my wings are made of faith

Being the hands and feet of Jesus in Lima, Peru

One of the greatest gifts we could ever receive is the precious gift of being the hands and feet of Jesus in another country. Not because we can't do it here, because we should be doing it every day, but because it gives us an opportunity to see how blessed we really and  because we get to share the love of Jesus through a a hug, giving someone a healthy meal or clean water, praying with and for another precious human being who lives many, many miles from where we call home.

Lori and her son, Evan, are in Lima, Peru, this week. In this photo, Lori is with the young girl that her family sponsors. But i don't really need to caption this photo - it says a million and one beautiful things without saying anything at all. 

Please join Cynthia and i in praying for Lori and her son as the share the love of Jesus in Peru. Pray for safety and that all the people they come in contact with will see Jesus in them.

Heavenly Father, thank you, thank you for the opportunities you give that allow us to make a difference. You don't ask us to change the world, for such a task is to large for us. But, you ask us to gently touch one person at a time. Lord, i pray that you will give us all a heart to make a difference in one life, changing the world one person at a time. Lord, i pray for Lori, Evan, and the entire group that is in Lima, Peru, right now. Keep them safe while they are there and give them a safe flight home. Lord i pray that Lima will never be the same after they leave. Thank you for your presence there, God. May your holy will be done in Jesus name.

ESTABLISH YOUR HEART - Part II

This week, I noticed a small pocket-sized Hallmark calendar lying in the floor under my computer desk.  I realized I must have dropped it from the old Bible that I sometimes flipped through lately, seeking guidance for the blogs.  That old Bible was one my husband gave me before he went to Vietnam, and was worn to the point that the pages are falling apart.  I am so afraid of it sliding out of the leather cover and having to sort the pages, that I don’t look through it extensively, so I had not remembered the little calendar that lay hidden in its pages.  I knew the calendar was old, but I had no idea how old until, I thought, “I really need to pick that up and not let it get torn up, because I must have kept it for some reason.” Thinking it was a budget that I must have made and kept because the Lord had blessed us for some reason, I considered for a moment that I could just toss it.  “One less thing for my children to be bothered with one day.” Then I turned it over and was aghast that I almost tossed it without thinking twice!  It was for 1971, and when I opened it, I read: “January 14, 8:30, Bob Hope Christmas Special.”  My head began to spin.  I had a record of the date that I was going to watch the “Bob Hope Christmas Special?”  Jimmy was going to be his driver – IN VIETNAM!  I was going to watch it so I could see him – Jimmy that is.  Actually see him alive and well in Vietnam. Newly married only weeks before he left, I longed to just see him any way I could. It had been several months since he left, and I just wanted to see his face.

 We have told this story over and over because in the end, as Mr. Hope exited the helicopter and my husband reached to point for him to take the jeep ride, Mr. Hope declined, deciding to walk instead. And all I was able to see was my husband’s hand and arm just above his watch, for it was all the camera caught on the TV, before they cut away. I would know that hand and watch anywhere, but it was all I got to see of him.  My heart sank.  But I had marked the date, and I had seen that he was alive and well on that date. I had established in my heart that point in time, to see the one who was gone from me and of whom I was longing to see return again.  Just a glimpse but it gave me hope of the day he would come home. How I longed for that day.  I thought how interesting that Mr. Hope’s name was “hope” as I scanned the pages of the datebook. I almost cried, for it seemed only yesterday… 

Jan. 18 – mailed Jimmy package

Feb. 12 – Lincoln’s birthday, Send Jimmy package

Feb. 18 – Jimmy called from NAM

Feb. 21 – PRAY  Time: 10:00 P.M. PRAY  (obviously a night spent wondering if he was wounded, and he was on one of those prayer dates. But that’s another story.) …

April 8-9 - Good Friday - Jimmy should be home, with a line drawn through it.   April 11 - Easter

Two more long weeks….

April 26 – (circled..) Jimmy’s coming , with an arrow pointing backwards to  the day before <===…

April 25 – Jimmy arrived 7:24 A.M. on Eastern………..!!!!!!!!!  (R &R)

April 28 – Dr. Bradford – ( sick??? LOL)

May 5 – Jimmy left, 8:45 A.M. (tour of duty not over) back to Vietnam.

May 15 – Armed Forces Day

June 8 – Mailed Jimmy Package today

June 14 – Flag day

June 15 – Dr. Bradford, 1:45

June 20 – Father’s Day, (how I wished he would be able to call.)

July 4 – Independence Day

July 14 – Dr. Bradford

July 16 – Jimmy called this morning!

July 27 – 100 days to go

From this point on each day was marked 99, 98, 97, etc. as we counted down the days, and I mailed him one more package, my birthday and his passed, Labor Day and Columbus Day, Doctor visits, Veterans Day and Halloween eventually passed. But on Veterans Day the number of days left was 10. On Halloween, 5 – 4, 3, 2, 1, and FINALLY, on November 5, a Friday, in red letters – No More Nam. 

Service members back then kept a "short timer’s" calendar, so as I marked my days so did he.  They were considered the most dangerous days of any soldier’s stay, because they had a difficult time staying focused on the dangers instead of the hope of going home, yet they were encouraged to keep the calendar for the hope of that wonderful day.   Jimmy still had just a few more days before he was released from service once he was home, and he once again left us, flying to Colorado just before Christmas.  Given an “early out”, however, on December 14, 1971, it says – Jimmy released from service.

I hope I didn’t bore you with the exact reading.  But may I say, that just reading it, makes my heart pound remembering the anticipation and fears, and finally the thankfulness to have him home.  It was established in our hearts, that there was a day when he would come home.  We looked anxiously for that day.  Looking back, I see my own life a type of waiting on our savior’s return.  The doctor visits were due to the fact that I was also counting down the days to our first child…I can tell you the day he became a living soul, just as I can tell you the day I was born into the family of God.  There is a time and a place when each became a fact of my life.

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. James 5:7-8.

Friends, there is a day marked on the calendar which only God can see, and there is a point when he will begin the count down for the day, when he will gather his bride to himself.  Christ will come from his faraway land, and when he comes he still has things to do before he establishes his reign.  And there will be a thousand years still on this earth when he will be our King.  He too will fight a great battle, and gloriously defeat our enemy.  Then, we are promised a time of peace, and of great things happening on this earth. 

Let no one tell you he isn’t coming. Let no one tell you it is the end of the world!!!  It is the one thing that the Saints who lived in the years soon after Christ's death and resurrection, wanted so much that they had difficulty being patient. The longing in their hearts was much like the longing in my heart for my beloved husband to return.  But they were told to be like a farmer, waiting on his crops to bring a yield in due season.  Their comfort was to be found living in a simple phrase, “Establish your hearts!”

God is also waiting on that day!  For him the countdown is on.  I wish every soul on earth would be ready for that day.  I wish every saint and child of God would have a calendar on their hearts that is also counting down the days.  Longing for the appearance of our KING to come for his bride.

Establish the day in your hearts.  Then think of how much it means to you.  When were you most impatient?  What in your life did you long for with bated breath, marking the days? Have you established that whether it is, in your lifetime or not, there is a day marked on the calendar of God.  And we must wait, and ready the harvest.

Lord, the tools are ours, the time is ours, the souls are our loved ones, and the time is certain.  Help us be expecting you with the love of one who awaits, with great desire, the return of someone they love, or like a mother awaiting the birth of her child, or a Bride, her wedding.  Help us establish this truth in our hearts.  May our expectation be with patience and with hope, and help us while we wait to “establish our Hearts.” AMEN

Chasing the Kingdom

In January, I was asked the question, “What would you do this year if you knew you couldn’t fail?”  As I began really praying about my answer, I knew clearly that I would go back to Lima, Peru where I have been once before to do mission work.  

Since January, the Lord has confirmed my dream many times over.  We have even had the pleasure of hosting in our home the Pastor and his dear family from Lima.  Long story short: my son and I are leaving on Friday to go back to Lima.  We are thrilled to see the child that we sponsor whom I met on the first trip.  We ask for your prayers from this Friday, May 25th to next Thursday, May 31.  

As I have sought the Lord over the details of this trip, I recognize that I have lived Matthew 6:33-34 which says,

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

In closing, I challenge you to examine the question, “What would you do, dear friend, if you knew you couldn’t fail?” God opens huge doors when we seek His kingdom first. 

My Prayer:  God, thank you for the opportunity to go back to Lima.  I praise you for preparing my heart over the past few months.  We rejoice that we will see our friends and fellow Kingdom workers again.  Holy Spirit, I boldly ask you to show others how to impact the world with just a dream or vision without the possibility of failing.  In Jesus Name!

ESTABLISH YOUR HEART

As the friends, disciples and family of Jesus began to miss him, they wanted his return to be very soon.  Many of them died, wondering secretly I am sure, “Why had he not returned as he promised.”  Generation after generation has been told of his second coming, and when we begin to love him as a brother, we too often long for his presence on earth.  And as there have always been, there are skeptics who laugh at the notion of his coming again…especially, of it being soon.

We can relate to how the early Christian community wanted to see him.  As our loved ones pass into a spiritual realm, we miss them.  If we could bring them back, we wouldn’t bring them back to sickness and pain. But if they could come back to good health and appreciative loved ones, we might want to spend time with them on earth just once more.  But Jesus’s coming would be amazing, and those who knew him well were anxious for it to be in their lifetime.  We may never be able to relate as well as they to hoping for his soon return.  Some on earth that I have known, have longed for his soon return that they might escape the pain and suffering in their lives.  That isn’t the attitude the Lord would have us take.  He would have us establish our hearts.

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. James 5:7-8.

The admonition to be patient, for the coming of the Lord is at hand, which James gave the brethren, is not only a great comment on waiting for the Lord’s second coming, but on waiting on the Lord in general.  He compares it to the farmer waiting on the rains and the forming of the fruit, expecting a harvest.  God himself practices this principle as he waits for the very last Christian to come to fullness, and be ready for the harvest of the souls.  Does God fully expect that there will someday be a large harvest?  Absolutely.  Every farmer who plants makes the investment believing that he will have a yield. So he waits on it.  He knows it takes time; that his harvest will depend on the elements and environment to provide a bountiful return.  A healthy baby requires that the seed planted must come to nearly full term so that it doesn’t begin life with a struggle to survive.  Does a farmer count the weeks, much as a mother would?  Yes.  Do we mark on our calendars expecting the day certain things will come to fruition? We do. That is what is meant by establishing it in our hearts.  It is like marking it on the calendar of time to be harvestable on a date in the future.  Establish your hearts, when waiting on the Lord.  

In 1971, my husband was in Vietnam, waiting on the fullness of his tour to come, and he wanted it to be soon.  But since the end of the war was not imminent, he would have to, as all the others would, wait until his “tour of duty” came full term.  There was a day set that he could say, “I have fulfilled my commitment, now take me home.”   It was a day that he anticipated with all his heart. He established in his heart that this day would certainly come, if the Lord allowed him to remain alive. He and I both marked the days on calendars with great expectancy and a great deal of prayer.   

I am going to split my story in two parts this week.  On Friday I will tell you more about the longing of the heart to have something happen to the point of finding it almost impossible to be patient and wait on the Lord.  But let us contemplate what it means to consider the farmer who waits on his crop, believing it will come to fruition, or he would not bother to plant it.  Can we establish our hearts in times when we are waiting on the Lord?  Count the days while we ready the fields, plant the seed, water the crops, and till out the weeds?  Can we be about the business of doing what we believe to be fruitful in the end, and find our patience in establishing our hearts upon a date that will come in God’s own time? Can we mark an invisible calendar, whose dateline says “Only God knows the day; but he holds my future.  So I will mark the date in my heart, to be a sure and expected end.”

Lord Help us to be like the farmer when we wait upon you… and help us find the true meaning of how to “establish our hearts.” AMEN  

Please join me Friday for Part II

i want to live like that

Some songs really impress lyrics deep on my heart. Lately, the one song that's been really touching me is Live Like That by Sidewalk Prophets. 

 

Every time i hear this song, it gets me thinking about how i can live more like Jesus ... and wondering if everything i say and do points to Him and the way He's changed my life.

Sometimes I think 
What will people say of me 
When I'm only just a memory 
When I'm home where my soul belongs 

Was I love 
When no one else would show up 
Was I Jesus to the least of those 
Was my worship more than just a song

...

Am I proof 
That You are who you say You are 
That grace can really change a heart 
Do I live like Your love is true 

People pass 
And even if they don't know my name 
Is there evidence that I've been changed 
When they see me, do they see You

One line, Was my worship more than just a song, reminds me that the way we treat people is an act of worship. Worship is not just singing to Him on Sunday and it's more than spending alone time in prayer. Worship is treating others like Jesus did. Worship is showing others the same kind of grace, mercy, kindness, love, hope, and generosity that's been given to you. 

Lord, the more you reveal Yourself to me, the more i want to be like you. And, the more i want people to meet you through me. i'm human, and i fall short often, but i desire deep in my heart that you help me to be more like you. Show me what it truly means to worship you with all my words and actions. i ask this in Jesus mighty and glorious name!

No Stopping It

In the fifth chapter of Acts, a lawyer named Gamaliel warned the men of the temple to be careful about what they intended to do with the disciples.  He told them of another teacher named Judas whom the people had followed during the time of the taxations.  He too had been killed, and his followers simply dispersed, Gamaliel reasoned.  So to the men who wished to threaten, jail, and perhaps even have Jesus's servants punished and killed, he said:

And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought.  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it. Lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. Acts 5:38 - 39.

He could have been a lawyer for the disciples... LOL.

I suppose he thought that they would just go away eventually.  Yet he spoke with more wisdom than any lawyer I have ever known.  He spoke a profound truth!

Take a good look at the things that are gaining momentum in your life.  If it is something men are devising, in the great timeline, it will mean nothing at some point.  But if it is of God, we have no effect on it.  We pray as Jesus taught us: "Thy Will Be Done." But sometimes we pray it as if we are giving God permission.  Lest we forget, it is God's will.  We are merely deciding to accept it, or reject it, whether to submit to it or to "fight against God."

Sometimes we want something to happen or to not happen so badly, that we try praying harder, longer, with more faith that our will might be done..."Please please please God we pray."  I can name you times when I have fallen into that trap.  The question is - "what is God's will?"

Prophecy is like that.  If God says it is going to come to pass, it will. Sometimes our politics fall into a routine of trying to make something God predicted would happen to NOT HAPPEN.  We are missing the mark!  God didn't put Christ on this earth to make the politics of the earth suit Christians.  Our freedom is first a freedom from the burden of sin. I believe the forefathers of the USA understood the principles of freedom and justice as presented in God's word.  But they also understood that the real constitution, which makes a difference, is when, in an environment of freedom to do so, we are about the business of winning souls to Christ. No laws or president will be able to change the circumstances of our political or social standings.  Only the change of men's hearts will bring about such changes.  In the days that Peter and Paul and the other disciples taught about the Lord, souls were added to the church daily....DAILY.  At least once, more than 5000 men had that amazing change of heart that began to build the church among Jews and Gentiles, which spread into the whole world. 

Put your energies into God's plan, and it won't be wasted.  In the sixties, when I was young, I had the great joy of being present when I saw this kind of thing happening.  Our pastor was a man who stood firmly on the word of God.  He took his truths from the scriptures, without making an agenda from them.  He made it clear at church and on the radio when he preached, that God's full intent was to save the souls of lost men and women.  God accepts us just as we are.  No consideration for where we've been or plan to go. He doesn't judge us by our depth of sin. He simply provided a solution for all sin, and included all to be eligible for freedom from sin. 

Gamaliel didn't figure on the impact this would have on people who needed that kind of God.  Or maybe he did...just maybe he knew that he would appease those who sought to do the will of Satan, long enough to let as many people as possible hear this great news...because he knew that once men heard, they would know the freedom he knew.  I like to believe that Gamaliel had discovered Jesus as his own Savoir.  And he knew that there was no stopping the momentum that having a savoir affect men's lives could have.

One more note. I have always said that if what you are doing is leading souls to Christ, then you can know that you are a part of God's plan.  If your church isn't growing, if you never have opportunity to share your savoir as the Christ, if you are not planting seeds, if you go years without seeing souls around you being saved in some place where you are involved....Satan has you genuinely fooled into thinking your life is right with God.   But no ministry will gain souls by holding the feet of the children to the firey heat of the law.  Or bashing their saints til they are discouraged.  This is why we at My Wings Are Made Of Faith seek to uplift the readers, to bring joy to those in pain, and share the freedom the children of God should be experiencing.  But we encourage you to know you are in God's will, because as Gamaliel said: " If it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it."

Why not be a part of it?

Dear God,  I long for my children and grandchildren to see what happens when people hungry for the power, that was winning souls by the thousands in the days of the disciples, is governing the hearts and actions of everyday people. If that same momentum was to occur in our generation of technical ability, the whole world could hear of and be changed by the grace and mercy of your love in a few days!  Lives could be changed by the thousands today as much as then. Even now, in our age of sarcasm and disappointed Saints.  Fill us Lord with a new amazement for the change you made in each of our own lives. AMEN

Pushing Back at Life

For many of us, life comes at us fast.  We have busy schedules with many demands and responsibilities.  All of these things are fine as long as we have balance.  

If you have every watched a wrestling match, you have seen a wrestler bend his knees and get ready to fight back.  This proper stance assures him that he will have a better chance for victory against his opponent.  

The enemy will try to catch us unguarded or unprepared and wrestle the daylights out of us, but we don’t have to live this way.  We are not victims in Christ: we are over comers.  We can make time to spend time in the Word and renew our minds.  We can prepare healthy meals so that our bodies are fighting against disease.  We can schedule times to relax and spend with our families.  These are all examples of pushing back at life.  Each of these things puts us in the defensive position against the enemy’s schemes.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 says,

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

In other words, life’s stresses are expected, but do not have to be tolerated.  Our challenge is to push back at life with healthy strategies.

My Prayer:  God, show me when life is pushing me into unhealthy decisions.  Give me courage to change some things so that I can push back victoriously.  Thank you that through Jesus, I am not a victim.  Holy Spirit, remind me when I’m flying too fast and guide me through the process of renewing my mind, body, and spirit.  I pray boldly for those who feel like they are trapped.  Give each of them the courage to gird up in a defensive position to take care of their precious lives according to Your Will.  Be very specific in changes for each burdened person with a clear message that comes from you.  In Jesus Name!