Restoring Hope for a Better Tomorrow

This year, I am confident, more now than ever, that our circumstances should not dictate our outlook on life.  I am prayerful that we will not look ou,t but up to a loving Creator and Sustainer, who is faithful to meet us at our every point of need.  Interestingly, in our culture of worldliness within the Christian life, we gauge our lives by worldly measures: i.e. money, success, academics, health, relationships and popularity.  These artificial indicators are just like the many tests I went through that said I was healthy, just months before a C.T. scan found the cancer.  The cancer had been there for months and there were still no noticeable signs.  Prayerfully, we will all abandon the artificial diagnosis of spiritual health and ask God to search, try, and show us the true condition of our hearts.  The Apostle Paul amazes me because he continues to go from city to city to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the full knowledge that he would probably be beaten, stoned, thrown in jail, or killed.  Yet, in all these circumstances he counted it all joy that he could serve God and then stay up all night making tents to provide for his physical needs.  Paul was an ordinary man who lived an expectant and exciting life.  This can be ours as we train our minds and hearts, as Paul did, to love God and others more than ourselves.  Even at the height of his ministry, his goal was that he might know God and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering and dying to self.  There are those that would preach simply to know God and His power.  Let me speak from my heart; there can be no resurrection power until we die to self and surrender completely to the Lordship of Christ.  The battle rages daily and can be measured by our responses to difficult circumstances.  When the Lord is leading and I am following,  I am grateful that I only have digestive issues and not a feeding tube, that my hair is thinning and not completely gone, that my skin is dry and burning and not covered in sores, that my cancer is being used by God to advance His kingdom and not my own.  How great is our God!  Let us not waste the difficult circumstance of our life. Let us rejoice like Paul who when he was imprisoned, saw the Lord use that to bring the Imperial Guard to Christ and ultimately those in the house of Caesar.  He is working for our good and the advancement of the Gospel. God’s character never changes!  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

As we depart for Germany, I am expectant and excited about every door the Lord will open for us to be a witness for Him, whether in the airport, on the planes, in the hotels, or in the clinics.  Thank You God for allowing me to be sent out with two of my sons as Your ambassadors.  We rejoice that we will be able to join Bogdan in the streets of Galati, Romania and minister to some of the poorest people in Europe.  We thank God that we will be able to preach in Pastor Ovi’s church about our God who is able to save you, heal you, and help you.  What a great privilege it is to be used by God.  We are expectant and excited about all that God has planned for us as we keep our eyes, our hearts, our minds, and our very lives focused , captivated and surrendered to Jesus Christ.  We love each of you and thank you for your prayers and partnering with us in our ministry.  We thank God for every remembrance of you.