I Am the Lord thy God

Isa 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Isa 43:3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour:


How wonderful that we can claim the promises of God! He is my rock, the solid foundation on which I place my trust.

Can we rest comfortably in the words and promises of man? No, as humans, even though our intentions may be of the highest degree; we are weak and sinful.

The experience of my life has been that "man" has fallen short in keeping the promises made toward me, and the same can be said of me. I have been guilty of the same shortfall. Humans have a tendency of making promises or statements they fail to keep.

I have been richly blessed with a Godly family for which I am extremely grateful. My husband Randy is the spiritual leader of our home and a precious source of strength and encouragement to me. Together, our extended families back home form a prayer network that has sustained us through many difficult times, especially these last few months. I would be amiss to fail to mention the faithful prayer support we receive from our church family and friends back home at Living Word Baptist Church. They are a vital link in our prayer chain. We are so blessed!

I will continue to stand on the promises of the solid rock, the one who will never leave me, forsake me or disappoint me, not the words or promises of man. Jesus Christ is my solid rock, He is the only stable foundation in the world today. If you are looking for stability in your life, look no further; look to Jesus, He is the answer.

Working in Zone 4

Stolen directly from Lanny's Blog


Saturday, July 11, 2009
Working In Zone 4
Last night two teams went into zone 4 to hand out Gospel tracts and share Jesus with some of the people we saw sitting outside enjoying the evening. Our group(Randy Andrea, and myself) had two good encounters, one with a family of gypsies, five ladies, who read through and discussed the scriptures with us. As we were leaving one of them said that they believed that God had sent us here to find them and do Bible studies with them. Our other encounter was with two Orthodox men. We spoke with them using SJWF and discussing the scriptures, but they were not interested in doing any Bible studies in their home. These guys were talking a mile a minute and Andrea was hustling to keep up; interestingly enough I caught bits and pieces relating that being Romanian Orthodox was enough to get them into Heaven. They are depending on tradition of the church to get them through instead of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the people believe this is the way...this just reinforces to me that we need to know what our Bible says instead of listening to a priest or minister's personal view not based on God's Word. Whitney and Andrea also had two good encounters.

Planting the Seeds in Galati

1Co 3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow.
1Co 3:7 The one who plants and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow.


Last evening Randy and I along with the team from Cameron, Lanny, Whitney and Andrew; in addition to some of our local National team members hit the streets of Galati. We were armed with our Bibles, Romanian Bibles and an abundance of gospel tracts to distribute. We divided into 3 teams and each went in different directions. At 6:30 in the evening there were many people out strolling the sidewalks.

My team consisted of myself, Lanny and Maria who is from the Betesda Girl's Home. Maria is new to our group, but very interested and eager to share the gospel. Lanny struck out like the lead dog pulling a sled across the deep frozen Alaskan snow, on the look out for just "the person" God would have us approach. Along the trail, we smiled, greeted and handed out gospel tracts to everyone who would accept them.

As we continued our trek, we were abruptly refused by two women sitting in the shade of a building who quickly informed us they were Orthodox! We thanked them kindly and wished them a nice evening. A little further down the sidewalk we found a man picking up ripened apricots from the ground. I approached him and spoke to him using my limited Romanian language, it was enough to get the conversation started. Maria assisted Lanny as he used the scriptures to Share Jesus Without Fear with this gentleman, whose name was Ioan (John). John, like most Orthodox, doesn't know where he will go when he dies. His Father and Mother were Orthodox, so he is Orthodox. I explained to him my parents were both Baptists, and he understood me. I told John that just because both my parents were Baptists did not guarantee me eternal life in Heaven, I had to repent and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to receive eternal life.

We made little headway with this gentleman, however we left a very informative tract in his hand and thanked him for his patience and time. Our time and effort spent with John was not wasted even though we did not see any sign of repentance. The seed was planted. It is up to God to make it grow. We must not grow weary or become discouraged when people don't always respond as we want them to. Our responsibility is to be OBEDIENT, go plant the seeds and then watch God make them grow.

Team Cameron

Team Cameron was able to work with us tonight. We also had the help of two young ladies who have only been with us a short time, Maria was on her first outing with us and Arabela has been working with us less than a month. God is blessing us with workers. Andrea A. and Teresa went home before we went to eat ice cream. Thanks Evelyn.
Don't miss the earlier blogs Teresa posted this week.


Arabela



Andrea and Maria


Lanny, Whitney, and Andrew

Act 17:17 So he held discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentiles who worshiped God, and also in the public square every day with the people who happened to come by.

The Whipping Stone

Mat 27:26 Then Pilate set Barabbas free for them; and after he had Jesus whipped, he handed him over to be crucified. GNB

Roman torture was horrendous. When Pilate ordered Jesus to be whipped, the Roman soldiers did not use an ordinary whip. The whip used to flog and stripe the body of our Lord and Savior was a lead-tipped whip. This whip would rip and tear open the flesh leaving a gaping and bleeding wound.

The whipping stone you see in this picture is found in the Ancient City of Corinth, which we visited a few days ago. This stone is very similar to the one which Jesus was chained. I thought the stone was beautiful with its precise carvings and craftsmanship. As our tour guide informed us what the stone was used for, its beauty instantly turned to ashes.

Last week we celebrated July 4th. Even though we are thousands of miles from our family, we were thankful for friends and even 3 team members from Cameron, Missouri who were in our home to celebrate the holiday with us.

July 4th brings back memories of picnics with hot dogs, grilled burgers, baked beans, cold sodas, family, friends, songs about the Stars and the Stripes and most importantly our FREEDOM.

As children of God, let us never forget that Jesus Christ's stripes taken from a lead-tipped whip before he was lead away by the Roman soldiers to be crucified, bought our FREEDOM.

I pray that we would have a deeper desire to share our faith with the lost world around us. Share the good news with some one about how they too can experience, enjoy and live in the same eternal spiritual freedom that we have. Do it today, tomorrow may never come!

Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

The Parthenon of the Acropolis

Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.


The Parthenon was a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena who saved the Athenians from the Persians. It was completed in 438 B.C. Its interior held the gold and ivory statue of Ahtena Parthenos shown holding Nike ("Victory") in her right hand. The enclosure was ornamented with many other elaborate statues.

There are numerous ancient monuments scattered out over a great expanse of the inner city of Athens still standing today. They represent a sampling of the many 'gods' the Athenians worshiped. It is no wonder Paul had such a burden to climb Mars' Hill and preach to the men of Athens.

These old ruins of eras long past are very interesting and exciting to visit. I've discovered there is a lesson to be learned, they are empty. There are no gold and ivory statues, no golden treasure or jewels; just empty hollow temples built to unknown gods who served no purpose.

As Christians we should be a witness to those around us who are placing their earthly treasures where the things of this world will destroy. It is our responsibility to tell them about Jesus Christ. The one and only true treasure that will never rust and nothing can destroy, nor can anything or anyone take Him away from you once you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. Encourage someone to place their faith in Jesus Christ, not some empty hollow temple of whatever form or fashion it may be. Be courageous......be a Paul!

Act 18:9 Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
Act 18:10 For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

Men of Athens

View of Athens from top of Mars Hill

Act 17:22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
Act 17:23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
Act 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

In June Randy and I were blessed with the opportunity to visit Greece. We had the privilege of spending a few extra days in Athens, where we were able to see the Acropolis, the Parthenon and climb Mars' hill. In addition to those marvelous sites we also traveled by bus for a tour of the Ancient City of Corinth.

As we followed our tour guide through the unearthed archaeological finds of Ancient Corinth, and as he instructed us to open our Bibles and read scriptures pertaining to particular locations, it really made the tour come alive! It was very spiritually overwhelming to stand on the same ground, such as Mars' Hill and the Ancient City of Corinth and read from God's Word, the Holy Bible; the Apostle Paul's own words. It's hard to explain what it does to you or how it makes you feel. Randy and I came away from our journey to Greece deeply touched, closer to God and with a greater desire to delve deeper into His word.

Act 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.