One of the things that we are continually learning is to anticipate God doing something incredible! It is not to say that we deserve for Him to do anything. Our existence is enough! His salvation is MORE than enough! But, God is a good and gracious Father! As Jesus said in Matthew 7, (7)"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (9) Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? (10) Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? (11) If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"
Our Father is a good and gracious God! As it is promised in Romans 8, it is promised that all that happens in our life will be for our good. It is important to know though that what is for our good is not always what we consider to be good. It's like a parent and child relationship. The parent will know what the child needs whether the child likes it or not. Although a child really likes chocolate and thinks that chocolate is great, the parent knows that too much chocolate is bad for the health of that child. The parent will regulate the chocolate (probably against the child's wish) so that the good of the child is protected. It doesn't speak badly about the parent, on the contrary. The parent is doing this because he/she loves that child. Jesus is saying that even as imperfect, sinful people know how to love our children and want what is best for our own children, how much more does our perfect, holy Father in heaven knows how to take care of us! God is gracious! As we are learning, His ways are not our ways. All things are not just for our good, but ultimately, for His glory! Our prayer is that God works only in ways that He will get the glory! It is so easy sometimes to think that we have something to do with our statis in life (e.g., our jobs, our financial resources, our material posessions, etc.). How quickly we can forget that our existence is only because of God, our next breath is only because of God, our physical and mental abilities are only because of God?! Knowing that we exist only because of God, we can anticipate from God, His best for our good! God is a loving, gracious, benevolent, and tender Father! (But He does discipline, too!) I'll talk about that another time. :-)
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Last night, we spoke at a local Baptist church down here in Sebring, FL. We were given the entire service to share about the ministry and what God is doing in and through our family. It was a great time! My girls and my wife sang a hymn accapella, then Julie and I shared our presentation, then I had my oldest daughter share what the ministry means to her, and then Julie closed out with another song.
I believe that the highlight of the night was my oldest daughter, Rebekah. For me, it was awesome to see God using her. She shared briefly but in her own words what God was doing in her life and what she was looking forward to. We pray that God did use her to impact the people that we shared with. She is going to get another opportunity this coming Sunday evening. We are very excited to see what the Lord has in store for our family in the days to come! Please continue to keep us in your prayers: for our appointments, our speaking engagements, as well as our travels around town and as we head back to Charlotte soon. Today, we begin our time down here in Florida. We arrived safely with one of the best days of travel to FL that we have ever had (no construction traffic, no traffic jams, etc). We are here now to speak at 3 churches over the next couple of Sundays. We are pleading with God to supply new partners (both prayer and financial)! We are at 31% now. I am pleading with God to increase our support to at least 50% by the end of February. Please pray with us!
God has been at work! We have seen Him supply our needs beyond our expectations and needs! He is capable of having us above 100% by the end of February if He has so willed! Once we are done down here, then we head back to NC for a couple of weeks. Then come February, we head to TN for the first half of the month and then we'll return back to GA for a weekend (or more). To some degree, it is like the children of Israel following the Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night. The emphasis is on the following. We are going simply where God is opening the doors and giving us opportunities. Praise the Lord for His grace and provision! Amen. |
AuthorDennis Runner- a witness, a follower, a student, and a lump of clay in the hands of my God and Savior. Archives
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