Wednesday, July 6, 2011

4...

The 4th book of the Old Testament is Numbers.  The 4th chapter describes the various priestly duties.  Each assignment was of equal importance.  Each assignment was holy.  I pray that is how each team member approaches their assigned tasks...each one as important as the next and each one a holy offering to a holy God.


The 4th book of the New Testament is John.  Chapter 4 is chock full of good stuff! Here we read the account of the woman at the well who Jesus told about the living water and to whom He revealed Himself as Messiah.  I want to zero in on a few points I feel are relevant for the Mozambique team.  In verses 23 and 24, Jesus says,  "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
I pray for each member of this team to worship the Father in spirit and truth. Verses 34-35 say, "Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.  'Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest '? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest."
Thank You, Lord for calling this team to the harvest.  I pray that their food would be doing what You call them to do.  I pray they will lift their eyes to the fields of Mozambique and that their harvest will be great.
Verses 49-53 describe a miracle Jesus did:   The royal official said to Him, "Sircome down before my child dies." Jesus said to him, "Go ; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off.  As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was livingSo he inquired of them the hour when he began to get betterThen they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives "; and he himself believed and his whole household.
Mary and I were just talking about how cool it would be for God to show us things in our dreams or speak a word to us or give us a picture of some sort here in the US as we're praying for the team in Mozambique, then for them to come home and tell us stories, where we can say, "Wow!  I was praying at that time or that reminds me of what God showed me or whatever.  It reminded me of the following story:
A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan. While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital.
Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting; one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time witnessed to him of the Lord Jesus Christ. I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident.
Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known carried money and medicines. He said, "Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that 26-armed guards surrounded you.
"At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone out in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, however, and said, "No sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone."
At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day that this happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story:
"On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong; I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?" The men who had met together that day stood up. The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were--he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.
**This story is an incredible example of how the spirit of the Lord moves in mysterious ways. If you ever hear such prodding, go along with it. Nothing is ever hurt by prayer except the gates of hell**
Lord, I pray for these kinds of testimonies to occur as we pray for our loved ones going on this trip.
I pray that as Jesus loved The One - His Father, and loved the one - the woman at the well, the man and his child, etc. that we would love The ONE and love the one in whatever way He calls us to do so.

2 comments:

  1. i never know what to comment on your blogs other than, "Wow!" because you've already said it all! You're an amazing writer Je-el <3

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  2. Aw shucks! Thanks! To God be ALL glory!

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