What About Your Legacy?

I recently read a book my sister let me read after she was done with it. Gotta love those teacher cards from the library- six weeks- no rush.

Anyway, the book was an autobiography on Tim Tebow-

the football player for the Denver Broncos

with a Testimony for God.

(I'll admit, when I saw that game where he

knelt in prayer after a good run, I was a

bit sceptical- another one of those sports people

who says they are a Christian...)

But this was different.

It was a good book,

o.k. i had to wade through all the football language

which I know nothing about.

But his testimony was great. So I leave you with

a quote from his book of the legacy you leave behind.

“...But a legacy that left eternal fingerprints on the lives of others would be a legacy to be remembered in this world and the next. The legacy God intended each of us to leave has to do with the impact our lives have had on the lives of others He calls us to serve. It has to do with the difference our lives make in the world- in our families, with friends, at work, at school, with our coaches and teammates, and all those others around us. Our legacy should be about building in the lives of all those others, doing something for others

that will not only last in their lives here, but for eternity.”

p. 206 of Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow and Nathan Whitaker.

The Rope of Supplication

Last week we had missions conference and during one of the messages, Brother Starnes (church planting in Harrisburg, PA) gave a list of ways we can hold the ropes for missionaries. One of the ways we do that is by holding the rope of supplication, begging on the behalf of the missionaries. The following is a list he gave during the sermon:
Ways to Pray for your Missionaries:
1. That they would have the power of God
2. To be able to withstand the evil ones
3. Grow in the knowledge of God
4. Do all they can to stand
5. Have a great Prayer life
6. Encourage themselves in the Lord
7. Be steadfast and do what God would have

“Where are our young men, fired with the love of Christ and compassion for immortal souls, who are desirous to leave their comforts and their homes for a few years, to serve their Redeemer in foreign lands?"
~Ann Judson~

Giving Up What I Want

I was reading the biography of Hudson Taylor yesterday and was amazed by his life. One thing really stuck out to me and reminded me of some things.
Hudson Taylor had not yet left for China, he was preparing and while he was he fell in love with one of his sister's friends. They got to know each other for a while but apparently she wasn't willing to go to China with him. Hudson has a choice to make: follow God's call or follow his heart. Every person longs to find that someone who seems to complete them. But Hudson knew to do God's will was far better, so he chose China. Then all seemed to go wrong and it looked like he would be stuck at home, some might say "He could marry the girl! ". Instead he said, "My hope is in God alone, I need no other." He wasn't going to marry her, he was going to keep trusting God to send him to China, which God did in His timing.
I just though it was neat and a powerful reminder that all of us long to have someone, like I said earlier. But if God calls us to do something, we need to be willing to leave those longings or even that someone(if we've found them) behind and follow Him. If God calls me to teach missionary children for the rest of my life I've go to sacrifice those longings for that special person I hope to meet someday.
I don't know, maybe this will help you, it sure helped me.

May This Be the Prayer of My Life

I was looking in my Bible today and in the front of the one I use for church I found a quote I had written in there. It's a quote from Betty Scott Stam, missionary with her husband to China, who both were martyrs for Christ. This was the prayer of hers:
"Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt,send me where Thou wilt, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever."
This ought to be the prayer of every Christian, but what a high calling! To tell the Lord that you want to serve Him no matter what; this could mean anything, the Lord could take my life on my flight to Germany but if that is what He wants then I'll do it. I want this to be my prayer for the rest of my life, I want the Lord to use me, I never want to get to the point where I don't want to serve Him anymore. With the Lord's help we can live for Him the rest of our lives and that is what I want. May we serve Him, no matter what.

Willing

Another thing I read about in Through Gates of Splendor was the of the willingness of these wives. Their husband were going to go off into the jungle to reach the cannibal people. You know they had to be afraid of what was going to happen, that's human. But Elisabeth Elliot tells what their whole reaction was.

"The other wives and I talked together one night about the possibility of becoming widows. What would we do? God gave us a peace of heart, and confidence that whatever might happen, His Word would hold. We knew that 'when He putteth forth His sheep, He goeth before them.' God's leading was unmistakable up to this point. Each of us knew when we married our husbands that there would never be any question about who came first- God and His work held first place in each life. It was the condition of true discipleship; it became devastatingly meaningful now."

What an example! They were willing to give their husbands over completely to the Lord. I'm not married, but if the Lord sees fit for me to be someday, may I be as willing as these ladies and let the Lord do whatever He sees fit with my husband.

More thoughts from Through Gates of Splendor

I was reading more of my book and some more things stuck out to me.
There was a chapter about Roger Youderian, one of the men, and how he was struggling with going on for the Lord. He was discouraged and felt that what he was doing with the indians wasn't helping anything. He was struggling with leaving the field and going home. He was having a rough time of it and was praying and begging the Lord to help him. But at the end of this chapter it tells the end of his struggle. Nate Saint came to him and asked him to go with him and the other men deeper into the jungle. And "Roger recognized something of what this decision might mean for him, and the hours spent on his knees with God witnessed agony of soul. But God 'who causes us to triumph,' brought him out of his slough of despond.
'He was cleansed through the Spirit for the task that lay ahead of him,' said Barbara (his wife) afterward, 'and went with a happy, expectant mind and his heart full of joy."
He wrote something in his diary that really made a lot of sense. On December 19 he wrote: "I will die to self. I will begin to ask God to put me in a service of constant circumstances where to live Christ I must die to self. I will be alive unto God. That I may learn to live Him with my heart, mind, soul, and body."

That's what it is all about, dying to self daily and living for God. We are going to go through stuggles but when you are in that trial don't give up. Continue to seek His face. He will come through and be there in the end.

Lesson From a Missionary

I have been reading Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot and there was a paragraph in there that was really good. Pete Fleming told this to one of his friends.
" Remember the last few verses of I Corinthians 3: 'For all things are yours...and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.' Throughout all our personality we are God's, and since God has made our whole selves, there is great joy in realizing who is our Creator. This realization is to permeate every area and level of life. In appreciation of beauty, mountains, music, poetry, knowledge, people, science- even in the tang of an apple- God is there, to reflect the joy of His presence in the believer who will realize God's purpose in all things."

This was just a reminder to thank God for the small things in life. Everything has a purpose, and God has planned it all. Be aware of everything around you, God created it. Thank the Lord and be amazed with the beauty and complexity of his creation.