joy  in THE JOURNEY

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JJ Daniel, Washington

 

 

 

THIS IS “MINISTRY”

 

Hello family-of-God, and welcome to Word2day! I pray that each person who comes to this site will go away having learned something, and will find encouragement from The Word of God.

 

With a new season upon us – we can just expect new things in our lives, in the natural world around us, and in spiritual matters.

 

In America it is spring. In the northwest we will have a few more sunny days and a lot of rainy days; we will see a lot of beautiful flowers and bushes and of course a little more of the vibrant green that surrounds us here. In New Zealand it is autumn, and my friend Jill describes it like this:

 

Autumn...that's where we are now, in New Zealand: It is still nice and mild, but most of the trees have all turned golden brown…and the gardens and yards are covered in leaves...still no rain. Daffodils are poking brave lil shoots through, time to tidy gardens and prune back what has died off. Gardeners are watching weather reports for early frosts, which can happen anytime now, and catch late fruit and veggies unawares. Many tomato plants are just ripening now so we are harvesting those crops as soon as possible...and that’s why Churches have a Harvest Festival, because at this time of the year, there is much produce.

   Farmers are putting the rams out among the ewes for spring lambs, so I guess other animals are mating too, and new life will be working unseen through the winter, till it births in the spring time.  I guess autumn in any language brings the appearance of withering and decay, but I believe in RESURRECTION LIFE!!!!!!

 

(THANKS JILL!)

 

On the New Zealand side of the planet, they are busy getting their gardens ready for winter; here we are spring cleaning… cleaning up from the dead winter season, getting ready for a ‘full-bloom’ season. J  Spring and fall are my favorite seasons; I am actually one who enjoys change.

 

When we see a change in the natural, we can just expect a change in the spiritual. Amen?

 

I’m not sure what is happening in the church every place around the world, or if every part of “The Body” is in the same “season” – but here it seems that God is up to a LOT of “Change” right now; here, things are moving in an unusual and a new direction.

 

Brian Houston, from Australia said it this way: “If you are getting your church growth-plan and programs strictly from books, and not spending time with the Father – you’re in for a real surprise!! God is doing stuff today that hasn’t been written yet!!”   What an EXCITING TIME to be “The Church”!!  J

 

One thing that has clearly changed in the church - is what we think of when we hear the word “ministry”.

 

When I was a teen (a few years ago!!) …it seemed that when someone came into the church and met Jesus as Lord and Savior – the next step was to find where they belong - in ministry. Looking back, I can see that as often as not, people took on a “role” or “filled a spot” because it was expected of them, not because God had called, anointed, trained or appointed them to the task; not even because their heart or their talent took them there. It just seemed to be part of “what you do” in the church… then!  Thank God, today we are getting hold of the fact that “ministry” is about “people” and not about “position.” God is so patient, and faithful - isn’t He?  J

 

I have wonderful people in my life today – who might think, or even say that they are not “in ministry” – and yet, it is those very people who are in “TRUE MINISTRY” – they are simply being “Jesus with skin on” to those in their life.

 

Believe me - I am all about “purpose” and obeying God; and believe that He has something specific in mind for every individual, for each part of His Body. I also believe that He unfolds His plan to us, in His season, while we are simply busy “doing what our hands find to do.”  He moves us along, according to His plan and His purpose. (Hab 2:2-3; Psalm 31:15; Pr 19:21)  If “full-time ministry” is what He has designed us for, He has also planted that vision in us, and equipped us for that; If that’s His design, it will be the biggest part of who we are. However, I believe that the “position” is the smaller part of what God expects of His children; He has “called” us ALL and “commissioned” each of us to “GO!”  Amen?  J

 

I recently read a personal story by Beth Moore that paints a beautiful picture of TRUE MINISTRY, and I’d just like to share that with you today. Everyone probably recognizes this name - Beth Moore is an International Teacher and Author of numerous books and Bible-Study material.

 

 

Beth Writes…

 

          HAIRBRUSH EXPERIENCE OF BETH MOORE AT THE AIRPORT:

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         April 20, 2005, at the Airport in Knoxville, waiting to board the plane, I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was doing. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I say this because I want to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you.

 

      You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise. Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the       least of which is your ego.

 

       I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange sight. Humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones.

 

       The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy, gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long, clean but strangely out of place on an old man.

 

        I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face.  As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found myself         wondering if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, I remembered that he was dead. So this man in the airport... An impersonator maybe?        Was a camera on us somewhere? There I sat; trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served up on a wheelchair only a few seats from me. All the while, my heart w as growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him.

 

        Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man.

 

  I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen. And it may be embarrassing!

 

        I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. 'Oh, no, God, please,         no.' I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, 'Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!'

 

        There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His Highness, 'Please don't make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane.' Then I heard it...'I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair.'

 

        The words were so clear, my heart leap into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. Do I witness to the man or brush his hair? No-brainer.  I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, 'God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this Lord. I'm your girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed? I am going to witness to this man.'

 

 Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. 'That is not what I said, Beth.  I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair.'

 

        I looked up at God and quipped, 'I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane. How am I supposed to brush his hair without a        hairbrush?' God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: 'I will        thoroughly furnish you unto all good works.' (2 Timothy 3:17)

 

        I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I retell this story, my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies. I knelt down in front of the man and asked as demurely as possible, 'Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?'

 

        He looked back at me and said, 'What did you say?'

 

        'May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?'

 

        To which he responded in volume ten, 'Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that.'

 

        At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out, 'SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?' At which point every eye in the place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Long Locks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face, and say, 'If you really want to.'

 

        Are you kidding? Of course I didn't want to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my        heart until I could utter the words, 'Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have a hairbrush.'

 

        'I have one in my bag,' he responded.

 

        I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on, hardly believing what I was doing. I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things well, but must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls. Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands, remembering to take my time not to pull. A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everybody else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange, but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I - for that few minutes - felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while.

 

        The emotions were so strong and so pure that I knew they had to be God's.  His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's.

 

        I slipped the brush back in the bag and went around the chair to face him.  I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knee and said, 'Sir,  do you know my Jesus?'

 

        He said, 'Yes, I do'

 

        Well, that figures, I thought.

 

        He explained, 'I've known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior.' He said, 'You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, what a mess I must be for my bride.'

 

        Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it.

 

        Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on that aircraft.

 

        I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said, 'That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?'

 

        I said, 'Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!'

 

        And we got to share.

 

        I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted, you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need!

 

        I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way ... all because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me to that old man. He sent that old man to me.

 

        'The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth'  John 1:14

 

End of Beth’s story.

 

 

Are you ready for CHANGE? A New Season? J  Have you said to The Father… “I want to be all that You designed me to be!” – or “Lord, use my life; let me minister to others.” - Or similar declarations of your love & dedication for Him - and your desire to serve Him?  Well… get ready!!  His “Call” could include a hairbrush!!

 

 

Jesus said: “For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.”   Matthew 25:42-43

 

Selah!