Saved By Grace Thoughts

Saved by Grace Thoughts 11.07.2009

2009-11-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

Hello!

My goodness.. it’s been since July since I last wrote one of these. I didn’t realize how much time had passed- and there’s so much to write about!

But in the midst of “so much to write about,” I have a confession. Part of the reason for not writing one of these is not just because of busy-ness, but an overall distraction from observing the world around me and taking time to reflect those things in Christ. Living in a city hasn’t caused this, but it certainly doesn’t help. The real cause is my own negligence in reading God’s word consistently… what a terrible spot to find myself in! Yet God’s grace comes and comes again.

Over the summer, God showed an aspect of himself to my husband and I that I don’t think I’ve ever seriously pondered. Our God is an unexpected God. We were having difficult times, and suddenly – unexpectedly – God provided through various means. It’s a good reminder that despite circumstances, He is still caring for us and can do that in ways we never would have dreamed. As I think about it, this makes sense… God provided “manna” in the wilderness for the traveling Hebrews to eat and they didn’t even know what it was. He saved his people countless times in totally unexpected ways, like anointing David (far from being of kingly stock, in human terms) to be a King, and using women in His plans too – hardly something expected from a patriarchal society. Jesus even came unexpectedly; that is, as the kind of Messiah that would save people’s souls, not just from the hands of the Romans. He died in order that we might live, which surely the disciples didn’t quite expect when it happened! So thinking about it this way… I guess I ought to expect God to be unexpected, both in what he does and how he does it. It humbles me, and reminds me that that only God can be God, that his faithfulness supersedes my unfaithfulness. It brings me back around to the cross, to Jesus' feet to acknowlege him as Lord.

Psalm 68:8
O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

2 Timothy 2:16-18
If we died with him,we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Love in him,
your sister,
Yvonne

Saved by Grace Thoughts 07.20.2009

2009-07-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 43:1
But now, this is what the LORD says – he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

Isaiah 49:16
See, I have engraved you (NLT: your name) on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

Hello friends!
It has been some time since I typed up my last email to you, and a long time since I wanted to write this one out specifically. I hope you are well and learning in the Lord!

I’m currently reading a fiction novel called ‘Someone Knows My Name,’ based off of a collection of true stories summed together into one character named Aminata. It is a story of a girl kidnapped from Africa and taken to North Carolina (as well as other places) during the transatlantic slave trade. It is wonderfully written and gut-wrenching to read, all the more because the story is based on true events. Early in the book, shortly after Aminata is taken, the title of the book is revealed in the importance of the slaves remembering each other’s African names. In a perilous, dangerous, unfamiliar, and unfair place a character is comforted in knowing that someone – Aminata -- knows his name.

Although the parallel is far and a situation I cannot even imagine, when I was reading this moving part of the book I was reminded of how time and again in Scripture, God tells us that He knows us and will not forget us. In times of distress or difficulties, we can be comforted that Someone knows our name – and not just our name, but everything about us from our personality quirks to our deepest hurts and secrets. Even in the worst of situations that we cannot even fathom, God tells us that we belong to him. The Apostle Paul writes at the end of Romans 8, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called to his purpose,” and

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What powerful words to remember! It is because of Christ that we can come to God and it is Christ that holds us fast to God, so that none will be lost. Whatever your present situation, I pray that the Holy Spirit reminds you of this and binds it up in your heart as an encouragement. If you struggle to see how in every situation God is still present, in this too God understands and I pray that he will reveal himself to you either through a friend or in stillness. May he continually be working in our hearts as we try to follow Christ.

In Love and in Christ,
Your sister,
Yvonne

Saved-by-Grace thoughts: 06.05.2009

2009-06-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

How are you? I hope you have been well this past month! There are a number of things that I would like to share about – the joy of my first anniversary, contemplating nature vs. city life, pondering God’s amazing grace – but at the forefront of my mind is something else. I’ve been reading a new book lately, called UnChristian, by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. It’s a fascinating research based book that opens up the conversation that, perhaps, many of our Christian-methods are rather unchristian in nature. Although it will make this email longer than usual, I wanted to share some excerpts from the book’s “Get-Saved!” chapter, which addresses that many non-believers (or ‘outsiders’ as termed in the book) belief that “Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting people.” The point of sharing this with you is so that we can all think about and assess the ways that our lives truly reflect Christ, and our desire to share Him with others. I know for me, it has made me think more intentionally about how I interact with those who do not know Christ and my own spiritual depth.
Love in Him - Yvonne

Despite the fact that many of them are currently disconnected from a church, most Americans, including two-thirds of all [young-adults] (65 percent), tell us that they have made a commitment to Jesus Christ at some point in their life. This is slightly lower than the percent of older adults who have made such a commitment (73 percent). This is an amazing fact about our culture. The vast majority of Americans, regardless of age, assert they have already made a significant decision to follow Christ!
Of course, this raises the question of the depth of their faith. If that many Americans have made decisions to follow Jesus, our culture and our world would be revolutionized if they simply lived that faith. It is easy to embrace a costless form of Christianity in America today, and we have probably contributed to that by giving people a superficial understanding of the gospel and focusing only on their decision to convert.
At [The Barna Group] we employ dozes of tools to assess the depth of a person’s faith. Let me suggest one for our discussion: a biblical worldview. A person with a biblical worldview experiences, interprets, and responds to reality in light of the Bible’s principles. What Scripture teaches is the primary grid for making decisions and interacting with the world. For the purposes of our research, we investigate a biblical worldview based on eight elements. A person with a biblical worldview believes that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He still rules it today; salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned; Satan is real; a Christian has a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people; the Bible is accurate in all the principles it teaches; unchanging moral truth exists; and such moral truth is defined by the Bible.
In our research, we have found that people who embrace these eight components live a substantially different faith from other Americans—indeed, from other believers. What we believe influences our choices.
Getting back to the issue of spiritual depth, if two-thirds of young adults have made a commitment to Jesus before, how many do you think possess a biblical worldview? Our research shows only 3 percent of [young adults] embrace these eight elements.
-- page 75

Scripture is clear that there is a basic starting point to the Christian faith: admitting we need Jesus. … Yet the point of the research I have presented is to clarify when the simple starting point becomes a substitute for Christian discipleship. Intentionally or not, we promote the idea to outsiders that being a Christ follower is primarily about the mere choice to convert. We do not portray it as an all-out, into-the-kingdom enlistment that dramatically influences all aspects of life. Perhaps you are thinking that you do describe it in these terms. Then why are so many millions of young people missing the point, failing to develop the basic elements of a biblical worldview? Our research shows that most of those who made a decision for Christ were no longer connected to a Christian church within a short period, usually eight to twelve weeks, after their initial decision. In a get-saved culture, too many of the conversions become either “aborted” believers or casual Christians. How do we convey to people both the gravity and buoyancy of the decision to follow Christ?
To change the perception that we are focused only on converts we have to embrace a more holistic idea of what it means to be a Christ follower. … If you think about the chapter on hypocrisy, I showed research reflecting these seven passions of a believer [1. Worshiping God intimately and passionately; 2. Engaging in spiritual friendships with other believers; 3. Pursuing faith in the context of family; 4. Embracing intentional forms of spiritual growth; 5. Serving others; 6. Investing time and resources in spiritual pursuits; 7. having faith-based conversations with outsiders]. You may recall that we asked born-again Christians what they believe the priorities of the Christian life should be. Their answers were primarily focused on lifestyle and avoidance of sin. It is sobering to realize that most born-again Christians have very little understanding of what their priorities or passions should be as Christ followers. Perhaps outsiders would realize that we’re not just about conversion if our faith provided a more well-rounded and holistic picture of following Christ, pursuing these seven passions.
--page 79, 80

Most people in America, when they are exposed to the Christian faith, are not being transformed. They take one step into the door, and the journey ends. They are not being allowed, encouraged, or equipped to love or to think like Christ. Yet in many ways a focus on spiritual formation fits what a new generation is really seeking. Transformation is a process, a journey, not a one-time decision. This resonates with young people. The depth and texture of Christianity ought to appeal to young people, but the unchristian notion strains life in Christ into mere mental allegiance to a religion. The truth is that when a person makes a commitment to Christ, it is the first step into a much larger reality. When people become Christians, we must describe appropriate expectations for them; engage them in significant, accountable relationships; and fashion environments where deep life change can take place.
--page 82

05.04.2009

2009-05-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

[Or, formerly known as "The Weekly Thing." I decided to change the e-mail title of these things that I send, now that they no longer occur on a regular, weekly basis. The title may yet change again but for now I suppose this will do.]

Hello friends-

How have you been? It’s been a little over a month since I sent one of these and as you could expect a lot has happened between now and then. I could write about Easter reflections, my trip to Nevada and California to visit my parents, or as things wrap up for a campus minister at the end of a school year. There’s one thing that’s prominent in my mind, however, and that would be struggling with “spiritual disciplines.”

To be transparent (to a largely anonymous audience?), I’ve been struggling on and off in my walk with God—specifically in the arena of reading Scripture and Prayer. I know that there are plenty of people who also struggle with this same exact thing but it’s easy to convince myself that I’m not being a “good Christian” when I don’t do these things… or not as good as I think I ought to be… and also to think that I’m one of few that either deals with it or even cares. Some people don’t see the importance of reading Scripture or praying except in church or maybe a Bible study. Yet it is something important to our knowing and communing with God, to grow and learn more about our relationship with Him, and how our relationship with others (and the self) ought to be. Just as listening and communication is important in a marriage or even a friendship, so it is even more so with God. Knowing these things tends to frustrate me more than get me into the practice of doing them—especially in knowing how my diligence was much better in the past. It’s only been since the end of 2001 that I became a Christian, and at that time God put in me such a fervor to know His word in and out and that lasted for quite some time and it probably helped me survive college. I suppose college was a great incubator to develop my understanding since I didn’t grow up going to church. Beyond college, I’ve found it difficult to keep it up! Wanting to read but not knowing what to read, putting time down to pray but finding it either pushed aside or falling asleep. Perhaps you can relate to these frustrations. While we don’t know what Paul dealt with specifically, what he said about struggling easily applies here, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do [or what I do not want to do].” (Romans 7:15)

Paul goes on to say “who can save me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” As my church is now going into a sermon series on prayer (perfect timing!), I’ve been reminded that Jesus is continually praying- right now, even as you are reading this, even when we are not praying. This would make sense, considering sin isn’t a habit we tend to escape completely. What I must also be reminded of is that God does not love me less or is disappointed in me when I don’t read Scripture. Additionally, it’s good to remember that struggling with these kinds of things probably falls under the category Paul speaks of when he says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)

So what ought I / we pray for? Pray that God would teach us how to pray and that God would revive my heart to His word—and probably to pray for protection from spiritual laziness. There are more disciplines than just reading the Bible and praying… serving and loving others; exercising the gifts God has given me in a just and God-centered manner; speaking truth in love; speaking the Gospel to myself; regularly being in Christian community AND non-Christian community; and so many others. But in my opinion, Scripture and Prayer are at the roots of understanding everything else, with the help of the Holy Spirit to give us guidance and discernment (which we also ought to pray for!).

As one saved-by-grace sinner to others, in love through Christ,
Yvonne

03.27.2009

2009-03-27T14:19:00.001-07:00

Deuteronomy 5:12
… Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.

Hebrews 4:10
… for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their [the Israelites in Exodus] example of disobedience.

Hello friends,

I realized it’s been a month’s passing since I’ve written up one of these. There are far too many thoughts that have come and gone to bring up now, but I pray that through this month our Father has been teaching you many things and refining you each day to help you move and understand living in whatever circumstances you find yourself.

Today as I was preparing myself for a book study I have with some young women tomorrow, I started a chapter that talks about women and work. Though the book is specifically geared towards women I found that some of what the authors said to be helpful insights for anyone. Since the topic of work/rest is one that’s been on my mind lately, I decided I would share their insights here.

“Collapsing into bed entirely drained is not the same as snuggling under the covers looking forward to some well-earned rest. The difference: satisfaction. A busy day of fruitless activities depletes; a full day of productive and satisfying work satiates. … [men and women] were created both to work and to take joy in our work. God gave the mandate to rule the world and subdue it to both Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden—and subduing the world takes work. Yet we feel happiest when we are productive, and achieving a balance of work and rest is the key to successful living. It all depends on the work we choose.”

“In [the author’s] experience, the most productive and satisfying work we do is the work that is in keeping with our created strengths, natural abilities, and spiritual gifts—and all those job qualifications come from God. … The most stressed out people today are those who are working outside of their innate gifts and abilities, outside of their values, and outside God’s plan for their lives.”

“Part of satisfying work is rest. God modeled this when he rested after creation was complete. Knowing when to take Sabbath seems to slip our mind and never makes it onto our crowded calendar. The tendency to worship the work ethic has led to a preponderance of people who are workaholics. … In some expert’s estimation, work compulsion is an addictive behavior. Presenteeism has overtaken absenteeism as a work issue. When we find ourselves in this mode, then we compromise our productivity and our lives become imbalanced. We have then traded our satisfaction quotient for a frustration factor. Busyness can annihilate our hearts.”

What kind of things come to mind as you read these excerpts? I know for me the things that pop out are balance versus imbalance, satisfaction versus frustration… if I properly rested – REALLY rested in God’s grace and set time to embrace that rest – then I think some things in my own life would look a little differently. Where do you work hard without satisfaction? The work place? At home? Relationships? Your own reputation or status? There are a thousand different ways that “work” can be defined as far as it stands before God and resting our entire lives in God’s hands. But in the sense that the excerpts talk about above is having such a flurry of busyness that there’s no room to be satisfied, to rest. This is not the way it’s meant to be. To observe the Sabbath or to rest from work is so important that it’s even in the 10 commandments – alongside not blaspheming God and not murdering, and so on. That probably means it’s pretty important to us as human beings… and yet it’s so hard to do.

How can you find your rest and be satisfied in your own work? I pray that you can find it- that we all would wrap ourselves up in God’s love and identity in Christ in such a way that busyness would not annihilate our hearts.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

P.S. Since this is rarely once a week now, perhaps I should rename it. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas, feel free to pitch them my way. Thanks! :)

2.25.2009

2009-02-25T17:49:00.001-08:00

Colossians 2:9, 10
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Hello friends,

I hope things are going well for you- winter continues to move on here, but since I spoke about winter last time there’s no need for me to dwell on it once more!

One of the things that has been brought up for me recently on a few occasions, is the notion of living in God’s fullness. The term is kind of an unusual one, isn’t it? Really, what does that even mean, to live in the fullness God has given us? From what I’ve been able to gather, it means living fully in the freedom we have in Christ. I reflect on this because I have to wonder if most of us are in some fashion afraid of this freedom. There are times when I feel hesitant to ask God for something because I wonder, in the back of my mind, if I really should even want it in the first place or if it’s out of place to ask for it. But I think that God wants us to ask boldly for things… not in a demanding sort of way, but in a way that understands that if it’s not something within His will it won’t come together and if it is then it’s God who gets the glory for it.
Similarly, I think some of us are hesitant to do things for God because others – perhaps especially our brothers and sisters – might find it unorthodox. I have to wonder if this is when the boundaries we have from God get expanded on and become broader than they need to be. There are certainly times when God asks us to do things that are out of the ordinary that can have significant impact in the lives of others for God’s glory.

A dear friend of mine is a good example for this. Through a long process of discernment and prayer, she’s moved out to California to help a family minister to ex-porn stars and help others get out of pornography and find Christ. What a tremendous undertaking, to bring light into a very dark place that others (and with some reason) are hesitant to go into. Or they might even say it’s a lost cause and this friend should protect herself by avoiding it – something even I would have said to someone several years ago. But this is her calling, and fears shouldn’t stop anyone from pursuing what God is calling them to do. Discernment, understanding the Gospel, and prayer, however, are essential.

So whether we’re asking God for our hearts’ desires or being called to do something a little outside of the box or even enjoying, there is so much more to following God than maybe a lot of us allow ourselves. Through discernment, reading & understanding Scripture, and – of course! – lots of prayer I would hope that we all would learn how to grow more into the “fullness” God calls us to.

Ephesians 3:16-20
I pray that out of his glorious riches God may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

In Him and in love, Your sister,
Yvonne

02.10.2009

2009-02-10T11:21:00.001-08:00

Galatians 6:1-3
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Matthew 11:28,29
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Hello friends,

I hope you are doing well! Here in Pennsylvania winter is going strong with cold weather and – at least in the city – plenty of gray days. It's this time of year that I long for the warmth of spring and things will come alive again, with no more dead trees or gloomy clouds. (Although in some ways, nature is messing with me… it's 52 today!)

While some select places do not go through too much climate change, I would think that seasons are pretty common to human experience. Wet seasons, dry seasons, winter, spring, summer fall – and so on. However, if you've been keeping up to speed with reading these emails I write to you from time to time, you know where this is going. There are more seasons that we experience than just the cycles of nature. There are seasons of joy, sadness, anger, numbness, spiritual depression, spiritual overflow, busy-ness, boredom, quiet, peace. Usually the negative seasons are seen strictly as bad times that we should avoid… but I wonder if that's really a healthy response to what is happening. Rather than AVOID the negative season, why not try to understand why it might be that we are in that season? Why not ask, "What can God teach me through this time?" I probably think of this because winter tends to be such a down time of the year for a lot of people. I have my off days too, and I cannot wait until spring comes in and the earth comes alive again with green plants and colorful blossoms. But through winter and anticipating spring, there is still beauty that can be found. The same is true about our off-seasons and cycles in life.

I reflect on the honesty of Jesus and the TRUTH God calls us often, in turn finding myself falling short when it comes to how I'm really feeling. But it is an uphill battle to be truthful about how one is feeling (if it is "negative") and going about it in a gentle and Christ-focused way. In my opinion & experience, it is very easy to hide emotions for the sake of saving face and being otherwise normal. I don't think Jesus calls us to that, or pretend everything is peachy. If something is wrong, don't be afraid to admit that things could be better. Ask for prayer! Be confident in knowing God will work you through it, and it is OK if it takes time. And ask what God could be teaching you through it. Hiding those things can be entrapping and in some ways enslaving; we are called to be free in Christ's truth! I pray that we can all find ourselves in that place, embracing His freedom for our hearts, minds, and souls.

In love and in Christ,
Your sister,
Yvonne

01.13.2009

2009-01-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 6:18
… pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Hello friends-

Happy New Year!! It’s hard to believe that it’s 2009, since the past year seemed to go by so fast. Rather than reflect on all the things that went by in 2008 – although you know I enjoy being reflective on the past – I’m curious to see what is to come; God’s got something in store for all of us, so there’s a world of possibilities coming up.

A lot of people this time of year will also try to commit to resolutions for the entire year. Plenty of jokes reveal that resolutions typically don’t last long, either, so I never completely understood the drive people have to do it every year. However, I do understand the drive to “do better” or to “be better.” Whether it’s to lose weight, get better grades, wake up earlier, read the Bible more often, floss more, pray more, call friends more often, get something accomplished, or whatever it might be – there are probably very few people who don’t have something they wouldn’t have something along these lines. I for one would like to be more active in not just making art but getting into galleries. That would be awesome. But in all of our resolutions, whatever it happens to be, I don’t know what the success would be if God isn’t at the center of it and making it happen. Of course WE have our responsibilities, but shouldn’t we also invite God into what we want to do? More than that, shouldn’t we let Him be the one to guide how we do something if we should even do it at all? Will we treat other people and our bodies right, because humans are made in the image of God? Will we do better in school not because it’s the right thing to do, but because God would want us to be good stewards of our classes? Or even reading and praying to get to know God more, rather than try to ‘get on His good side?’ There’s a multitude of ways that God can be involved in the things we desire to do, since he’s the one that invented desire in the first place! And with HIM anything is possible!

So my invitation to you and a reminder to myself is to pray diligently as you move and act in your world. Pray that as you choose to do something, God would aid you—or redirect you. Be open to His voice and His calling (even if you don’t like it at first)… when you feel that little nudge by God, how might you respond? Ask God to come into your life directly and to give you strength to accomplish the tasks before you. I pray that each of us would seek Him in our efforts so that we not only would succeed for His glory but also that we would know without doubt that we are not alone.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

12.20.2008

2008-12-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

How are you? I hope that this Christmas season has been a blessing to you so far- it’s amazing to think that it’s just around the corner and then 2008 will be done. For me the year seemed to fly by, and so much has happened and while I learned a lot about my faith this year I was also reminded of a lot of God’s basic truths.

One that has recently been on my mind is the fact of God’s desire to be involved in every aspect of our lives – and try as we might, there is nothing we can hide from Him either. I think that some of us live as though God only cares about how often or if we go to church, attend Bible study, pray, or read our Bibles. These things are important to the development of our faith. He is certainly involved in those things, but that is not the only place God wants to be found in each of our lives. God wants to be involved in our sexuality and relationships; how we study or work; how we think critically of the world around us; how we treat others and the spaces we live in; how we use our gifts and personalities; how we purchase things, and so on. It would be absurd to think that God doesn’t want to be a part of every aspect of our lives and just as absurd to think that He doesn’t see every aspect of our lives. In Psalm 139, this is painted out clearly: that no matter how far we go or how deep into darkness we hide, God is present and He has made our inmost being.
But I don’t think it stops there. Because of Christ’s birth and sacrifice, all aspects of our lives can be healed and redeemed too, and we can invite Him into places that formerly we didn’t want Him involved. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
How does Jesus impact my view of _____? Is He involved in this?
How might God change how I involve Him in that?

Similarly, I must ask myself the same questions too. In fact, all of us – no matter how long or short we have been a Christian – must ask these kinds of questions so that we don’t become lax in engaging God. As we are reminded of Christ’s birth next week if not this entire month, I pray that none of us would forget Immanuel – God WITH us – once Christmas is over. This is such an epic story of God coming down and entering our world instead of being a lofty mystery in the sky. God took the first step; can we invite Him to enter into the parts of our lives that, seemingly, have nothing to do with spirituality?

In love, prayers, and Christ-
Your sister,
Yvonne

12.10.2008

2008-12-10T20:12:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone,

Wow. It's been a month since I wrote a "weekly" email, and plenty has been going on in my life that much of it is a blur. But if you remember from my last Weekly, I mentioned going through a somewhat difficult time and admittedly I'm still in some of it. However, the good news is that there is Good News -- Christ is not very far. What an appropriate season to be reminded of the fact that God in the flesh was born among us, lived among us, and was sent to be our death. I've never thought too much about Advent before, because I never grew up in an environment that celebrated Advent, but what a wonderful thing to ponder over and think about the significance of Christ's seemingly insignificant birth. Baby Jesus in a manger is usually a cleanly depicted affair with clean robes and clean hands, but the reality is that a manger is a feeding trough for barn animals which was probably in a dirty barn. Not very glamorous and surely conditions that many of us now would be adverse to being in at all, let alone to give birth in. Christ's humble beginning is such a picture of God's immense love and desire to heal the desperate condition of humanity. If Jesus could be born in a dirty feeding trough, surely surely He would accept us and dwell with you and me.

A sermon from this past Sunday has been particularly helpful in reflecting on present issues and to really think about the significance of Jesus working on the hidden and damaged places in my heart. Please take the time to give this sermon a listen!

http://fairmount.liberti.org/sermons/advent-looking-for-consolation

Love in Him,
your sister,
Yvonne

11.15.2008

2008-11-15T17:33:00.001-08:00

Hello friends,

It’s been a long few weeks, busy and not exactly full of rest (as in sleep and as in Sabbath rest). But I hope that you are doing well and that even as things get busy you have been able to find the places that God is teaching you, challenging you, and affirming you of His care.

As I’ve been going through some personal processing about what I mentioned in my last Weekly email, I’ve been learning again that tense circumstances are often a breeding ground for learning and opportunities where God stretches us. Such is the case as I email you this time, since I’ve learned an awful lot about myself – and while I won’t divulge details I will say that God is using what is happening in another person’s life to reveal the places in my heart that I’ve tried to hide from Him and from myself as well. I’m sure that many of us have felt the sting of past wounds recur several years down the road, never fully dealt with because it didn’t seem worthwhile or it seemed quite silly that we hurt in the first place over it or it’s quietly kept under lock and key somewhere in our minds.

I don’t think God wants us to live that way though. I think what we’re called to be free. Free from sin, free from the guilt of past sin, free from the sin of others imposed on us, free from the sin that indirectly affects us. I think of when Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I think of when Jesus says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Some have experienced more burdened than others but I think if you level the playing field we each have experienced weariness of some kind. We’re sick and we need Jesus’ healing… and the joy we can only have through Him. With some of the things I’ve been processing lately I deeply feel the need for this.

Seek the kind of healing only Jesus can offer… through prayer, through a close friend or mentor, through quiet time. And then celebrate redemption with laughter, prayer, and worship of our awesome God. I pray you can find these things for your own burdens in your life right now – and if there are none, I praise God with you!

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

11.3.08

2008-11-03T06:30:00.001-08:00

Hello friends,

Much has been happening, and please forgive me that my attention and energies have been drawn into other places over the past few weeks! But regardless I hope that you’re doing well, and even if you are not that you are able to see God’s goodness.

Most recently I’ve been wrestling in seeing God’s goodness in dark circumstances not involving myself, but a loved one. It’s difficult to see sin acknowledged, but not changed or even a willingness to change, and where I struggle with that is how God’s Word addresses such things. It’s the kind of thing that makes me ask, “Why is this happening? Why are you, God, allowing it to happen?” People will ask similar questions when suffering persists or harm is being done to them - and understandably so. It isn’t wrong to ask that in faith—many writers from Psalms questioned the way God was doing things plenty of times. However, where I know I need to bring myself back is when it comes down to praising God in spite of those things.
For example, in the book of Daniel (chapter 3) you’ve got Shadrach, Meschach, and Abendego who, when threatened to be thrown into a fiery furnace and killed, said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it. … but even if he does not, we want you to know O King that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” While this is definitely an example of standing firm for God, I know I’ve overlooked that whole “but even if he does not,” part. Even if God did not save them from being killed, they would still worship Yahweh. It’s not like these three men were super-humans and had this amazing supernatural gift to be able to say that. They were people like you and me. So it’s not impossible for us to pray, “I know you CAN do this, but even if you do not do it…” I think it would be fair to pray for that kind of faith and that our hearts can praise God like that, and me too. I know for me that prayer looks a lot like, “I know you can do this, but I don’t understand why you’re not.”

I will pray for that for each of us, and I pray that you are moved to do the same. God is so good in all that He does! I also pray that we are assured that it is OK to ask questions, to wrestle and even doubt… but I also pray that we are brought to praise God through it.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

10.07.2008

2008-10-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

It’s been a few weeks since the last Weekly, and a lot of things have been going on between now and then. Or at the very least, it’s seemed to be a lot of things! Between trying not to be so stress and learning humility, trying to keep up with the election-race and making connections with the people I minister to, there’s a lot going on in my head.

But one of the things that came to mind last week that I wanted to share was the first half of John 15. In all of my business I’ve found it hard to rearrange my schedule so that I can rest. Not just sleeping, but spiritual rest- having time to be still before God and acknowledge His presence and activity in my life and in the lives of others. I like to have these moments, although they seem few and far between, because they are such a breath of fresh air. It can be restorative – so all the more reason to take the time-out to do it! In John 15, Jesus says this, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” The whole passage - from 15:1 to 15: 17 - is worth going over more than once. It is deeply encouraging to know that Jesus is working in my life and in the lives of other people; it’s encouraging to know that God wants us to be near to Him and that we can bear fruit for His glory rather than our own. God is certainly present when we’re busy, silently working as we whirl around and try to accomplish our agendas. He is never really that far. However, it is still worth the time to sit back and take a deep breath and rest because it reminds us of what’s really important in the world and in our lives. It’s a matter of trust, I think: trusting that God will take care of certain matters as you take time to spend with Him. It also seems to be very difficult to do.

Similar to last week, God used another song from Sunday morning to encourage my heart and I would like to share part of it with you in hopes that you too will be encouraged:

Rock of Ages, when the day seems long
From this labor and this heartache, I have come
The skies will wear out but you remain the same
Rock of Ages, I prais your name

Rock of Ages, You have brought me near
You have poured out Your life blood, your love, your tears
To make this stone heart come alive again,
Rock of Ages, forgive my sin

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

09.17.2008

2008-09-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

My apologies for not writing the Weekly Thing for a few weeks! To give you an insight about how the Weekly comes about, whenever I find myself particularly struggling it is difficult for me to know what to write about. As you may be able to guess from the emails I have sent over the summer, God has certainly been doing a lot of work to grow me more into the likeness of Christ. Recently, I’ve been pushed to continue to trust Him as He turns my plans upside down and into something better. I’ve also gone through mourning as I learned of the death of a college friend.

Through difficulties, I’ve always believed that God pushes us to trust Him more and humble us. At least, this is the way He’s worked difficult times in my own life to show me how much I need Him. God is truly good in this way. I know I can go to the Lord with these things but what is just as important to remember is that I need God just s much in relaxed times as I do in difficult times. God is consistently loving, powerful, comforting, challenging, and always available to listen… and always worthy of praise. A song that reminds me of the goodness of God in difficult times is “Blessed Be:”

--
Blessed be your name,
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s all as it should be
Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be your name
--

Like a good father and better, our heavenly Father is always there. 1 John says that God is Love, and elsewhere it says that love is “patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13). How amazing to know a God like that and more is our Father!

If you’re facing confusing circumstances yourself, I pray this encourages you… or that God will use it when those times come. Take heart and know that God has a good plan for you.

In love and in Him
Your sister,
Yvonne

08.29.2008

2008-08-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

Philippians 1:6
… he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Psalm 106:21, 43-45 (really you should read the whole Psalm!)
[The Israelites] forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. ... Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and wasted away in their sin. But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.

Hello,

I just want to start off by saying that God is an awesome God and the amount of patience He has with astounds me. I hope that you find this especially true in your own life and have been able to see where God is stretching and challenging you (in good ways, even if it doesn’t really feel good).

Ever had a moment where God totally blew you away, revealed something to you, or made it obvious that He’s got everything taken care of? Ever find yourself remembering that moment later on and saying, “Oh yeah, God did THAT. How in the world did I forget that?” The story of the Israelites has been a running theme for this week for me. If you’re familiar with the stories from the Old Testament, there’s a recurring problem that the people of God have: forgetfulness. Time and again, they saw the Lord’s miracles (and plagues) and the power He displayed before their very eyes. When they were in the desert for forty years, they followed God as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night! And yet there were plenty of times when they would forget what God had done for them in Egypt and even pined for how “good” they had it in a land in which they were slaves. I can read this and think, “How could they forget,” but when I look at my own life I know I’ve done the same thing. I’ve seen God work things out and yet I still worry about tomorrow. There are lots of examples.... It’s like I wake up in the morning and I need to be refreshed about what God did the day before!

This is why God’s patience is just phenomenal. How good for Him to bear with us when we continue to wrestle and continue to forget what He’s done! If it were me, I’d get frustrated and give up on whoever is frustrating me day in and day out. But because of the blood of Christ, God is not like this towards us. He is completely patient – and even more than this, He even sent the Holy Spirit to work in each of us to help us overcome our faults. Talk about going the extra mile. Praise God.

So in light of all of this, I pray that you are encouraged as I have been by God reminding me not only about what He’s done in my life but also by reminding me that He’s still with me even when I feel like I’m screwing up.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

08.20.2008

2008-08-19T21:48:00.001-07:00

Colossians 3:15,16
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another will all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Hello!

I started this Weekly Thing last week, only to find myself distracted and unable to finish it until now when I can’t fall asleep. I hope that you’ve had a good week and that God is – as always – revealing Himself to you continually. It’s been interesting week and a half (more??) here, wrestling in prayer over many things. As if to continue the theme of my life, God has been encouraging me to be focused on Him as my provider, the One who is in control. As I was reading a book for the ladies Bible study I attend, the author talked about the Hebrew word ‘hesed.’

I’ve heard this word translated before into the English word ‘kindness,’ and various other synonyms, but the author pointed out that there are many Hebraic words in which the English translation doesn’t really get to the root of the meaning. ‘Hesed’ is really much more complex than mere ‘kindness;’ it means imparting onto another person the same sense that would be found in God’s heavenly kingdom. That’s much deeper than ‘kindness!’ In the part of the book that this is talked about, the author revealed a time in her life in which she doubted God’s ‘hesed’ for her and her family… but she also points out that despite those doubts and feeling as though God wasn’t paying attention, the truth is that God’s ‘hesed’ for us always remains and is always constant. There is no wavering of protection, provision, joy, and love in God’s kingdom… and God imparts that onto us. So this is certainly something we can take a hold of and live in our daily lives. Perhaps this is also what is wrapped up into the “peace of Christ” when Paul talks about it in his letters, saying that the peace of Christ should rule over us. What a fantastic thing to wish upon others and this is something that we can take a hold of as followers of Christ. And that is what I hope we can learn to build into our daily lives as we interact with others. Living in the city makes it hard to not get jaded and cynical towards others who are just as jaded and just as cynical. It’s hard to have a heart of compassion towards the guy who is trying to hit on you and you just want him to leave you alone (OK, so this is a female specific problem). In reflection, ‘hesed’ is hard to do. ‘Hesed’ is hard to embrace and rest in knowing God is going to take care of things when they’re rough.

What’s awesome is that God’s ‘hesed’ still doesn’t change through all of that. Hesed means imparting onto another person the same sense that would be found in God’s heavenly kingdom… and God sticks to his part of the bargain.

I’m totally blown away by that.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

08.07.2008

2008-08-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

1 Thessalonians 5:21,22
Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.

Psalm 119:125
I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.

Proverbs 3:21
My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight.

Hello,
Although there is still almost a whole month left of summer, the season seems to have flown by me. I hope that you’ve been learning a lot this summer and that God has been continuing to teach you, stretch you, and grow you more and more into the likeness of Christ. Due to being very fair skinned, I’ve spent a lot of my own time indoors to keep from getting sun burned. My summer has mostly been uneventful outside of learning how to be a wife! But through learning how to be a wife, and dealing with issues related to full time ministry, God certainly has been trying to stretch and grow me as well. There is much that I need to learn about having a God-centered attitude towards unfavorable circumstances, as well as about the freedom of forgiveness and dependency on God. Nearly seven years into my walk with Christ, and I am still learning a lot about what it means to follow the Lord faithfully. I’m still learning about the Bible despite how many times I read it, and continually being convicted of things I thought I was over. If you’re further along the road than I am, you might be able to say the same thing.

In Thessalonians, Paul exhorts the young believers to “test everything,” while holding onto good and avoiding evil. If I were to guess, I’d say that this passage not only speaks to young believers but also those who are well seasoned in their faith. There are always situations that come up in which we need to discern whether something is either from God or something we should or should not do according to God’s Word. For example, I live in a large city and there are a lot of weird things that can go on that you don’t normally find outside the city. Right before starting our morning bible study in a coffee shop, two friends and I were approached by a man who seemed to have an interest in Jesus but everything about him gave a bad “vibe.” He also was talking a lot of nonsense about government conspiracy, gave his name to plug into Google and left. Later on I looked his name up on Google and found out that the man thinks that he’s a prophet and the one that will bring World Peace. While this is likely an obvious not-from-God situation (because only Jesus is the one that can bring about world peace), other situations are more subtle. There are plenty of times when my own thoughts are against me and make me out to be a failure to God. What does the Bible say about that kind of thing? 1 John contradicts those thoughts in one sentence: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

So there are many physical and non-physical things that we ought to test. “Is this from God? Is this something God would have me do? What does Scripture say about this?” I would encourage you to think about and consider the issues or events, attitudes or thoughts/words, or activities in your own life that might need to be tested against what God has to say about it. As mentioned previously, seven years into this journey and I still need to ask myself those kinds of questions because it’s good be thinking about our lives in view of how Christ asks us to live. Some of these things don’t necessarily have to be negative, since it is also helpful in confirming God’s direction and guidance! It’s also a matter of not simply praying or thinking about it, but also reading and investigating the Bible; there’s so much in there that the Holy Spirit continually reveals bits and pieces along the way. So be encouraged, “test everything,” and continue to walk in grace.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

07.27.2008

2008-07-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Colossians 2:7
… just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Hebrews 12:28
… let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Hello,

Once again the “Weekly” comes to you in a not-so-weekly fashion, and I apologize for the delay. I hope you’ve been well and continuing to grow in faith, being stretched by God in real ways.
One of the things that has been humbling for me over not just the past few weeks, but for the past two months, is an incident regarding wedding gifts and cards. If you’re not married and hoping to one day, take heed: separating the cards from the gifts before they’re opened makes it terribly difficult to write thank you cards properly. My husband and I didn’t think about this until after the deed had already been done – and many of you attended my wedding, so I apologize for improperly thanking you for gifts!!

Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that it currently makes me think of the ultimate Gift and not properly thanking the Giver (not to be confused with a certain book). Last I wrote, I mentioned my own need to focus on the freedom of Christ more than my focus on the gravity of my sin. If you’re able to relate to that sentiment, this is much along the same lines… I’ve found that to focus on Christ more, I should learn to be more thankful for the salvation He’s given. There are many things that I’m worried about that I forget to be grateful for what I already have; it’s not that I forget that I have it but worry certainly clouds gratitude. I take things for granted because I’m trying to figure out how/when I’m going to get something I don’t have yet. For instance, it’s easy to take for granted that I have food in my home right now when I worry about how things might shape up in the next several months because I can’t see into the future. However, having what I need right now in the moment is something God has made possible and I have to stop myself, pause and be thankful… Gratitude and remembering that the Lord provides is actually helpful in dissipating the worry I struggle with. Many times throughout the New Testament, God’s people are exhorted to be thankful and perhaps the reason why is because it helps us to focus on NOW and not TOMORROW, and it helps us to focus on God and not ourselves.
In a similar way, salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit is a phenomenal thing that sometimes I’m not thankful for when I don’t see it in action. I also don’t think to be thankful for it when I’m wrestling with sin and wondering when in the world it will be over. However, day by day we are being transformed by the Holy Spirit; why shouldn’t we praise God for it every day? God is continually at work, even when we don’t see the work in action… and especially through difficult times. This is where we need to pause and be grateful for the salvation we have. It will probably help to develop a better focus on Christ more than anything else.

If you see a little bit of this kind of attitude in yourself we can be praying for one another… that we would learn to have grateful attitudes towards God (and also towards people!), and that we would praise Him for the awesome salvation that we have in Christ. I also pray that we can all learn to be all the more grateful overall, developing more sensitivity to what God is doing in our world and be compassionate to those around us. We all have amazing gifts to be thankful for.

Love in Christ,
Your sister,
Yvonne

07.14.2008

2008-07-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 2:3-5
Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Hello,

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer days, although I also hope you’ve managed to stay cool! Also, I hope the Lord has been stretching and growing each of you… I know that God continues to stretch and grow me in much the same ways that I have mentioned in previous “Weekly” emails.

To be candid, I think one of the greatest things I’ve struggled with in my six-to-seven years as a Christian is embracing the depth of forgiveness and grace. I understand both of these concepts in my head and celebrate the fact that we have both of these things from God. Where the struggle persists is in my heart. When I don’t read Scripture as often, or don’t pray as often in a week, it’s hard for me to come to grips that God is still embracing me. Prayer and reading Scripture are good—essential, even—but God’s grace and forgiveness still remains even when we don’t always do those things. I also struggle when I fall into sin’s path (recently it looks like it’s taken a form of pride), and while I know I haven’t fall from the love of God, sometimes I feel like I have. In times like this the joy of Christ seems far from me. Yet I can turn to the assurance that Christ remains; perhaps Paul felt this way when he wrote to the Romans, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Christ still remains through all of our struggles. It is not a pass to continue sinning and take advantage of forgiveness… but how good it is to know that we can turn to Him at any stage in our life -- especially after our initial reaching out and declaring Christ as Lord. Perhaps the key thing is just this, that we always need to declare Christ in our hearts as Lord. There was a book that I read some time ago called “The Discipline of Grace,” that emphasized that we always need to preach the Gospel to ourselves. Grace is amazing, something we don’t deserve, and how good it is to fall into that grace. We must remember the reason Jesus died and raised again, always remember His sacrifice to cover our sins and bring forgiveness of trespass. Grace is easy to forget when we don’t remind ourselves of it, and forgiveness is all too easy to cast aside when our sin is our focus, and not our Savior.

Huh. I think I just figured out why I struggle with God’s forgiveness and grace…

I pray that the Spirit would continually be working in our lives to grasp the height, the depth, and the width of God’s love, forgiveness, and grace. Pray this same thing for me, that we may always be growing as brothers and sisters.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

07.02.2008

2008-07-02T13:04:00.001-07:00

Psalm 94:18,19
When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Philippians 1:6
… he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Hello!

I hope that you’ve had a good week. I’ve been continually learning and re-learning this week all the things I’ve talked about before regarding worry and control, myself, and let me tell you: it’s not easy.

Last time I wrote, I spoke about people in my life that had recently encouraged me. It’s been hard hanging onto what they’ve shared with me (or what I’ve observed from them) though. There are certain heart-issues at hand that need to be resolved within me – most of which deal with trying to control areas of my life that I really don’t have control over. The phrase, “Give it to Jesus,” is a lot easier said than tangibly done …but not impossible, for nothing is impossible with God. Those of you who have been in these shoes know what I’m talking about.

God is good and whatever realm that is in our hearts that nags at us, pulls us down, or discourages us is a realm that God wants to make right. We are not meant to be people fraught with anxiety. We’re not meant for a number of things that are contrary to God’s way – whatever that might be for you. Praise God that He has a merciful and compassionate spirit that works to change our ways towards His ways. I know that because God is in control I don’t have to be worried about anything; living this way is hard, harder than I think I’ve realized before… I keep ending up in the same place just when I think I’m doing pretty good. See, God doesn’t let me (or you) off the hook. Nope. He won’t leave us in the same place that He found us or in the place that we keep falling into. He brings reminders to our ears and eyes to not only bring us back on track but to also let us know that what His intentions for us are good. For example: this Sunday was about finding the peace of Christ by relinquishing control, then Psalm 94 came to my attention when my husband pointed something out in it, and then I heard a song today that reminded me about how God gives and takes (ultimately, that He is the one in control)… then that song brought me to another song paraphrasing Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I can probably expect more to come.

How good it is for God to bring reminders into our lives and to be continually working on us.
Whatever your personal vice is (i.e. mine is evidently worry/anxiety), God is able to make it right; He will also send you notes now and again to let you know it is something that needs to change. How it can be given to Jesus is probably going to look different for each of us, though. I pray that we can learn to lay our burdens down before Jesus, that we can allow God to open up our wounds for healing, and that He would change our ways to match His ways.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

--
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06.21.2008

2008-06-22T06:44:00.001-07:00

Hello-

I hope that this finds you well and that this past week (two weeks??) has been full of God’s blessings and opportunities for growth.
My own week seemed to blur by even though I struggled with a day-by-day feeling that I had too much time on my hands and little activity. I’m not quite sure how that happened but somehow it has. In reflection, however, I’ve been able to notice some key areas that God is stretching me… particularly in the realm of trusting Him. And though I am reflecting I am by no means beyond this wrestling, seeing where the truth prevails and where my own stubborn heart refuses to have faith and attempting to latch onto those truths of God’s provision. But today I’ve found encouragement when I wasn’t even looking or asking for it.

Two friends of mine are in similar situations financially where things are very tight. As I learned from them what was going on, I know that if I were in those situations I would be riddled with all kinds of anxiety. While I’m certain that they each have gone through this stage, they are currently in a place of trusting God’s hand in all of it. I’m not even near in the situation they are in – in fact, pretty far from it – I find myself tense about things that are largely out of my control. Hearing their stories and where they are at I cannot help but compare my own level of trust with theirs and seeing their calm despite shaky ground.

Likewise, a family member of mine was encouraging to me on Wednesday, and now even more encouraging in a very unexpected way. My step-grandfather, who I’ve always enjoyed even though we didn’t get a chance to get very close, died on Friday morning. I had a conversation with him Wednesday, and through it we talked about a surgery he needed to get scheduled; he’s been through several, and on more than one occasion we all thought that Dan was going to die. When we spoke about all his surgeries, his level of trust that God’s timing was perfect was profound to me. Dan figured that the Lord must have kept him alive to accomplish something he hadn’t done just yet, and his overall tone was that he was ready whenever God was. Now that he’s passed on those words are even more poignant and teach me a lot about patience. God’s timetable is so much grander than ours.

Interestingly enough what God had to teach me this week wasn’t first out of Scripture but out of people who carry the Holy Spirit as believers. They might as well be coming at me from Hebrews 11, a record of men and women who trusted that God would provide based on His promises, not on what they could see happening around them. How awesome is it that the Lord uses people in this way!

Who in your life can remind you of God’s promises for where you are right now? Can you think of people who are an encouragement to you—even when they aren’t specifically trying to encourage you as you go through something? Praise God for these people in our lives, whom God uses to bring His Word closer to our lives and hearts! One of the many reasons that having a Christian community surrounding us is so important… I pray that as you go into this next week, you are able to see other believers around you who – by example of their own circumstances – encourage you and point you towards our Father’s truths.

Hebrews 3:13
...encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

In love and in Him, your sister,
Yvonne

06.09.2008

2008-06-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Matthew 28:20 (after the great Commission)
"...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Hello!

I'm back from New Hampshire with my new husband, and ready to get back to ministry and living in Philadelphia. I'm going to miss those New England mountains though! Talk about being humbled by God's creation. Wow. At any rate, here's another way God humbled me this week:

I have never passed out before, or even came close to it; that is, I hadn't until this past weekend after getting back home. Combine some intense heat & humidity, some dehydration, plus walking up a flight of stairs and you get dangerously close to passing out. This is what I experienced with Scott just as we were about to get on our first roller coaster when visiting Six Flags. I felt dizzy and rather suddenly I couldn't see a thing - and since this has never happened to me before, I was really freaked out. Thankfully, Scott assured me many times saying, “I’m right here,” as he ushered me off of the roller coaster platform to get water and some food.

I was too busy trying to gain my bearings again to be embarrassed, though I felt bad because we were second in line to get on the coaster (which can be a big deal if you’d been waiting in line for an hour and a half). But the reason I bring the story up at all is because in retrospect it hits home to something I need to remember. For me, there are times when I feel like freaking out due to worry over money or what God is asking me to do or what the future is going to look like or am I doing a good job… etc. I worry is because I want to see what’s going to happen but I can’t. I don’t know what the future holds. This is when I need to go back to God’s promise that He is with me; He stays with those who follow Him, and He can be trusted. Scripturally, God assures us much in the same way Scott assured me: “I’m right here.” It’s true that we might not feel God’s hand with us when we’re very worried or unsure of what is happening around us. In fact, we might not even be aware of His presence at all; but He is there. There is nothing that can separate us from God (Romans 8:38,39). Because of God’s continual presence it’s a wonder that I worry at all, but just like the rest of us I have the tendency to focus on what I’m worried about way more than focusing on trusting that God is taking care of me. God has blessed me with a wonderful husband, and I know we will need to remind each other of God’s presence in our lives and over our marriage; we’re not any less human together than when we were apart. Praise be to God for being so much greater than our fears or ourselves!

I pray that each of us holds onto this truth, that God is with us even when we cannot see; even when things are confusing, or we don’t know where God is calling us to go. I also pray that we make it a point to set aside time to pray during those times. The worst thing I can think of doing when I’m worried or confused is to pretend like I’m not and continue on with life. I pray for each of us that we don’t do that, but rather acknowledge that we need guidance and direction from our loving Father.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

P.S. If anyone is wondering if my mailing address has changed since getting married, it has NOT. If you need my address, please email me to let me know!

written 05.09.2008

2008-05-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Hello!

How are you? What has God been teaching you lately? Prayerfully, you have been able to keep in step with Him over the past weeks or striving to do so… but a word of encouragement if you’ve struggled (as have I), is that God is abundantly patient, kind, and loving; and we can rely on Him as our strength.

I wanted to let you know that between May 16th and June 8th, I might not be able to write up a Weekly Thing… a week of ministry training and classes; then my wedding week; and then a week off for the honeymoon. A computer is probably going to be the furthest thing from me 99% of the time during those three weeks. Not being able to write the Weekly might not come across as so strange because I haven’t really been able to keep up with writing this on a weekly basis lately, but I thought I’d give you a heads up regardless.

One of the things that struck me over the past two weeks was a passage in Philippians 3 in which Paul says that he considered “everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus…” Here’s Paul who has all the reason in the world to boast of his position and how good of a Hebrew he was, and he says it’s all “rubbish.” Paul knew how to follow religious rules and regulations to a T, he had the kind of zeal that would shame anyone, and he had an outstanding heritage (a ‘Hebrew of Hebrews’). But it didn’t mean squat to him compared to knowing Christ… woah! It seems obvious to say that we should rejoice more in Christ than our own accomplishments; but I think it is less obvious to say that we should rejoice in the fact that we know Christ instead of how “good of a Christian” we think we are. I can stand and say, “I haven’t done this, I haven’t done that; I must really be following Jesus really well!” but I don’t think being a Christian is about the things we do or don’t do. Being a Christian is about knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and following Him. Only through our love and adoration of Christ are there certain things we do – like reading Scripture, or praying, or helping someone else – or don’t do/avoid – greed, lust, gossiping about our neighbor, etc.
This actually reminds me of one of Jesus’ parables when He talks about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18). The former thanks God for not being like all the sinners and his own good deeds; the latter pleads mercy for sinning against a holy God. … My “good behavior” is really not meant to be used to hold me a set of rules in order to follow Christ or to brownie points; rather, my “good behavior” is meant to be an act of worship and respect to a holy God. Would it be easy for me to say that being a good Christian woman or my accomplishments – that the world can see and be impressed by – are worth garbage compared to just KNOWING the Savior of my soul? Do I want people to see how good of a person I can be, or do I just want to do it because I love Jesus?

I beg to question that if we aren’t doing good deeds are we really worshipping God. There are so many fine lines to this kind of thing that we must really examine our hearts… and I pray we do so. I pray that God really reveals to us why we do things or don’t do things. Do we not do certain things because we love God, or simply because someone told us it was the wrong thing to do? Do we long to please God with our behavior? I pray the Holy Spirit causes our hearts to desire to please God in all that we do… that we would seek humility, gentleness, self-control, sacrifice, purity, and all things that mold us more into the image of Christ.

In love and in Him,
Your sister
Yvonne

04.23.2008

2008-04-23T07:48:00.001-07:00

Psalm 127:1,2
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 11:28-29
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Hello friends,

I hope that you’re doing well and that – as always – the Lord is teaching, stretching, and growing you through each day. As it always seems to be, things have been busy here! With wedding planning and trying to catch up with students involved with the ministry, it gets a little hectic.
This is a common theme this time of year, however; as any college student knows, this time of year can be quite stressful. It’s the time to wrap up the school year in which final projects, essays, and tests are issued over the next few weeks. It’s a scramble to get everything together and finished for most!

But whether you’re a college student or someone since graduated by many years, busy times come and go… or maybe they seem to never end. Work, work, work; go, go, go. Generally, that’s the way American culture functions and it even praises the person who can work around the clock without resting. We even work when we’re on vacation! Unfortunately, this is contrary to the way human beings are designed. We NEED rest! Not the kind of rest that induces laziness but the kind of rest that is truly restful, re-energizing, and restoring. In a word: Sabbath. This kind of rest also acknowledges that we are not the ones in control… Sabbath was designed to set specific time aside to point towards the Creator as the one who is in control of all things, and also time to worship Him. When we don’t take that time to focus on prayer, reading Scripture, or simply *being* still, then we are effectively saying that we can do all things on our own and we don’t need a God that directs and guides us.
This is a punch in the gut for me. While I know this to be true, I constantly struggle to take time off to breathe and spend time with my Father in heaven. The “urgency” or “importance” of other things snags my attention very easily—not that they aren’t important, but taking a moment to acknowledge God and ask Him for rest is more important. A common saying that I’ve been using a LOT lately is that if you give genuine time to God, God will give you time to accomplish all those things you need to accomplish. Remember how the Lord took a few scant fish and loaves of bread and fed a multitude? In some miraculous way that I’ve yet to understand, God has the ability to do that with time (but I suppose since God IS the author of time this would make sense)…

So my encouragement to all of you and a kick in the pants for me is to spend some down time with the Lord this week. Take a breather. Be still for a moment to praise God for simply being God. It’s very relieving to have God cast away our anxiety and stress and self-sufficiency. My prayer is that we can find some rest this week, and that the Spirit would work a habit of rest and Sabbath into our lives so that we can be intentional about spending time with the Lord.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

4.11.2008 (written 4.9)

2008-04-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

Hello friends-

A lot has been going on between now and the last email requesting prayer as I try to balance my various responsibilities. More and more I’m reminded of the fact that God is in control, and everything will be all right. These kinds of reminders are good for all of us, as are moments of craziness- I really do believe they stretch and grow each of us. Hope you’re also learning a lot in your own life!

A few days ago when I went to walk somewhere, I decided to take with me a freebie-MP3 player that I got a few years ago. On it I found a song that I hadn’t heard in a long time called, “Solidarity,” by Five Iron Frenzy. It’s a very uplifting song both in beat and in lyric. I thought I might share some of it with you this week:

To the brothers and the sisters; to all of the resistors;
all the workers broke and crying on the road that leads to Zion,
the mountain we will all climb-
All of God’s children in God’s own time.
Solidarity (x3)- United we can never fall
Let one voice ring throughout the world
Let truth be told
Let us lay our own lives down,
A greater love was never known.

I’d been thinking recently about how as Christians we can be a severely divided group of people. Sure enough, all of us have probably encountered some situation in which Christians have argued with one another: between the Catholic and Protestant churches, or between denominations, or even between people in the same church building. To be sure, sometimes there are reasons to be divided; differences in church doctrine or major points in theology. Other times the reasons to be divided are nonsensical – and I’ve been at fault for such things. In hearing this song again and pondering all these things, I have to ask my question: am I seeking solidarity?
Although superficially this song would seem idealistic, it calls back to Scripture. Truly! Jesus says in John 13:34-35, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Ephesians also speaks into this idea of being united, when Paul writes about Christ redeeming both Jews and Gentiles – peoples who previously hated one another – and saying they are not two nations, but one nation united in Christ. When we don’t love one another, we act as the world expects people to act. But when we lay down our lives for others we display the love Christ had for us, “Great love has no one than this, that he may lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:13,14)

How do you love like that? How can I love like that? It seems ridiculously simple to be told to love others, and I realize the difficulties (boy do I). However, if Christ is our strength and Christ has put in us the Holy Spirit… can’t we also ask how we can love like that and expect to be shown the way? This is my prayer for me, for all of us… That we can learn to love one another despite our differences or sharp disagreements. I pray that we can be people of truth and honesty, united and really standing as one body that doesn’t distort Christ’s love by our fragmentation.

In love and in Him,
Your sister
Yvonne

3.29.2008

2008-03-29T15:38:00.001-07:00

Matthew 6:34
Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Hello friends,

I hope that all is well with you and that you have been learning and growing in your walk with Christ every day. There have been many things going on in the past week which is why you may not have heard from me in a while. For the same reason I am combining my usual “Weekly Thing” with a prayer request that affects my ministry in Philadelphia.

Easter had been a weekend weighted with reminders of Christ’s suffering (Good Friday) and of course His resurrection. Though now I cannot remember the hymn that God seeded in my mind for several days, I do remember that the song’s intention was to focus on the wonder of the Cross – the place of such grave suffering and paradoxically the place of glorious redemption. This is a springboard of our faith, leading to joy and freedom and peace (as well as many other things). Today I’m particularly reminded of the fact that my stress and anxiety ought to be brought before the Cross; submitting things to Christ up and letting Him have control.

As you might know, I’d been set to get married on August 9, 2008. This has changed over the past week and a half, and I am now looking to be married on May 31, 2008. You’re more than welcome to ask why this is and I encourage you to email or call me to do so! But it is the wedding planning that I must put before Christ because let me tell you: moving such an important event 3 months earlier makes things a little crazy. Throw into the mix that the location will be on the other side of the country, and you can get a picture of how things are for me right now. Once certain things are settled again I know all shall be well. Until then, I do covet your prayers and encouragement in regards to balancing ministry and everything else because my attention is extremely divided right now. Perhaps the most important thing to pray right now is for ALL things to be done to the glory of God; that in the midst of my scatter-brained state the Lord would still use me and that I would constantly remember Him in all of my dealings.

I’ve come to gradually realize that dealing with many things at once – or if it seems like I am – causes me a great deal of anxiety. Matthew 6:25-34 is like a cooling balm or a glass of cold water on a hot day to me. Please pray that I remember to seek God’s Kingdom in knowing that our Provider is going to take care of all the things that get me so worked up!

Thank you for your love and prayers, always;
In love and in Him,

Yvonne

“I can’t comprehend; I can’t take it all in; never understand such perfect Love come for the broke and beat, for the wounded and weak. Come fall at His feet; He’s the remedy.
He is the One who has saved us. He is the One who forgave. He is the One who has come and is coming again. He is the Remedy.”
- David Crowder Band, “Remedy”

3.16.2008

2008-03-17T08:24:00.001-07:00

Psalm 51:7b, 10-12, 17
… wash me and I will be made whiter than snow.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Hello friends-

I hope that this finds you well, and learning from our Lord. Many of you are going through seasons of breaking from classes and if you happen to be one of those people I hope that you’ve been able to rest! (in any case, I hope you’ve been able to rest)

To lay it out there, recently I’ve been finding it somewhat difficult to focus on Christ. There are many things going on in my life that vie for my attention and other things that should have attention but do not properly have it. There are obligations to be fulfilled and quite frankly I’m tired and feel like the joy is getting squeezed right out of me. I’m left to complaining and upon that realization I know I’ve been ungrateful.
As I continue to plod through the Chronicles of Narnia, I find more snippets here and there that resonate with my Christian experience. In one of the books, there is a character that ends up getting turned into a dragon quite unexpectedly. None of the others know what to do with him, and he stays in this condition for quite some time – miserable all the while but trying to make the best of it – before he encounters the Lion and is brought to a pool of sorts. Before he can enter the pool Aslan asks the dragon to undress. (What a silly thing to do, to ask a dragon to undress!) Like the skin of a snake is shed, the character peeled off his scaly skin. Stepping out of the skin completely, the character is dismayed to find that he is still a dragon. Thus he tries again, and again, and after the third time the Lion speaks up. Here is how this part of the story goes:

“… ’You will have to let me undress you.’ I was afraid of his claws…but I was nearly desperate now. … The first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. … he peeled the beastly stuff right off—just as I thought I’d done myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt.”

It’s this painful undressing that I think I need. I’ve gotten some rough edges coming back that need a good sanding down, a persona that’s getting built up that hasn’t really got the attitude of a child of God. It’s frightening when God takes away these rough patches because we’re fleshy and tender and most of all vulnerable once that toughness is peeled away – like a peeling sunburn, or after picking off a scab. But that’s the only way God can bring in His healing, when we’re the most vulnerable. Where does God need to come into your own life, to cut you deep to the heart and peel away the tough exterior?

As we move towards Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, I pray that we open ourselves to God and rejoice in His Son – what He did as Lord of all creation and humble servant to the sinner. I pray that our tough exteriors would be worn down, that we would come before the Throne and have our false personas peeled away.

In love and in Him,
Your sister
Yvonne

03.06.2008

2008-03-06T14:27:00.001-08:00

Hello!

How are you? I hope that things are well and that the Lord is teaching you many things. It would seem that I am perpetually busy, and in being so busy there are always many things that I just want to write about.

Since I’ve never read the books before I’ve recently been going through the Chronicles of Narnia and just finished up with Prince Caspian. It doesn’t take lot for someone to say that these stories are delightful, and it’s actually quite nice to take a break from all the other books I read. So far I think the most striking scene I’ve read has been out of ‘The Horse and His Boy,’ the third (second) book from the series.

The main character from this book is a boy named Shasta who has a chance meeting with a talking horse from Narnia named Bree (they aren’t in our world, but the Narnian world). Since he wants to get away before he’s sold as a servant and since the horse wants to escape back to Narnia, they set out on the adventure together. Late in the book after dangerous mishaps, Shasta finds himself riding a horse (not Bree) in a dense fog. He starts to pity himself because he’s lost and can’t see at all in the fog. Suddenly, he realizes that there is a Thing walking with him – although fearful at first, Shasta eventually comes in dialogue with It and shares his sorrows with It.
After a key revelation, Shasta asks, “Then it was you who wounded [my friend]?”
“It was I.”
“But what for?”
“Child,” said the Voice, “I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”

The last line said by the Voice reminds me of the following passage:

John 21:17-18, 21-22
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
When Peter saw [the disciple whom Jesus loved], he asked, "Lord, what about him?"
Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."

How often do we compare ourselves with others or question what God might be doing because we want to know why He does the things He does? Why does one have lifelong sickness, and the other does not? Why do I have to go through this, and that person doesn’t? Why does she have, and I don’t?
I think a lot of the time it doesn’t make sense to us that God would allow certain suffering in a person’s life, and that might even cause us to question God’s intentions. But, what is it to us? We must follow Christ. The point Jesus makes to Peter is that he needed to follow Him and keep his eyes on Him. The Voice makes the point that we only have our story and we’re given no other; the path we’re on is different than that of someone else. God has different things set before us to teach us in different ways. What we can offer is not questioning or jealousy, but Christ-likeness: joy in our different paths, comfort in sorrow, prayers and worship of God throughout.

I pray that we can be people who appreciate the paths given to us, though sometimes difficult and confusing. But through those times I also pray for strength, so that we can turn and continue to praise our God. I also pray that the Holy Spirit can teach us to not compare ourselves with others which can lead to jealousy, but that we can be content with what God has given us. May we follow Christ and seek Him first, not looking aside to follow other things.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

2.20.2008

2008-02-20T14:16:00.000-08:00

Hello friends-

As I was flipping through my emails I received this prayer in a Forward; typically I don’t bother with forwards, but I thought that this one might be appropriate to send out in a weekly thing… I know that these are things I need to be reminded of to pray over more often. Prayer is so essential to our relationship with God and I hope this encourages you to find some time – in addition to this – to lift your words to our wonderful Adonai, our sovereign God.

Dear Lord, I thank you for this day. I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you. I ask now for Your forgiveness..

Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.

Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control. Let me continue to see sin through Your eyes and acknowledge it as evil. And when I sin, let me repent, and confess with my mouth of my wrongdoing, and receive forgiveness.

And when this world closes in on me, let me remember Jesus' example -- to slip away and find a quiet place to pray. It's the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits. I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart. Continue to use me to do Your will.

Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak. Keep me up lifted that I may have words of encouragement for others. I pray for those who are lost and can't find their way. I pray for those who are misjudged and misunderstood. I pray for those who don't know You intimately. I pray for those who don't believe. But I thank you that I believe.

I believe that You change people and You change things for good reasons. I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For each and every one of my family members and friends and their families. I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes that they are out of debt and all their needs are met.

I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than You. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight. I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees them and every mouth that confesses them willingly..

This is my prayer.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.

2.11.2008

2008-02-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

Luke 9:23-25
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Hello!

I pray you are well, and learning abundantly from our Lord, and that you are seeing His graces every day. There has been a lot of things going on in my life recently or at least it would seem that way. Perhaps there are only a few things, but they’re weighty things so it seems like a lot. What’s good about having these weighty things on me is that it gives me all the more reason to praise God. They are a collection of good things… frustrating things… things that make me want to hold my breath. All still good things, and it opens the door for God to teach me a LOT about prayer and relying on Him.
Sunday, in going with how He’s been teaching me a lot, I was reminded of a very important element in being Christian: taking up the Cross, daily. I’m sure we hear that phrase a lot, say it a lot, or think about it now and then. We know it’s something we ought to do… right? But always good to be reminded of the simple fact that Jesus is to be central to our coming and to our going. Taking up the cross means offering myself and following the Author of life. Taking up the cross means taking God’s lead even when we want to be doing something else. Taking up the cross means – a lot of things, really. It’s the epitome of being a Christian. Repentance and forgiveness; rinse, wash, repeat. Learning and living and breathing all that it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ; doing mercy, loving justice, and walking with God.
Even when we’d rather do our own thing.
Even if what He’s calling us to do doesn’t make any sense at all.

Not just once but tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. It’s not really easy making the decision to follow Jesus every day. What is easy is to get distracted when maybe we intended to spend time with God (guilty as charged); it’s easy to gossip about that person you really don’t like and are completely annoyed by; it’s easy to be proud about how much I know about the Bible (yes again guilty as charged). Taking up my cross daily isn’t easy but by the grace of God. And His grace… is so good. Although it is very true that we ought to move forward with all that we can towards God… that no matter what we do, God still loves us. God still loves you. He knows what you’re like on the inside, the sins you want to keep buried- He still wants you. He still wants me. He still asks us to take up our cross and follow Him.

Praise be to God!

Romans 12:1,2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In love and in Him with prayers,
Your sister,
Yvonne

01.29.2008

2008-01-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

Luke 12:35-37
Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.

Colossians 4:2-6
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

1 Peter 1:13-16
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

Hello!

How are you? I hope that this Weekly Thing finds you well and learning from the Lord. Just the other day – when I started writing this – I learned an important lesson in watchfulness: don’t go to the other room to do something else when you’re boiling eggs on the stove because you WILL forget for much longer than what eggs should boil for. And then your foot falls asleep so you make quite a scene trying to run to the kitchen to turn off the stove. (I’m sure it would have been hilarious to watch!)

Now that I’m thinking about my little egg tragedy, it actually ties into what I was going to write about today. Many times in the New Testament – either by Jesus’ exhortations or in the Epistles – we are told to be “watchful.” This is an awareness of what’s going on around us, and an eager expectation for the second coming of Christ. I would also wager to say that we are to be watchful of where God is working and how, so that when we see those things we can turn around and praise the Lord for His works. And by all means, those moments are all around us but we don’t always see them.
Having self-awareness is another important point… a self-watchfulness that is sensitive to sin; a watchfulness that stays on the right path and is careful not to trip over sinful snags. We are to watch our speech and interactions with non-believers so that our actions do not hinder the Gospel. How can I make sure that what I say won’t cause someone to stumble or be hindered in their faith if I’m not being mindful of it? And how can I be mindful of it, if I don’t know how a follower of Christ should act because I’m not reading the Bible?

If we aren’t watchful we end up like the egg: cracked, dry, and unappealing. It might also note that I did not eat the eggs because they were no longer any good to me. When we allow our sinfulness sit and go unchecked it is difficult to be a representative of God.
So my encouragement to you, and the reminder to myself, is to be watchful. Read and study Scripture. Pray. Allow others to observe the in your life so that they can help you be watchful of your behavior.

I pray that we can be watchful of our actions and careful not to stumble into sin by relying on God’s mercy, and following whole heartedly after Him. I also pray that we would be people who eagerly anticipate and rejoice that our Lord Jesus Christ will return one day, and that our hearts would draw ever nearer to Him. May the Holy Spirit be working in us continually while giving us the words and ambition to share our faith with those who don’t know Christ.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

01.17.2008

2008-01-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

Rev 22:17
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

Hello friends,

There has been so much going on, and let me tell you: I am very tired! But, through all of my work and coming to an exhausting point, the Lord is encouraging me in little ways day by day. I hope that he has done the same for you.

“It’s all about you.”
Ok, since I got engaged I’ve heard this phrase from individuals encouraging me in my wedding planning, and I’ve read it in wedding catalogs quite a lot. I can’t seem to escape it without seeing it somewhere in cute cursive text… or at least some variation thereof. And I suppose the bride is the star attraction at the wedding, since she’s the one that gets special music walking down the aisle, she’s the one that the groom traditionally isn’t allowed to see the day of the wedding before she’s walking down that aisle. The bride’s the one that gets the really pretty dress that trumps everyone else, and she’s the one that will have everything done her way. When it gets really bad is when you end up with phrases and TV shows like “Bride-zilla.” Yikes.

Honestly, that whole idea is a little unnerving. I don’t like being the center of attention (and, thank goodness, neither does my husband-to-be). It makes my face get all flush when everyone is staring at me. No thanks.

As much as everyone can say “It’s all about you,” to me, I have to think and remind myself of how a Bride is painted in the Bible. If you’re wondering what in the world I’m talking about, let me get you up to speed: God’s people are frequently referred to as His Bride or the Wife. In the Old Testament the Wife is often referred to as being pretty wayward, but God always takes her back. In the New Testament, the Body of Christ is referred to the Bride of Christ in some of His parables and most especially in Revelation 19,21, and 22. The Bride comes before Christ to worship her Lord and King, and beckon others to “Come!” and take the free gift of the water of life (Rev 22:17).
So really it’s not about the Bride at all. Scripture clearly states in other ways peppered throughout that nothing is about the Body of Christ; only the Lord God Almighty is to be praised. The Bride in Revelation does not point to herself but instead points others to Christ. I think it’s fair to say that each and every one of us are included in that… not just the brides out in the world.

Would it be safe then to say that a wedding really is all about God? It’s pretty profound that Scripture uses a wife-husband or bride-bridegroom relationship to give us an image of what OUR relationship is to HIM. He uses what is meant to be the deepest and most profound human relationship any one of us will ever have to show us what a relationship with Him is like – and sevenfold. So my relationship is then supposed to trump my relationship with Scott!

Pretty crazy, huh? Now if I can remember all of that all the time, that would be great. And I pray the Lord would be patient with me in that endeavor as well as in your own! May the Holy Spirit be working mightily in us so that we can point towards God and not to ourselves; that we give HIM the glory and be reminded that it’s all about Him, not us.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

1.6.2008

2008-01-06T19:15:00.000-08:00

Hello and Happy 2008!

I hope that you had a joyous time over the holidays and that you’re also looking forward to what God will do in 2008. I for one am anticipating a very busy year.

As a way to start the New Year, my boyfriend recently proposed and I am now an engaged woman. As you could imagine, I’m ecstatic! This means new responsibilities to do, new things to learn, more things to grow in, and more things to add to an already busy schedule. However, over the past few weeks I’ve been reading through Proverbs and it couldn’t possibly come at a better time to remind me of the many ways that God is sovereign. In particular, Proverbs 16 is packed with verses like these:

16:1 “To man belongs the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the toungue.”
16:3 “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
16:9 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD establishes his steps.”

And you know what? Those verses then cast me forward to the New Testament, specifically to Matthew 6:25-34 about not worrying, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (26) “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (33)

If you think you’re life is hectic and you can’t possibly take on any other responsibilities, or if you’re stressed about finances or friendships or family, or if you think that you’ve got a plan set for exactly the way you want life to go… these are some passages to put into consideration. Let them remind you that God is taking care of you and there is a way that He has that’s best. If God is not only the creator of all things, He’s also the Lord of all things which consequently means that Time belongs to Him. Our plans belong to Him whether those plans are for tomorrow, six months from now, or five years from now. Why? Because God is the one that allows us to have that time at all! To me, it’s kind of crazy to think that every detail of my life is – or is meant to be – under the sovereignty of God. Only something infinite can take care of something finite, only something bigger can take care of something smaller. I pray that this is something I can remember as I’m making plans for a wedding, all the while also praying that all of my interactions with others will be glorifying to Him (for, “whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31). Please pray with me in this endeavor too! I’ll probably need to be reminded of this frequently.

I pray that we can all remember that every aspect of our lives belong to the Lord, no matter what it is that we are planning to do in the future. I also pray that we would continue to grow in increasing love and grace, desiring to be the light of God in a world in need. I pray that our love and identity with Christ would be evident, and that we would not be afraid to let Him be known… in our plans, in our speech, in our actions, in our prayers.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

12.22.2007

2007-12-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

Luke 2:8-14
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Hello!

I hope that you are doing well and that the Lord is continuing to teach and stretch and grow you. The Christmas is just about upon us, and I’m sure we’ve all had our fair share of shopping, or Christmas music, or card-writing, or even rejoicing that you get to have a break soon either because the school semester is done with or because of a work holiday.

I was listening to a song by The Myriad today and some lyrics stuck out to me. I thought I would share:

“I’m waiting with my arms up high
My eyes pulled tight to lines of worry
That you won’t meet me here tonight
Am I reaching enough?
Am I reaching at nothing?
Am I reaching enough?
Am I reaching at all?”

Sometimes I feel like I could echo this lyric with ease, especially “Am I reaching enough? Am I reaching at all?” I’m sure that you’re not a complete stranger to this feeling either. But before we go and wear sackcloth and ashes on our heads in mourning about how much we feel like a disappointment to God, let me point out something that’s really important.
As you know, it’s around this time of year that we hear one of the names of God tossed more so than other times: Emmanuel. Emmanuel means “God with us.” Think about that for just a moment. Let it go from your computer screen to rest in your mind and settle somewhere in your soul.

“God with us.”
“God with us.

God
With
Us

To other religions this kind of idea, the idea of God dwelling with His creation, is totally outrageous. But this is exactly what Jesus did: fully God and fully man. Divinity wrapped up in human flesh. God coming down to live with humanity. Let me repeat that: God coming down to live with humanity. When Jesus ascended into heaven, then the Holy Spirit came to dwell with every believer. God with us.
While it’s important for us to yearn for God and seek His face, it’s crucial to remember that God reached down to us way before we even wanted to reach for Him. In all His amazing grace and humility the Almighty Creator took the initiative in making our relationship with Him right. He took the initiative to be a sacrifice for sins so that we can have a relationship with God at all.

How freaking crazy is that?

Rather than bury your head in “I’m not reaching enough,” look up and praise the Lord for coming and reaching down to you! There isn’t an amount of reaching that is going to make up for the distance He’s taken to bring you lovingly into His presence. We ought to pursue God and pray to God as a reaction to how amazing His love is. I pray that I can do that; I pray that you can do that. I pray that we are continually humbled by God’s redemption but also overflowing with thankfulness.

I pray that your Christmas and New Year’s will be joyful as you celebrate our Savior, Emmanuel, “God with us.”

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

12.10.2007

2007-12-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

Psalm 37:4-7
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Matthew 6:33,34
…Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Hello friends!

A lot has been going on since the last time I wrote out the Weekly Thing (should it now be the bi-Weekly Thing??). But one primary reason that I’ve been lax in getting this out is due to some rather distracting events. Nov. 26th, I was involved in a minor car accident – from which I am not injured, nor is anyone else. But in case any of you were wondering: a sedan type vehicle is no match against an SUV. Due to related reasons I’ve decided to do without a car right now. This isn’t as big of a deal because I live in the middle of a big city, so public transportation is easily accessible.

However, in some ways it is a big deal. Now that I am without a car, and because of other current circumstances, I’m really feeling the sting of my desire to be independent. Let me explain. Having my own vehicle meant that I could almost go where I wanted whenever I wanted to go. Without a car, I need to humble myself and depend on others and ask for a ride – which will sometimes mean I’ll need to be forgiving and patient and still grateful when a friend is late; and that I shouldn’t be manipulative by talking someone into giving me a ride. Not only that, I also need to find out the when’s and where’s of public transportation.

Sounds pretty simple, right? But on the inside I know I don’t want to depend on others for little tasks that I once could do so easily myself.

Yet the most important and biggest thing this all points to is that God is probably teaching me to just TRUST and DEPEND on Him first and foremost. I have to trust that He is going to provide the means for me to get to places, and that He’ll keep me safe in the process (taking public transportation or walking at night in the city can be a little unnerving!). I have to trust that He’s going to sustain the relationships I have with others outside the city, and simply allow myself to be fully present in the place I live. There’s a lot more that I could probably go into, but the point is this: God wants me (and surely all of us?) to trust Him more with the finer details of our lives. Sometimes that means we need to sacrifice something in our lives. Sometimes that means He’ll take that something away, knowing that in so doing it gives us the opportunity to respond in faith and trust. I can’t say that I understand it completely but this is where I understand it at the moment, and I’m praying He continues to teach me to be less independent, and more dependent on Him as my provider and sustainer. I ask myself questions such as these and use them to encourage you: Did He not provide for so many of the men and women in the Bible, like Abraham and Moses and Ruth? And if He's provided Jesus, won’t He provide everything else?

I pray the same for all of us, so that in faith we can grow more as God’s children, knowing that our Father is good. I also pray that He teaches us to be more reliant on Him in all circumstances, having our hearts and minds transformed more and more into the image of Christ.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

11.21.2007

2007-11-23T06:09:00.000-08:00

Colossians 2:6,7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Hebrews 12:28,29
…since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."

Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Hello everyone,

By the time you get this, it’s either Thanksgiving or the holiday has passed. But! There is always reason for us to be giving thanks… While I dislike the idea of doing your typical talk about giving thanks around this time of year, it is something that we constantly need to be reminded of. I say this because it is terribly difficult to do the opposite of expressing gratitude: complaining.

In the States, it’s absolutely socially acceptable to complain about – well – anything under the sun. The government; our jobs; our lack of money; our classes; the terrible quality of television; the neighbors we don’t like; the time it takes to wait in line for something; the food we’re eating; the homes we live in; the families (or in-laws!) that we’re “stuck” with; the state of the church; the --- do I really need to go on? And those are just some of the things I hear pretty much every day either with the people I interact with, people I pass on the street, or even out of my own mouth. Some may be somewhat legitimate in the sense of something being completely askew with the way things ought to be. But most of the time I feel like we complain for the sake of complaining. There are a blessed few out there that barely complain about anything at all. I try to be one of those people, but honestly where I fail the most is in with my thoughts. I might not vocalize it but I’m still complaining. It’s also real easy for some people to get caught up in the complaints of others and just delve into a Complaining Fest.
Yet, complaining is a serious matter to God. There are a number of Scripture references that exhort us to not complain; one such passage compares what happened to the Israelites when they complained (being struck dead! Yikes! Check out 1 Corinthians 10:10 and Jude 1:16).
Complaining really comes out of being ungrateful and having that seated on our tongues rather than praise and thanksgiving to our God. There are many things in the situations that we don’t like that we can still praise the Lord for, and that’s what our focus ought to be. This isn’t something unfamiliar to Scripture, either; some of the verses above are just a few out of many in which we are told to be thankful. Being thankful changes our attitude about a situation or circumstance, and it even refocuses our outlook on life. Rather than being a dreadful place where things don’t really go the way we want them to, the world becomes a place God has made and is continuing to work in.

Now does THAT just turn everything all upside down. I really think that being continually grateful rather than ungrateful is one of God’s ways of giving us new eyes. Now if only I could keep that in mind when I’m tempted to complain about something frivolous … like unfavorable weather.

I pray that the Lord would impress upon us a sense of gratitude that is overwhelming and awesome. I pray that we would be changed in the attitude of our minds, that instead of lamenting about a situation we would be able to see what God might be doing there and praise Him for it. I pray that we would push out our tendency to complain in our hearts and with others so that we can be more and more grateful for the things God has given us.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

Philippians 2:14,15
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe

11.14.2007

2007-11-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

Hello!

I pray that this finds you well and that you’re learning a lot from our Lord through whatever your circumstances – good or bad – and that you are continually growing closer to Him. There are a handful of things that He’s been pulling from my own life, and particularly pointing out things that I thought I already went through a few times already.

Recently, I’ve begun to realize more and more how much I allow busyness (and contrastly, procrastination?) to veil over my daily life. While I encourage others to be diligent in prayer and making sure to spend time with God, I’ve found that I have not been taking my own words to heart and my own personal time in the quietness of God has been lacking. This is a dreadful realization. If you’ve been keeping tabs on the Weekly for a while now, this is going to be familiar news to you: you’ve seen where I’ve talked about this before, and probably would have seen it crop up again and again. You would think that I would be able to take hold of the bugger and toss it out, right? Oh - but cyclical sinner that I am, apparently I’m having a terrible time shaking it off even when I see it coming up again. and again. and again. (perhaps there is something you deal with of another sort that follows this particular trend?) BUT-- Praise be to God our Father for being so gracious and patient! How good He is deal with, bring us back, continually love us with discipline and faithfulness. How deep is God’s love for us that He would call and treat us as His children.
And through this busyness of mind, this disordered sense that makes me feel unbalanced and weighed down, there are so many good things that peek through. This Weekly Thing, I wanted to share with you some Scriptures that have cropped up over the past few days. It has encouraged me and a good portion of it has revolved around resting and finding/having peace in the Lord. That’s what I need right now: rest. God’s peace. an assurance that He is in control. that He is using me even when I feel feeble and weighed down. I need refinement and a sharpening. I pray these passages from Scripture, through our faith in Christ, would encourage your hearts as well.

Philippians 4:4-9, 12,13
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 23,24
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

2 Thessalonians 2:16,17
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Praise be to God.
In love and in Him,
Yvonne

11.1.2007

2007-11-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

Matthew 5:13-16

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Hello everyone!

It has been quite a busy time for me; I should probably be taking more time and paying more attention to rest. I’ve been neglecting certain things that I love doing and certain things that I don’t necessarily love to do, but should get done (particularly the kind of things that require cleaning the apartment – oi!). But with that thought aside, I hope that you have been more restful than I, and have been able to celebrate the gift of down time.

As always, there is much that I could share. There are still things from the last Weekly that I sent that I’d like to talk about, and it’s amazing what can happen between now and then that brings up other thoughts. Lately I’d been in conversations about following Christ and faith; and then I’d also been thinking about serving Him where we live and having the compassion and loving the places where we live. When God called Abraham, for example, Abraham had no idea where he was going. God said “Go to the place I lead you,” and Abraham went. While I don’t think that too many of us (though some of us do) get the direct voice of God telling us where we ought to live next, I do believe that there is a purpose in being in the places you and I are currently at. This was the case with Esther, who found herself in a royal position around the same time when n edict was sent for the destruction of the Jews… she became the king’s wife and was able to plead for her people (Esther 4:14, “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” said to Esther when she was not completely willing to speak to the king.)

Whether you are in school, or working in a business, or working part-time while you look for a career, there’s a reason for being where you are right now. Now, I can’t tell you what that might be. But, I can suggest that perhaps you are where you are to grow as a Christian. I can suggest that maybe there is one person – maybe even the one that annoys you the most – that needs to hear/see the Gospel and the love of God. I could suggest a lot of things but the point is that it can be so easy to be discontent with the place we’re in, that once we start complaining about it we end up missing the opportunity to be blessed… or to bless someone else with the kind of blessing that comes from a servant’s heart. Our scope becomes too small, or too self-focused, or too boxed in. Worse yet, maybe we’re too busy living in our prospective future situation that we totally miss what’s going on in the present. Rather than do that, look for how God may want to use you or teach something to you in your current situation. Look for ways that you can serve those who are around you right now. Take joy in the little things you can find so that your heart can be more grateful for the fact that you have what you do.

There’s a phrase that I heard a long time ago and recently heard again: “Bloom where you’re planted.” Maybe your neighbors need to know that Christ’s love is deeper and more forgiving than they think. Maybe your coworker needs to see what a compassionate Christian looks like. Maybe your classmate’s wounds need to be healed. Maybe your family needs to see what God’s grace really looks like. Maybe you need to learn how to trust in, wait on, or depend on God. Maybe you’re not willing to budge but God really is calling you to go somewhere else.

“Maybe” a lot of things; I don’t know your situation. Take courage though: the God who saved you and holds you close is the same God that gives you strength to be a light in the world. He isn’t going to let you down as long as you look and listen to what He’s got in store for you. And that’s my prayer for all of us.

In love and in Him,

Your sister,

Yvonne

10.19.2007

2007-10-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

John 14:26,27
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Hebrews 4:9-11
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their [the Israelites] example of disobedience.

Psalm 29:11
The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Hello everyone!
Wow. It certainly has been a long time since I wrote a Weekly Thing! I hope that you all have been doing well and that the Lord has been teaching and bringing each of you closer to Himself. My sincerest apologies for my time of silence, as it were; I had some computer issues for a while and then I’d gotten wrapped up in busyness. But now, I am able to write finally! As you could probably imagine, the Lord has been teaching me a lot over the past month and a half … about compassion, love, patience, trust, peace, and perseverance… and a lot more. So where do I begin? What can be written to surmise all the things I’d been learning about?

Well. I’m not sure where to start simply because there is SO much. Isn’t that the way it always is, though? God is constantly giving learning opportunities to us and it’s just a matter of seeing them. Which is amazing in and of itself… And although I could write about God’s grace – a topic that could never be exhausted – I think instead His peace can be the focus.
When Jesus talks about peace and how the peace of God will be with us, I don’t think He means that everything is always going to be rays and sunshine. That is, I don’t think He was promising that we would be happy all the time. Happiness is an emotional state that we experience on and off… But I think that peace – like joy – is a state of being that is settled in the depths of our soul. That although things are hectic on the outside and perhaps very high-strung, deep down we know that everything will be okay. That God is going to take care of what is going on outside of us and within us; that we are settled in knowing that God is continually providing even when we are lacking.
Peace is a tough thing to nail down, and I for one don’t always focus on the fact that I can be at rest knowing that God is in control of my life. No; I want to be the one in control, I want to be the one who calls the shots and tries to make sure that everything around me is secure… and that’s when I lose peace (and sometimes even sleep!). I end up asking questions like, “Well what about this? When will that happen? When is God going to provide here? How will I know?” and so on and so forth. Looks a lot like impatience, too, and how dreadful those times really end up being! What I thought would give me peace by my own making, really ends up being the very thing that stresses me out and makes me worry. The whole time God is saying, “Stop freaking out and just trust me, okay?”

Okay. So maybe He’s not saying it quite like that, but you get the idea.

God’s peace is there for us ready to be put on like a permanent coating. It is ours; not because of the things that we do of course, but because Christ died and because He promised that the Holy Spirit would dwell within us. He – the Holy Spirit – is constantly working in our hearts to change us and equip us with the tools we need, when we need to do anything. Because of God’s work, we can rest. Because God holds the future in His hands and knows we can only handle so much at once, we can trust that what is in the horizon is taken care of.

I pray that each of us can really take on this peace God offers, and hold it close to our hearts… and perhaps not only hold it close to our hearts, but cherish it as a part of us. I pray that the Spirit would continually teach us what it means to be at peace with ourselves and the world around us; not in a way that is “flowery” but in a way that is deep and true and raw…. That acknowledges hurts, but also gives us the understanding that things will be mended. I pray that we would also learn to be patient, trusting the Lord in all things and in all times.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

09.01.2007

2007-09-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Can I tell you how good God is? Just a day after last week’s email, my mood and outlook on current situations flipped completely around and the only one that I can think of crediting for that is God. There are still some struggles, but my perspective has been bettered somehow. So praise be to God.

Moving forward, there was something I had been reading in Scripture this morning that caught my interest. It was something I’d read over a few times before and it didn’t particularly stand out to me, but today it hooked my attention. At the very end of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul expounds upon the importance of Christ having died and resurrected; directly afterward he writes, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15:58) The Corinthian believers probably struggled with doubt and persecution just as anyone else in the early Church, amid the other questions and issues they were having that caused Paul to write his first letter to them.
I think what sticks out to me most in this verse is that the Corinthians (and ourselves) are told to “always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” While I admittedly do not know what the work is specifically, I would imagine that it is not completely set apart from when we are asked to be “living sacrifices” in Romans (Rom 12:1,2). This and the verse in 1 Corinthians are said in such a way that would lead one to believe this is meant to be a constant motion of giving ourselves to God. Dying to self and living unto God. ‘Working’ towards the Kingdom of God yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Following Christ through thick and through thin because it is an endeavor that is not in vain; it is not worthless, pointless, or arbitrary to believe in and follow Jesus… despite what many things around us may want to tell us. Despite our temptations and thoughts to just say that it’s not all that important to talk to God every day.

Now, this wholly-giving/living to God thing isn’t easy. If it were easy, we wouldn’t necessarily have to be told or reminded to do it. We would just do it. It isn’t easy to give myself fully to the work of the Lord, because although I know it may not be in vain, I tire quickly. But I must also remind myself that my labor in the Lord is not in vain. Your labor in the Lord is not in vain. If I come to think of it, there really isn’t a grade system for how good our work in the Lord is; so how could even the smallest thing that we do for the Lord (as opposed to ourselves or to please other people) be in vain? “… Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10:31) If matters of eating and drinking can be done to the glory of God – and therefore, not done in vain – how much more anything else we do for the purpose of wanting God glorified!

Perhaps I’m beginning to tangent. How exciting and challenging it is to think about where I fall short and where I would want to encourage all of us to live wholly for Christ and to give ourselves fully to His work! But I digress… and pray that each of us would learn these things and hold them close to our hearts… that the Lord would teach us through His Spirit to love Him wholly. I pray that we would also be people who desire to work for the Lord – be we pastors, missionaries, artists, business-people, teachers, or whatever we may be. May we all do our own work for the glory of the Lord.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

08.23.2007

2007-08-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 40:28-31
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. The will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 41:10
…do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Psalm 18:28,29
You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advane against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

Hello everyone-

As you may have noticed, there was not a Weekly Thing last week. Things in my world have been tossed around in all kinds uncomfortable ways. Much of this had been similar struggles that I was dealing with the last time I wrote, and the flow of life has given me a lot of ups and downs lately.
Although I don’t want to go into details about it, I would guess that a lot of you have had to face struggles and burdens that make you want to throw up your hands and say, “I can’t do it, I give up, I don’t want to do this anymore.” Whatever that struggle may look like for you, it’s definitely not a pleasant period to be stuck in and some of us may deal with those emotions heavier than others for various reasons. However, through all of the garbage that we have to dig through, may we all be encouraged to press onward. Keep digging. Keep praying. Keep crying out. Keep looking up. Keep hoping. Persevere.

A dear friend of mine (really, in some ways you could call her my Godmother) recently sent me a daily devotional that fell in line near perfectly with the way I’d been feeling as of late. I’d like to share a piece of it with you.

“Remain true to the faith. Along our journey of faith, God knows when we need encouragement, when our flesh is weak and we need to be challenged to press on. I am no different than you or any other man. I have my times of weakness, my moments of doubt, those days when the battles are simply too fierce. Satan is only too happy to seize those moments as he did when Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days and nights. He comes to tempt me, acting as my friend who is concerned about my well being, giving me all the justification I need to take my eyes off the prize. This is how satan will come to you as well. Listen to me carefully: Satan is a liar.”

He also quotes Charles Spurgeon, a theologian from the 1800s:

“Perseverance is the badge of true saints. The Christian life is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts. It is with a Christian as it was with the great Napoleon: he said, "Conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me." So, under God, dear brother in the Lord, conquest has made you what you are, and conquest must sustain you. Your motto must be, "Excelsior." He only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continues till war's trumpet is blown no more. Perseverance is, therefore, the target of all our spiritual enemies. The world does not object to your being a Christian for a time, if she can but tempt you to cease your pilgrimage, and settle down to buy and sell with her in Vanity Fair. The flesh will seek to ensnare you, and to prevent your pressing on to glory. "It is weary work being a pilgrim; come, give it up. Am I always to be mortified? Am I never to be indulged? Give me at least a furlough from this constant warfare." Satan will make many a fierce attack on your perseverance; it will be the mark for all his arrows. He will strive to hinder you in service: he will insinuate that you are doing no good; and that you want rest. He will endeavor to make you weary of suffering, he will whisper, "Curse God, and die." Or he will attack your steadfastness: "What is the good of being so zealous? Be quiet like the rest; sleep as do others, and let your lamp go out as the other virgins do." Or he will assail your doctrinal sentiments: "Why do you hold to these denominational creeds? Sensible men are getting more liberal; they are removing the old landmarks: fall in with the times." Wear your shield, Christian, therefore, close upon your armor, and cry mightily unto God, that by His Spirit you may endure to the end.”

Keep digging. Keep praying. Keep crying out. Keep looking up. Keep hoping.

Persevere.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

08.09.2007

2007-08-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Psalm 18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Hello everyone,

I hope that the Lord has been challenging and encouraging each of you, continually working in you and changing you and encouraging you as one of His beloved children.

I’m not really even sure where to start this week because God seems to be continually working on me about trusting Him and knowing that He is always providing. Much of what I’d like to say is a lot of what I had to say last week. Intermingled with all of what He is still teaching me is keeping my eyes open to the places where God is working, and His grace. I have to admit: earlier this week I had a hard time with these things and responding in continual gratitude despite how I felt at the time. If you’ve ever deeply struggled or felt like you were in a dark spot in your life, you know what I’m talking about. I suppose you could say that it’s like the shades have been pulled, but you know that there’s still light on the other side of it; you just can’t see it, or see it fully.
Something that I think we tend to easily forget is that in the dark times and struggles in our lives that are particularly difficult (even if they don’t last that long) there is also spiritual warfare going on. Ephesians 6:10-20 reminds us of this reality. Reading the Gospel’s account of Jesus’ encounters with spirits should make us all the more aware of the spiritual realm. I think in America we like to think and believe that evil spirits are arcane and make-believe – at least we act that way – but the truth of the matter is that they are real and they don’t like us. However, before we begin to think that we ought to fear the reality of evil, let’s be reminded that if we profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, He is the one that has victory. He is the one that saves and protects us. We do not have to fear because the One who is more powerful than the devil is on our side. Perhaps this is all a side note, but it is something I’ve thought about considerably this week (the sermon I heard on Sunday was a reminder).
What’s awesome about God in these instances of struggle and spiritual warfare is that God continually has grace and mercy on us. Even when we can’t see His face or hear His voice as clearly, He’s still there. Even when we aren’t as grateful for what He has given us, He’s still there. He’s still working and moving and prodding our little despairing hearts to assure us of His sovereignty and fatherly protection. And because we are His beloved children that will never change. We can have hope because we have God through Christ.

How much more, then, ought we to speak about Jesus to other people? In Ephesians, Paul makes sure to let us know that the reason why people in the world end up not having hope or they are despairing is because they do not have God. There are no promises for them to cling to. Before we were Christians, we were in the same boat… I think perhaps this is something I especially need to remember as I go throughout my day. And in those darker, fuzzier times in my life I need to remember that I have hope that it will pass because I have a God who is present and cares intimately about my life.

I pray then that we would all be constantly reminded about our hope in Jesus Christ, that we have a God in heaven who deeply loves us and is going to take care of us despite our current struggles, spiritual warfares, or whatever else is going on in our lives that cause us to despair or doubt. I also pray the Holy Spirit would continually be working in us concerning these issues and enabling us to have a heart of praise through thick and thin. I pray that we would be grateful people who see God working.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

Ephesians 6:10-20
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

07.31.2007

2007-07-31T10:47:00.001-07:00

Hebrews 4:10
…for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

Psalm 91:14-16
“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Hello everyone,

Between taking a trip to North Carolina and then going to Ocean City for two days, there was quite a bit to catch up on back at home. I feel as though I’ve been in a whirlwind of motion (this seems to be a frequent predicament for me, doesn’t it?). But as mentioned two weeks ago, there is much for me to talk about. There’s possibly more going on in my head than I even know what to do with, so hopefully I’ll get to get some thoughts out in my blog as well. God has been teaching me many things, and stretching me in many ways – and I hope you’ve been experiencing much the same, being changed and molded by our Father.

One of the ways that God has been challenging me is through my concept of work. What does it mean to be faithful to God? It’s still a question that I’m still trying to work on, wrestling with the notion while being bombarded in my thoughts about what’s bred into me by my social environment. Work, according to our culture, is a means to value and worth and rewards. I do not mean work in an occupational sense exactly. It’s more of a “I’ve given time and effort, so I should receive X, Y, and Z. I’ve done X so I should see the results of it. I do something that you think is a good thing, and so I will earn merit with you,” and so on and so forth. It’s very hard to have the work that I do (in this case, fund raising and ministry) get wrapped up into these notions, especially because they seem to be subtle or even harmless. However, it comes to a point that I’ll work hard, and because of that “hard work” I expect to see the results right away. However, they don’t always come in a time that I would expect.
Because I don’t see immediate results, I come to the questions of, “Am I doing something wrong? Am I not being faithful?” I get myself tossed into doubt, and worst of all I fumble around in worriment. While I’m sure that there are plenty of issues that I need to sort through and pray over, I realize what part of the problem is in getting anxious: my worth and value, and concept of God’s response, is too closely tied to my own efforts and how people approve of me.

People tend to get their identity and their worth out of the kind of work that they do and how well they do it. If I’m doing a good job, I can see the fruit of the labor. I feel really good about myself because other people will be proud of the effort that I’ve put into things. They say that I’m valuable to them as a worker, so therefore I am valuable as a whole person. If I mess something up or make a mistake – or even just perceive that I did – it’s all downhill from there. If I can’t see the results of what I’m doing, I must be doing it incorrectly.

Superficially we all know that the above thinking isn’t the way things work, but in the depths of our psychology that’s how we operate. We weren’t meant for that. I just got off the phone with a friend who reminded me of something that’s very important: God doesn’t ask us for results. God asks us to be obedient and faithful. We may never actually see the fruits of our labors; I recently read through Hebrews, which reminds us that “faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.” I constantly have to be told that I’m not asked for results or success, but that I entrust God with those things. His are the results and His is the success, because all of what we do and work at is meant for the glory of God, not us. Our value and worth is not measured by efforts, or really in anything that we do at all. Our value is measured by God’s covenants and promises, and nothing we do (good or bad) can change that.

I pray that each one of us would be moved and challenged by God about the ways we think about work and our own efforts, so that we can see that our worth is not found in those things but in Him. I also ask He would move us so that our work is our attempts to be faithful and obedient, and not acts that are seeking favor or merit. May the Holy Spirit continually be changing us with His great power, molding us into the likeness of Christ.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

07.11.2007

2007-07-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

Genesis 2:18
It is not good for man to be alone.

Deuteronomy 6:5
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so does one man another.

Hebrews 10:24,25
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hello everyone,

It looks like I’m late, but to be honest I’ve been having an interesting time wrestling with a lot of things over the past two weeks. It’s been kind of crazy with going back and forth in my own mind about what I know to be true about God and my relationship with Him as a daughter, and being distressed about finances and ultimately dealing with doubt.

Thankfully, through one of those kinds of sermons that kick you in the gut and key people in my life to challenging and encouraging me, I have been strengthened by our Lord. All the more reason why it’s obvious that we are not meant to be alone in our Christian walks, but that we need our brothers and sisters – one-on-one as well as corporately. God uses the people in our lives to teach and rebuke us; to love and care for us; to humble and encourage us; to grieve and celebrate with us. It’s in the very fabric of our created selves that we are meant to be in relationships with other people. Community is important to God’s plan for us.
At the same time, we are also meant to keep God as our primary relationship and focus. It is so easy to distort our relationships with others and effectively put them in the place of God. It seems harsh to say, but in our hyper-dependency and desire to please we make idols out of people -- and they usually don’t even know it, because we don’t even recognize it as such. This can especially be true of romantic relationships, but also true of when we put our worth and esteem in being overly concerned with how others think about us (parents, friends, peers, teachers/bosses, etc). Our thoughts, actions, words, dress, and attitudes are essentially controlled by our fear of being rejected by others. Or, the reverse is that we have unreasonable expectations of the way others conduct themselves or dress or talk when they are with us. We lose our grace and our compassion. The unfortunate thing about it though is that we tend to not even be aware of it. These are so heavily imprinted on the way society runs that we don’t even see it, and it’s especially dangerous (and damaging!) when it creeps into our churches and places of worship. Sanctuaries suddenly lose their safety.
Could we work to be a people who are not controlled this way? Our first step is recognizing it, which honestly is easier said than done. We cannot recognize it on our own without God first revealing it to us in our hearts through His Holy Spirit but we can pray for this end. Perhaps some of us don’t have these issues and God has been increasingly gracious, but certainly then we can pray for it stop running rampant in the lives of others.
When I first started writing this I thought that I would write about God’s sovereignty and provision – obviously that changed and I’m not 100% sure why. But whatever the case is, I do pray that each one of us would learn to embrace friendships with others in a way that is open and honest and safe. On the flipside I also pray that we learn to not put people before God, and that our fear of the Lord would reign supremely in our hearts that we may serve and love Him – and that we would love others as the overflow. I pray that we could learn to trust our Father in heaven and learn to trust one another and not betray one another to gossip and slander. May each of us be refined, shaped, and changed by the Holy Spirit.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

06.27.2007

2007-06-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone-

My apologies for more or less skipping last week’s Weekly. I’m still trying to recover from being so busy the past month and a half! But things have been going well and God has been teaching me a lot of different things and stretching me all at once.
I’ve been reading and studying through Ephesians the past few weeks, and yesterday I finished up Round One of going through the letter. There is much to be shared about what’s there in Ephesians, but one thing in particular has been on my mind as I’ve been going through it: Church. As most of you know if you’ve been reading my Weekly’s over the years, I tend to have an emphasis on Christian community and how important it is to be an active part of a local church body. I recently joined membership with a local church here in Philadelphia, something I’d been hungering for ever since I moved here in January. I bring up church here because frustrations with the church and “organized religion” have fallen on my ears more than once over the past few months.
On the one hand, we know that just going to church isn’t what makes someone a Christian. What makes an individual a Christian is their love and personal relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ. If you don’t have that, it doesn’t matter how often you go to church. But on the other hand, there is a lot of bitterness in people towards churches because there sometimes can be hurting, gossip and slander, cliques, judgementalism, legalism, and --my goodness, so many things that I’m pained to mention. I’ve met so many people that develop a hard heart against churches because of these things. So they avoid church.

The thing of it is, though, is that the church is made up of people who are putting themselves before others; people who might be legalistic; people who take advantage of God’s grace; people just like you and people just like you and me. My pastor recently had a sermon about this very thing, and the problem with the church is that the church is full of sinners. However, it is this very Church that Christ has chosen to be His Bride. And, to quote my pastor, “she’s beat up, got some tears and stains on her dress; she’s imperfect.” While we are tempted to point out all the faults in the church (which is so easy, believe me), I think we have to remember that it’s full of people that are just as messed up as I am who need Christ just as much as I do. I am to have grace, forgiveness, and a loving heart towards the church.
Now you might be wondering how this connects to what I’ve been studying in Ephesians… Check this action out:
Paul talks about how the church is made up of Gentiles and Jews, two peoples who normally didn’t associate with one another. In talking about this, he says how Christ broke down the dividing wall between the two peoples, and that they are to be reconciled to one another. Later, he says this in Ephesians 4:1-3, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Each one of us are called to be Christ-carriers, peacemakers, and people who “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, bitterness and slander, along with every form of malice.” And are called to, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” [Eph 4:31,32] Paul is talking directly to people who didn’t get along before, people in the church. If we’ve got an issue with the church, this cycle of love and forgiveness has got to start somewhere, and it might as well start with me and you as Christ works in us.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

06.13.2007

2007-06-13T12:57:00.001-07:00

“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” --- Colossians 1:10-14

Hello friends,
Wow, it’s been quite a while since I wrote you last. Much has been happening over the past month, and there’s only more craziness going to happen as the summer progresses. I was out at training for one week; doing work-related travel the next week; packing after that; and just this past weekend I moved into my new apartment and have been trying to settle in. Things have been very hectic, but the Lord has taught me so much through all of it.
One neglected area that God pointed out was that I wasn’t putting a priority on spending time with the Lord and delving into His Word. Oh, I’d been reading I assure you; I was going through 2 Kings actually. However, my attitude about reading wasn’t right. I had been reading with this weight looming over my shoulder that said I had to hurry so I could get the day’s tasks done. So I’d read some, maybe think about it a little, maybe pray a little too, and then hastily get to working on whatever it was that I thought I needed to get done. Truth of the matter is that this basically says to God, “I can’t pay attention to you because I’m busy,” and that what I need to get done (again, whatever that was) is more important than God…
The other attitude that had a hold on me was one that said I couldn’t invest time on myself and my relationship with God because I needed to be focusing on other people and their needs and doing stuff for them (or in preparation of doing stuff for them). The error here is that if I’m not filling myself and investing into my relationship with the Father, then I cannot possibly pour out onto others. Eventually I’m going to start pulling from a dry well.

Which is kind of what started happening as I was getting frustrated, annoyed, and a little despairing about how effective I was at doing the ministry I’m doing… how effective I was at being a Christian witness. I was beginning to lose focus.

Ever feel like that?

I think that sometimes it’s good for all of us to get a kick in the gut like I did about how I was investing in my relationship with God. I know that the Lord is faithful, even when I am not, and He will continue to work in my life… but He still deserves the priority. In the Bible it says that we are to always be praying, always to be putting our petitions and requests at the throne of the God of Glory. We’re supposed to be in continually communication. If you’re having a hard time wrapping your mind around why we should do this: 1. Don’t worry, we all have a hard time with it; and 2. Think about it as if you were developing a romantic relationship. You want to spend time with your significant other, right? You want to talk to them, right? You want to know as much as you can from them and about them, right? I know I do… and how much more ought we to do these things with our Creator.

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” --- Ephesians 1:17-23

In love and in Christ,
Your sister,
Yvonne

05.13.2007

2007-05-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

1 Kings 8

John 17

Hebrews 7:25
Therefore [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Hello!

This week had been pretty busy for me, and the next several weeks are looking to be just even busier. I will try to get a Weekly during the end of this week, but then I will be gone on ministry related adventures for two weeks and will not be able to write up the Weekly.

I recently started reading through 1 Kings, and the other day I read about the dedication of the Temple (chapter 8). Here’s a brief background up to this point: Solomon has become king in succeeding his father David and has built the Temple for the Ark of God. The temple itself is described in detail in chapter 6 and 7, and man does it sound like a snazzy place. In chapter 8, after the Ark is brought to the temple, Solomon prays to the Lord and dedicates the temple to Him. It’s a pretty amazing prayer, and one that I don’t think half of us would think of praying when dedicating anything to God.

One striking thing about Solomon’s prayer is that he uses a lot of phrases like, “When famine or plague comes on the land…” or, generally, “When bad things happen to your people…” He doesn’t use the phrase “If something bad happens…” Solomon is certain that bad things will come. However, even more striking than that is WHY those bad things happen. Each time that he says “When…” he follows it up with “…because [your people] have sinned…” He knew that bad things would happen because of Israel’s sin, not because God was being unjust or unfair or not paying attention. He understood the sequence of consequences. We reap what we have sown. But if you thought that was good (I do at least), it gets even better.
Following up the “because of sin” terms the king uses, he then intercedes for all of Israel. He prays to the Lord that “when the people confess … and turn from sin,” that the Lord would hear their prayers and restore them and forgive them.

Solomon asks the Lord to forgive the sins that they have not yet committed! He knows that the people of God will sin in the future, that there will be consequence; but when they turn to the Lord in repentance, he prays that God will forgive. He calls on God to be faithful and to be true to His promises even after God’s people were unfaithful. If you’re familiar with the rest of Kings and the rest of the Old Testament in general, then you know that God’s people constantly went back and forth in their faithfulness to God.

Come to think of it, this sounds a lot like what Jesus does for us, doesn’t it? Sounds like those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, yet struggle back and forth with sin yet wanting to bring glory to God? We are going to sin; it isn’t a matter of “if” but a matter of “when.” However, like the Israelites had a king that prayed for them and pleaded with the Lord to forgive them when they repented, we have a heavenly King who prays and intercedes for us to the Father for forgiveness when we confess Jesus as Lord and repent of our sins -- and I don’t just mean the sins of our past, but our current sins. Those things and actions we desire to do or think that are not what God desires for us. The Lord will restore us and teach us to desire holiness in place of wanting to feed our sinful nature.

I pray that each of us would take on Solomon’s example as people who will pray and intercede for one another, understanding that we will all sin. I also pray that we would be forever praising the Lord for Jesus, who intercedes for us and is the reason why we are forgiven of our sins. I ask that we would be taught by the Holy Spirit to seek holiness, and that we would not seek to indulge our sinful cravings. May we be forever grateful for all He has done for us and continually seek to be like Jesus.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

05.05.2007

2007-05-05T16:53:00.001-07:00

1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Phillipians 4:4-9
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Hello everyone—

How are you? I hope that things are going well for you… For some of you it’s coming to the end of the school year, and you’re eager to not have classes to go to. For others of you, it’s just the time of year when you can enjoy warm weather (well, here in the States at least).

Warm weather is great… which is such a simple thing to say, but I really do enjoy the season of Spring, even as it fades into Summer. Things are alive again, birds are everywhere, colors are abundant, and I can go outside without having to worry about slipping on ice (now I just have to worry about sunburn). It’s so appropriate then, that the Lord has chosen to show me the many more ways in which He is constantly providing for me. Yes, I know; I seem to keep coming back to this whole idea of the Lord providing – how can I not? But rather than having this about providing, I am brought to think about how vast the Lord’s love is for us, and our need to acknowledge it.
Think about it. Each of us probably have a moment (or series of moments) in our lives in which we have either doubted God’s love for us or questioned His love and kindness when we see all kinds of crazy things happening in the world around us. Crazy things happen. We get discouraged, and we are faced with all kinds of questions and what seems like very little answers. However, if God did not love us, I think that the world would be an even more sordid place than it already seems to be. There are little graces that exist that we tend to miss because we allow the bad to overshadow the good. Or we get too busy to take a moment to appreciate the beauty of what God has created – either the people around us, or the nature around us. Many of us fill our lives with so much “stuff” that I think we miss the Spirit of God moving in our hearts to acknowledge that He does love us and is going to care for us, perhaps especially in ways that we don’t exactly expect. We dwell on that which is terrible in the world and will feel overwhelmed and helpless (at least I do)… Or maybe we just get overwhelmed by stress. Whatever the situation, it’s important to take a quiet moment to acknowledge God for who He is and what He has done and is doing in our lives and in the world.

God is big. And because God is big, His love is big. His kindness is big. That should affect the way that we think and act and think, right?

My thoughts seem very meandering to me, and I apologize for that. But I encourage you to find a quiet moment with God this coming week (every day would be awesome, and totally possible). However busy you are or are not, sit with God. Praise Him for His kindness and love, and if you are wrestling with the suffering in the world at large, ask Him to show you goodness and truth. The Lord has shown me in big ways that He is constantly providing for me and affirming me as His daughter – but as someone had said to me, He is providing in little ways too. Not just the big stuff. I want to see more of the little things and not be as cluttered by all the crazy things that happen in life. Maybe we could all do with that.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

04.26.2007

2007-04-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

Romans 12:21
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Psalm 43:3
Send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You dwell.

Psalm 52:9
I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of the saints.

Hello everyone,

This past week and a half has been an interesting and busy time for me. It’s been over a week since the happenings at Virginia Tech, and my prayers continue to be with those affected by the tragedy. The rest of that week left me down trodden about the loss of life, not just at VT but in all the places in the world (including the city in which I live) where senseless violence occurs. I found myself in an interesting paradox, being frustrated with the violence that exists in the world and also knowing that there is a God in heaven that loves us. I don’t know why God allows certain things to happen the way they do, I just know that He doesn’t turn a blind eye to them. I had begun to be gripped by worry while trying to cling to the promises of God. When I find myself in that spot, where what I know and what I see collide, it hurts. I want to have faith with all that I have and it’s a fight to do that when the weight of the world seems to be dragging me down. I actually ended up crying in front of a friend in the middle of a coffee shop, and it was pretty embarrassing. However, as embarrassing as it was, it was also deeply needed.

Thankfully since that crying moment, the Lord has done some pretty awesome things to encourage me and see Him working in my life and in the lives of others. I pray that He has been working similarly in your own life through whatever it is you have been wrestling with (VT, personal/family life, etc). God is good. Through Psalms, the writers (especially David) continually speak about the troubles going on in the world around them or in their own lives; it would seem commonplace that they end on a note of praising God’s goodness or professing to trust in Him. God hears our cries against injustice and violence; He hears our cries when we are confused. He hears when we hurt and we’re angry about what is happening. God is a God who hears and sees, even though sometimes – perhaps more often than not – it doesn’t seem like it.

I pray that each of us are enabled by the Spirit to cling to truth and to what is good, although still acknowledging the terrible things that do happen in our world. I pray that we would not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good and faith and hope. May each of us express ourselves to God openly and honestly, in whatever anger, sorrow, confusion, joy, or praise that we feel. I ask that the Lord assure us that He hears us and is continuing to work in the world around us, in the lives of others, and in us.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

P.S. Since I'm in the habit of doing this sometimes, I wanted to share a poem that I wrote in response to VT and all the senseless violence in the world...

"The Blood of Abel"

Unsettled and uneasy with heavy shoulders,
and graying out my sense of color,
this weight lingers just above me.
I struggle to decipher what I see
and what I know.
The underbelly of a beast
feels the ground protesting its feast,
where Abel cries out, desperate to be heard;
the seed of his life stolen by cruel birds.

All men suffer and all men die,
but this? this grips me inside
like tendrils loose enough to give me room,
yet entrapping me with a sense of gloom.
Is what we reap really what we sow?
I smell blood and death
yet know of glory's bredth-
This paradox arrests my thoughts;
is frustration all but naught?

In quiet buildings and classroom halls,
colors hide in corners, afraid of the Fall.
The sounds break silence and cut through more:
life doesn't soak into tile floors,
nor retreat its flow.
How long, O Lord,
must they die by the sword?
How long must time repeat the terrible?
I cannot stand the story of Abel.

Blood pleads, thick and drawing near,
"Why weren't you here?"
Why are there children of Cain?
When will you restore the slain?
Yet you do know.
This did not all go on unseen,
they aren't left alone, in need.
Help us to wait, O Lord,
for our hearts to be restored.

YB 07 4 18

04.16.2007

2007-04-16T14:50:00.001-07:00

Colossians 2:6,7
… just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Psalm 37:4-6
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Hello everyone-

I hope that you had a good week, and that you were able to learn a lot from our Lord through the different circumstances in your life right now.

Closer to the end of last week, God showed me how incredible He is in providing for me and keeping His hand over me. The story is difficult to fully explain in an email, but basically I had gotten into a car accident. I am fine, and amazingly so is my van; however, it could have been ugly, if I had seen the wrecked car jack-knifed in the left lane any later than I did. I didn’t see it until I was practically on top of it, because no flares had been set out yet. God truly kept me safe that morning (4AM, and rainy and misty), and as I continue to think about it I am full of gratitude that God is who He says He is. On and off during the week I’d been struggling with worry about how finances were coming for my ministry and the prospect of moving in the next few months, and this minor accident was a reminder that God is going to take care of me. He’s going to take care of you. All of us who profess Jesus Christ are loved and cared for by God the Father. Although He will permit a lot of things to happen in our lives that we don’t understand, He is still there caring for and protecting us and providing for us. Perhaps He is doing all these things in ways we don’t see because we are so worried about our current situation, which acts as a barrier in our trusting Him.
I think that sometimes God takes action and provides at, what we think, is the last possible minute. In relation to my accident, I didn’t even see the other car until it was almost too late – but, I did see it. God provided in “just the nick of time” so that the damage dealt was minimal and the only thing I suffered was fright. In some situations in our lives, we are so impatient and eager to receive what it is that we’re waiting for God to give us that it seems like we don’t receive it until “the last possible minute.” Think of all the countless examples of missionaries not having enough money to go on their trip until a week before the date they need it. I heard one story in which God provided a missionary with nearly all of their funds in one day, the day before it all needed to be raised.
There are other stories, some found in the Bible, when it seems like it’s too late. In Luke 11, when Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead, Martha said to Him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” You can almost hear the pain in her voice, because Martha had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick days before. But Jesus waited so that God could be glorified; He came and met the request, just not when Mary or Martha had expected. I would have to think that He operates in much the same way in our own lives. I can only hope I can remember this the next time I’m tempted to worry.

I pray that in each of our lives, whatever it is that we are impatient or worrying about would be overshadowed by the promise that God is going to provide for us. I pray that we would learn how to wait on Him and that by the Holy Spirit we would be stretched and strengthened in the times we are tempted. I pray we also come to cherish God’s promises in our hearts, clinging to them despite opposition or whatever current situations we find ourselves in. May we cling to Christ and be rooted in Him always.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

04.05.2007

2007-04-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

Romans 5:6, 8-11
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. … But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Hello friends,

How are you all? How has Holy Week been? For those of you who practice Lent, I hope that you have been able to focus your thoughts on the Lord rather than on the things you’ve chosen to fast from. Resurrection Sunday – Easter – is just around the corner… only a few days from now. There have been a lot of things that I wanted to share with you about art and other such related things, but it doesn’t seem fitting to draw your attention away from the season.
Easter is one of those holidays that I’ve celebrated all of my life however I’ve only been a Christian for about five and a half years. The rest of my years I celebrated it just like any other holiday, and hadn’t the slightest inkling of celebrating it because of Christ. But now that I know who Christ is and have a relationship with Him, what a glorious day to throw our hands up in jubilation! I’ve been reading through the end of Matthew to follow the teaching and days before Christ’s crucifixion, and today I read through Gethsemane and Jesus’ arrest.
It truly is amazing that the Son of God would allow Himself to be captured as an innocent man, and say nothing before His accusers. The One who had no sin was given to the hands of men to suffer for the sins of the past, present, and future… We by nature are separated from God and have no way to get to Him, and Christ put in the bridge so that we could have a relationship with God. What is more is that although the Cross is glorious because it is a symbol of the undeserved gift God offered us through the suffering of Christ, it is important to remember – as Easter reminds us – that the Cross is an empty cross. Jesus did not remain dead and entombed, but rather He came to life and is living today at ‘the right hand of the Father.’ He lives and intercedes for us, and we will one day see Him face to face. His resurrection to life is His victory over death – and in Him, we too have victory over death in the end.
The suffering and the resurrection of Christ go hand in hand, and without one or the other our salvation would not be complete. How beautiful it is that God works it out in this way! What an amazing message of hope that we have in our Savior. Praises be unto the Lord for His mercy.

Although Easter is an amazing time to remind us of the goodness of God, and an awesome time to share with others His goodness, I earnestly pray that this essential fact is something we always remember throughout the entire year. May it be something we live and breathe by, always praising God and rejoicing in our salvation. I pray that your time with family and friends will be joyful, even if those you celebrate with do not know Christ. I pray for their hearts, that they would see in you some light of Him who saved you, and that you would be praying in your hearts for them.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend. Praise the Lord!
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

03.27.2007

2007-03-27T19:07:00.001-07:00

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Psalm 42:11
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Hello everyone,

I hope that you are all well and that you’ve been encouraged and strengthened by the Lord as you go through your days. Last week I mentioned that I needed prayer for patience, and this week I found that I felt a bit more at peace with the way things have been going here in Philadelphia. It’s so awesome how God provides for us.

Recently I’ve been going through 2 Samuel after having gone through 1 Samuel, and although I’ve read these stories before it’s almost a totally different world to read it with the Psalms. It’s very interesting to see the correlation between the events of David’s life and the outpouring of his spirit as he speaks to God through Psalms. The Psalms build up such an intimate picture into David’s life as he struggles through being hunted, struggling through sin, and repenting of sin. He struggles to understand what’s going on his life, vents all kinds of emotions to God, but he knows in the end that God is good.
David is such a picture of fallen humanity whose desire is to see God. Despite his murder, adultery, and failure to set his children on the right path, David is still called a man after God’s own heart. Amazing! Isn’t this what we all, somewhere deep within, long to be? Men and women after God’s own heart?
I think that at times we have a hard time calling ourselves God’s children, let alone calling ourselves God’s beloved children… But if we are followers of Jesus Christ, this is what we are. We are His children. We will sin, and sometimes we will fall into the same sort of behaviors that David himself had to deal with. However, this does not change our status in God’s eyes: He still loves us the same today as He had before the sin was committed. God is not the frowning, disapproving parent that some of us make Him out to be in our heads. (Neither is He the passive parent that allows us to run willy-nilly into whatever danger we please.)
I wonder if we can be like David – like Christ – in our attitudes of our sin, repentance, and deep need for God. We will struggle. We will be persecuted. We will sin. … But through our troubles can we seek His face? And, in the end, can we acknowledge that God is abundantly good?

I would love to be like David in this regard: completely transparent with the Lord, even though the Lord knows all.

I pray that we can be like David, in that we would be enabled to praise God through our circumstances and repent where necessary. I pray that we can praise the Lord no matter what happens. Moreover, I pray that we can be like Christ in our behaviors and attitudes, learning humility and submission to our Father in heaven. I also ask that He teaches us to accept our status as dearly beloved, children of God.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

03.17.2007

2007-03-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Matthew 6:26, 34
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Psalm 105:4
Look to the LORD and seek His strength; seek His face always.

Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Hello everyone,

Sorry that this week’s Weekly is late. I hope that each of you is doing well and that the Lord spoke to, encouraged, or challenged your heart somehow this week.
In recent weeks, it’s become more and more evident to me how much of an impatient person I am when it comes to waiting for something to happen or change or develop. Unfortunately, patience seems to be intimately tied to trusting God. He is so good to reveal this to me, and even more amazing in how He chose to speak to my heart this morning. I’m one of those people that processes information best through speaking and writing, and as I was writing in my journal a prayer to the Lord came out that I wasn’t expecting. I’d like to share it with you:

---
How good you are to me! Why do I so easily forget what has come from your hand? I ask for forgiveness in this, and I ask for you to build up my faith. I know you are able to provide and your word says to not worry – it came out of Jesus mouth. You ask me to not be anxious about ANYthing, but by prayer and petition, to present my requests before your throne.
Help me to be faithful in what I ought to be doing, Lord, and trust that you have it under control. Help me to trust and be patient. I worry about how things will turn out, but why? You have told me that as much as you have provided for birds and lilies you will provide for me. Why? Because I am more valuable to you than birds or lilies, which are here today and gone tomorrow… because I am your child, and sister to the one who has given His life for mine and who intercedes on my behalf before your throne.

This is how I know you will provide for me, now and always. By the blood of Christ and for your glory, you maintain your promises.
“Lord, write this in my heart! Do not let me forget it. This is how I know I can trust you.
And who am I to be concerned? You have fed me, clothed me, and provided a roof over my head. What I have now has come from your hand, Lord. Why must I dare to have an ungrateful attitude by looking beyond my present condition? Tomorrow may not even come for me and you ask me to seek your face TODAY, and be thankful TODAY.
Today has enough trouble of its own. Unlike you, I can only handle what goes on in the present. You have given me today and have not yet given me tomorrow… While I can pray for tomorrow and make plans, those plans only happen if you are willing to have them happen. But today is what you have for me to focus on. ‘Give us this day our daily bread…’ I am to ask daily for you to provide.
I am to honor you today; seek you today; be a light today; be faithful today. I am to act justly, to love mercy, and walk in your ways TODAY.
I can’t say, “Oh, I can do those things tomorrow,” because you haven’t given me tomorrow.

If I really look at each day in this fashion, would I trust you more and worry less? How can I remind myself to look at each day in this way so I don’t forget again? Somehow I feel this to be true, but I don’t know how to be reminded each day… Perhaps a memorization of Matthew 6, about worry, would remind me more readily. Truly, though, I can do all I want but it is you who changes my heart. Holy Spirit, change my heart. Show me how to be grateful for the things the Father provides each day and to present my plans and requests at His throne.
I don’t have to be anxious about anything because you want me to be focused on today, and you ask me to be faithful today. I don’t have to worry because I am your child.
---

Maybe we could all do with a similar prayer? Pray for me that the Lord of our salvation would write these things in my heart, as I will pray the same for you.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

3.4.2007

2007-03-04T03:27:00.001-08:00

John 16:21,22
A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

Psalm 35:17,18
O Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my life from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you.

Philippians 4:6-8
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. … Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Hello friends-

Last week, I had gone to a conference over in New York City and running around from that right after a different conference has left me pretty exhausted, and also a little sick because of my foolishness to not take a full day to rest.
As I think I have mentioned, I’d been going through Psalms with my boyfriend and it’s truly awesome to see the different things that God has to teach us all through them. I think one of the more striking things up to this point is that although the psalmist (typically, David) cries out to the Lord for deliverance and although he states how dreadful his current situation is, he is still able to turn it around and praise the Lord. If you look at David, a good portion of his time is spent being pursued by men who want to kill him – which I’m pretty sure that most of us have no idea what that must be like – yet, through David’s prayers (the psalms he writes), he is still able to praise the Lord and say that He is good. How crazy is that? But even more profound is that I know I’m quick to grumble and complain when something I want doesn’t go my way. It’s kind of convicting to see the life of David through God’s word, and I’m willing to bet that God did that on purpose to show us that although bad situations will come, we are to praise Him in the end. God is still amazingly good through our bad times and our good times; our situation may be changing constantly, but God is constantly the same all the time. He doesn’t change. I find this greatly comforting because then I know that I can trust God. Like the psalmist, you and I can cry out to God and put before Him our grief. We’re allowed to do that… we’re allowed to be fully emotional with God. I know that some of us go about our day thinking as though God is too high and mighty to really care about the deep gamut of our emotions. This simply isn’t true, for why would God give us emotions if He didn’t care about them?
Also like the psalmist, we are also able to praise the Lord through thick and thin. If we ask the Lord to give us faith and strength to do this, He will.
The balance of being emotional with God and being able to praise Him makes me think of something I learned at the conference I was at in NYC. Although the speaker was talking about art, I think the same is true for our entire lives: he said that we are to have Authenticity and Hope. To be Authentic is to be real, and to acknowledge pain and suffering (because those things are very real in our lives). On the flipside of the coin, however, is Hope. While we can acknowledge pain, we have hope because Jesus Christ bled, died, and rose to life again. There is life and beauty in the person of Christ. Living for Him and relying on Him allows us to seek what is good in our broken world, because He is the epitome of what is Good.

I pray that each of us would be refined by the Spirit in such a way that we would seek the Lord through our good days as well as our bad days. I ask that He would teach us to praise Him always, and give us strength to seek His face. I also pray the Holy Spirit would break down our pretenses with the Father, because we are allowed to have a full range of emotion with God. I pray that we would be enabled to acknowledge the brokenness of the world and our own lives, yet be instilled with the Hope of Christ and not despair. May these things be accomplished in all of us so that we can better reflect the light of Jesus in our lives.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

02.21.2007

2007-02-21T10:57:00.000-08:00

Deuteronomy 15:7, 8, 10, 11
If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.
Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

Hello friends,

How are you doing? This past week has been pretty crazy for me, especially the weekend. I attended the CCO’s annual conference, Jubilee, with some students in tow and let me tell you – it was pretty awesome. I would say that the main point made during the conference was about social justice; that is, God’s perspective on the poor and the oppressed, and our response to such things.

While I knew before that caring about the poor and oppressed was important to God, I didn’t know how much the Bible actually emphasized on how His children ought to be acting in order to alleviate them. Of course there will always be suffering in the world until the day Jesus Christ comes again, but that doesn’t mean that we can sit back and expect everyone else to take care of it for us. That’s just laziness… unfortunately, this is the sort of laziness I’ve found the tendency to slip into. It’s either that or, “I don’t have enough money,” when the truth is that the Lord has blessed me amazingly with the finances I need.
God seems to make special emphasis on caring for those in need, so much so that there were systems in Biblical Hebraic times in which the poor (specifically, widows) were taken care of so that they would not die. One of the ways in which this was done was through the tithing of money and food. The tithe of food was to be given to the poor for food. How different this looks today, where a great deal of the tithe seems to be dedicated to a lot of churches’ buildings and programs. Also, there were certain years in which the people were told not to harvest so that the poor could be sustained. This had to be intentional in order to be effective.
Many times when the people of Israel are being rebuked in the Old Testament, it’s due to their idolatry. Not just this, but they are also rebuked for not taking care of the needy in their land by the means mentioned above, or rebuked for taking advantage of them. I wonder then, if many of us (including myself) ought to be rebuked for not taking care of those who are needy. Of course, not all of us can be missionary doctors, and not all of us can give large amounts of money. However, one of the speakers from this weekend made a fantastic parallel between this situation and the feeding of the 5,000. All they had available to them was five loaves of bread and two fish – no more, no less. And yet the Lord made it possible that all 5,000 (and more!) were fed; everyone had their fill, and there was even some left over. If God can do this with bread and fish, certainly He can do it with our time and money. All He asks is that we give what we have and what we can, not what is sufficient to fix things, and He’ll take care of the rest. I would imagine that this not only involves greed issues, but also trust issues.
Do we trust the Lord will provide out of what we give away?

I pray that each of us would learn more about what it means to serve the Lord by serving those who are poor and oppressed. I also pray that the Holy Spirit would move us to pray for those not only in other countries, but also those in our own country. I ask that we learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus and one who is burdened for the weak, so that we can become more and more like Him.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

2.10.2007

2007-02-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

There are a number of things that have been on my mind this past week – which seems to be a common starting point whenever I sit down to type out the Weekly Thing. There are plenty of things I’d like to share… However, this morning I read another chapter of Sabbath Presence (by Kathleen Casey), and I thought that it might be good to share some of it with you since it was certainly good for me to read.

Exodus 16:22-30 (not quoted, because it’s long, but I encourage you to look it up)

For the Jews, the miracle of manna paralleled the miracle of creation. It showed God’s intimate involvement in the world. This as not an absent God. For forty years in the desert God fed approximately three million people. Each morning, manna, a sweet honey bread wafer, fell from the sky for people to eat. God gave them just enough for each day. If they gathered more than they could eat in one day, the leftover manna would be full of worms the next day. If they were lazy and did not gather the manna provided, it would melt. God provided for them on a daily basis. They had to trust God to give them enough to eat, enough of everything they needed.
On the sixth day God gave two days’ worth of manna so there would be no gathering on the Sabbath. They did not have to work for their food on the Sabbath even if the work was only to gather the manna from the ground and carry it to their tents. But many did not trust God and tried to be in control by over-consuming and hoarding. Those who ate too much went hungry on the Sabbath, while those who gathered more than they needed during the week in an effort to hoard were disappointed to find that their stores of manna were rotten.
Exodus tells us that the Israelites wandered in the desert on a journey to the Promised Land. All their possessions had to be carried; those who could carry more possessed more. Carrying equated ownership and security. The very first activity restricted by Sabbath law was carrying. On the Sabbath the people could not carry anything. They had to lay down the symbols of ownership and security. The restriction against carrying also made it impractical to travel or make progress on their journey because they would have to leave their possessions behind. With that one restriction, God ensured that on the Sabbath the people would recognize that their possessions, security, and achievement were dependent on God.
Making things, producing, harvesting, and trading were all restricted so that the Sabbath would be solely about God’s presence. Breaking the Sabbath in spirit or in fact was the central concern of most of the prophets. Nehemiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Amos explicitly warned against breaking the Sabbath and equated the people’s adherence to the Sabbath with their loyalty to God. The prophets were concerned about the people who overlooked their relationship with God in favor of their economic gain. …
… The Hebrew prophets were messengers of God who called the people to live by God’s justice. They were not well liked because the action required to bring justice usually involved some personal sacrifice. It was probably one of the prophets who started the saying, “Don’t blame the messenger!” John the Baptist was one of those prophets; he told his followers, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none…” (Luke 3:11). I read somewhere an updated practical version of that same command which said, “If you have two coats in your closet, then you have someone else’s coat in your closet.”
Compliance to Sabbath was an act of obedience and trust. The Israelites had to trust that God would provide enough for them each day, including the day when they did not work for it. Monks of all major religions, no and in the past, have begged for their daily sustenance as an act of voluntary poverty and as a discipline of trusting in God. The Japanese name for a monk’s begging bowl is ‘oryoki,’ which means “just enough.” Jesus told his disciples to carry no walking stick, no food or money, and to depend on the kindness of strangers. The disciples were to trust that God would provide enough and then be obedient to God by accepting that what was provided was enough.
Saint Francis of Assisi took Jesus’ command literally and made it the foundation of his order. Francis and his brothers wore a rope around their waist to show that they did not have a money belt or wallet. They, like the Israelites, did not carry anything so that their security, dignity, and identity were not based on what they possessed. Their security was grounded in a relationship with the Father, not in the social or political system. They were living examples of the Sabbath. How countercultural that would be today!
Our society is quite the opposite—“There is no such thing as enough.” If you have one, two is better. Bigger is better. More is better. Shopping must be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week—we can’t seem to get enough. The underlying cultural message today is that if I have more then I am more. If I acquire enough then I am enough; but enough for whom? God’s message is that I am already enough for him; he made me, and that is enough.

Questions provided by the text:
Where in my life is there excess?
What would it mean for me to trust that God will provide?
Do I believe that I am enough for God? Why or why not?

Rather than sharing my own words and thoughts, I encourage you to wrestle with God in prayer.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

01.30.2007

2007-01-30T18:50:00.000-08:00

Genesis 3:8,9
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

1 Chronicles 16:9-11
Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.

Hello everyone,

I hope that you all have had a good week, and that you have been able to learn many things from God through situations and world around you.
As I continued to read my book about Sabbath this morning, and as I’ve been reading through Psalms, I realized that there is much for me to learn in the way of growing in relationship with God. What’s funny about it is that I’ve brought up many of the same points that I’m about to bring up in past Weekly’s.
As human beings, we are inherently called to be near the heart of God. We are designed and created to be in relationship with our heavenly Father, and with that in mind we have also been made in His image. He lovingly put formed us in the ‘unseen place’ spoken about in Psalm 139 and put His own breath into our bodies. Even in our rebellious sinful state, He saw it good to beckon us back to Him, call us out of the Garden, and make amends (oh sweet propitiation) with us through Jesus Christ’s blood. If God did not want a relationship with us, I really don’t think He would have done and continue to do so many things to invite us into His arms. Certainly we don’t deserve it. But then again, what is grace, if not that which is good and we do not deserve?
There is so much clutter in my life that often times God’s voice is crowded out. I know He’s there and I continue to talk with Him. I know that He’s speaking to me, but I can’t quite make out what He’s saying… It makes it difficult to continue to grow a relationship with Him, because my primary focus isn’t on Him. He’s kind of on the side-lines, in peripheral vision. But that isn’t where the Lord belongs.
If I determine to keep Jesus as the Lord of my life, having him out there on the side-lines is definitely not the place where He belongs. That would be like having the guest of honor sit along the side rather than at the head of the table. If you do a little word study of the general form of ‘lord,’ you find out a lot about Jesus Christ’s position as Lord: “a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, ruler, or king.” That sounds like someone I should be putting all of my focus and energy on… and we’re all called to see Jesus in this way, and submit to God the Father in the same way. By all means, as the Creator of everything I’d think He’s worthy of it.
What would help to put God in this position in our lives is prayer and frequent Bible study, and submitting to His way over our own way. It’s so good and so wonderful to cherish prayer and Bible study… sometimes we forget how good it really is and can be, and the Holy Spirit will stir us out of that slump.
Bringing it back the book I’m reading, spending time with God means being still before God and just simply acknowledging His presence and authority, His goodness and justice. As it would turn out, scheduling time with God is a form of acknowledging that all those things we feel like we have to take care of are going to be taken care of by God. He’s got it under control and we can set it before Him just like anything else in our lives. It’s not going to fall apart or explode without you.

I pray that we can each learn to be still before the Lord, acknowledging how great He is and how little we are. I also pray that the Holy Spirit would help us to be focused on developing our relationship with Him, and that He would also give us a hunger for that… a hunger that in some way would cause an inward ache and longing that we would be drawn closer. I also pray that we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, may encourage one another in prayer and in Scripture.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

P.S. The book that I am currently reading is more of a devotional, called 'Sabbath Presence' by Kathleen Casey.

1.19.2007

2007-01-19T08:35:00.000-08:00

Philippians 1:6
… He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1,2
… Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Romans 5:8
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Hello everyone-

I hope that you are well and that over the past two weeks the Lord has been teaching and growing each of you through whatever sorrows or joys you’ve experienced. My apologies for taking a while to get back on track with this, but I’m now moved into the city and adjusting well to my new surroundings.
There’s plenty that I would like to write about, and eventually I’ll get it all out to you over the weeks. But I want to go back to something I was pondering a few weeks ago: the compassion of the Lord. As I was reading through Isaiah, there are several times when the Lord speaks about His wrath on His people the Israelites because they have strayed from His ways. They’ve done wicked things in His sight and they are to receive their due discipline. However, although the Lord expresses His wrath, after a time He also expresses compassion. Isaiah 30:18 caught me somewhat off guard, stating, “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

The Creator of all the earth longed to be compassionate on Israel, the very same people who may as well have spit in His face. God is completely and totally just and righteous in His anger, but He’s also God of love and compassion. How they all work together in perfection I’ll never understand or know how to express. This is an encouraging thing to take note of, though, and to praise the Lord for. My boyfriend and I had a conversation just the other day about how awesome God is for having grace on wicked people – for if He didn’t, none of us would be saved. We’ve all done something wicked in the Lord’s sight, as Christian people or before our hearts were turned to Christ, and yet we’re still here alive and breathing. How amazing grace is indeed! Shouldn’t our response be to strive to get out of the entanglements of sin and follow the Lord’s ways? Shouldn’t our hearts be for the Lord, rather than ourselves, and long to follow the God of such great compassion? And even more, God is so worthy of our praise for this grace and compassion that we are so unworthy of. I urge you as brothers and sisters in Christ to take these truths to heart, and look to follow God’s ways through studying the Bible and through prayer; all I ask is that you would encourage me to do the same. It would not be fitting for me to say it to you and not acknowledge that I have a share of faults and failures that God knows I struggle with. We can all be encouraged by David who, although he had entanglements in adultery and murder and had to repent, is recorded as a man after God’s own heart.

Our hearts ought to long and hunger to follow the Lord, and I pray that the Holy Spirit would make it so in each of us. I also pray that we would praise the Lord for His unending compassion, and also for His perfect discipline. I ask that as children of God we would be compassionate and loving towards one another, while also speaking truth in love when we see each other sin. May the Lord continually change and grow us into the likeness of Christ.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

01.01.2007

2007-01-01T09:08:00.001-08:00

Matthew 6:25-34
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 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, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Hello everyone!

How are you? I hope that things are well, or as well as can be, and that you’re able to stay focused on the Lord during the crazy holidays. And speaking of which, it’s 2007 now… Happy New Year! It’s kind of crazy to think of all the things that happened in 2006, both in my life personally and in the world at large, both good and bad. Now we get to look forward to see what 2007 will bring, but you know, in a lot of ways it’s not any different than looking forward to see what’s going to happen at the end of this week, or the end of the day.

Earlier this week when I was thinking about what I could write about in the Weekly, I was thinking I could go on about the Lord’s compassion. I’ve been reading through Isaiah, and it amazes me how much God desires to have compassion on a people who practically spit in His face through their sins. I’ve been thinking a lot about Sabbath, as you read last week. But, instead of those things, my attention is turned to something else. In two weeks, I’m moving to Philadelphia. In one week I will be 23. In a month I will prayerfully ministering and interacting with art students in the city. I’ve got things planned one to three months in advance. There are things to look forward to, and there are things that are going to cause me to stress out. I’m on the brink of being a missionary set in the city to come alongside young artists – still in their schooling – to either show them Christ or help them walk with Christ. I’ve never lived in a city, either, so there’s a lot to think about as I amalgamate and become accustomed to where things are and how to get there. There is plenty to be thinking about as I make the transition into this new stage of my life.

There is also quite the temptation of worry prowling at my door. Perhaps you know of the feeling, or that you are already in the throws of worry.

However, I don’t have to worry. You don’t have to worry. When it comes right down to it, worrying is a chosen reaction to the circumstances around us that make us uncomfortable. That’s right: to be worried is to choose to be worried. The reason why we don’t have to worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow or two weeks from now, or at any point throughout 2007, is because we have a God who is in control of all things. We have a God that we can trust through the uncomfortable situations that we go through in life whether it’s something like moving or something like financial hardship or health. If God is our Father, honestly and truthfully, then He is also the solid rock on which we can stand and not be blown over by waves of circumstance. Something I’ve been trying to digest for a long time is the idea of taking one day at a time. That is to say, being focused on what will happen today and not worrying about what is going to happen tomorrow or the next day. Not that we can’t make plans, but we also have to realize that some of our plans may change because God has something else in mind (and not being freaked out by that).
God has allotted for us a certain amount of time every day and it’s that time that we’re meant to focus on. Thinking about all the time ahead of us in the days to come can be very overwhelming; somehow I don’t think God would have us be overwhelmed by something that hasn’t happened yet. Actually I don’t think He would have us be overwhelmed at all, but to find our stance in God’s protection and providence.

So in 2007 or any year, don’t worry about what’s going to happen… no matter how big or small that worry may be. God has given us each day that comes, and through each day we ought to focus our trust in Him.

I pray that the Lord would help each of us to find our confidence in Him, teaching us and growing us more and more into the likeness of Christ. I also pray that the Spirit gives us the strength we need to choose to trust in the Lord rather than to worry about the circumstances in our life… that we would submit those circumstances to God and allow Him to handle it, knowing fully that He will take care of what’s going on. I also ask that He would teach us to have grace with one another when we do worry, and help us to encourage and lift one another up as brothers and sisters in Christ.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

12.22.2006

2006-12-22T17:56:00.001-08:00

Exodus 20:8 ; 31:13
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.

Matthew 6:33-34
…seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 14:22,23
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.

Hello friends-

Apologies for getting in a bit late with this Weekly Thing. As I’m sure you can imagine, things have been pretty busy.
With Christmas just around the corner, it’s not a stretch to say that many of us have been running around doing various things: shopping for gifts, shopping for groceries, shopping for decorations and wrapping paper… wrapping gifts, preparing foods for Christmas, etc. Numerous things come to mind when I think of all the work and effort that typically comes around this time of year for most people. There’s a lot to be done!
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about taking time to rest; that is to say, I’ve been thinking a lot about Sabbath. The word “Sabbath” isn’t necessarily always one that you hear discussed, at least not that often – or at least not in most of my Christian experience (which, mind you, is limited to five years). Taking a Sabbath day, in the Old Testament, means taking a day of rest and giving it back to the Lord. This could probably take different forms for different people, but regardless of what you DO (or rather don’t do) on a Sabbath day, it’s meant to be a day of rest… you set aside all the things you feel like you have to do to be in communion with God.
I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time doing this. There is always something that demands my attention, or to distract me for hours on end. I constantly feel the need to be active, to be moving, to be thinking, to be trying to figure out what I’m going to do with my week, etc, etc. I have a very difficult time setting these ‘HAVE TO’S’ aside.
But you know what; we’re called to have a day in which we don’t do these things. Not to be irresponsible or to procrastinate -- hardly. That would make us poor stewards of the things given to us to take care of. However, we are meant to sit back and reflect; to take time, REAL quality time to commune with God through prayer and worship and praise. Maybe that means going on a run, or sitting and reading Scripture for a few hours. Maybe it means making art, or playing an instrument, or singing… It means submitting to God all those things we feel like we have to get done, in knowing that God’s going to take care of it.
A phrase that constantly comes up for me says that if we give time to God, He’s going to give time back to us… like a fish and the loaves kind of thing. I couldn’t tell you how that happens, but I’ve gotten a few tastes of it here and there. Time belongs to God in the first place, so it only makes sense to submit it back to Him, right? Sure, it may seem pretty radical to put your life on pause for a day out of the week, or for a chunk of hours every day… But I think it’s important for us to do that. I mean, heck, God even commanded that we do this in the Ten Commandments. If it’s up there with not murdering people, I’d imagine that God thinks it’s pretty important for us to do. So, my challenge to you (and most especially myself) is to discover what Sabbath means and to make strides to do it. I don’t know what that’s going to look like, but, here’s hoping that the Lord would teach me how to do it.

I pray that each of us would investigate the meaning of taking a Sabbath day, and really taking time to commune with God. I pray that the Spirit would give us a longing for this kind of rest, and that we would not just long for it, but do it. I ask that He works in us so that we see that time really does belong to God, and that it’s okay to let Him handle the things we feel like need our attention. I ask that we would reflect Jesus in this, knowing that He too took time alone to commune with the Father.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

12.08.2006

2006-12-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Hey everyone-

First off, sorry about missing last week. A lot of things went on, and all of a sudden the week was blown out of the water. I have a feeling I’m going to experience a lot of those as I get older.

Today and yesterday I went to a CCO staff seminar, and God brought up a handful of issues that He’d like to change in my life. In some ways, it’s overwhelming; in others, I’m so glad that we belong to a God who wants to see us grow and change.
A big point that was brought up by our speaker this weekend was how we look at the Bible. Now, the topic for this seminar was Biblical Application, and I went in thinking that I was going to learn some more about the Bible.
Instead, I came out having learned something more about God’s Word.

I know what you’re thinking: there isn’t a difference at all in the two things I just said. There is: one is meant to emphasize the know-how and informational aspect of learning about the Bible; the other is meant to emphasize on the fact that the Bible is more than just a compact guide to life but an open-book about God. Hopefully that makes sense. Let me elaborate a little. For those of you who have been reading the Weekly for a long time know that I have had the tendency to bring up the importance of the Bible. It’s the means by which we understand ourselves; humanity’s relationship to God; God’s relationship to humanity; and the Creator. I believe 100% that the Bible – Old Testament and New Testament – is written by people used by God to write what God wanted written out in its original format.
I think it’s important to know the Bible because it helps us to know what it is that we as Christians believe. Scripture is one of those essential things in our faith, a staple that we’ll starve without. The Spirit uses it to feed us and help us understand things.

Turns out that I have the tendency to lose sight of these reasons, and focus on the Informational Guide aspect of the Bible. There’s a lot more to it than just knowing stuff about Scripture: there is a Person behind the Scriptures who wrote a long letter to us so that we can know Him. Lately, I’ve been thirsty more for the knowledge than I have been in desiring to understand and know God more. That’s no good! “Red alert, Yvonne!” I haven’t been reading to spend time with God, but instead I’ve been reading for the sake of just reading.
So here is my encouragement and challenge for you, as my brothers and sisters: are you reading the Bible? If you are, are you steeped into it in such a way as to know God and the story of his people more? Or… are you reading it for knowledge sake alone?
I definitely encourage you to be reading the Bible, studying it in such a way that you can understand our relationship to Him. But also be seeking God’s face as you walk through the Bible.

I pray that as we read the Bible, we would not have the attitude of storing up information and factoids about the text and history. I pray that, instead, we would have the attitude of wanting to understand God and His interactions with humanity. I pray that, through Scripture, we would seek to know God more and desire a deeper relationship with Him through His word. I also ask that the Spirit would assist us in doing this, ever changing our hearts and minds to be made more in the image of Christ.
In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

11.25.2006

2006-11-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

Matthew 23:12
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

1 Peter 5:6, 7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Hello everyone,

How are you all? So Thanksgiving has come and passed, and I hope that you all had a very splendid holiday that in turn you can be thankful for. There are so many things to be thankful for; and although you may have this heard from sermons and other places, I hope we can all remember to give thanks every day of our lives.
Between being sick for the first half of the week, and then spending the rest of the week with friends and family, I’d been unsure of what to write about this week. But, I think I’ll share something I noticed this morning in my Bible reading… I recently hopped into the book of Judges, and today I read the story about Gideon (Judges 6 & 7). Here’s the skinny on what had been going on up to the call of Gideon: Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord; Israel’s enemies came against them; they cried out; He saved them through a judge; judge dies; they do evil in the sight of the Lord again.
Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
So Gideon is called on to as a tool to save Israel again, and the calling isn’t one that the man readily accepts. He describes himself as being of the weakest clan around and that he’s the least in his entire family. God’s response is to remind Gideon that He will be with the warrior… and yet throughout the entire story, Gideon still feels the need to double check to make sure God REALLY wants to use HIM of all the people of Israel. God turns out to be very patient, faithful, and in the end He uses Gideon to save Israel from their enemies.
Now, if you back it up and replay 6:11-23, I know I can relate. God comes out of the blue with a calling, and the appointed party can only respond, “Uh, are you really sure you want to use me? I’m totally unable to do that…” (Like we know better than God). Ever felt like God was calling you to do something that you weren’t even really sure you knew how to do? Or, ever had someone suggest that you pray about doing something that you have little to no experience with -- or worse yet, you are terrified to do in the first place?

Personally, I would say that our Father is in the business of tossing his kids out into the water in order to teach them how to swim. Sounds cold, doesn’t it? But keep in mind that although we’re floundering around trying to figure out how to keep afloat, God’s there the whole time, making sure we’re safe.
What’s equally amazing, though, is the fact that God really does use those of us who feel like we are weak and nobody. He uses us when we acknowledge the fact that we’ve got nothing to offer, and He’s the one we’ve got to depend on for everything. I think that Gideon knew the whole time that what he had to offer wasn’t going to cut saving Israel, especially when his army was cut from a 32,000 swarm to a handful of 300 men – to fight an army whose men were “impossible to count!” Talk about being tossed out into the water! But, Gideon chose to trust that God even though he was afraid (7:10-11).
I don’t know about you… but that sounds like a hard thing to do. I don’t mean just trusting God, but trusting God and saying, “I don’t have a thing to offer.” Yet, we are called to do this very thing: come to the Lord in humility.

Humbleness is a hard thing to learn, and I pray that each of us learn humility. I pray that each of us would come before other human beings in humble ways, knowing that we are no better than the other. I ask that the Holy Spirit would work in us a humble heart and a child-like faith, so that we may put down our sinful pride and short-sightedness. Not just this, but I also pray that we hear his voice and his calling; rather than being afraid I pray that we would find our confidence in the Lord and follow through with his call.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

11.16.2006

2006-11-16T09:46:00.000-08:00

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Hey everyone,

There has been so much going on lately that I am unsure of where this Weekly will go. My apologies of this one seems a little scatter-brained.
God is amazing, in so many different ways, and I just have been floored with how good He is.
This may come as a suprise for some of those that go to my church, but this past Sunday was the last service I will be attending... not forever, as I will come back and visit, but it's time for me to start transitioning. This transition is hard, believe me. It is so easy to be resistant to change, but you know, change is not a bad thing. In fact, if change weren't essential to growth (physically as well as spiritually), then we would all be in a mess of trouble. Right? Think about how much we would not have learned if our circumstances did not change at all. We wouldn't be forced to get out of our comfort zone and take on challenges put before us, learning perhaps in a stumbling sort of way to adapt to our new circumstances.
Getting ready to move sometime in the near future (not sure when) means a LOT of change. Looking for a new church means a lot of change too, and new people to connect with. I won't be able to see my friends or church family very often... and that's a hard truth to accept. Like I mentioned above, it would be so easy to resist this kind of change. But, this is God given. Any new circumstance forces us to grow -- and I don't know if you've noticed, but I think that God is the kind of God that likes to see us grow. Just like an earthly mother or father likes to see their child grow and mature, so the same is with our heavenly Father. We are His children, and we've all got to mature somehow.

So, what is the point of this Weekly? What am I getting at? Honestly, this email is very very different than any other Weeklies because I'm on the cusp of uncertainty and excitement, just waiting to see what God has in store for me next. There are so many new and different things coming into my life that I am just at a loss of words (and yet I seem to have so much to say).
I suppose the point is to assure you, as my brothers and sisters in Christ, that any change in your life that has the appearance of the negative doesn't have to be taken negatively. There are certainly real things in our lives that will break our hearts and cause us some degree of pain. These things grow us too, and through that pain we can still praise the Lord for whatever it is He is trying to teach us. It may not be until after the change has happened that we can praise Him for what He taught us, but that's okay. There are also changes that are just really hard to get through, but they're still good because they stretch our faith in ways that we could never have been stretched without it.
Call me a persistant optimist, if you like; I know I can be, but it's because God is so amazing. Pray that I can keep that kind of focus when the real hard times come knocking on my door - and they will come. There is a time for everything, good and bad, and our attitude and response to these can either give to our growth or take away from it. Really, it comes to how we choose to respond. Will we acknowledge the Lord for the very good things, and also the very bad? I hope so. I hope He gives us all the strength to kneel before His grace and say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord," regardless of what is happening in our lives.

I pray that each of one of us, as God's beloved sons and daughters, will learn and grow continually. I ask that the Holy Spirit refine us more and more into the likeness of Christ, so that when in all circumstances we can praise the Lord for His goodness. I also pray that the Lord would bring things into our lives that DO teach us, and do cause us to be stretched in our faith in such a way that we can understand and love Him more. In addition to this, I pray that we would always bear with one another in love and forgiveness, knowing that each of us are under construction.

In love and in Him,
your sister,
Yvonne

11.07.2006

2006-11-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

Psalm 34:3
Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.

1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Hey everyone,

Sorry that this is coming up a few days later than expected. It seems as though being in the middle of a whirlwind is becoming more and more common… and there aren’t any signs of the weather letting up any time in the near future. But, that’s okay, because the whirlwind has been good.

The thing that has been on my mind over the past week (and a half) is worship and praise. There is so much that God has been doing in my life recently, and quite honestly I don’t understand why He’s been so good to me besides the fact that goodness is a part of who He is. It’s just… awesome. Words cannot express it.
Thinking on it now, and the nature of worship, questions come up. What does it mean to worship? How do we, as children of God, worship the Father? How do I praise God? What do I praise God for?
Generally speaking, when people hear the word ‘worship’ as a verb, they think of music. In our tidy Christian bookstores, we have whole sections dedicated to “worship music.” But, music that isn’t labeled specifically as ‘worship’ can also be worshipful music. Worship is also something that is well beyond music, and can be done through art, chores, or simply just sitting and appreciating the beauty of nature. Ultimately, just about anything and everything in our lives can be done in a worshipful way to God. When we worship God, it isn’t about what we do. Worship is about the heart and attitude we have… pouring out praises and love, adoration and awe, obedience and humility. And really, there’s a lot that we have to praise God for. The very fact that we wake up each morning with breath in our lungs and a soft bed under our bodies is a pretty darn good reason to praise the Lord. (I may complain about my mattress, but I’m sure glad that I have one.) The fact that God has made us with hundreds of taste-buds to enjoy food is another way I praise the Lord. Being able to worship God freely without persecution is another good reason to praise Him… and so many, many other things that happen every single day that we take for granted.
With that in mind, I’m mixing something a little different into this Weekly. I’m giving you a homework assignment… you can send it back to me if you like, so I can praise the Lord with you.
What is it that you praise God for? Really think about it. In what ways do you see how God has been good to you? Praise Him for it!
Journal it. Sing about it. Be inspired by it. Think about it during the rest of this week; turn it over and let it simmer a while. Talk to someone about it. Bring it up. Ask someone about how they praise the Lord. Whatever you do, do not let this opportunity pass you by. Seize it and give it back to God.
This is what we at my home-church like to call “Bragging on God.” So; brag on God. He’s been good to you, right?

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

10.27.2006

2006-10-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hello everyone,

First, my apologies for not getting the Weekly Thing out to you all last week. Things have been very, very busy with getting prepared for doing college ministry, with support raising, and the days just kept flying by.

In the past two weeks, my heart has been full of praise to our God for the many things that he has been doing. And there are a few things that I would want to bring up, but my thoughts are instead turned to community and friendship.
I’ve written in the past, on a number of occasions, about the importance of community in the Christian realm, so for some of you this may be redundant. We could all use hearing these things again though – especially me.

What’s interesting about being a Christian is that it is rarely possible, if at all, to be fully stable without being a part of some kind of community. Actually, the very fact that we’re human makes that a difficult task. The way we are made is fundamentally relational, and as believers our faith is also fundamentally relational. Our love for God is fueled by the fact that God loved us first; apart from having a relationship like that with God, what is the point of faith exactly? Why believe in something like a god at all if the god doesn’t lovingly care about you? I think that this is a big reason why people do not believe in God—they miss the fact that He is a loving God. Fundamentally, God is relational. If He weren’t, being Three in One persons – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost – would be awfully difficult.
Because the Christian faith is fundamentally relational, and because we as human beings are fundamentally relational, it would make sense then that we are designed and purposed to be in a community. Adam needed a companion because it wasn’t good for man to be alone (Gen 3:18), and the same still rings true today. It is not good for you or me to be on our own. American culture especially preaches complete and total individual independence, but you know what? We’re designed to be dependent.
First and foremost, we are dependent on God for the very air that we breathe, life itself. Who keeps your heart beating in the dead of night while you sleep, none the wiser?
Secondly, we depend on each other for companionship, encouragement, rebuke, growth, and a number of other things. Fellowship is important to the life of a Christian, ever with the risk of putting Man above God. Although that risk exists, community is not to be totally forsaken. We can’t stand strong for long on our own… Brothers and Sisters in Christ, if we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing, keep each other strong by rebuking sin and encouraging praises to the Lord through Scriptural truths.

Let’s bring a little Animal Planet analogy into this:
A Zebra on its own is going to be taken down by a predator a LOT easier than if it remains with the herd of other Zebras.
A lioness on its own has a much harder time bringing down prey than she does when she works with other lionesses.

As heroic as it sounds, here’s another way of putting it:
Because we are a threat to satan, he wants to take us down, and he can do that a lot easier if we’re all by our lonesome. Because we fight against the forces of evil, being a part of an army whose goal is to stomp out the devil is a lot easier (emotionally) than trying to do it all alone.

Make sense?

So this is my encouragement and charge to all of us… Seek community with other believers. Live and work and breathe with brothers and sisters in Christ, while balancing that with time spent in the World, fighting the good fight. If you’re only looking out for Number One, it’s going to be awfully lonely battle that leaves you susceptible to all kinds of temptation.

I pray that all of us would seek community and really be an active part of a Christian community, primarily through a church. I pray that the Holy Spirit would put to rest our rebellious spirits that long to be totally independent, without help from anyone else. I also pray that we would really want to understand what community looks like, being a part of Christ’s body with HIM as the head of us all.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

10.16.2006

2006-10-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

Psalm 47:1,2
Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!

Romans 12:1,2
…I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Hey everyone-

How’s it going? I hope that this week went well for all of you, or if nothing else that you were able to see God’s goodness throughout the week.

This past week I’ve been reading Romans (yes, again; it’s my favorite), and also thinking a lot about the nature of our salvation. Think about it. Regardless of if you grew up in church or not, you and I are saved not by our own merit but by something far bigger than that. God’s grace, as the song goes, is amazing. It’s incomparable with any sense of grace that we have here on earth.
Yesterday, the 15th, was the day that God implemented that grace to save me six years ago. I for one did not grow up in a Christian household, and didn’t really grow up going to church either. Romans 5:10 mentions that we were God’s enemies before knowing Him, while Romans 8:7 mentions that the sinful mind is hostile to God. It’s interesting to think about because I was one of those kids that rarely would do anything “wrong” on the outside: I obeyed my parents, I did my homework, I didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, didn’t hurt people intentionally… All around good, right? And yet, Scripture says clearly that before I knew Christ, I was an enemy of God. I’d say that’s about right. If nothing else, it got to the point in my life that anything to do with Christianity was trite idiocy (or arrogance) and I hated it. I hated the Christian God and wanted nothing to do with Him. I didn’t have a problem with there being a “god” whatever it was, but Yahweh? Please, I wanted none of it. Not just that, but the garbage that went on inside could not be compared to any outward misdemeanors I may have done. So, yes, I was an enemy of the LORD.

Yet, here I am now, loving God and just floored at the fact that He reached down and extended His salvation to me six years ago. And it’s all to Him that I have faith and a desire to write these Weekly Things every week. It’s to Him that everything in my life has changed since I was in High School… it’s to Him that any one of us have the faith we have, and it’s to Him that we were saved at all. Praises be to God!
The verse that I pin-point as the one that finally broke the camel’s back was this:
Matthew 16:24-25, “If anyone would come after me [Jesus], he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
So I ask you to ponder these questions with me… Do we recall the days before we knew Christ, and praise Him for what He’s done? Have I really shouldered my cross, denying myself for Him? Have I really lost my old life to have new life?

Praise the Lord for your salvation, not just today but every day.

I pray that each of us would be humbled by how amazing God’s grace really, truly is, and praise Him continually for salvation. I also pray that we extend that awe with others, sharing Christ with those who are enemies of God so that they can know God, and be saved in just the same way as we were. I ask that the Holy Spirit would continually be working in our hearts to protect us from temptation and sin, and that He would also work in us the likeness of Christ. I pray that our lives would not be our own, but His. May we all praise the Lord, always, for everything that He does.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

P.S. I wanted to include this snippet… It’s from a local band called Kurios, and the name of the song is ‘Sing, Fall Down.’ I absolutely love it.

“One day You'll come again with open arms to hold me.
I'll see You face to face and bow before Your glory.
With all my strength, with all my heart,
with all I am my soul cries out.
With all of me I lift my voice to worship You.”

“We sing. We fall down. We worship You. We sing. We fall down.”

10.08.2006

2006-10-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

2 Corinthians 5:19-21
…he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Hey everyone,

So, this past week was full of hustle and bustle, but this coming week is going to be just teeming with the same kind of activity you’d expect to find in a bacteria-loaded slide under a microscope. Okay, perhaps not quite that much, but it seems pretty packed.

As many of you already know, I will be doing college ministry in Philadelphia in the near future; you may also know that I haven’t moved quite yet. This has been frustrating, because every fiber of my body wants to be over there in The City, and not here in The Not-City. I want to start working with students and almost all of my thought and energy has been geared toward this single goal.
Then God goes and hits me with what some of us would call the proverbial two-by-four, reminding me of something I heard about two years ago: “bloom where you are planted.” I enjoyed that phrase quite a bit, but I don’t know if I’ve ever really really taken it to heart. For instance, right now I’m all geared up for my “tomorrow,” which is working in Philadelphia. But, Philadelphia is NOT where I am right now and I feel like I can’t do anything until I get there. Um, hello?

I would imagine that the Lord would have us geared up to do ministry no matter where we are or what we are doing… Essentially, to bloom where we are planted so that we may be a fragrance to those who don’t know Christ, regardless of where we are or where we want to be. Here’s the crazy thing that God did to point out to me rather blatantly that there are people HERE in my current sphere of influence that need to hear about Christ. Just the other day, a guy came in to fix our air conditioner, and I ended up having a choppy conversation about God with him for an hour. I wasn’t expecting it at all and although I don’t think I did so hot, I sure hope that God planted a seed and I pray that He nurtures it somehow. If I were in Philly, that wouldn’t have happened. That’s a big *SMACK* in the face!

See, regardless of what we’re doing or where we are, as Christians, it is our job to be representatives of Christ – or, more precisely, ambassadors. What’s an ambassador do? They are official messengers who stand in to represent a government or king to another government or king. Everything they say and do are marked as being representative of their homeland/king. We as Christ’s ambassadors ought to shine forth the light of Christ and the love of God regardless of where we are. Being a missionary (or doing ministry) is not about what you do, but who you are because of Christ. You could be working at Panera Bread, or a coffee shop, or even a huge office building and still administer the Gospel.
I can only pray that this is something I will constantly remember as I wrestle with wanting to be in a different city to “start” my ministry.

I pray that each of us would really take hold of our identities in Christ, knowing that we are not only His beloved children, but also His ambassadors… I also pray that, as we go through each day, we would have eyes to see the opportunities God puts before us to minister to others and share His love with them. I ask that the Holy Spirit gives us all strength and wisdom to do that, to be bold and unafraid. May we always be transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

10.02.2006

2006-10-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

James 4:7-10
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Ephesians 5:1,2
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Proverbs 3:5,6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Hello everyone-

Sorry that this week’s email is a bit later than most; it’s kind of been a busy week. But, in a lot of ways I’m glad that I didn’t write till now since I learned quite a bit over the past two days.

In church, we have a new song that we sing called Every Breath by Ben Haake, and the chorus goes like this: “For every breath Lord, for all that I am, I want my life to bring you glory. For every moment, for all that I have, I want my life to bring you glory.” We sang this at worship night on Saturday, and also on Sunday morning. The bridge is simply a repetition of, “Forever. I surrender.” As I was thinking about that while singing and afterward when I’d gone home, I got to thinking about the new phase in my life in which I’m going into college ministry and how the past week had looked. … Admittedly, this past week wasn’t entirely focused on our Creator. In fact there were three days where I was so busy focusing on the things I “needed to do” to be able to do work for God in another city that God was almost completely out of the picture. I hadn’t read my Bible, and my prayers were skimped short. I was too busy.

So in singing those words, there came the sting of those three days. Yet it is what I want, to bring God glory with every breath and every moment… ah, but the bridge reminds me: I need to surrender first.
In our wacky world, it’s way too easy to get caught up in “doing things for God,” regardless of what it is. It’s easy to get caught up in being busy doing anything at all because being busy is bred into us from the get-go. What I’m about to say is not at all putting down the internet (since if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t even be writing this to you via email), but here’s a thought. Out there on the World Wide Web, there’s all kinds of things to keep you busy without even physically doing anything. MySpace, Xanga, Livejournal, Facebook, other forms of blogging, art websites, and so much more – all of these I’m guilty of messing around with for HOURS. Then of course there are things (even people) outside of ourselves that keep us milling about, demanding our attention, stomping their feet in a tantrum saying, “I NEED YOU RIGHT NOW.” Making phone calls, writing letters, making trips… All the while, God is quietly sitting by waiting, saying calmly, “You need me right now.” Because the other things are louder, God totally gets washed out. You know what? Most of those other things can wait ten minutes.

Well. That’s how it’s happened with me and there’s a long history of it coming and going. Sometimes, just a bit every day, I need to remember that I need God. I need to surrender the day to the One who made it, sit at His feet, and give Him all of my attention. And this isn’t just in the busy-ness of trying to jump start a college ministry… This is through every activity I do; every activity YOU do. Every breath, every moment, is meant for His glory.

I pray that, through all the things that we are responsible for in our lives, we would all submit to God first and foremost in those things… That our days would be saturated with moments of surrendering to God. I pray that the Spirit would work in us a desire to glorify the Lord with all that we have and remind us that we need to sit and listen to His word always. I also ask that He would teach us as we read Scripture and teach us not to neglect Scripture because it is our daily bread that nourishes us. May we always be transformed more and more into the likeness of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

09.23.2006

2006-09-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

First, for any new additions: This is a weekly email that I do for the purpose of encouraging brothers and sisters in Christ. Typically it is a compilation of my own thoughts, observations, and readings (Scripture, sometimes literature). Although sometimes, now and again, I’ll toss in some of my poetry; this would be one of those times.

Logos:
Greek. n.
Judaism.
1. In biblical Judaism, the word of God, which itself has creative power and is God's medium of communication with the human race. 2. In Hellenistic Judaism, a hypostasis associated with divine wisdom.
Christianity.
In Saint John's Gospel, especially in the prologue (1:1-14), the creative word of God, which is itself God and incarnate in Jesus. Also called Word.

Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

John 1:1-5, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

---
Logos

What are words, but that which gives ephemeral form
to thoughts and pictures,
or syllables weaved together to create a new sound?
And from whence does it come?
A box that cannot contain that which it produces:
foreign creatures with wings,
anxious to break free and be taken away by the wind,
left to ride the backs of thunderheads
This is the immersion of voice, buried deep yet exposed,
raised letter by letter like the resurrection of saints
and falling as a holy waterfall

Yet so much more are the strokes of a pen
that grace the surface of a sleek white virgin page,
truly allowing it to breathe some new thing
Word given form, shape and purpose
bringing to potential paper and ink, united as a bride to a groom
The result leaves humanity colliding with divinity,
drawn in by a shepherd's hook that brings the cold close
and holds her in a warm embrace

What are these words that fall off the tongues of cherubim,
cresting the edge of the world like satin white horses?
The lungs of man will be filled with poignant pictures,
and trifold 'holies'
The pen will make his mark on internal walls,
saturated with the sound of glory

These new things, these shapes and figures-
whence do they come?
Not from the depths of the sea, nor bellows of the earth
is it heard or seen or smelt or tasted
A voice of such words that are foreign,
yet inviting the Dark to be pierced by Light
and speaking in a beautiful spectrum that is hidden by angels
The syllables are deep and brought to the surface,
the infrastructure of the world cradled in the palm of one Word
and blazing into unseen cardiac highways
--YB 06 8/25
---

Isaiah 6:3 ; Revelation 4:8
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is filled with his glory.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.

Psalm 103
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
Who redeems you life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
Who satisfies your desires with good things, so that your moth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
As far as the east is from the west, so has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
The wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
And his righteousness with their children’s children—
With those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
Praise the LORD all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

09.17.2006

2006-09-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will know what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Ephesians 4:22-24 (see also Col 3:9-10); 5:8-10
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

Hello everyone-

Before I get started, I’ve added a handful of people (Team Philly) to the list so here’s an explination.. Howdy. This is Yvonne, and the Weekly Thing is a weekly email that I send out for the purpose of encouraging/challenging brothers and sisters in Christ… usually through a collection of my observances, readings, experiences, etc. If you’d rather not be on this list, just let me know!

At the end of this week, I went to my very first Staff Seminar as new staff with the CCO. I learned a lot, and I got to see again the fantastic people that I lived with over New Staff Training (although I didn’t get to talk with many of them as much as I wanted to… yes, this is a shout-out to all of you). It was pretty awesome, and the things God had to teach us through the speakers were great.
But this isn’t really about the seminar, rather it is about a key idea that was brought up: transformation.
Now, usually when I hear the word “transform” I immediately think about the popular cartoon called Transformers, which had various spin-offs. I’d be shocked if anyone in this crowd doesn’t know what it is, but to be brief, a Transformer is a robot that would transform back and forth into vehicles or other things to be – well – in disguise. To have that kind of association really shows that I’m a product of television. But I digress. When the Bible talks about something being “transformed,” it talks about a complete and total change that does not revert back to a previous state.
The example of a butterfly or other metamorphosizing creatures seems to be an appropriate example of our lives as Christians. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is the popular connection: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Even if you’ve grown up in a church your whole life, there is still a proclamation of faith that draws a line between the old and the new. Yet, although this is a profound truth, sometimes it is hard to see because we look more like a Transformer than we do a Butterfly.

It may be cooler for some of you to be called a Transformer instead of a Butterfly, which I totally understand, but hopefully I won’t lose you in trying to make the analogy work.

The fact is that we constantly go back and forth between falling into sin and staying on the path. I can be doing really great one day, totally pacing with God; then the next day struggling to fight against sin or failing to acknowledge sin completely. The latter are the days that I know I feel like a dirty rotten scoundrel, hiding behind the husk of the old self hoping no one noticed the lapse. Like a robot to something else, we go between the Old Self and the New Self... we tend to hang onto or pick up again the habits that belonged to the old self. If you don’t know what the Old Self even looks like, I would suggest looking to the Bible for some answers or asking someone you think could help you look.

We are called to be completely transformed and to toss the Old Self out the window. A butterfly, or other critter like it, starts out one way and ends up totally different. The kicker to it all is that a butterfly absolutely cannot go back to being a caterpillar. As crazy as it sounds, God is telling us to be the same way! Hard to do? You better believe it. Not just that but it is impossible to do without Christ as the center of our world. However, as crazy as it is, you and I are to strive to be changed and no longer act as someone who doesn’t know Christ. Our actions, thoughts, motives, speech and everything else about our human existence is called to be conformed towards Christ-likeness. On one hand I would like to encourage those who question their New-ness in Christ, and on the other hand I would like to challenge all of us (including myself) to seek total transformation and not become lax. If it is your goal and your prayer, your earnest desire to be changed, the change will happen. And, the change will finally be completed when we get to see God in all His awesome glory.

I pray that the Lord through the Spirit would continually be changing our lives, transforming us by the renewing of our minds so that we can become more like Christ so that He would be more evident to those who don’t know Him. I also pray that the Spirit would give us strength to fight temptation and the knowledge to know when we have sinned so that we may be humbled. May we have grace with one another, knowing that we are all in a process of transformation, and be unified in love as children of God.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

09.10.2006

2006-09-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
Guess what? For those of you that knew the situation concerning my bedroom ceiling, everything has FINALLY been completed, and I've been in the slow process of "moving back in" as it were. During this time, I thought about how our bodies are the house for God the Spirit and a story I heard once... While I know that I retold the story in a Weekly Thing long ago, I couldn't find the email. Briefly, the story was about a house that was suddenly being remodled by the architect. Walls were knocked out and things were changed and replaced. Didn't feel all that great, but in the end, the house became amaaaaazzing. Relate this to your own life: there are things the Architect does in our hearts that doesn't always feel that nice, but in the end it is a lot better.
While my room is not amaaaazzing... it is better. The ceiling is all in order, AND I now have a ceiling fan (which is nice because we don't have central AC.. my room has typically been the hottest during the summer). Took a while, and I didn't like waiting nearly two months to have my room back, but boy am I glad to have it back--especially with the ceiling fan. But this all comes to a bigger story in the Bible that I was brought back to read in the Old Testament book of Haggai. A scant two chapters, the small book by a lesser prophet can pack a punch. I suggest you read it and study the context. The premise: God needed his temple rebuilt and His people were too busy working on their own houses; the temple may as well have looked like a shack. And so He called them to action, and they rebuilt it.
I will now share with you another Weekly Thing from December 2004 that went where I want to go next:

--

Isaiah 55:1, 2
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

Haggai 1:7-9
This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the LORD. "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house."

Matthew 6:24-27
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

So, I'm flipping through my bible the other day to find a reference to Isaiah from Romans, and I came to Isaiah 55. It wasn't the reference I was looking for, and I've read Isaiah 55 several times before. But, because the Word is indeed the Living Word, something I hadn't thought on popped out to me. Normally, I look at this verse from the context of non believers being invited to drink from the spring of living water, invited to believe in Jesus, so that they might have life. What came out, however, was "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?" Specifically, 'labor on what does not satisfy' came through the speakers loud and clear.
As believers, why DO we labor on what doesn't satisfy us? I don't have an answer to that. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon talks about how he did EVERYthing he possibly could, and he was still left unsatisfied. I bring into this a connection that a good brazillian friend of mine brought up concerning a Finger11 song, quoting,
"If I traded it all, if I gave it all away for one thing, wouldn't that be something?"
If we really traded all that time we spend doing other things - like looking for a music group for hours on end, guilty as charged, here - for spending time enriching our relationship with God as well as others I wonder what that would look like. Our true satisfaction comes from our Abba Father in heaven, and seeking His will. Granted, we also have to learn to be content with what He does in our lives as His will whether we might like it or not. We cannot neglect the time we spend with our Lord, above all things. It's been a long time since I've read Haggai (LONG time), and I'm glad I have a study bible to find the verse above. If we neglect our time with God, then of course the spiritual part of our life is going to be damaged - God's house is going to get really dusty if we're not living in it, as it were. We're going to lose some of the things we had, whether that's knowledge or physical. We can't lose our salvation if we truly have it, mind you.. we are promised it, and the LORD Almighty does not break His promises or covenants. But He certainly gave His all for us. He gave all of it away so that we might live. Shouldn't we give it all back?
Again, wouldn't it be something if we traded it all?

I pray that each one of us learns how to give it all back to Christ, even though we will never be able to match the oustanding price He paid for us. I pray that we learn to labor in His word, in our communication with Him, in doing HIS will above our own - not so that we can earn our salvation, because we can't work for what we already have given to us, but so that we can be enriched in Him. I pray that our heart's desire will be to bring glory and honor to the LORD, our most precious Adonai that should be Sovereign in every aspect of our lives. I also ask that each of us will be changed and molded more and more into Jesus Christ's image with each passing day, and that we learn to rely on His Holy Spirit. I pray that we learn to love one another, and be united as brothers and sisters under one holy banner. Above everything, I pray that our Father will be glorified in all things.

In love and in Him,
your sister,
Yvonne

09.02.2006

2006-09-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

My apologies for not having sent a Weekly last week. Things were a bit busy, and I had also found myself in a bit of a rut. I won’t get into the fine details since they aren’t important right now, but know that I was beginning to worry and doubt the Lord, struggling to trust Him… But you know what He did yesterday, Friday? He encouraged my heart through a certain event as though to bend down and say, “And you thought I didn’t have this taken care of already.”

Actually, come to think of it, I read Matthew 6:25-34 and Luke 12:22-34 that same morning. I’m sure you know of them, or have at least heard bits and pieces from them. These are the passages in which Jesus is speaking about how we as believers ought not to worry because our Father in heaven knows our needs and has them taken care of. Talk about God’s actions as evidence for the validity and relevance of God’s word.

This is a realization-moment for you, unfolding as a type up this email. Let me take one step further back… a few days ago I was at a group meeting, and something someone said has specifically stuck in my mind since: ‘The Lord’s word does not return to Him empty.’ Looking it up thanks to a handy-dandy concordance, this is a reference to Isaiah 55:10 and 11 where it says, “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth … so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty…”

So, right now, I see crazy things at work involving Scripture. What come from God’s mouth here are His promises, which are expounded upon in the rest of the Bible. One in the New Testament, in Romans 8:28, says that, “…we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” The rest of Isaiah 55 also mentions that God’s thoughts are higher than our own. It brings to mind other passages in Scripture, a few of which some friends of mine recently pointed to in order to encourage me.

When I started this email, I was thinking of writing about faith (again), and while although faith is still woven into this, it would seem as though I’ve been turned to write of the importance of the Bible. I’ve written before that it is imperative that we as Christians know and understand the Bible… Why? It is the text that we learn about the relationship between humanity (that’s you and me) and divinity (that’s God); the nature of humans; the nature of God; and God’s promises to us. There’s a lot more to it than that, but I think those four things pack a pretty powerful punch on their own. It isn’t a nice collection of stories that give us warm fuzzies on a rainy afternoon; they are collection of stories that reveal quite a lot about the history of God’s people and God’s character. It’s as though every page is a solider in an army meant to revolutionize our way of life. Well, it can do that only if we have life in Christ and want to model our lives after Him. I do not have the intention of exalting a book to the status of something divine – but I do have the intention of telling you that, if you believe that Jesus Christ is your one and only Savior, the Bible is designed to be your handbook on how to live your new life under Him. Not just that, but as you can see from my experience, it has the power to encourage us when things are in disarray. In turn, we praise and give glory to God.

So you see, God’s word really doesn’t return to Him empty.

I pray that each of us are given a desire to learn and understand Scripture, and to seek it when we need encouragement from God – even if we don’t know where to start. I also pray that each of us, when encouraging each other, would point towards Scripture. I also ask that the Holy Spirit would change our attitudes about God’s word and give us discernment while reading.

In love and in Him,

Your sister,

Yvonne

(I did not refer to Scripture at the top like I normally do, because this Weekly is peppered with it throughout. I encourage you to look up those passages on your own to read and meditate on them.)

08.18.2006

2006-08-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

Matthew 21:21
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Mark 5:36, 9:24
Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."
Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

Luke 12:28
…If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

Hello everyone,

How are you all? I hope that things are well, as always, and that the Lord has been teaching you and growing you. For me, a lot of things went on this week and I missed a lot of other things this week…And it all came back to kick me in the hide today. Well, really, the Lord kicked me in the hide today vicariously through a friend of mine.
Most of you know that I’ve been doing support (fund) raising in order for me to get started with college ministry. The school year starts the 30th of this month, and because I am almost literally unable to do so, I am waiting another month to start on campus to do more support raising. Now, there are many things I ought to praise the Lord for; this is an awesome thing to wait another month. But the thing I focus on is “I don’t care, I want to start NOW.” And more than that is the fact I don’t think I’ve been in a place where I’ve totally believed that God is going to provide.
Okay. Ouch- big time.
It’s like I’m trying to take complete ownership of something that’s not mine to take, and then going at it upon my own power to add insult to injury.
Mega-ouch.

So, this is where I am right now, like one of those disciples whom Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” I think of the story of Abraham and his son Isaac- that's the kind of faith I want. It’s hard, but I know the Lord is going to pull me to Himself and help me rely on Him. He is still incredibly good.
Since I’m unsure of what else to share right now, here’s a song that came to mind. It's my prayer for you and myself, that we would have the faith that we are called to have and to trust the Lord.

Can you count all the things that I'm worried about
By the lines in my brow, I want to trust but don't know how
To rest and be still, to abandon myself to your will
And I can't figure out what my time in this world is about

And this time I don't have an answer
But don't think that I haven't tried
I still have the heart of a seeker
But I need the faith of a child
I need the faith of a child

I know Christ waits for me on the other side
of this life, But I, I wanna know why I'm alive
Cause I wonder from the path so far
Would it be easier, easier to be where you are

And this time I don't have an answer
But don't think that I haven't tried
I still have the heart of a seeker
But I need the faith of a child
I need the faith of a child

I wanna know what the truth is
and I don't care if its costly
I know there must be a reason
even if it cannot be known by me

And this time I don't have an answer
But don't think that I haven't tried
I still have the heart of a seeker
But I need the faith of a child
I need the faith of a child

--O.C. Supertones

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

08.12.2006

2006-08-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Matthew 11:28
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

See also: OT Scripture regarding the Sabbath.

Hello all!

First- there are a few added individuals. This is Yvonne, and the email before you is 'The Weekly Thing.' The purpose of this weekly email is to encourage brothers and sisters in Christ, as the Lord wills. If you do not want to recieve it, just let me know and I can take you off of the list.
Second- I feel I ought to note, however unimportant it may be do so, that much of the Scripture references that I use are looked up (in context as well) via Biblegateway.com. It's very handy. I recommend it.

Recently, I've been reading a book called Intruding Upon the Timeless: Meditatios on Art, Faith, and Mystery by Gregory Wolfe. It's primarily about Christian faith in relationship to art/writing and post-modernity, and Wolfe brings up something in one of the short chapters that got me thinking... That is, the concept of silence. Silence, by definition, is the "condition or quailty of being still; the abscence of sound, stillness." Wolfe talks about silence as something sacred; pure; a moment unmarred by human intervention/sound... granted, while he was talking more directly about the creative process, I think there's a good bit of thought to offer to the population at large.
The past two or three weeks have left me with relatively little silence. I have utilized the vocal chords God gave me more in these weeks than I think I had in whole month of May (or any month for that matter). I've been somehow plugged into music, plugged into conversations, plugged into every Sound Outlet available to me. Because my bedroom is currently still out-of-order, I have been sleeping in an office humming loudly with computers so even my sleep has been without silence. Things are also constantly rattling around in my mind about college ministry and support raising and moving to Philadelphia. You would think that I would be going crazy at this point with so much "noise." But is this experience uncommon for most of us? I think that, most of the time, we don't really even notice how noisy our daily lives tend to be... The switch is always turned on and the volume is usually on full blast to the point that it seems abnormal to be in the midst of silence. It usually means something is wrong.
However, silence can be such a wonderful and powerful thing. In some ways I would want to picture the God of the universe pulling us aside and saying, "Shut up and worship me. Be quiet and listen to me." Sure that might seem a bit gruff but 1) God is God and 2) if Jesus can overturn tables and use a whip to chase out men selling things in the temple, I think God could tell us to Shut Up if He wanted to. Sometimes, it's the only way we'll get quiet right away. But there's more.
A common contemporary worship song opens with "You're calling me to lay aside the worries of my day; to quite down my busy mind and find a hiding place." While songs aren't Scripture, there's a whole lot to think about when those words come out of our mouths. We're called to set our worries, our busy-ness, our selves aside. All the thoughts that bounce around like crazy in our heads are to be quieted. Every now and then (more often than not!), we need to find a mental/physical quiet place to praise God for who He is.

I pray that each of us will find the significance of silence, that we would rest in the presence of our Lord without being noisy about it... that we would be quiet more often than not. I ask that the Spirit would help us to quiet our minds and our hearts so that we can commune with God and KNOW Him. I also pray that we would continually be refined, becoming more and more like Christ every day... and that we would turn around and praise Him for what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do.

In love and in Him,
your sister,
Yvonne

08.05.2006

2006-08-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah 29:11-13
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

John 14:1
"Do not let your hearts me troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."

Hello everyone,

How are you all doing? I hope that all is well, and that our Lord is continually teaching you and working through you.
Before I go on into my regular spiel, I thought I would touch on something that's going on in the world. As you undoubtedly know, there's a lot of crazy stuff happening between Israel and Lebanon right now. There's always something going on in the world, and there are always wars going on... But I just wanted to ask that if you haven't already prayed for the two nations, I ask that you would do so. Pray for Israel, pray for Lebanon, and pray for whoever else gets involved. I don't mean pray just that they would stop fighting, but pray that the way of Christ may be made known and that He would use our brothers and sisters there to help all of those in need.

Thanks.

This week, as I was reading through Matthew and had been comparing it to the other Gospels (study bibles are so handy with that!), I came across Mark 5, and a verse (36) that stuck out to me was when Jesus says to the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe." Now the context is that Jesus wanted the man with the sick girl to believe that He could heal her. But it's a verse that just strikes a chord in such a way that I need to cling to it. As I step out into college ministry, there are so many things that I could be afraid of... In fact, there are a lot of things I could be afraid of without even going into ministry. That's just just the way life is - I'm sure it's nothing new to most of you. Whether it's with graduating and needing to get a job, or going through classes, or getting into a brand new relationship (or struggling in one), or dealing with sickness, or dealing with family issues, or money's getting tight.... So on and so forth.
here's a commercial for something or other that basically says "Life comes at you fast." It's true. There are a lot of things in life that just come at us and tempt us to quake in our boots. And yet there's Jesus, saying to the man who has just been told his daughter was dead: Do not be afraid, but instead believe. Believe that Jesus can, and will, take care of you. I really needed to hear that in the beginning of this week, and I'm finding that at the end of the week, it's still something I need to hold onto--tightly. If Christ is God, and if God is the God of all things, then certainly He is more than able to take care of us. What usually gets in the way is our own human ideas of what we think we need.... and it's then that we ought to read Matthew 6:25-34 to set things into perspective. Do we believe God is going to take care of us? We all struggle with this question...
Later in Mark (9:24), a man says to Jesus, "... help me overcome my unbelief!"
I think we could all do with crying out like that.

I pray that each one of us learn to cry out like that... That, although God knows it, we would ask for Him to help us believe. I pray that He would continually be working in our hearts, and that we would come to hold onto His amazing faithfulness. I ask that the Holy Spirit be working and refining each of us, molding us into dedicated sons and daughters that want to be instruments of the Father's glory. I also ask that we be conscious of the fact that the Lord is us, holding onto us and teaching us to hold onto Him through the difficulties in life that cause our faith to quake. May we learn to rely on and trust our Lord more and more every day.

In love and in Him,
your sister,
Yvonne

07.28.2006

2006-07-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

Psalm 100
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Col 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Hello everyone!

I hope that everyone is doing well. This past week has been a little all over the place for me, having gone back and forth between discouragement and encouragement. It's been kinda crazy.
Also during this past week, I'd like to share something that I would not recommend for anyone on the planet to ever do. I've been trying to do all that I can to work and prepare for ministry, up to the point of not settling down and spending some quiet time with the Lord. From the moment of waking up each morning, the voice in my head called Myself said, "I have to get this, this, and this done and I need to start right away." Woah- no good! And I sit back and wonder why I've been feeling discouraged? Looking at it now, it seems like a no-brainer.
But, I know I'm not the only one to be suddenly found in the sticky situation of being overly focused on everything but God. There's a lot going on in the world, both privately and publicly. There's work that does need to be done, and there are things that we are responsible for. Even now as I'm typing the Weekly, I'm thinking in the back of my head: "I need to call persons X, Y, and Z today, and then run to places A, B, and C." It's times like these that I want to tell myself to sit down and be quiet. Ever get like that? Ever get to a point where you're running around like a chicken that's frantic about the sky falling?
Unfortunately, it's not that uncommon to get so wrapped up into busy-ness that God is left looking at His proverbial watch, wondering when we're going to sit down with Him. I'm reminded of the story of when Jesus went to visit Mary and Martha, from Luke 10. I'm sure you know the story. Martha's bustling around in the kitchen while Mary is sitting with Jesus. But I needn't go into too much detail about the story... it would seem as though everyone and their mom goes back to this story when talking about busy-ness. What gets me is Jesus' response to Martha when she asks Him to tell Mary to help her.

"...you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed."

I'm worried and upset about a lot of things. I'm running around, wondering how in the world this ministry thing is going to work out. I'm wondering when my ceiling in my bedroom is going to be fixed and when I won't have to work in the basement anymore. And then of course there are the little things that rattle on in the background... I seem to be missing the point, however, in knowing that only one thing is needed. We all seem to miss the point at one moment or another... We just need to stop, sit down, and spend some time with the Lord who gives us life. More than that, to just stop and be thankful; to praise God for all things. I think that when we start buzzing around and worrying about everything that needs to be done, we tend to lose that focus and act as though life is all about what WE do. The things we do in our day are things that are really given to us from God to steward. To spend time with God every day is to give something back that He gave us in the first place... think of it this way: It's said that we're to give a tenth of all we have to God (or, indirectly through the church). Would that then include giving a tenth of our time to God, every day?
I'll let that question sit... not only for you, but also for myself.

I pray that we can be a people that spends time building our relationship with God... not just every now and then, but every day. I pray that His spirit would teach us to be thankful in all circumstances, and for all things. May we learn to pray not only for ourselves, but that we be especially mindful of others and the things that go on in the world. I ask that the Lord refine us and help us to set aside quiet time with Him, that we do not neglect our Father even in the midst of busy-ness. I also ask that He give us the tools we need to be good stewards of our responsibilities, looking to Him for guidance always.

In love and in Him,
your sister,
Yvonne

07.22.2006

2006-07-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

Psalm 133:1
How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

John 17:22,23
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Romans 15:5,6
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hello everyone,

Before I start, two things:
1) Sorry about not writing last week's email. Through the busy-ness of going into the last week of new staff training, I wasn't able to send out my email. While the rest of this summer will likely be very busy for me, I have all intention to continue writing the Weekly.
2) Hello NST friends! I mentioned briefly to most - if not all - of you that there's this weekly encouragement email I do... well, this is it! Basically, this is my attempt to encourage (and sometimes challenge) brothers and sisters in Christ on a weekly basis. And, if the Lord sees fitting, He'll use something I say to encourage someone out there. That's it. It can also be found online at http://weeklything.blogspot.com/. If you don't want to get an email every week, just let me know and I'll take you off the list.

Okay, now with that aside... as somewhat mentioned above, I missed last week's email because I was going into my final week of training for college ministry. Last night, I came home. It's kind of funny and strange being at home now, for a number of reasons. First of all, there aren't the thirty people buzzing around, the folks I've bonded with over the past five weeks. Second of all, I had to sleep on the floor of my dad's office because there is a hole in the ceiling of my bedroom - all of my things are in every place but my room. That's a little disorienting... among other things. Yet despite these things, I know I'll settle and things will get back to normal once more. But I digress.

There are a lot of things that I learned at my training, too many things to even think about summarizing in such a way that satisfies full explanation. That'd be crazy. So, instead I will focus on what is on the forefront of my mind: community. Most of you have heard me go on about the importance of community and unity, but I don't think these kinds of things can be said enough.
While the situation I just came out of is a rather unusual one, the sense of community we've reached is not necessarily outside the bounds of average life. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to be united. You and I cannot do this Christian thing alone. We were never meant to. Think back to the Garden of Eden: God had said after observing little lonely Adam, "It is not good for Man to be alone." There is a part of us (or at least me) that stubbornly fights against this, saying, "No, I can do it by myself. I don't need the help of others." In case you haven't noticed, there's just a wee bit hint of pride in that. Being the Animal Planet geek I am, to think that we can get along fine as Christians by ourselves kind of makes me think of a baby water buffalo wandering off by itself. Not only is it easier to take down by predators because it doesn't have the protection of the herd, it's probably also clueless about its own vulnerability. Likewise, once we stubbornly try to go it our own, we're open to be attack and clueless about our vulnerability.
Physically, we need fellow Christians nearby for a number of reasons. They can look out for us when we're struggling and call us out when we're sinning. They see and know our behaviors. No one really likes to be called out on something, but we all desperately need it. Spiritually, to be connected with a body of believers (most likely a church) means that we have the opportunity to be taught the Word of God and what it means to walk with Christ. We can be blessed- but we can also be a blessing to others! This also emphasizes on the importance of not just giving all the time, and not just taking all the time. We need an even balance of taking in what we learn and pouring it out onto others: to have community. People help one another, look out for one another, and take care of one another. For us it doesn't mean flowers and sunshine all the time, and there will be some disagreements from time to time. But the spirit of unity will say that although those differences are present, it is a choice to love and care for the other person even when there is a disagreement/difference.
I suppose you could say that being a Community Christian (as opposed to a Lone Ranger Christian) gives us the opportunity to reflect the relationship of the God-head. While the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three personages and have basically different "jobs" as it were, we can still confidently say that God is God, "three in one." God is unified as one. We can never fully attain this kind of unity, but we can do all that we can to strive for it. It also gives us the opportunity to pour out our love and our gifts onto others, and in turn have them pour their love and their gifts onto us. Why would I think this is important? Well, I would wager to say that it gives glory to the Lord... and that's good enough reason in and of itself.

I pray that each of us would strive to be unified with the brothers and sisters around us, knowing well that any encouragement and rebuke is meant for our betterment. I also pray for those of us that have the tendency to try to be a community unto ourselves, that we would see the importance of being a part of the Body. I also ask that if we have the tendency to stick only to our Christian communities, that we would learn to break free and step out onto the water so that others may see our faith. I ask that the Spirit would help us all to be unified, and that slander or gossip would be fought against because it has no place in our lives... that we would actively seek reconciliation where needed. I pray that we each can be changed more and more into the likeness of Christ, always seeking to be refined to bring the Father glory.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

07.09.2006

2006-07-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Philippians 2:12, 13
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Colossians 1:9-14
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Hello everyone!

Wow, there has been so much going on here with my training that it would take a novel for me to go on about the things I’ve been learning about. And although I tend to be long-winded in my Weeklies, I could write forever on my classes thus far. But let’s put that aside and come back around to something I mentioned in brief last week.

In my last email, I kind of breezed over this metaphor involving a sift and how the number of wires makes a big difference in how garbage is sifted out. At that time I spoke about how a sift with only one half of it threaded with wires was useless. I'd like to touch more on the aspect of a sifter with very few wires being fairly ineffective in the context of maturing in our faith. If you've been getting these emails or if you've been talking to me long enough, you know that I put a pretty heavy emphasis on spiritual growth. Indeed, I encourage every one of us - brothers and sisters, young and old - to be continually seeking growth. In this idea of a sifter, the growth is measured by the amount of wires you have. The more spiritually mature, the more wires and the less garbage that would tend to get through, right? For instance, when I first became a Christian, I used to shake back and forth whenever confronted by non-Christian family members. Although it is hard at times still, I am now (five years later) more rooted and solid in my stance with Christ as our salvation.

To be "spiritually mature" in any sense seems like this mysterious and non-objective state of being, but I really do think that it is a process that we all go through. While Christ through the Holy Spirit is continually working through us, in some respects it can be a choice to be mature. For example, infants have a natural growth process that they must go through but as they get older they also have to learn to work and operate in the human world. If I want to be a better speller, I need to learn how to spell and continue to practice spelling to be an even better speller. If I want to sing, I have to sing and practice singing to be even better. These things don't always come naturally to us. As with being a "mature Christian," it doesn't necessarily come natural to us, but we must continually be learning about and professing what it is that we believe. Because I believe that there is no higher earthly authority than the Bible, I would say that reading, studying, and practicing the Bible is extremely important. Reading to get off on the right foot; studying to understand and go beyond leisure reading; practicing to live it and go far beyond what we call "head-knowledge." There's a lot of stuff you can know about the Bible, but that doesn't necessarily define maturity. I could know about the theories of music, but if I don't put action to it, what does it mean? On the flipside, if I just have the action without the know-how, then how in the world can I invite others in to understanding what I believe?
I encourage each of you (and in hopes, you would encourage me) to be very thoughtful of your walk and relationship with Christ. Are we actively seeking to learn how to have a deeper relationship with Christ? Do we seek to understand, or do we just take things at face-value?

I pray that each of us would not only grow more into mature Christians, I also pray that we would vocalize our faith and our understanding of our faith with others. I pray that the Lord would bring us to use the facilities around us to grow, learn, and share as we age as believers. I also ask that we would put it in our hearts and minds to want to stretch ourselves in order to grow, that our lives would not be spiritually stagnant. I pray that the Holy Spirit would continually refine us more and more into the image of Christ, and unify us under His name.

In love and in Him,
your sister,

Yvonne

06.30.2006

2006-06-30T21:17:00.000-07:00

See ALL of Genesis 1

Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it...

Hello everyone!

How have you all been? My training has been going well, and I'm enjoying the people I'm meeting as well as the stuff I'm learning. There have been a few good conversations and discussions, and of course I'd love to share everything under the sun about it all. But, to be merciful to you and your time, I'll spare you for now. I do wish to share a nugget of what I learned about this week, though.
Some time ago, a friend of mine tossed a wrench in my way of thinking about God's view of our lives and how we operate in them. Many of you may even remember the side comment I made regarding my opinions about a math exam I had. I half-joked that mathematics didn't matter so much because they wouldn't be in heaven - mostly because I didn't have a knack for it. Now, anyway, this friend of mine basically asked me that, "...if math doesn't matter in heaven, then why would art matter in heaven?" Being the artsy person I am, the challenge presented to my thinking was indeed a big one. Over time I've slowly been figuring out what that challenge meant, and all the scattered pieces are starting to come together.
This is essentially what my friend was asking me, "If the -X- part of creation doesn't matter to God, why did He make it? Why does it make the -Y- any more important to Him? Didn't He create all things?" ... So, didn't God create all things? Could it be that the God who created Art be the same God that created Math? Say it isn't so!
But it is so. One of the books I read about a year ago put it aptly: God doesn't make junk (Art & Soul). There are many ways that can be taken.... in this sense, it is in regards to created things. In another sense, it relates directly to us and our body image - but I won't go there this time around....
Now from this point, I hope that in this email I do not overstep my bounds. I encourage someone to let me know if they think it does.

We as Christians stand in a state that requires a filtering system as we look at the fallen world of Man and creation. The metaphor of a sift to Christianity was offered in looking at this. When you think of a sift (such as a flour sifter), it normally has these wires that help to catch any impurities from the thing you are sifting. A sifter is pretty ineffective if it only has two wires, but it works very effectively if it has multiple wires throughout it (this was used to show difference between an immature Christian and a mature Christian)... But, equally ineffective is a sifter in which only one HALF of it is threaded with wires. You might be catching some things, but there's still a bunch of garbage coming through while trying to sift. It's not functioning in a way that a sifter is supposed to function. When we look at life, I think it is our human tendancy to pick out the things we think are good and stick with them, and then point at the things that we consider 'bad' and avoid them like the plague (things that aren't inherently sinful in and of themselves), or consider some activities holier than other activities. Example: being a missionary is much more 'holy' or 'pious' than being a scientist. But aren't we all called to be missionaries no matter what our official job is?

Or, another way of putting it is that we have the tendancy to seperate our Church/Religious-Life from the Rest-of-Our-Life. But, didn't the Lord create our 'church' life as well as our 'normal' life? Rather than splitting ourselves into two persons and personalities, why not live our ENTIRE lives to God, and not just pieces of it? Aren't both aspects of life equally important to God? There are many more things I would like to speak about this, but again I don't want to overstep my own boundaries. But I do wish to encourage you all to think about these kinds of things.. what is our relationship to creation? Is all of creation 'good?' Where does corruption and sin fit into this? I implore you to be men and women who think about their faith and investigate Scripture as the way of understanding anything I talk about in my Weekly Thing.

I pray that each of us would continue to search God and His word for answers and understanding... I also pray that the Lord would be continually working in each of us, continually shaping and changing our lives and our minds to be more like that of Jesus. I ask that we take in God's creation and praise Him for making it good, despite the fact that now it looks bad because of the devesation of sin. I pray that the Lord would continue to encourage us to live holistically, allowing His Holy Spirit to premeate ALL aspects of our lives, whether 'religious,' political, economical, etc. - all aspects - and that He would be working in those areas of our lives. I also pray that the Spirit would be working in our lives to be children who have discernment and that the Lord would mature us further and further in our faith.

In love and in Him,
your sister,
Yvonne

P.S. I realize that this week's email is more of a self-reflection, faith-evaluation sort of email... but you know, sometimes we need those kinds of opportunities to establish an opportunity for you to internally/intelligently reflect on your faith. Do we think that certain things/actions/words are holier to God than others?

06.24.2006

2006-06-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

Romans 7:24,25
Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 8:5-7, 9
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.
...You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you

Hello everyone!

Greetings from CCO-training! How are you all doing? As usual, I hope and pray that all is going well for you, and that the Lord is teaching you many things... I myself have gone through my first week of training, and it has been fabulous. We've gone through the basics (orientation) and I've already learned a lot. Praise the Lord that I've been able to be diligent about my reading assignments! Yes, I did not escape homework by graduating.

Today at training, we had a scheduled time set aside to commune with God, which was such a breath of fresh air. We were free to wander around campus for three hours and the curiousity within me celebrated by poking around the back of a building where there were lots of rocks, a dumpster, and trees. I bring this up because of the image it brought to mind.... Out of the rocks, the trees grew, with roots curling all around and into empty pockets to reach soil. Something that was not alive (the rocks) was surrounded and literally being consumbed by that which was alive (the trees, grass, and such). With us, we have something that isn't alive (the sinful nature) being consumed by what is alive and gives us life (the Holy Spirit). We can be encouraged by this because, if we truly hold onto Christ as our Savior and rely on Him for the air we breathe, God is there when we're struggling or being tempted, or when we face persecution. We can come and really ask Him to give us the strength to fight temptation and to hold onto our faith when we face opposition or when we're discouraged. No joke! We can go to God and admit when we're struggling. His Spirit will move in us to want the things of holiness... Our prayer ought to be that the Lord would make it our attitude to be willing to this kind of change and humility.

I will keep this week's email short. I encourage you to take a walk through Romans.
I pray that each of us would learn more about being submissive to Christ and open to His Spirit, and how He would work in our lives to change us. I pray that we be men and women of God who desire holiness--that is, who desire to be like Christ in our words and in our actions so that others can see us and be curious. I ask that our Father would be continually teaching us, and that we continually be open to His teaching in all circumstances.

In love and in Christ,
your sister,
Yvonne

06.17.2006

2006-06-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 2:8,9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Philippians 1:6
...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Psalm 139:23,24
Search me, O God, and 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.

Hello everyone,

How are you all doing? I hope the Lord has been teaching you many things this past week, whatever those things may be.
And me? Well, in a bit over 24 hours, your little weekly-writer well be at TRAINING with the CCO for five weeks! When I woke up this morning, it struck me that this whole college ministry thing is actually happening, that I'm really heading out tomorrow morning. How crazy is that? ... Let me tell you.

It was about four and a half years ago that I became a Christian. Before that, I was this girl that hated Christianity and discouraged friends from being Christian if they were thinking about it. Where we presently stand, I love the Lord and I want to share the Gospel. There's a huge difference between now and then! And I cannot make any claim that it was all because I tried really hard to get here. This is and has been God's work in me. The same stands for every one of us because our faith isn't even our own - that is, it doesn't originate in us. We ask for it, much like a father asked Jesus to help him believe in Mark (9:14-25). It's given to us just like the air that we breathe.. Anything good in us is Christ's accomplishments: He's given us talents and abilities to do the things we do, and He's give us any success that came out of those talents and abilities. Of course, we get in the way of what God's doing... probably countless times, right?

One of the key things that I feel as though I learned while at college was that God doesn't give up on us. Sounds like a generic phrase, I know, but let me elaborate: God doesn't leave us incomplete. We come to Him as broken individuals, but we aren't left that way. Provided we are open to the way Christ changes us, we will indeed change and healed and "fixed." If we aren't open, it just means that the process is slowed down to the speed of a sloth (which could mean we'll grow some nasty mold in the midsts of our stubborness). If I may also point out, we're always going to be in the process of change... the point of completion is beyond this life and this world. Much like many websites on the internet, we're always going to be 'Under Construction.'
In light of that, there's one more thing I'd like to say. I think often times, we get this crazy notion that we can't approach the Almighty because we've got our threads pulled and our stuffing is coming out. We feel like we need to be 'everything-is-okay' in order to be standing with Christ, the perfect child that does everything right. I believe that our Father is pleased more when we go to Him knowing that we're screwed up and we need His help through life.

Mark 2:17 - "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

I pray that each of us, as children of God, would be challenged by His Holy Spirit... that He would continue working in us so that we would be open to change and willing to discard that which is ungodly. I ask that He would give us a desire to ask for change, to ask for an internal revolution. I pray that we will join together in praising the Lord for what He's done in each of us, and pour out gratitude in knowing that Christ will not leave us incomplete.

In love and in Him,
your sister,

Yvonne

6-9-2006

2006-06-08T23:15:00.000-07:00

2 Samuel 22:7
In my distress I called to the LORD; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears.

Habakkuk 3:17,18
Though the fig tree does not bud and ther eare no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fials and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Hello everyone,

How is everyone? I hope all of you are doing well and are being strengthened by our Lord daily. As most of you may know, I've been going through the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament, and a few days ago I finished Habakkuk. Basically, the gist of this book is that Habakkuk asks the Lord WHY so many terrible things are going on and He seems to be doing nothing. The Lord answers, and in the end Habakkuk trusts that the Creator of all things knows what He's doing. That's a VERY brief explanation.
I think what strikes me the most is this prophet's opening words to God: "How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?" (Hab 1:2,3) How many of us have cried out in this way, or at least wanted to, because of all the things that go on in our lives and in the world? How many of us go through rough spots and question, "How long is this going to last??"
U2 asks the question in Sunday Bloody Sunday, and also in 40 (from Psalm 40). Many other musical artists do the same in different ways.
In looking through Psalms, an observer can quickly pick up on the fact that the psalmists were also perplexed and asked, "How long?"
We've all asked the same question somewhere in the depths of our souls. And, as demonstrated by all of these figures in the Bible, we certainly are free to ask God that question! I think that we as believers today have this idea that to ask 'why' or 'how long' is somehow a crack in our faith... so we're afraid to ask. We're afraid to be upset and we're afraid to express that to a God that already knows we're upset. But you know what, when we do cry out to Him, He does hear us.

The Lord Almighty is a God who hears us. If you don't catch what I'm saying, I'll say it again: God is a God who HEARS us. Why? Because He is our Father, and He cares for and loves each of us in such a way that you and I could never imagine.. Your muffled cries and anguishes about the state of things - either worldly or in your personal life - is not outside of God's earshot and I would wager to say that He wants us to bring our cries to Him. Although the answer to 'how long?' may never be revealed to us, we can rely on the fact that there will come a time when God will make all things right when Christ comes back. Even now in our present age, we can lean on Him and know that He will take care of everything in His timing. The world can't run on our timetable, as much as we'd like it to, and you and I need to focus on being faithful followers to mend where we are needed and where we can be used for God's glory. Even in the midst of our troubles and distress, we are to praise the Lord for all that He is doing. Hard to do? You betchya... but it's worth it.

I pray that each of us would not be hesitant in presenting our distress to the Lord, and be willing to be calmed by His Spirit. I pray that we wouild be patient in knowing that God hears our prayers, no matter how little or how small... and also that we would be taught to trust God. I pray that we He would help us to wait patiently for the Lord to do what He needs to do. Also, I ask that the Holy Spirit would work in each of us daily, refining us to be more and more like Christ as He teaches us to shed the layers of lies we have believed for so long.

In love and in Him,
your sister,
Yvonne

P.S. I apologize if some things do not make sense... it's nearly 2:00 in the morning and I wanted to finish this up before going to bed. Also, I may be coming back to this later to make some adjustments.

6-2-2006

2006-06-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

Romans 12:4,5
Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Ephesians 4:2-6 + 13-16
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
… until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Hello everyone!

How are you all? I hope and pray that all is well, and also that our Father is teaching you many things as the summer months have officially been in full swing.
I recently just finished a book called the Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis… one that I would definitely recommend all of you read if you have the chance. In one of the last sections of the book, Lewis speaks about membership and church membership. But one thing that I wasn’t quite expecting was to find a definition of the word ‘member.’
In the book, Lewis points out to the reader that we think of members as individual units that are less important than the higher-ups in an organization, and those members can easily function apart from each other. Originally, the term member was used when speaking about body parts and organs of the body. A member is a smaller part of a larger whole, where one ‘member’ is just as important and functional as any other ‘member’ within the body… in different ways. There are our hands that operate in much different ways than veins or arteries¸ but each are important in the tasks that they do. Or, there’s the wind pipe and the esophagus, close in proximity but certainly having different functions, and yet still a part of a larger organism. Even further and beyond the idea of ‘members,’ there are red blood cells and white blood cells; DNA and RNA. But I shall stop there.

Many, if not all of you are familiar with the idea of being a member of a church, a local body. Some, well, you might not be so keen on the idea of it all, but here’s something to keep in mind: a finger cannot survive on its own- a hand cannot survive on its own. In order to function as it was designed to function and in order to survive at all, it must be connected to a body. So it is with you and I: we are designed to be a functioning part of a local body of believers – a church – whose Head is Christ. If we aren’t? Well, our faith will suffer in the long run. Undeniably.
The people in the church are probably going to be different than you are. There are going to be those who like different things and then those who like similar things, or think a bit differently or talk differently because we all come from different walks of life. And this is no reason to neglect the local church! The thing that unites us all is the Head, that is Christ, and our purpose in glorifying God in all that we do… the only reason to separate from a local church is if that church is preaching heresies.
We are individuals designed to be members of something bigger, something beyond ourselves. And dare I say it, something that’s beyond our selfish desires, preferences, and biases, and that it ought to be a church that is solid in Biblical teaching.

I pray that each of us would be convicted in regards to our brothers and sisters, that we would not neglect or ignore them, as are as much a part of ourselves as we are all under Christ… and I also pray that we would find comfort in knowing that we DO belong to a body. I ask that the Holy Spirit would move the hearts of those who find it difficult to belong to a church body and help them to long for fellowship with other believers. I also pray that our churches would always submit to the headship of Christ. I ask that He help us in utilizing our skills and abilities to build up our brothers and sisters, so that we may be active parts of the body, universally and locally. May the Lord always be changing our hearts and our attitudes so that we may become more and more Christ-like.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne

An Introduction

2006-06-02T21:02:00.000-07:00

Hello to.. well.. anyone out there who happens to be paying attention.
The purpose and intention of this Blog is solely to encourage brothers and sisters in Christ in their faith-walks on a weekly basis. It's basically a compilation of my experiences, observances, and thoughts intertwined with Scripture and the Christian books I pick up along the way. There are many times in which I come back to the same subjects which indicates the things I tend to think about more than I do other things.
It all started about three years ago and has been running as an email newsletter of sorts. More recently I have been posting on my Live Journal, my Xanga, and also on my DeviantArt account... basically, it's everywhere I end up electronically. Why do I do it? I don't know exactly, I just know that I enjoy doing it. Christians are also taught to encourage one another: Hebrews 3:13, "...encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's decietfulness." (NIV) This is my attempt to do it on a fairly regular basis.. it is also a weekly reminder to myself. Keeps me focused, etc. It is my earnest prayer that the Lord would use this in the lives of those who read it and that He will use it for His glory.

To the right, I will begin listing books that I have found myself quoting or using some idea from in past Weekly Things, and the ones that I will eventually use as life goes on. Hopefully others will read them and find them as useful as I have in my walk with Jesus.