Hakuna Matata - No Worries

"Look at the birds of the air;
They do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
And yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?"
Matthew 6:26

As I sat and took in the morning breeze one day, I noticed a dove perched on a telephone wire. It looked perfectly healthy and seemed to not have a care in the world.

That dove came back to mind later that day. Where was it? Did it get food? Where will it go if it were to begin to storm? How will it protect itself from danger? It seemed that I worried more about this bird’s welfare than it did for itself.

As I thought about this, however, I was reminded of one of my favorite songs, that Ethel Waters used to sing, "His Eye Is On The Sparrow." That song reminds me that, even though I have a huge advantage over a bird to take care of myself, I am just as dependent on God for my welfare and survival as that bird is.

Neither that bird nor I have any clue as to our destiny for the day. However, both of us have a God who created us for a purpose and has faithfully provided for us each day of our lives, and He will continue to do so until that purpose is completed.

As your week begins, you may feel like a bird on a wire, wondering what you will do, where you will go, or how you will make it emotionally, physically, etc. Take that burden and give it to the Lord. Remember that if He cares and provides for the birds of the air, then He will most definitely provide and care for you. Don’t think that He can’t handle your burden. He carried the weight of the world on His shoulders, so He’ll have no problem caring for you.

Don’t forget to give a special "thank You" to Him for that today through your praise and worship.

Gratitude
O Thou, whose bounty fills my cup
With every blessing meet!
I give Thee thanks for every drop-
The bitter and the sweet.
I praise Thee for the desert road,
And for the riverside;
For all Thy goodness hath bestowed,
And all Thy grace denied.
(Jane Crewdson)

Thank Him for His love towards you today.
Pastor MJ

Where Your Treasure is...

“For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:21

As a child, I always used to hum the tune, “I left my heart in San Francisco”, by Tony Bennett. I used to wonder what “she” must have been like for “him” to claim that he left his heart behind. When I met Rebecca, I finally understood.

While in Africa this month I got a glimpse of that feeling again as I left a people and a continent that I instantly fell in love with. Additionally, while there, as we were about to take flight number 5 out of 9, I realized that I had left a very special neck pillow behind at our hotel. We only had one hour before the flight was to take off and several people on our team offered to let me use their various neck pillows. However, this one was special. My son Alex had given it to me as a special gift and I had brought it over 9,000 miles and to leave it behind would be devastating to him. I entertained the thought and each time, I realized that it would be on my mind everyday for the rest of the trip and beyond. Every time I laid my head down I would see my son’s face and the disappointment of not bringing it back with me. So 40 minutes, a very fast taxi ride and $200,000 Zambian Kwacha later, I had my pillow. Leaving that pillow behind would have caused a piece of my heart to be there forever.

Although my situation was of a sentimental kind, I was reminded of a more serious truth about treasure in the above passage. Whatever or whomever we treasure will be the place holder of our hearts. The things, places or people whom we treasure the most own the rights to the loyalty of our hearts.

The implication in Scripture is that Christ wants to be that treasure and that our loyalty, our focus, our hearts yearning should be of eternal things, things that will last for eternity, namely our Lord, our eternal home and those made in His image, all which will last for eternity. If we value Christ and our relationship with Him above all else, our hearts will forever be in the right place and our “treasure” will last forever.

Let’s take an inventory this week. Where is your treasure?

With you on the journey,
MJ

Bwana Asifiwe - Praise the Lord

"Kwa Maana jiusi hii Mungu aliupenda ulimwengu,

hata akamtoa Mwanawe pekee,
ili kila mtu amwaminiye asipotee,
bali awe na uzima wa milele."

Yohana 3:16

Does this look like Greek to you? Actually it’s John 3:16 in Swahili, the language of the people whom we worked with and ministered to in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. What an incredible time we had on our trip to Africa! God showed us His hand of blessing and faithfulness every step and flight of our journey.

One of the most memorial things of my time in both Tanzania and Zambia were the worship times. More times than not we had no idea what was being sung or spoken, but after awhile, between the repetition and outward expression of the people, words for Father, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, amen, Hallelujah and praise the Lord brought a beautiful connection between our team and our brothers and sisters in Africa.

Travelling 9,000 miles away from home gave us a glimpse of what it’s going to be like when we take our final journey to our heavenly home. (Revelation 7:9-10) Here were men and women who love the Lord lifting Him up in a language unknown to us but were guided by the same Holy Spirit who reigns in our lives. A bond and connection was there that we didn’t have to create or put on. We were one in the Spirit and were able to worship together before the throne of God on that common ground. It was extra special when a familiar tune would be heard and we would be able to join in especially on the chorus and lift our voices singing the same message in two different languages knowing that as it reached God’s ears it would all be the same!

Being in Africa taught us many things, which will be shared many times in many different ways in the days to come, but one of the greatest truths that was reaffirmed in my heart is how incredibly big and awesome our God is! We cannot put Him in a box; and He, nor can His ways be confined to our way of thinking or our way of doing things. His ways and thoughts are truly higher than out ways and thoughts. (Isaiah 55:7-8)

God is Awesome and it was a dream come true and a gift from God to travel to a distant land and meet people who materially have little but spiritually have and abundance because of their love and passion for a great big God!!!

Bwana Asifiwe, (Praise the Lord!)
MJ

Obedience - No Miracle Needed

"God will not do through a miracle

what He’s already told me to do through obedience."

I remember the day that I stopped praying for God to give me the power to do or stop doing certain things. Now I acknowledge that the power is always within me and I thank Him for it. Scripture teaches that when a person gives their heart to Jesus and yields to His Lordship that He gives them His Holy Spirit to guide and direct (John 14:26) them in their walk towards becoming like Christ. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come in portions. When we receive the Holy Spirit, upon salvation, we receive all of who He is: all of His power, all of His guidance, all of His protection and more. In other words we have all of the power already within us all of the time to flee any sin, accomplish any God given task and the ability to be all that He created us to be. The question is how much of us will He receive?

When we sin, we bypass God’s Spirit within us. If you are like me, there have been times when you’ve wanted the Spirit of God to actually physically come to me and give me victory. For example, if the struggle was over eating, I’d pray for Him to help me and I’d expect Him to take the 5th brownie out of my hand before it reached my mouth instead of realizing that as I submitted to Him and made a decision not to partake and walk in obedience that His Spirit’s power was there to help me overcome and give me victory. The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 10:13 that, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." I remember being in a New Jersey diner once and I was full, but diners have those huge desserts. This piece of apple pie was calling me. I know I shouldn’t have it, but I just couldn’t resist. After the waitress served it to me, it fell on the ground. That was my way of escape. I should have seen that and thanked God, but instead, I ordered another slice!

What miracle are you praying for today? Has God already given you the key to victory, yet you are waiting for Him to move your hand? It’s exciting, yet humbling to know that when we pray for victory that it’s already ours. Because the One who gives us this power is always with us and as we walk in obedience there is nothing that He calls us to that cannot be accomplished.

So the next time you are faced with an obedience issue, just obey and you’ll see the Holy Spirit’s power released in your life. The miracle has already happened. Victory is yours and mine through obedience.

Pastor MJ

Freedom - Suffering Go Hand And Hand

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this

all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are

hard pressedon every side, but notcrushed; perplexed, ut not in

despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down,

but not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:7-9

The longer I live, the more I come to understand that freedom and suffering usually go hand in hand. Take for instance, the freedom that we will celebrate on Wednesday. Independence Day. The 4th of July! We celebrate our country’s freedoms, but one cannot truly appreciate the value of the freedoms we have without understanding that suffering was involved in gaining that freedom for us.

I’m coming to understand that suffering will always be a part of our earthly existence. Suffering comes from several sources: we may suffer as a result of our sin or of others sin, or, the most difficult to accept, our suffering may come from the hand of the Lord. Whatever the source, we are sure that Scripture teaches us that suffering is a part of God’s plan to mold us and shape us into all that He is creating us to be. It is a tool to cause us to hold loosely to the things of this earth and to help us yearn for Him and for "Home"!

When you boil it down, every great thing was born out of someone else’s suffering. How so? Well, for example, in order to perform the first heart transplant someone had to die! Braille was created and is a help to the blind today because someone lost their sight. We would never be able to receive eternal life were it not for the suffering of our Savior.

Consider this:

"Out of Great Tribulation – No words can express how
much the world owes to sorrow. Most of the Psalms
were born in a wilderness. Most of the Epistles were
written in a prison. The greatest thoughts of the
greatest thinkers have all passed through fire.
The greatest poets have "learned in suffering
What they have taught in song." In bonds Bunyan lived
The allegory that he afterwards indited, and we may thank
Bedford Jail for the Pilgrim’s Progress. Take comfort,
Afflicted Christian! When God is about to make

pre-eminent use of a man,
He puts him in the fire. (MacDonald)

Pastor MJ