedonia and Achaia” (1 Thessalonians 1:6, 8). “These Jews (Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). Their impact had enormous results in the region. So it is with the young students in the picture (below). We continue to pray for God to raise up the generations behind us who are “noble, with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily” to make their faith stand on the Word of God. This group has finished God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) and are going on to study God’s Plan for His Church (GPHC) Pray for them to be well established in the truth. While praying for them, pray that you and those around you grow in the same desire.  I must confess that as I listen to some prayers, many of them were telling God many details that He already knows. It is not my desire to judge how others pray; I am just concerned about my own prayers. Do they sound as if God needs information? Knowing God’s heart requires that I listen to Him first!
I do not need to give God more information He already knows, I need to know His heart better. This struggle in my heart brought me to a quote by E. Stanley Jones. “Prayer is surrender – surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat anchor from a boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.” I invite you to think about the question in my title for this blog. Though our nation has observed this day for 75 years, have we achieved what God wants for the Church and His people? It is right that we seek the Lord, but what does God want us to seek Him for? If we His people are seeking God for what increases His glory and the spread of the gospel, our prayers will be aligned with His heart.
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen as his heritage!” (Psalm 33:12; 144:15). This was Israel, not America. Dependence on God is always a right thing to do. My concern is that we are asking Him for what is on His heart. I have a plaque in my office that says, “God, burden my heart for what burdens Yours.” We may find that His agenda in prayer is different than ours. Are you ready to have your prayer agenda changed by Him as you get to know His hearts? “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God” (Psalm 146:5). Make the Lord your God the only source of help and only hope! “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8). How important is unity among the members of the Church universal and the local church? This subject was very much on the mind of Jesus right before His death. John gives us Jesus’ prayer at the end of His private meeting with them. Keep in mind the context: Judas had left and Jesus spent several hours giving the eleven disciples His final instructions regarding the coming of the Holy Spirit and His departure. Then Jesus prays!
Four times in John 17 Jesus prays that we “may be one even as we are one” (11, 21-23). If this request carried that much weight with Jesus, it should not be hard for us to realize that we must be serious about unity among ourselves in the Church! In asking the Father for this, it should speak to us that the Father is the ultimate source of unity. Therefore, going to Him and asking for His help in producing this in the Church must be our first thought. I am afraid the Church has spent far too much time and effort seeking to develop ‘man-made’ unity instead of going to the source of unity. Paul also gives us the source when he says, be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). True unity in the Church was never created by man. The Spirit is the Author! Go to Him! When was the last time you prayed for this kind of unity for your church? This is a good time to start. The first step is to humble yourself and realize that your idea of unity is most likely not His. Let Him reshape your heart and mind with His will, purpose, and plan. |
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