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DISCERNING GOD’S VOICE TO FIND GOD’S VICTORY: THE LEAST OF THESE

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“God thunders marvelously with His voice; 

He does great things which we cannot comprehend.”

JOB 37:5

Sometimes the best encouragement comes through a true story, especially one that shows the mighty hand of God to be at work among us. Instead of the usual format, I’d like to encourage you this week with a true story. Each day the Encouragement will continue as the story unfolds. You don’t want to miss a single day!

 

THE LEAST OF THESE

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Matthew 25:40

THURSDAY_#1Yep. God had great plans for this mission—Nicaragua 2015! The enemy tried to stop those plans, because many people were about to hear the truth for the first time. Many were about to accept that truth, love, and forgiveness, and to be forever changed and forever set free. And that’s exactly what happened.

In churches, on ball fields, in prisons, police departments and politicians offices. God had the victory. Nicaraguan people found victory.

Police women, burdened with the task of keeping the peace in an often-violent society, found freedom in Christ. The lost souls they had cast into prison for their crimes were set free in their hearts and souls … for eternity.

Women without any viable means of support not only found hope for their spiritually starved souls, they found a new way to earn food for their family. And this time it was an honorable way, in the Solidaridad church, sewing kits that provide monthly health care for poverty-stricken women. And, the workers get 100% of the profits!

Yes, God had a plan—a Master plan to restore families with His principles for men and women and their marriage relationships. Children are blessed when husbands and wives find the truth that changes lives. And they were.

He had a master plan to bring redemption to the battle ravaged sinner who previously knew no hope existed.

He had a master plan to put shoes on the feet of poverty-stricken children, and provide bags of rice and beans, flour and oil, for those with no food. He had a plan to place antibiotic ointment and hydracortirzone crème into the hands of mothers with no way to treat a skinned knee or bug bite, and toothbrushes and toothpaste to care for the teeth of their children – as well as their own.

THURSDAY_#2He had a plan to give the gift of hair bands to little girls whose hair hung as strings in their faces. Those little girls stood in line waiting for a hair band for 30 minutes and went away with huge smiles, excitedly winding them into their hair.

We could only imagine what they said as they ran to their huts calling for their brothers and sisters saying,

“Come and see…the church has clothes for us, and new shoes to keep our feet dry when the rain comes. Come and see…the visitors are hugging us and kissing our cheeks as if they love us. They play with us; give us hot dogs, cookies, kool-aide, and candy. And bags of food for our mother to cook for the next two weeks. They’ve brought baseballs, bats, gloves, and shirts for our boys to have a baseball team, just like the rich kids. And they’ve told us the reason they came. Because their God – and His Son, Jesus, told them to come. They said that their Jesus loves us too.  And their God asked lots of others—people who couldn’t come this time—to show His love for us by sending the gifts.” 

In Matthew 25:40 Jesus said – from His lips to our ears,

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Praise the Lord! Be sure to join me again tomorrow and I put the icing on the cake of this story. Our God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we can ask, or even think to ask!

Until Tomorrow,

Your Traveling Partner,

Brenda

DISCERNING GOD’S VOICE TO FIND GOD’S VICTORY: GOD CONFIRMS HIS VOICE THROUGH HIS WORD

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“God thunders marvelously with His voice; 

He does great things which we cannot comprehend.”

JOB 37:5

Sometimes the best encouragement comes through a true story, especially one that shows the mighty hand of God to be at work among us. Instead of the usual format, I’d like to encourage you this week with a true story. Each day the Encouragement will continue as the story unfolds. You don’t want to miss a single day!

 

GOD CONFIRMS HIS VOICE THROUGH HIS WORD

“And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (16) 

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (27)

John 10:16 & 27

WEDNESDAYThe questions continued. As they threatened my peace of mind, I read in God’s Word once again a verse that I often quote to others. It teaches us that while man may make his plans, God directs his steps. Therefore, I decided to continue obeying Scripture the Lord has given me in times past, such as in Matthew 28:19 when he said for us to “go into all the world” making disciples. And Psalm 105:1-3, where His voice spoke to my heart on February 28, 2008, telling me to go, and “make His deeds known to the nations.” In other words, I decided to continue to do what I knew for sure He had called me to do. We continued to make plans for Nicaragua 2015. 

Although the memory of the words I’d heard last year remained, and questions continued to roll around in my head, we moved forward. I asked God to confirm His plan, and make it known in my heart. Every single time I asked for confirmation, He would give me a new Scripture verse, or reveal a real life story about what He continued to do in Nicaragua. One day at a time, we kept moving forward. In January the date for the trip changed three times. The voice said, “Are you sure? Did the Lord say…?” Though the threat of harm still hammered in my mind, Scripture never confirmed it … not by one single verse. On the contrary, I kept reading, “Fear not. I am with you. Follow my voice. Trust me.” Verse after verse confirmed His calling to go.

I decided to follow Scripture instead of an unidentified voice that stood alone, without God’s Word backing it up. I told no one about what I’d heard back in 2014, not even Tom. Finally, in February, I confided in my pastor, Pastor Jake, about it. He cautioned that it might be the enemy trying to stop the work. He instructed me to continue to pray and fast, and believe God for the rest. Taking his advice, I moved forward. We asked others to join us in fasting and prayer for the mission. Many of you reading this story did just that. You joined our team in fasting and prayer. And the God of the Universe heard those prayers!

Finally the day came. Ten of us boarded a plane headed for Nicaragua. Even then, the thought invaded my mind, “Will the plane crash or something?” As we landed in Managua, six hours after leaving Greensboro, I heard the unmistakable voice of the Lord whisper, “You are all here, and you are all safe.” “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

At that moment, I knew for sure it was the enemy’s threatening voice I’d heard for a whole year. And I knew why …

WooHoo! Just wait until tomorrow, when you’ll hear the rest of the story!

Until Tomorrow,

Your Traveling Partner,

Brenda

DISCERNING GOD’S VOICE TO FIND GOD’S VICTORY: I HATE FEAR

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“God thunders marvelously with His voice; 

He does great things which we cannot comprehend.”

JOB 37:5

Sometimes the best encouragement comes through a true story, especially one that shows the mighty hand of God to be at work among us. Instead of the usual format, I’d like to encourage you this week with a true story. Each day the Encouragement will continue as the story unfolds. You don’t want to miss a single day!

 

I HATE FEAR

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”

John 10:10

Story Continued from Monday…

TUESDAYLooking at the black widow spider, fear gripped my heart. Again.

“Tom!” I shouted. Breathing hard, and in a panic, I ran after him on the beach, shouting out words to describe what had just happened.

Instantly on alert, he turned and came toward me. “What’s wrong? What is it?” he shouted back.

Already on edge before getting to the beach, we were both tired and battle weary. We’d just returned from this year’s Nicaragua mission trip (April 7-14, 2015). The spiritual battle over this mission had been intense for a whole year. Though God continued to be mightily at work throughout 2014, so was the enemy.

I remember vividly the words whispered in my ear in February 2014, while we were still on the ground in Managua, when the 2015 mission was but a blur on the horizon. “This is the last time you’ll ever be here, you won’t come back again.” 

Whaaat? A sense of foreboding took root as I whispered, “But Lord, You are doing a mighty work here. You’re allowing us to be a part of it. Why? I don’t want it to end.” As I pondered that message over the next months, I wondered what horrible thing was going to happen to stop the work. Would I die? Would the world fall apart and make travel impossible? Was God through with me? Would I fall into some horrible sin that would bring defeat to the ministry?

Hindsight is 20/20. As the months went by, I pondered these worries. I sat on my sofa, mentally sucking my thumb, wondering at what I’d “heard.” As summer turned to fall, and fall to winter, I prayed and cried out to God to show me His plan. Nothing I read in Scripture lined up to the message whispered in my ear. As January 2015 approached, a faint hope broke through my reverie. “What if the voice I heard wasn’t God’s voice. What if it’s a threat from the enemy?  

“Well then,” I thought, ” if that’s the case, the Lord must have a mighty plan for Nicaragua! And the enemy is afraid for us to go back. Jesus did say the He comes to steal, kill, and destroy, so of course he’d want to stop God’s plan. But how can I be sure?” I mused.  

How could I tell the difference?  So, I began to pray and seek God’s voice and His confirmation. I turned to His Word because I knew the answer was there. And I knew His voice would never contradict His written Word.

Until tomorrow,

Your Traveling Partner,

Brenda