Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year !!!
Super excited for 2011 !!!

All Things New in the New Year

As the year comes to an end I am so thankful for all that the Lord has done this past year. All that He has blessed me with. I spent the first part of the year still living in Romania, and this second half in California. I have gone from working in a hospital with disabled children in a play therapy room, to working in offices and in a shelter and transitional home for women who are pregnant and all alone.

The year has been full of a lot of unknown things. A lot of waiting and patience. But most importantly it has been full of the Lord's grace and love and hope and peace. His guidance and His answers.

I love New Year's. I love when things come to an end and new things begin. The Bible has a lot to say about new things. Here are some great verses that were a blessing to me tonight. Thinking about the newness of life we have in Christ and the hope of things to come.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34

"Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining." 1 John 2:8

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17

"and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all." Colossians 3:10-11

"This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:17-24

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me,“Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts." Revelation 21:4-6

As the minutes remaining in this old year quickly tick away, may we take time to thank the One who makes all things new, for all He has done, for all He is doing, and for all He is going to do.

grace and peace my friends!

Number Our Days...

So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
--Psalm 90:12

A few days after these words appear in print the old year of our Lord
will have gone to join the long procession of years and centuries
that move on into the shadows of a past that can come no more.

In the year just gone the world has been writing history, not with
ink only but with blood and tears; not in the quiet of the study but
in violence, terror and death in city streets and along the borders
of nations; and other and milder but more significant history has
been written by incredible feats of power in sending man-made objects
out to circle the moon and the sun....

To each one fortunate enough to live out [this year], God will have
given 365 days broken into 8,760 hours. Of these hours, 2,920 will
have been spent in sleep, and about the same number at work. An
equal number has been given us to spend in reverent preparation for
the moment when days and years shall cease and time shall be no
more. What prayer could be more spiritually appropriate than that of
Moses, the man of God: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we
may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).

AW Tozer

Nothing to Fear

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You,
because he trusts in You.
--Isaiah 26:3

"The only fear I have is to fear to get out of the will of God.
Outside of the will of God, there's nothing I want, and in the
will of God there's nothing I fear"
--AW Tozer

Tozer Devo for Today

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.... And the world is
passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God
abides forever.
--1 John 2:15,17

Any appeal to the public in the name of Christ that rises no higher
than an invitation to tranquility must be recognized as mere
humanism with a few words of Jesus thrown in to make it appear
Christian....

Christ calls men to carry a cross; we call them to have fun in His
name. He calls them to forsake the world; we assure them that if
they but accept Jesus the world is their oyster. He calls them to
suffer; we call them to enjoy all the bourgeois comforts modern
civilization affords. He calls them to self-abnegation and death; we
call them to spread themselves like green bay trees or perchance
even to become stars in a pitiful fifth-rate religious zodiac. He
calls them to holiness; we call them to a cheap and tawdry happiness
that would have been rejected with scorn by the least of the Stoic
philosophers....

We can afford to suffer now; we'll have a long eternity to enjoy
ourselves. And our enjoyment will be valid and pure, for it will
come in the right way at the right time.
Born After Midnight, pp. 141-142

And If Our God Is For Us...

Just a thought that I have been meditating on the past month or so. The Chris Tomlin song "Our God" got me thinking about it first,

"And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?"

Then of course Romans 8:31-35, 37

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

But upon meditation of these things....the idea began to broaden in my mind....if God is for me then that means that Jeremiah 29:11 is true.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

And that would mean that Romans 8:28 is true,

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Which lead me to think about not just the grand things in life, like our "futures" or "ALL things" but even the daily things, the little things, our daily needs, like a job and food and clothing....and if our God is for us in the big things then He must be in the detailed things as well, which makes Philippians 4:19 true.

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

And Matthew 6:31-33 must also be true.

"Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Well all of these thoughts that have been spinning in my mind over and over, about how GREAT God is, how He loves us, how if He is for us nothing can be against, all came to a sudden stop one afternoon when I was worshiping to Chris Tomlin's "Our God". And when the words came up,

"And if our God is for us"

It was like everything else stopped in my mind.

Cause you see, it ALL comes down to this one thing. IF OUR GOD IS FOR US. *PERIOD*

There is no need to finish that sentence. Because the reality is that all things will be fulfilled if our God is for us. There is no need to be anxious, to worry, to have fear, to be afraid of people or circumstances.

So, how do we know if God is for us, more specifically, if God is for ME? It is as simple as believing. John 3:16-17 says,

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

God loves us enough that He sacrificed everything so that we have only to believe and have faith. Our "sacrifice" is so small in comparison to what He had to do. It does take a sacrifice on our parts to believe in Him, to have faith in Him, to not care about what everyone else thinks, and to lay down our opinions about 'what we want' before His feet.

But can that even be called a 'sacrifice' when we think about what HE did for us? And when we think about how little we have to do, in order for OUR GOD TO BE FOR US?

What could we ever do, that would ever make us deserving of having the God of the universe be FOR us.

Of having everything HE IS, there for us, to love and support us through the good times and the hard times.

I don't know if this has even made sense or not. This thought, just a few simple words in a sentence,

AND IF OUR GOD IS FOR US

seems so profound to me, that I feel the need to keep writing to try and explain it. But what more can I say?

And if our God is for us.....then we have no need of anything else.


grace and peace on your hearts
rachel

December 24 - Passion City Church Advent

The Night of Oranges

This essay appeared in The New York Times in 1995. It was written by an exchange student from Romania living in New York at the time. From the stories my friends have told me about the week of the Revolution in 1989 in Romania and the years under communism before then, this story, simple as it is, really touched my heart and I wanted to share it with you all.

The Night of Oranges

By Flavius Stan

It is Christmas Eve in 1989 in Timisoara and the ice is still dirty from the boots of the Romanian revolution. The dictator Nicolae Ceausescu had been deposed a few days before, and on Christmas Day he would be executed by firing squad. I am in the center of the city with my friends, empty now of the crowds that prayed outside the cathedral during the worst of the fighting. My friends and I still hear shots here and there. Our cold hands are gray like the sky above us, and we want to see a movie.

There is a rumor that there will be oranges for sale tonight. Hundreds of people are already waiting in line. We were used to such lines under the former Communist Government-lines for bread, lines for meat, lines for everything. Families would wait much of the day for rationed items. As children, we would take turns for an hour or more, holding our family’s place in line.

But this line is different. There are children in Romania who don’t know what an orange looks like. It is a special treat. Having the chance to eat a single orange will keep a child happy for a week. It will also make him a hero in the eyes of his friends. For the first time, someone is selling oranges by the kilo.

Suddenly I want to do something important: I want to give my brother a big surprise. He is only eight years old, and I want him to celebrate Christmas with lots of oranges at the table. I also want my parents to be proud of me.

So I call home and tell my parents that I’m going to be late. I forget about going to the movie, leave my friends, and join the line.

People aren’t silent, upset, frustrated, as they were before the revolution; they are talking to one another about life, politics, and the new situation in the country.

The oranges are sold out of the back doorway of a food shop. The clerk has gone from anonymity to unexpected importance. As he handles the oranges, he acts like a movie star in front of his fans.

He moves his arms in an exaggerated manner as he tells the other workers where to go and what to do. All I can do is stare at the stack of cardboard boxes, piled higher than me. I have never seen so many oranges in my life.

Finally, it is my turn. It is 8 o’clock, and I have been waiting for six hours. It doesn’t seem like a long time because my mind has been flying from the oranges in front of me to my brother and then back to the oranges. I hand over the money I was going to spend on the movie and watch each orange being thrown into my bag. I try to count them, but I lose their number.

I am drunk with the idea of oranges. I put the bag inside my coat as if I want to absorb their warmth. They aren’t heavy at all, and I feel that this is going to be the best Christmas of my life. I begin thinking of how I am going to present my gift.

I get home and my father opens the door. He is amazed when he sees the oranges, and we decide to hide them until dinner. At dessert that night, I give my brother the present. Everyone is silent. They can’t believe it.

My brother doesn’t touch them. He is afraid even to look at them. Maybe they aren’t real. Maybe they are an illusion, like everything else these days. We have to tell him he can eat them before he has the courage to touch one of the oranges.

I stare at my brother eating the oranges. They are my oranges. My parents are proud of me.

December 23 - Passion City Church Advent

December 22 - Passion City Church Advent

Ordered by the Lord

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in

his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the
Lord upholds him with His hand.
-Psalm 37:23-24

To the child of God, there is no such thing as accident. He travels
an appointed way. The path he treads was chosen for him when as yet
he was not, when as yet he had existence only in the mind of God.

Accidents may indeed appear to befall him and misfortune stalk his
way; but these evils will be so in appearance only and will seem
evils only because we cannot read the secret script of God's hidden
providence and so cannot discover the ends at which He aims....

The man of true faith may live in the absolute assurance that his
steps are ordered by the Lord. For him, misfortune is outside the
bounds of possibility. He cannot be torn from this earth one hour
ahead of the time which God has appointed, and he cannot be
detained on earth one moment after God is done with him here. He
is not a waif of the wide world, a foundling of time and space,
but a saint of the Lord and the darling of His particular care.
-AW Tozer

December 21 - Passion City Church Advent

Merry Christmas!!!

"Now there were in the same country
shepherds living out in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were greatly afraid.
Then the angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid, for behold,
I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be the sign to you:
You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Luke 2:8-14

December 20 - Passion City Church Advent

December 19 - Passion City Church Advent

December 18 - Passion City Church Advent

Jesus Loves Me

So I've been really praying about some stuff lately. Just seeking the Lord, not necessarily feeling like He isn't answering me, but starting to feel a little anxious and running low on patience. Like the feeling you get when you start wanting what you want NOW instead of in HIS timing, kinda thing. In theory I have no problem waiting on the Lord. I know He will provide. And honestly, I think if I didn't have to worry about how MY WAITING was effecting other people I could wait a long time with hardly any problems. But once I start seeing what my waiting is doing to others, I start to get a little anxious. Sometimes I even wonder, "how will this effect how people view God?" But it isn't for me to worry about how God's timing is effecting other people. It is for me to be patient and ready and to keep focused on HIM and not on others.

Well as much as I wish it was EASY for me to not be anxious when I start to let those thoughts about others creep into my mind, I admit that there are times I cry before the Lord, pouring out my heart and anxieties. Knowing that He still loves me and that He is truly patient with me and will comfort me.

SO, as I said I have been sort of having some of those anxieties in my heart lately. In trying to wrestle with these thoughts, my prayers have become almost statements rather than conversations. Like I find myself almost verbally saying those things I know to be true about my Lord. That HE is FAITHFUL, that HE will PROVIDE, that I KNOW HE HEARS me, that I KNOW HE WILL answer me. All these things, I have been saying to Him, and I say my anxieties to Him too. Followed immediately by the truths again. Like I said, wrestling in my mind over these things before the Lord.

Last night I was so exhausted and almost went to sleep without spending time with the Lord. But honestly I just couldn't do it. It was like I was missing my time with Him and just needed to be filled.

So, after days of wrestling and praying, I once again open up my devotional My Utmost for His Highest and to my daily reading in my Bible. The devotional from last night honestly wasn't that great. hahah, but it was talking about the story of Jacob wrestling with God. I kinda thought, 'eh, that's nothing impressive'. I put that down and opened up my Bible to Hosea 12 where I had left off the night before. And guess what the first story Hosea decides to talk about? Why Jacob wrestling with God. Keep in mind, that Hosea was written WAY after this incident took place and he was just making a point. So anyway, once I started reading about Jacob AGAIN, immediately my mind was like, "twice? really? I better pay attention." The very next verse was:

"So you, by the help of your God, return;
Observe mercy and justice,
And wait on your God continually."
Hosea 12:6

WOW, I thought, some encouragement about waiting on God. Totally cool right? Here I am struggling with thoughts about others and how my waiting on Him is effecting them, and here He is telling me to WAIT on Him continually.

Ok, so at this point I'm feeling great. Like "cool this must be what God had for me to tonight". I could have closed my Bible and gone to sleep. Or so I thought. Cause right now I just happen to be reading a chapter out of Hosea and a chapter out of Philippians every night. SO, I flip over to Philippians feeling pretty good and start to actually laugh out loud when I realize what I am reading.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus...
And my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7, 19

NO JOKE, I totally did not plan this. I didn't even think about this verse coming up when I opened to Philippians. AGAIN, JESUS LOVES ME. Enough to remind me that He hears my prayer, and that He speaks through His Word into our lives. He is so real and so relevant.

How is it that I can say to Him, "Lord I'm starting to get a little anxious about this stuff and how certain people are looking at my waiting on You" and I really pray about this and talk to Him about this like more than just once a day...then open up my Bible and have Him from two different spots tell me to not be anxious and to continue waiting on Him that He is going to take care of me. CRAZY. Just crazy. How do people not believe in Jesus? Just baffles me.

Anyway, I am really happy I just wrote all this tonight, cause even though the Lord blessed me like crazy last night, I felt the need to write this down so that I don't forget how good He is to me, and so that I can look back on this when that evil anxiety starts to creep back in. :)

Blessings on you friends!
r

December 17 - Passion City Church Advent

December 16 - Passion City Church Advent

Meditations

And let us not grow weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness
Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace
by those who make peace
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy
he who sows to the Spirit
will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

The Lord has been sort of impressing on my heart this idea of sowing, reaping, cultivating......all of those things....these verses are from all over the Bible, old and new testament. And they are verses that I have been meditating on lately. Just wanted to share something for you to think about too!

r

December 15 - Passion City Church Advent

December 14 - Passion City Church Advent

Coincidence?

Personally when it comes to the Word of God, I do not believe in coincidence. I believe that God totally speaks through His Word to us today. I believe the Bible is just as relevant to our lives and what we are going through today as it was when it was originally penned.

So what does that have to do with coincidence? Well the Lord has been showing me things in groups as of late. Sometimes the same verse or idea a few days in a row in different forms or from different resources. Tonight He showed me the SAME verse from 2 completely different areas. Why is this more than a coincidence?

Well, first I read a devotional from AW Tozer tonight. Now this devotional is not in a book, I have no way of knowing what will come to me next, it is emailed to me daily. Then I opened up my Bible to where I left off yesterday, and "just so happened" to be in the exact same book and chapter reading the SAME verse as was in the devotional tonight. Coincidence? I really do not think so.

SO, you may be wondering what is this totally awesome verse the Lord wanted to make sure that I paid attention to? Let me share it with you!

"Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the LORD,
Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. "
Hosea 10:12

There are a couple reasons why I always share with you guys the things that the Lord is showing me. Tonight I will tell you one of the reasons....because I am just so excited at how much He loves me! And how He is such a personal God, concerned with me and my life and my struggles and dreams and fears and loves and hurts and all of it! And He arranges time and space and emails and Bible reading schedules to make blessings like this one appear twice in a row.

Why on earth would I not share? And how could I ever call this a coincidence.

grace and peace on your hearts...
night
r

December 13 - Passion City Church Advent

December 12 - Passion City Church Advent

December 11 - Passion City Church Advent

Reminders

I LOVE how the Lord works. I know I have written before how I love it when the Lord gives me something more than once. Well 3 days in a row now the Lord has totally blessed me, by reminding me of His promise, as found in Ephesians 3:20-21.

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

I first came across these verses three nights ago in my daily Bible reading. Then last night in a devotional I was reading the idea of not just being ok with "good" but seeking the "best" the Lord has for us was being talked about, and the Lord reminded me of these verses. That the things HE has for us are "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think". And that He has the best for us in mind. He has prepared those things for us in advance. Then tonight, I was reading the Daily Christmas Advent from Passion City Church, and what was the scripture reading for today??? Well Ephesians 3:20-21 again! wow!

Sometimes the Lord has to drill into my head lessons that I need to learn, and maybe this is a lesson in a way, to not settle, to seek after His heart and the things HE has for me. But also, this is a reminder of His love for me. That is so great and full of so much grace. It is a reminder of the good He has prepared for me and the promises of His that are true.

Anyway, just thought I would share this with you all. I hope it offers you some encouragement like it has offered me tonight!

Grace and peace on your hearts,
r

December 10 - Passion City Church Advent

December 9 - Passion City Church Advent

But He Has Thought Upon You...

"Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor." - Psalm 68:10

"All God's gifts are prepared gifts laid up in store for wants foreseen. He anticipates our needs; and out of the fullness which he has treasured up in Christ Jesus, he provides of his goodness for the poor. You may trust him for all the necessities that can occur, for he has infallibly foreknown every one of them. He can say of us in all conditions, "I knew that thou wouldst be this and that." A man goes a journey across the desert, and when he has made a day's advance, and pitched his tent, he discovers that he wants many comforts and necessaries which he has not brought in his baggage. "Ah!" says he, "I did not foresee this: if I had this journey to go again, I should bring these things with me, so necessary to my comfort." But God has marked with prescient eye all the requirements of his poor wandering children, and when those needs occur, supplies are ready. It is goodness which he has prepared for the poor in heart, goodness and goodness only. "My grace is sufficient for thee." "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."

Reader, is your heart heavy this evening? God knew it would be; the comfort which your heart wants is treasured in the sweet assurance of the text. You are poor and needy, but he has thought upon you, and has the exact blessing which you require in store for you. Plead the promise, believe it and obtain its fulfillment. Do you feel that you never were so consciously vile as you are now? Behold, the crimson fountain is open still, with all its former efficacy, to wash your sin away. Never shall you come into such a position that Christ cannot aid you. No pinch shall ever arrive in your spiritual affairs in which Jesus Christ shall not be equal to the emergency, for your history has all been foreknown and provided for in Jesus."
~Charles Spurgeon

December 8 - Passion City Church Advent

He Knows Us

"One thing is certain, a Christian's standing before God
does not depend upon his standing before men.
A high reputation does not make a man dearer to God,
nor does the tongue of the slanderer influence
God's attitude toward His people in any way.
He knows us each one, and we stand or fall
in the light of His perfect knowledge."
~ AW Tozer

I feel like I could write a lot here about this quote. But I won't. Having lived through some very interesting experiences personally with people and their 'talk'. Took a long time for me to remember that the noise around me was just noise, and that the Lord is the only one who has an opinion about me I should care about. I live for Him, for His approval, and to do His will. He knows me and He loves me. How awesome is that?
:)

December 7 - Passion City Church Advent