As White As White Can Be!

2 Corinthians 5:17 - In Christ the old man is gone.  The new man has replaced him!

Isaiah 1:18 - This is reasonable; if you obey my law your sins, which are as red as scarlet will be washed away.  You’ll be as white as snow!

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This is an enigma!  How can it be possible to have my sinful blood stains washed as white as snow?  Just by believing?  (This is foolishness to men.)  Blood stains don’t come out.  

Just ask Lady MacBeth.

But all I have to do is believe and trust?  

I’ve come to understand the gloriousness of living snow white in the presence of my King and Father.  He chooses not to see all that I do that would grieve Him.  In His eyes I’ve been to my mount of transfiguration and all He sees is the glorified me!

(all photos courtesy Google Image)

Nigeria Notes, Part 10, DON'T EAT THE SALAD!! Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Tuesday, November 5

Woke up around 5:00 am and vomited.  Climbed back into bed and stayed there.  Everyone else left at the appointed time but I slept until 2:30 in the afternoon.  The team got back around 3:30ish, I think.  Everyone came to check on me.  I was still in my PJs and my hair was oily.  Such a sight!  But so grateful for their concern.  Ucey brought me bananas and apples!  Such kindness!  I love him so!  I ate a banana right away and felt better.  I was a little “iffy” about the apples but Penny got a table knife from the dining room and I quartered one and ate the flesh but left the skin.  I only had 1/2 an apple but it was soooo good!

Off they all went to the evening program.  I stayed in bed.  I guess that little bit of salad I had on Sunday night at Mega Chicken is what did me in.  I remembered too late that I had been told to avoid salad as sickness often comes from uncooked veggies.

Everyone was back around 10:00, and, such a pleasant surprise, Silvia came to see if I was all right!  I was so touched!

I assured my prayer journey team mates that I would be ready to go, bright and early at 4:00 am to start the “big adventure”!

Ucey

Silvia

 Ucey and Silvia are brother and sister.

Breathe Deep and Trust

1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.



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Where will I live? 
Will I have a home to live in? 
Will I live? 
Or will I die? 
Can I die if I’ve already died in Christ?
Where will they live? Will they have enough? 
Will they be safe and secure? 
Will they survive?

These are big, scary questions; especially in today's global climate.  Things are very bad in some places, for those who believe.  Will it get so bad where I live?  Is it that bad where I live now ?

What does it mean, that “he cares for me”?  Does it mean I don’t have to worry about what I will and and drink?  Does it mean I will never feel threatened by outside forces?  Does it mean that I can lay my illness down at his feet and walk away healed?

It seems there are more questions, more “I don’t knows” than there are “I do knows.”

Loved ones die of devastating illness.  People lose their home and have to live in their cars, or in an unsafe shelter.  People are randomly attacked everyday. 

How does God care?  Do you believe that Jesus is alive?  Do you believe that he dwells inside of you?  Do you believe the Holy Spirit gives you the power to overcome in any situation?  What does it mean, to overcome?

Part of it is recognizing that your body is only the tent that houses you; just as your body and your spirit houses the Lord,  once you’ve invited him in.  Part of it is believing that no matter what happens to you, who you are is safe in God.  You are eternal.  When your tent collapses you go on.

If the Lord loved you enough to die for you, to make a way into the eternal presence of the Father, if he loves you enough to live inside you no matter what you’re going through, if he loves you enough to be always faithful and trustworthy, then we can trust him in each and every situation.

We can breathe deep and trust him.  If he’s never let you down in the past, you can be assured, he’ll never let you down in the future.

Nigeria Journal: Part 9, Monday evening, Nov. 4, 2013 Prayers, Preaching and Prophecy

The worship chorus at Rescue Mission Church

Silvia (such a pretty voice and beautiful spirit!)

  

Back at the church there was music, exhortation and Brett preached about the power of the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of prophecy.  He only went on for 30 minutes because IG said he had to have his flock on the road no later than 9:00 so as to avoid street bandits.  Sheesh!

Pastor Ignatius warming up the crowd

Brett wows the crowd

  

Penny in a sea of faces, all intent on the Word of God

After Brett was done preaching we (the team) lined up and Brother Moses poured oil into our palms.  The entire congregation filed past us, one by one, we laid hands o the them, anointing them and prophesying over each one. I’ve had this done to me, not with the oil though, but I’ve never prophesied  over individuals before.  I was tentative at first but every soon I became bolder and the Spirit quickened in me and I felt such love for each person I spoke over!  About 1/2 through the line I started asking each person their name.  I felt that was really important.  IT WAS AWESOME!  Men, women, women with babies in their arms and at the very end, all the children!  I’m sorry to say that we were not done by 9:00.  I think it was closer to 10:30, but we heard no reports of robbery or violence so all was good.

Susan, prophesying over the congregation

Brett anointing the worship team

We gave a lovely girl a ride home.  She came all the way to the hotel with us.  She’s one of the girls in the worship team.  Susie thinks her name is Sea Foam, and that she might Ucey’s (one of our drivers) sister.  (I learned later that her name is Silvia.)  We talked about traditional folk songs.  She has a beautiful and simple voice and sings in the little worship chorus.  I sang her the song that Cletus Okapu taught me so many years ago.  Then Penny, Susie and I sang “Be Thou My Vision”.  I told her that tomorrow night I’d ask her to write down the words to the song she sang and that we’d talk more about folk songs.

Called to Wakefulness

Romans 11: 7,8,32
What then?  What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did.  The others were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.” (Deut. 29:4) - For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

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God’s “binding” of all men over to disobedience is so that he may show mercy to them all.

God’s hardening is not damnation!  His hardening is his turning men over to their own evil desires.  Can a hardened heart still turn to God?  Yes!

2 Peter 3:9 says that he doesn’t desire that anyone would perish.  So, the hardening of hearts does not always lead to death.  The individual still has the choice to turn to God and gaining life.

This is who I know my Lord to be.  He may allow hearts to harden, but he still calls.  He still waits for each to come out of their slumber.  Of course, since God knows the end from the beginning, he knows who will awaken and who will slumber all the way to hell.  But he doesn’t send anyone.  That’s a journey they choose to take all on their own.

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Thank you, Lord, for saving me from slumber!

Thank you for calling me to wakefulness!

The Effervescence of Creation

Genesis 1:4

God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness.
Seven times the words, “God saw that it was good.” are repeated in Genesis, chapter 1.

The word, “saw”, in Hebrew means many things in many different situations.  In Strong’s Concordance, they are given in alphabetical order.  These are the ones most people think of when reading these verses;  He approved; He beheld; He considered. 

But there are others, that when I look at them fill me with a new assurance of understanding; like “make to enjoy”, to “have experience”, to “joyfully look”, “be near”, to “stare” and “visions”.

The story of creation is the story of how excited God gets when He makes something new.  He gazes at it, He enjoys it.  He looks joyfully at it.  He stares at it.”

He made this thing called Earth and he was delighted with what He’d done!  Any creative person know that feeling when something we’ve made comes out just as we “envisioned” it.  It’s that feeling join our core that is warm and delightful and when flows outward from our center to our skin it becomes effervescent and the roots of our hair tingle.  It’s like, if we don’t do something physical right away, that effervescence will burst out of us and just make a terrible mess!

I think that’s what our Father felt when He was creating the earth.  Each new thing He made filled Him with bubbling joy.  He stared at it, thinking how wonderful it was!

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Every time someone chooses to believe in the salvation offered through Christ, the Father makes them a new creation!  That same bubbling joy comes from His core and fills heaven with His delighted laughter!

 Isn’t it amazing to think of how much hilarious joy we bring God when we say yes to his perfect plan?

                For each and every one of us it’s His first day of creation all over again!

                                             It makes me tingle just thinking about it!

Nigeria Journal, part 8

Monday, November 4, 2013

   I got up this morning feeling good but it didn’t last long.  

   I wore my beige skirt with red and green, a beige T shirt and a red bandana.  By the time we got to the church I was feeling bloated and a little stomach crampy.  

  This was the first day of the Recovery Workshops.  Bill Macinski, Susie Rapp, and Rod all got up and talked about recovery from their own personal points of view.

Bill Muciunski

Susan Rapp

Rod Conover

   Somewhere in that time I began to have diarrhea.  I felt terrible that I clogged the toilet but I was too embarrassed to say anything.  I lay down for a while in the office and rested, hoping I would gain strength and that I would begin to feel better.

   After Rod was done speaking everyone there split up into 3 groups.  There were pastors from other churches as well as people who need to be in recovery.  I was in a group with Rod and Bob.  I couldn’t really pay attention because I really wasn’t feeling well and I kept falling asleep.  Finally I got up and moved to a chair in the middle of the room, away from all the groups and slept for about 15 minutes.  I felt a little better when I woke up and was going to rejoin my group but the Lord told me to stay put and pray for each group so I did.

Recovery small group during
the training workshop

Recovery small group during
the training workshop

  

  When the workshop was over each person was given a hot lunch of rice and plantains.  I didn’t have any but was so grateful to God for the Coke, in a glass bottle that was handed to me!  I tried to get the bottle cap off but it wouldn’t unscrew.  Paul,  the young man sitting next to me took it and pried the lid off with his teeth!  I said, “Oh!  Don’t do that!”  But it was too late.  Grinning, he handed me back the bottle and the cap, which was now crimped in the center with his lovely teeth marks.  I put it in my fanny pack and told him I would keep it to remember him by.   He asked me what I would give him to remember me by.  I gave him the bag of trail mix I had.  I wished it hadn’t been opened yet, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Just then the team was called to the “Upper Room” for a lunch all our own.  Thankfully I can’t remember what it was. I’m sure I didn’t eat much of it.  But the air conditioning was  wonderful!  And we were waited on by Lozie and Elizabeth, a lady from the church who is a nurse.

The "Upper Room"
that was built especially built for our comfort.
It was air conditioned!

After lunch we were driven back to the hotel through a heavy downpour.  We tried to stop for gas but too many people were crowded up under the gas pump canopy and they just wouldn’t budge!  By the time we got to the hotel the rain had stopped.  We were to find that most days have at least one downpour, this being the rainy season.  

The first of our daily downpours.

No gas for you!  No one will move out from under the canopy!

It was mid afternoon and the SUVs would be back around 5:00 to take us back for the evening meeting.  I was really looking forward to a rest, maybe even a nap in the couple of hours we had but Susie came knocking.  She was in a hotel room by herself.  She wanted to talk about what happened that morning.  She was so excited!  Then, right after Susie left there was a knock on the door and, to Penny’s surprise, in walked a lovely black man, Pastor Dan.  They had been at the same Bible school in Benin City 20 years ago!  So I sat up on the edge of the bed where he sat also and we talked while Penny carried on a lengthy phone call ti Deacon Osiobe.  Dan is incredibly nice and we talked about him and Penny all those years ago, and about his wife, who is from the Hausa tribe (mostly muslim) but she was raised a Christian.  By the time the visit was over it was time to get back in the cars and go back to the church.  I admit that  I was resentful, losing my resttime, feeling like I had to entertain Pastor Dan while Penny was on the phone, but I repented, figuring that God had his hand in it and would keep me safe, no matter how tired I became.

Keigi, a local pastor who runs an
inpatient rehab facility 

a couple of local pastors

Flores, a member of Rescue Mission Church, with Penny and
several participants.

Some people there for healing