Weekly Devotion - "Passion for the Impossible" - 2/23/15

Passion for the Impossible

by Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:26-27).
 
Lilias Totter, trained in evangelism in the 1870s by Dwight L. Moody, gave her life to bringing the message. She began by serving poor girls in the inner city of London. She created programs and ran places that provided food, a place to sleep, rescue, Bible study, and prayer.
 
Then when she was almost thirty and bedbound while recovering from surgery, she prayed. And each time she did the Father pressed the words “North Africa” into her soul. While this was never part of her life plan, she obeyed. With two friends, they booked a boat to Algeria and set their faces toward a calling that was weighted with the impossible.
 
None of the women could pass the medical exam for the mission society, knew anyone in Algeria, or could understand a sentence of Arabic! Impossible! Yet they went. Fully devoted and dependent on their Sender, they entered Algeria with a threefold prayer. They asked the God for whom all things are possible for open doors (physical places), open hearts (a shift from apathy and hostility to welcome), and open heavens (that He would bring the harvest home).
 
For 38 years Lilias lived among and loved the Muslims of Algeria. In her last years, frail from a failing heart and restricted to bed, she prayed without ceasing. The map of Algeria and Tunisia that hung over her bed was inscribed with her own handwriting, “Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord that thou fulfill it.”
 
God is still looking for messengers He can use who have a passion for the impossible. Let’s not measure His sending by what seems feasible, realistic, or doable. Instead when we hear His assignment pressed into our hearts, let’s set our faces toward His calling and go. For this is not about what we can or cannot do. It’s about the movement of God who can open doors, hearts, and heaven to bring the lost home.   
 
Send Me: Have you previously dismissed an “impossible” calling from God? Return to it in prayer, and if He presses in and sends, go!
 
Let us dare to test God’s resources . . . Let us ask Him to kindle in us and keep aflame that passion for the impossible that shall make us delight in it with Him, till the day when we shall see it transformed into a fact. — Lilias Trotter
 
Using the Bible lessons from SHINE brightly? The second lesson in each issue introduces girls to missionaries. Encourage girls (and yourself!) to learn about ordinary missionaries who trusted an extraordinary God wherever they were sent.

Weekly Devotion - "Be Ready to Be Ready!" - 2/16/15

Be ready to be ready!

written by Lenea, GEMS Training Manager 

Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had forbidden her to do so (Esther 2:10).

Head in the sink, her hairdresser shared the ugly pieces of her life and then told her not to judge. My Jesus loving friend was shampooed and speechless. She then sputtered her best response and was still hashing it out in her head when we met that night.

Our Bible study group was small, but united. We have sputtered, too. Instead of being prepared to give an answer and ready to give reason for our hope, we have made awkward situations more awkward still. Sigh.

There is something to being ready before we need to be ready. Queen Esther got that. After Mordecai persuaded Esther to save their people, she didn’t rush to the king and unveil Haman’s evil plot. She got ready so she would be ready to make her request.
 

• First Esther and the Jews fasted for three days.
• Then Esther approached the king. She invited Haman and the king to a banquet. (Note: She didn’t sputter or spew!)
• At the conclusion of the first banquet, she invited them to a second. (Notice: She didn’t blunder or blurt!)
• During the second banquet, when the heart of the king was readied, she was ready with her request.

Peter tells us to do the same. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).

Messengers God can use prepare so they are prepared. They get ready so they are ready. Now may be a good time to do just that.

Send Me: What are the faith questions that tie your tongue? What are the circumstances when things get uncomfortable? Ready yourself in prayer and His Word. Talk it out with other believers. Be ready so you’re ready!

Blurting out you are a Christian may not be the best way to win people for Jesus. Esther teaches us to be wise how we share. — Phil Moore

Weekly Devotional - "What People Hear Us Say Is . . . " 2/9/2015

written by Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

What People Hear Us Say Is . . .

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3).

Just because we can hear, doesn’t mean we really listen. And even when we do listen, it doesn’t mean we really hear what is being said. Being an active listener takes work. And one of the many tips toward engaged listening is to provide feedback.

• What I’m hearing you say is . . .
• It sounds like you are saying . . .
• What do you mean when you say?

Paul told the church in Corinth that they were living letters. They were physical, living, and breathing messages that declared Christ and were being read by everyone. Our lives bring the message!

The thing is, just because people can see our lives, doesn’t mean they really understand. And even when they do see, it doesn’t mean they get what is being said. For those actively watching and listening to the message of our lives, think about potential feedback. Are they asking aloud or to themselves:

• When I see you worry about everything, what I hear you say about God is . . .
• When I see your negative attitude or unforgiving spirit, what it sounds like you are saying about God is . . .
• When you have a problem with your church, what do you mean to say about God?

When people hear what we never meant to say, we must admit again that we can’t do this thing on our own. To be a letter from Christ, it must be written by the Spirit of the living God. Messengers God can use fully depend on the power of God for how they live the message and how people understand it.

Send Me: Ask a friend, co-worker, or neighbor, “What do you hear about God from the way I live?”

You are a letter from God to the world. People around you read the Gospel According To You every day. What does it say? — Phil Moore

Weekly Devotional - "Life Together" - 2/2

Life Together 

by: Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well (1 Thessalonians 2:8).

Because I love you so much  . . .

• I never call, text, email, or send cards.
• I always say we should get together, but never do.
• I busy myself with responsibilities instead of relationships.
• I fail to pray for you.
• I do not bring you the message.

 That list pricks, but it doesn’t bleed love.

What Paul said about love is this. Because we loved you so much . . .

• We were delighted to share the Gospel with you!
• We were delighted to share our lives as well!

Messengers God can use do life together. They speak the good news and live it within the context of community. In the ordinariness of life, they share life.

Paul continues. Just like a nursing mother cares for her children, we should be gentle and care for one another. Just like a father deals with his own children, we should encourage, comfort, and live lives worthy of God, who calls us into His kingdom and glory (1 Thessalonians 2:7, 11-12).

The best way for people to really hear the message of God’s love is to slow down and do life together in community. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or expensive, but it is costly.

The cost? You have to give up your life.

The One who left the glories of heaven to give up His life and do life together with us, says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:12-13).

Send Me: How can you intentionally bring the message today by sharing your life?

To be a community of light from which the light of Christ will emanate we need to be intentional in our relationships—to love the unlovely, forgive the unforgivable, embrace the repulsive, include the awkward, accept the weird. It is in contexts such as these that sinners are transformed into disciples who obey everything King Jesus has commanded. –Tim Chester and Steve Timmis