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And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (charity). I Corinthians 13:13 Have you ever seen those little requests for donations show up in the church bulletin? Food for the pantry…clothes…toy donations??? This past year, I noticed a little clip in ours at Faith Christian Center looking for donations from members for gently used coats to support their annual "Isaiah House" Christmas Outreach for those in need. I didn't really think much of it until I was attending a Friday night service at a neighboring church later that week. That night a gentleman was there from a ministry in Owensboro, KY. His ministry had been doing quite a bit of work supporting Katrina victims with food, and clothing. He mentioned he had just received a donation of brand new, name brand, coats to give away to those in need. Was this an accident? I think not!! I decided to call and speak to the ministry to see if some of the coats could be donated to Isaiah House. It took some time and there was some paperwork to go through, but in about a month, we did receive a donation of 150 brand news coats for the ministry (see picture under "My Photos"). I wish I could have recorded the conversation with David. He is as country and as down to earth as you can image, but most of all He is a good hearted servant of God. My friend, Ana and I, made the eight hour, well worth it, round trip drive to pick up the coats and bring them back to Northern Kentucky. This past weekend, we both (Ana and I) had the privilege of working with Isaiah House Ministries to help distribute the coats to those in need. All in all, the annual Christmas drive was a huge success!!! The donation of toys was over the top! Two 19' trucks had to be used to deliver the toys to the Outreach. There was also a pickup truck load of personal care bags with Bibles, a pickup truck of fruit, a pickup truck and 4 vans full of food and 1 van full of new coats. All of this enabled the ministry to distribute 100+ personal care bags, 175 bags of groceries, 175 bags of fruit, 150 new coats, 48 ball caps, in addition to socks and gloves. An unbelievable 50 workers from three different ministries (LifeLine, Watermark Community Church, and Faith Christian Center) all showed up on the scenes to help meet the needs of the people both spiritually and physically. It was an incredible day. I truly believe the people there blessed me as much as we were able to bless them. It felt good to be part of something so special. We are presented everyday of our lives with an opportunity to serve Him. What can God do through/with you? Are you listening, looking, and seeing the opportunities He’s put before you? Remember those in need this holiday season. Merry Christmas and God bless, Toni Matthew 25:34-40 (New International Version) 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Recently, I was off in Boston traveling on business, when God began to deal with me about "redefining" myself as a "woman of faith" and less by my circumstances (A mother of special needs children, a preacher's wife, a successful career woman, you name it). That evening while alone in my hotel, God led me to a scripture, that moved me deeply, Psalms 62:5-6, and reminded me that first and foremost, I am His, and it is my faith and trust in Him that should define me. I had a personal e-mail account awareness_autism@yahoo.com that no longer exists, and was replaced by faithbeyondmeasure@yahoo.com as a result of the deep conviction that tore through my heart that night. You see even my e-mail testified of my circumstance and not my faith in Christ! God was right! I really was defining myself by my circumstances! It’s also the night I set up a Yahoo 360 site (http://360.yahoo.com/faithbeyondmeasure), posted my first ever Blog and put Psalms 62:6 at the bottom on my profile. "FaithBeyondMeasure" was birthed that night, and honestly, all the things that happened that night, ultimately led me here to JC Faith a few weeks later. A couple days later when I was back home in Kentucky, when God used a significant ongoing “circumstance” and the below TGIF devotional titled "Disappointments" to confirm everything He spoke to my heart that night. A dear friend of mine closely acquainted with the situation, had very strongly used the word “disappointed” three times towards me (twice the day before and once that very morning I received this devotional) over something I had done in the midst it all. Right, wrong, or indifferent, I did what I did and there was no turning back. The word was still ringing painfully in my ears as I was sitting at my desk at work feeling the weight of it all. Then this devotional suddenly popped in my inbox, and there it was...a reference to that word at the top of it “Disappointments”. I honestly don’t believe things like this are accidents, and that God will use just about anything He can to reach and speak to us. So, I opened and read it….and there at the very end was that verse…. Psalms 62:5-6. And I was overwhelmed once again by who He is and all that He means to me...what I mean to Him that He would reach down, speak to me in the midst of it all, and draw me close once again so that I could find “rest” in Him. We really do serve a big and awesome God! And I thank Him for His confirming Words! God Bless, Toni "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken" (Ps. 62:5-6). Below is the TGIF Devotional I referenced above. If you are interested in subscribing to Today God Is First (TGIF) devotionals, they can be accessed online at: http://www.marketplaceleaders.org/pages.asp?pageid=7898. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disappointments
by Os Hillman, December 6, 2006
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. - Proverbs 13:12
Life is filled with disappointments. Many of God's greatest servants experienced deep disappointment in their journeys of faithfulness to God. Joseph, after spending years as a slave and in jail for crimes that he did not commit, revealed deep disappointment when he was forgotten another two years in prison. John the Baptist, when awaiting execution, doubted whether Jesus was, in fact, the Christ because he was sitting there awaiting his death. Elijah, losing all hope and despondent to the point of death, asked God to take his life in the desert; and Peter, who left his fishing business and invested three years of his life only to watch his Savior crucified, wondered whether the purpose of those three years could be justified.
When life doesn't add up, it leaves the heart sick. When we have done all we know to do and the formula has not worked, it leaves us questioning. These are times that try the very souls of men. There is no human sense to be made of it. We are left with a choice: to cling or not to cling. There are times when holding on to our Master's robe is all that we can do. It is all that He wants us to do.
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not obtained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Standing on what too long we bore,
With shoulders bent and downcast eyes,
We may discern-unseen before-
A path to higher destinies!
~Longfellow
There is only one answer to life's disappointments. Like the psalmist, we must "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken" (Ps. 62:5-6).
For those of you that are visiting here that are also interested in joining the "Faith Beyond Measure" online Bible Study, we will be getting started soon. I'm still in process of making final preprations and will begin posting shortly. In the meantime, please feel free to go ahead and join the group and introduce yourself. Oh, and don't forget to sign up for notifications. That way you will be alerted automatically once we begin. You can access the group by clicking the following link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FaithBeyondMeasure/ . We are planning to start off this Bible Study by reading a book by R.A. Torrey called "Power-Filled Living". I've already started reading it and I'm looking forward to begin posting! The book can be purchased on Amazon.com for about $15.00 and usually ships in about 1 -2 business days. We are still about 2 weeks away from starting. So, there is still plenty of time to place your order! Below is a link directly to the book on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Power-Filled-Living-R-Torrey/dp/0883685507/sr=8-9/qid=1... Looking foward to diving in and getting started!!! God Bless, Toni
As I sit here considering what to write in this first entry, all I know is that I am a woman in need of "redefining" who I am. I have spent so many years defined by so many "things" that have affected my life... a mother of a child with autism, as a wife, a successful career woman. But who am I really? How do I want to be defined and how do I want to be seen? That's when the song "Who am I" by Casting Crowns comes to mind. The song goes... "Who am I that the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt?' "Who am I that the bright and morning star choose to light the way for my ever wondering heart?". I don't know if I got the lyrics completely right, but ultimately the song reveals that he does it because "I am Yours [God's]". So as I sit here writing this, that's who I know I am... I am His and that's how I want to be known. And so today, I put aside all those things that use to define me, and I start a journey to truly become all that He has called me to be, and I openly welcome all those who want to join me. God bless, Toni
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