Send me Lord!

      “So I said: ‘Woe is me for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said; ‘Behold, this has touched your lips: Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.’ Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying: ‘Whom shall I send, And who shall go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me!’” (Isaiah 6: 5-8, NKJV)

      In 1998, a good friend of mine, Richard Johnson, asked me if I would take a missions course with him being offered by First Baptist Church, Woodstock in Woodstock, GA, about 3 hours from where we lived in Evans, GA. It would require us to go there on three different weekends over the course of a year and do the remainder of the work at home. Additionally, it would require me to lead a short term mission trip to a country in the 10-40 window. (Mainly the Middle East, India, China, and Southeast Asia.) I spoke to my pastor about me leading a team to one of these countries and he agreed not only to that, but to help pay for the course, and to accompany us on the trip.

     After much prayer and listening to God’s leading we chose a Pastor Balasingh and his church in Paramakudi, India as the destination for our trip. (Details of that decision are found in blog post entitled: “Please Come!”) We then had to decide when we could go and scout out the church and make sure we understood what Pastor Balasingh wanted our team to accomplish and what kind of accommodations, transportation, and food was available to support the team. Since I was a high school teacher, the best time for me to go was the Christmas break to travel and my pastor agreed to go with me. The dates we found best was the 23rd through the 28th of December. Two weeks before we were to go, pastor had to cancel, and I realized I would have to go alone. I was a little concerned of what my wife would think about me going alone, but she said, "you have to go."

      I traveled to Amsterdam, changed planes and flew on to Mumbai, India arriving there at midnight, local time. There was supposed to be someone from a local hotel to meet me as I had to overnight in Mumbai and the fly on to Madurai the next day. This is when God gave me a short course in trusting Him, and Him alone. There was no one to meet me as I exited the airport and stood in the hot humid night of Mumbai ( Formerly Bombay). I stood outside for about 30 minutes until someone approached me and asked if I needed a hotel for the night. I said no, I had someone picking me up. He returned about 15 minutes later and asked me again. I again told him no. He then asked me what hotel I was staying in and I told him. “Oh,” He said, “Their van is just over there in the parking lot. Do you want me to take you there?” I immediately prayed for wisdom. “Lord, do I walk out into a parking lot at one AM with a total stranger in Mumbai, India?”

     Amazingly, the answer came back yes, and I walked with him until, sure enough, there was a van with the hotel name on it and the driver asleep behind the wheel. I woke him up and he immediately started speaking something I didn’t understand and he took off toward the airport terminal. He returned shortly with a young man holding a sign with my name on it! I don’t know where the young man had been all this time but it was not out in front of the building where I had exited! (The man who lead me to the vehicle had disappeared and I have to conclude he was an angel!)

     We then took off on a thirty minute drive to the hotel through the dark and dirty streets of Mumbai. As I took in the sights, sounds, and smells of that place it occurred to me that no one in the world knew where I was, except the One who really mattered, my Lord and my God! I was totally in His hands and I knew that was the best place to be.

     The hotel was definitely Indian, with the toilet being a hole in the floor and two places for your feet as you squatted. The bath was a facet, a bucket, and a cup to dip the water with. The next morning the hotel took me to the domestic terminal for my flight to Madurai. 

    Another challenge awaited me. There were no airline counters, only booths set up for each flight one hour before departure. I waited for a couple of hours and finally they set up a booth that said: Madurai. I stood in line to check my bag for 30 minutes and then when it was my turn I was informed (In sign language because no one spoke English), that I had to run my bag through a scanning machine, get a sticker on the bag and then get back and check my bag. I did that, and then went into a small room with about 10 lines, each with about 20 people to a line and then, after working my way to the front of that line, had my ticket verified, and then I was allowed to go downstairs to a much larger room. 

    That room had doors on both ends of it and every time a bus would pull up to the door someone would yell out the destination of the flight and people would board the bus to take them to their plane. It became immediately clear that I could not understand what they were yelling most of the time and had no idea how I could know for sure when they called out for Madurai. I sat down as close to the middle of the room as I could to monitor the announcements at each door. Shortly after I sat down, an Indian gentleman sat next to me and asked me, in English, where I was going. (I guess I didn’t look Indian to him!) I told him Madurai and he said that he was going there also! Relieved, I asked him to let me know when our bus was announced! (Another angel?)

    The flight from Mumbai to Madurai was about 3 hours and when we arrived it was getting dark already. We walked down the ramp onto the runway and then were told to walk, not into the airport building, but to a separate shed where they were to bring the suitcases. I could see in the crowd outside the shed Pastor Balasingh and some members of his church waiting for me. I was very relieved!

    Our drive to Paramakudi, a town of 100,000, south of Madurai, was two hours on a two lane road through countryside and villages at breakneck speed on the left side of the road. (Although, to be honest, normally we were in the middle of the road and only moved left just before hitting the vehicle traveling in the opposite direction!) There was always grain placed on the road by farmers so that vehicles could drive over it and help separate the grains for them. Still etched in my mind are the images of men, women, and children carrying loads of sticks, grain, or other things that were two and three times bigger than they were. There were water buffalo pulling carts, motorcycles with whole families on board and busses packed to the max with people on the roof too!

    It was Christmas Eve the next day as I tried to recover from jet lag and relax a little bit in Pastor Balasingh and his wife Helens’ house. The house had a large room for the church on the bottom floor, their house on the second floor, and two guest rooms (where I stayed) and an open area on the third. I was then informed that I would preach Christmas morning in the church and in one of the 40 house churches in a nearby village at night. I had not been forewarned of this so I got to work preparing short messages for each venue.

    My sermon Christmas Day was probably only 15 minutes, but Pastor Balasingh was gracious and preached another full hour after translating my short message. At night I got on the back of his motorcycle and we drove down winding dirt roads for about 30 minutes to the village house church and there I spoke, Balasingh translated, and then preached some more. I have always the image in my mind on that trip there of an old women in rags, on the side of the road making dung patties with her hands so she could dry them and use them to cook with.

    I was able to spend the remaining time there learning exactly what Pastor Balasingh wanted us to do; teach classes to the pastors of his house churches, and conduct some outdoors evangelistic meetings. We found a decent hotel in Madurai that could provide safe food and accommodations and worked out a basic schedule for the team when it came. We would actually teach in a church in Madurai and would hold meetings at night in Paramakudi, and two other towns nearby.

     I departed on the 27th flying to Mumbai, and then did a 10 hour layover at the airport there before flying to Amsterdam and then home to Atlanta. (When I was sitting on the plane flying from Mumbai to Amsterdam, I was suddenly overcome with a love for the people of India and thankful to God for allowing me to be a part of what He was doing and going to do there.) I was in a little trouble with my family for leaving them alone over Christmas but when they heard my story and understood what God was doing and was preparing to do in India, they forgave me.

     The groundwork was laid for what would eventually be a successful 10 man team visit that June, and the beginning of a partnership that lasts to this day between Pastors Balasinghs’ church and West Acres Baptist Church in Evans, GA.

    Has God ever given you a hard thing to do? To walk across the street and tell someone about Jesus? To forgive someone who has hurt you or to give a financial gift to someone who is in need that you don’t really know? Has He asked you to step out of your comfort zone to do something you have never done before? Don’t be afraid to obey! He will enable you to accomplish what He has sent you to do. He is the One who does all the work!

PRAY 

1.   Lord I belong to You. You are my King, my Master, my Commander, and my God. You are the One who has created me and who sustains me everyday of my life.

2.   Fill me with Your Spirit now, and show me the path I should take today. Give me a sensitive heart that beats in synchronization with Yours.

3.   Help me this day to obey Your commandments, Your precepts, and Your loving guidance so that I might be used by You to advance Your kingdom!

We are alive in Christ!

    “And you He made alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom we also once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh and of the mind, and were children of wrath, just as the others.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

    Wow! Paul tells us that God has made us alive but then he quickly reminds us of where we were before He came along and saved us from a life of selfishness, pride, and lust! Before we were saved, we lived under the control of the devil himself, who is the prince of this fallen world. (If you have a little trouble believing there is a devil you should read my blog entitled: The devil is for real.)

    “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (By grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of a His grace in a His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Verses 4-7) 

    Are you standing up and singing praises to God yet? We should be! Look what God is telling us through the words of His apostle: By grace, (not because we deserve it), God has wonderfully saved us and has ordained that we will sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus for ages to come because He loves us that much! Can you really comprehend that He loves us that much? Read on!

    “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works least anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Verses 8-10)

    Through Gods’ wonderful, awesome grace we have been saved because we put our faith in Christ and in Him alone. And it is not a gift from God, “it is a gift of God”. He has given us Himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit, who now resides in each one of us! Hallelujah! Now all we have to do is be obedient to His word and the leading of the Holy Spirit and we can do the works He has ordained for us since the creation of the universe!

   There is more of course! “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers or foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you are also being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Verses 19-22)

    We are citizens with the saints and members of the household of God! It doesn’t get any better that that! Jesus is the cornerstone of the temple that is now your body filled with the Holy Spirit. Now that is what I call Good News!

PRAY

1.   Thank You Lord for making it so easy for us to accept You by faith as our Savior and Lord and for giving us Yourself to live within us.

2.   Fill us completely with Your Spirit today that we might live this day for You and be used by You in any way that You choose.

3.   Help us to see people with Your eyes and with Your heart that we might reflect Your love to all we come in contact today.

Are you thirsty?

    “HO! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come , buy and eat. Yes come buy wine and milk Without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55, NKJV)

    Does that sound like a sale you would like to go to at your favorite supermarket? You better believe it! God is calling His people to a deal just like that. Are you thirsty for spiritual water and food? He offers it to us without cost or money in the bank.

   “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—The sure mercies of David.” (Verses 2-3)

    Have you ever spent your money to buy something you really wanted and then after a short while you realized that having that thing, you thought you had to have, didn’t really make you happy? Of course you have, many times! God offers us what we really need, what really satisfies our soul. What we need is Him! He has made an everlasting covenant with us and will give us the satisfaction in life we desire.

     “Seek the LORD while He May be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteousness man his thoughts; Let him return to his LORD, And He will have mercy upon him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” (Verses 6,7)

     Have you been away from your God for a while? Is there darkness and meaninglessness in your life as you have pursued vain worldly things? Seek the Lord now! Call to Him, He is waiting for you! He has already pardoned you and is waiting to fellowship with you with open arms!

     “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So My ways are higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Verses 8,9)

    God knows you intimately. He created you for His purposes. Even though it often doesn’t make sense the path that He is taking you on or that you don’t like the way you go, He knows better, and you can trust Him to lead you aright.

   “‘For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And does not return there, But waters the earth, And makes it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.’” (Verses 10,11)

    God’s Word always accomplishes what God intends it to accomplish! It pierces our hearts and goes directly to the thing we need to learn from our God to accomplish His purposes. Our job is simple: to trust and obey!

    Finally, we understand how great our God is and how powerful is His Holy Scriptures that were written for our benefit!

   “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth in singing before you, And the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Verse 12)

PRAY 

1.   Lord thank you that you are always there for me and that I can depend upon you to meet all my needs. Thank you that I can open Your Word right now and Your words are words of encouragement and love.

2.   Help me always to start my day with You and to seek Your guidance for every decision large or small.

3.   Lord be with the leaders of our churches and of our nation and guide them along the path You desire, even if they don’t really understand where you are leading them.

Only God can do that!

   “I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no other God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:5-7)

     Ravi Zacharias tells the story of a sailor in World War II that served on a U.S Navy cruiser, the USS Astoria in the Pacific Ocean. During one battle his ship was damaged by a Japanese warship and he had to abandon ship and spend several hours in shark invested waters. The only flotation device he had was a waist band type device manfactured by the Firestone Tire company, instead of the larger life jacket, but it kept him afloat. Finally he was rescued by another U.S. destroyer that returned him to his ship that the captain was trying g to save by running it aground. The captain was unsuccessful and he found himself in the water again. The flotation device again kept him afloat long enough to be rescued the second time. After the war he was able to return home and as he was sitting in his home he told the story to his family and told them about the belt that had saved his life twice. 

    After he told the story he mentioned that the belt had a number on it but he did not know what it meant. His mother who had worked at the Firestone plant in Akron, Ohio during the war that made flotation devices for the Navy was stunned when he told her the number that had been on the device. With overwhelming emotion she explained: the number designates the worker that made this life belt. That is my number! I made that belt!

   The God that made the universe has no trouble taking care of those He chooses to protect and to make sure that this mother could take care of her son in this magnificent true story. He is a personal God and He watches over each person that He has called to be His own.

    What are you concerned about today? Is it your job, health, marriage, debts, children, elderly parents, or something else you have no control over? There is only One person you can turn to to solve your problems, the One who created you and holds you in the palms of His hands, The Holy One of Israel, the Everlasting Father, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords! The question you have to ask yourself is this: do I trust Him with my life? No wait, the real question should be: can I trust anyone else? The answer to that question is a resounding “NO.” He is the faithful One! He is our Savior, our kinsman Redeemer, our Bright and Morning Star, He is our Abba Father!

    “Oh Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You know my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are aquatinted with all my ways.” (Palms 139:1-3)

   Who else knows you like that? No one! Only He does! And who loves you like that? No one! Only He does! 

   “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, but I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands, Your walls are continually before Me.” (Isaiah 49:15,16)

    Who is the faithful One when we are not faithful? Who is the One who never changes? Who is the Rock of Ages? Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!

“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion says my soul, Therefore I hope in Him!’”(Lamentations 3: 22-24)

“Cast all your cares on Him!” Jesus is our great High Priest and He is the faithful One that you can entrust your life to today, and tomorrow, and for every day after that until you go home to Him or He returns for His bride, the church.

PRAY 

1.   Thank you Lord for loving me so much that You died on a cross to save me from my sin. Thank you for being the faithful One that I can depend upon to guide my path today.

2.   Help me to be obedient to Your Word and fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I might be receptive to Your leading today.

3.   Help me today to be a blessing to someone else that is struggling in their life and help me to point them to You.