Won't you?!...

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...

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God certainly speaks but...

...Is anyone listening?
Sometimes, God whispers...Other times, His voice is SO clear, it's like He's speaking through a loudspeaker (not in volume so much as clearly revealing Himself to the individual).
Last Sunday was a case of the "loud-speaker voice" of God confirming His work in my life. It came in perfect timing as well. Have you ever needed reassurance about something or felt anxious about a matter but never revealed it to another? (when you simply keep it in your heart and wait on God.) 2 quick examples of this, from scripture, occurred in the lives of Mary and Nehemiah. In the case of Mary; "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." (Luke 2:19) For Nehemiah, "I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem." (Nehemiah 2:12)
This is how I felt going to worship service last Sunday.
Here's a little background info, so you can catch what I'm saying:
A good friend of mine,XXXXX, (who was a factory worker in Seoul) and I made "a promise" that I would come and visit him in Iran sometime before or during the summer of 2005. I lost touch with him after he returned to Iran from South Korea. He never returned any emails (to anyone) and eventually email messages started coming back as errors indicating that his email account was not in use. One of our mutual friends stated that it seemed as if he "had fallen off the face of the planet." Even the phone number he gave me was no longer in use and had been disconnected. A couple of months ago, I was praying about this, asking God either to confirm whether He still wanted me to go or to consider other plans for this summer. Well, the next day guess who called?!...you got it! XXXXX! And guess what the 1st thing he said to me was?!... Right again! He said, "My friend, don't forget our promise to come and visit me!" God had answered my prayer to let me know what His will was for me in this case. Now, if that isn't confirmation enough...me in my too-often-quick-to-forget-what-God-has-revealed-and-oh-so-quick-to-be-weak-in-faith, I started feeling anxious about going, wondering if God really had spoken His will or if I was "jumping the gun" on how things had occurred. Well, God placed in my heart the need and prayer to hear another confirmation that He wanted me to go this summer. These were the thoughts and feelings going through my mind and heart before last weekend's sermon. In addition, I was supposed to be in the sound room, but Bill Morgan insisted that I sit down in the sanctuary and that he would take care of the mic levels and recording for the service.
Our pastor read from Nehemiah Chapter 1 today. He almost never reads through the entire chapter when preaching but gleans spiritual lessons from them. Today he read the whole chapter. Right from the 1st verse, the Holy Spirit had my attention.
"The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: in the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa," (Nehemiah 1:1)
Tim, QUICKLY added, "This is in what is known as present day IRAN"!!!
Excuse me?! What was that?! Did he just say what I thought he said?!
I was absolutely floored!!! I had come to church NEEDING to hear that God wanted me to go to Iran this summer and the first thing our pastor shares from today's reading was about IRAN!!!
(My pastor had no idea what God had placed in my heart nor did anyone else-But GOD DID and he used today's sermon to really speak to me!!!)
No, I don't think God used today's sermon to speak ONLY to me...God spoke to everyone who was listening in different ways with different specialized messages to each heart. One of my beloved church members, Laura, for example, shared with me after the sermon how God has spoken to her, through the sermon, the need to go home and witness to her mother.
Anyway, I praise God that he is a living, active God working in the world and revealing His character, will and ways to individuals in this world.
"Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)

THE TEACHER

Lord, who am I to teach the way
To other people day by day,
So prone myself to go astray.
I teach them knowledge, but I know
How faint the flicker and how low
The candles of my knowledge glow.
I teach them power to will and do
But only now to learn anew
My own great weakness through and through
I teach them love for all mankind
And all God's creatures, but I find
My love comes lagging far behind.
Lord, if their guide I still must be,
Oh, let the other people see
The teacher leaning hard on Thee.
(-Leslie Hill)

THANK YOU GOD FOR LITTLE THINGS

Thank you, God, for little things
that often come our way -
The things we take for granted
but don't mention when we pray -
The unexpected courtesy,
the thoughtful, kindly deed -
A hand reached out to help us
in the time of sudden need -
Oh, make us more aware, dear God,
of little daily graces
That come to us with "sweet surprise"
from never-dreamed-of places.
(Helen Steiner Rice)

Unexpected Kindnesses in Unexpected Places at Unexpected Times

"Isn't it great when people you appreciate show you signs of appreciation!" (Well, that's just a sneak preview of heaven, by the way! :-)) Anyway, that's what I was thinking when 2 students that I really appreciate approached me and asked me if they could buy me lunch after class on Friday. Wow! How considerate! Byung-Hee explained that their invitation was an early gift because "Teacher's Day" (a Korean holiday celebrated every May 15th) falls on a Sunday this year and they wouldn't get a chance to thank me in class. Double wow! I, above all people, know that I am not that good of a teacher and there are many things that God still needs to improve. I firmly believe that any good that someone might happen to see in me is Christ and any bad that someone most certainly must see in me is me, Andy, getting in the way of Christ's work. Atanyrate, I felt a real sense of gratitude for being invited to lunch knowing that it was based on the grace of God. Byung Hee has often stated his nervousness about speaking English, as he was in the army and out of school for a few years, (all physically able males in Korean must serve in the army about 2 1/2 years) but I find that he is VERY capable and engaging in English. YuMi was also a real pleasure to talk with outside of the class over lunch.
Thank God for such unexpected mercies that He showers upon the undeserving every day!!

My sweet and generous students, Byung-Hee and YuMi after lunch on Friday, May 6th.

Reign in Me

Over all the earth
You reign on high
Every mountain stream
Every sunset sky
But my one request
Lord my only aim
Is that You’d reign in me again
Lord reign in me
Reign in Your power
Over all my dreams
In my darkest hour
You are the Lord
Of all I am
So won’t You reign in me again
Over every thought
Over every word
May my life reflect
The beauty of my Lord
‘Cause you mean more to me
Than any earthly thing
So won’t You reign in me again
©1998 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing
Words and Music by Brenton Brown