This morning, I am deeply moved by the thought that JESUS CHRIST IS OUR ADVOCATE.
As I worked in my devotion time from Isaiah 53:6, "We all have wandered away like sheep, each of us has gone his own way. But the Lord has put on him the punishment for all the evil we have done" [NCV], I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the idea that in all of my "wanderings," Christ was/is/will be there--begging God for me.
The entire idea of ADVOCACY came to my mind and spirit. Christ, our advocate.
First, I looked up its definition:
What is Advocacy? Dictionary.com defines it this way: "the act of pleading for, supporting, or recommending; active espousal."
Yes, He did that for me, continues to do that for me.
How do we know?
"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." --I John 2:1 [KJV]
When I mess up, still, TODAY, tomorrow, He is there for me, the very One who paid a massive price for me, making intercession for me.
Ultimately, this ADVOCATE is also the One who paid a GREAT PRICE for me.
Shouldn't that have been enough? If it were me, or maybe even you, mightn't we be tempted to say, "Look, I paid the ultimate price for you. Isn't that enough?! That's all I had in me. You're on your own!" But, no, this Savior of ours, this Christ, CONTINUES to pay a price for us, continues to be an advocate for us!
I think, too, of Moses. He paid a great price--though not with his life--for the freedom of God's people. But once he freed them, they started griping. Instead of letting that experience make them incredibly more powerful children of the Most High God, it provoked them to become people of doubt, frustration, immaturity. And instead of leaving them all on their own in the desert, Moses pleaded with God not to smite them all. Why did he do that?!? You and I might have left them all to fend for themselves--ungrateful wretches...
Of course it's easy to forget that that's exactly where we ALL find ourselves today. Many times, by our actions, we might be described as "ungrateful wretches." Yet He continues to LOVE US, he continues to go to GOD on our behalf.
Hmm...
I don't know WHY He continues to have such love for us, such eternal patience, but this "wretch" is utterly and profoundly grateful for THE ADVOCATE.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
WE ARE ENGAGED--AGAIN!!!
I remember when Stephen and I started dating.
On our very first date, we got in my car and drove around for four solid hours, talking. We talked about EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING. Everything the magazines tell you NOT to talk about on a first date:
Why are you single?
Do you want kids?
Are you called to ministry?
How well acquainted are you with the Bible? With the Hymns?
How committed are you to missions?
What is your idea about politics?
We talked about it all. And during that date, there was a point when I wondered if he had read my Myspace (the social media site of choice back in those days!) backward and forward so he knew what I wanted to hear.
But I realized much of what he was saying was not even addressed on my Myspace page.
I know this sounds cliche, but...
We just clicked.
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We met at the end of November. Didn't start dating seriously until Christmas. He asked me to marry him in February of the next year.
I can't express the feelings I had when he got down on one knee, center stage at the outdoor theatre at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and asked me to marry him.
Honestly, my mind was racing...I didn't hear much of what he said at all!
And then there was the pause after what I thought was, "Will you marry me?"
And I said, "Yes. Yes, of course!"
And that was that. We were engaged to be married!
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Honestly, it was strange. I had waited in great anticipation of that moment, for him to ask me to marry him.
Even though it had only been three months, I just knew that HE WAS THE ONE. I just KNEW it was going to be him. What I didn't know was how long we would date, how long we would be engaged, when we would actually get married.
We had done all of the dating things people do: movies, coffee, late night phone calls, gifts, church visits, family visits, heart-to-heart conversations.
In February, he asked me to marry him, and I realized that we were going to be married soon--within the year.
---------------------------------------------------
I think I actually spent 10 or so minutes relishing the moment when he asked me to marry him.
Looking back, I think it's so odd how my mind went into overdrive. It was like IMMEDIATELY, I felt the need to plan the wedding, to get everything right! I don't know if that's a "woman thing to do," but it was really an overpowering instinct!
So I started preparing. Planning. Budgeting. Figuring. I could think of nothing else. Seriously.
-----------------------------------------------------
Why am I including this story in my "Beyond Project Gideon" blog?
Because when we learned where God was calling us in the next few years, when we were given DIRECTION for our dreams, our mission, our calling, it felt like I was getting engaged again.
We went from just thinking and day-dreaming about the dream and THAT LEVEL OF SERVICE to actually receiving direction for it, confirmation for the call. We went from phone calls and gifts and long conversations to the moment when the proposition is made and received and welcomed.
I felt ENGAGED--again.
So now, my head is spinning, not unlike after Stephen asked me to marry him.
What God has directed us to do will most certainly require a level of COMMITMENT not unlike that between Stephen and me.
So I begin preparing. Planning. Budgeting. Figuring.
It's coming, you know. It's on its way now.
On our very first date, we got in my car and drove around for four solid hours, talking. We talked about EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING. Everything the magazines tell you NOT to talk about on a first date:
Why are you single?
Do you want kids?
Are you called to ministry?
How well acquainted are you with the Bible? With the Hymns?
How committed are you to missions?
What is your idea about politics?
We talked about it all. And during that date, there was a point when I wondered if he had read my Myspace (the social media site of choice back in those days!) backward and forward so he knew what I wanted to hear.
But I realized much of what he was saying was not even addressed on my Myspace page.
I know this sounds cliche, but...
We just clicked.
---------------------------------------------------
We met at the end of November. Didn't start dating seriously until Christmas. He asked me to marry him in February of the next year.
I can't express the feelings I had when he got down on one knee, center stage at the outdoor theatre at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and asked me to marry him.
Honestly, my mind was racing...I didn't hear much of what he said at all!
And then there was the pause after what I thought was, "Will you marry me?"
And I said, "Yes. Yes, of course!"
And that was that. We were engaged to be married!
---------------------------------------------------
Honestly, it was strange. I had waited in great anticipation of that moment, for him to ask me to marry him.
Even though it had only been three months, I just knew that HE WAS THE ONE. I just KNEW it was going to be him. What I didn't know was how long we would date, how long we would be engaged, when we would actually get married.
We had done all of the dating things people do: movies, coffee, late night phone calls, gifts, church visits, family visits, heart-to-heart conversations.
In February, he asked me to marry him, and I realized that we were going to be married soon--within the year.
---------------------------------------------------
I think I actually spent 10 or so minutes relishing the moment when he asked me to marry him.
Looking back, I think it's so odd how my mind went into overdrive. It was like IMMEDIATELY, I felt the need to plan the wedding, to get everything right! I don't know if that's a "woman thing to do," but it was really an overpowering instinct!
So I started preparing. Planning. Budgeting. Figuring. I could think of nothing else. Seriously.
-----------------------------------------------------
Why am I including this story in my "Beyond Project Gideon" blog?
Because when we learned where God was calling us in the next few years, when we were given DIRECTION for our dreams, our mission, our calling, it felt like I was getting engaged again.
We went from just thinking and day-dreaming about the dream and THAT LEVEL OF SERVICE to actually receiving direction for it, confirmation for the call. We went from phone calls and gifts and long conversations to the moment when the proposition is made and received and welcomed.
I felt ENGAGED--again.
So now, my head is spinning, not unlike after Stephen asked me to marry him.
What God has directed us to do will most certainly require a level of COMMITMENT not unlike that between Stephen and me.
So I begin preparing. Planning. Budgeting. Figuring.
It's coming, you know. It's on its way now.
Ireland, It Is...
It's a long story. It really is.
But suffice it to say, for now, at least, that we have gotten direction for our Mission Trip 2013: We are heading to Ireland.
Yes, "WE." All three of us: Stephen, myself, and Psalm.
It' a miracle, really. Nothing short of a miracle.
----------------------------------------------------
There's so much more to say, but when I think about going back to Ireland next year, I can't help but think about those days this summer when we went to Ft. Smith and applied for our passports. And the day we received all three of them in the mail. Those days, for me, were days of "those moments": when you KNOW something BIG has just happened, but you don't know how to respond, exactly, because you know that this has LIFE-ALTERING IMPACT.
Yes, that's how this is.
But when I think of those days this summer, and realize, now, that we are really going, I think back to July 2011, when I was IN Ireland, working with the children at a church there, enjoying the services there, thinking how "at home" I felt there. I think of our travels around the beautiful hills and mountains in Ireland, the sea, the beaches, the beautiful GREEN LAND there, and how I longed--even back then--to return with Stephen and Psalm.
It was only a hope then. A dim hope.
Now, it is becoming reality. I can sense it, feel it. I know it is coming.
And though I do not know all that God has in store for us as a family, I am excited that we are going together, to this wonderful place, to serve Him.
It is, I must admit, overwhelming at times. Difficult to comprehend. Because the DREAM is within sight. This part of the DREAM is actually coming to fruition.
-----------------------------------------------------
Praise be to God, Creator of Heaven and Earth. Always and forever, Amen.
But suffice it to say, for now, at least, that we have gotten direction for our Mission Trip 2013: We are heading to Ireland.
Yes, "WE." All three of us: Stephen, myself, and Psalm.
It' a miracle, really. Nothing short of a miracle.
----------------------------------------------------
There's so much more to say, but when I think about going back to Ireland next year, I can't help but think about those days this summer when we went to Ft. Smith and applied for our passports. And the day we received all three of them in the mail. Those days, for me, were days of "those moments": when you KNOW something BIG has just happened, but you don't know how to respond, exactly, because you know that this has LIFE-ALTERING IMPACT.
Yes, that's how this is.
But when I think of those days this summer, and realize, now, that we are really going, I think back to July 2011, when I was IN Ireland, working with the children at a church there, enjoying the services there, thinking how "at home" I felt there. I think of our travels around the beautiful hills and mountains in Ireland, the sea, the beaches, the beautiful GREEN LAND there, and how I longed--even back then--to return with Stephen and Psalm.
It was only a hope then. A dim hope.
Now, it is becoming reality. I can sense it, feel it. I know it is coming.
And though I do not know all that God has in store for us as a family, I am excited that we are going together, to this wonderful place, to serve Him.
It is, I must admit, overwhelming at times. Difficult to comprehend. Because the DREAM is within sight. This part of the DREAM is actually coming to fruition.
-----------------------------------------------------
Praise be to God, Creator of Heaven and Earth. Always and forever, Amen.
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