A Quote To Live By

One of these days, I'm going to get around to writing a blog post about some of the books I've been reading lately. Reading a good book is one of my favorite things to do, and since so many delightful volumes have graced my nightstand of late, I am excited to recommend them to you!

However, until that post gets written, I must at least share this soul-stirring quote I read last night from Eric and Leslie Ludy's book entitled, When God Writes Your Life Story. It is too good to keep to myself!

"We are here on this earth to know God intimately, fully, correctly, and contagiously; to house His holy person in our very bodies, allowing Him to showcase to the world around us His loving nature, His attitude, His thoughts, His emotions, and His actions through the way we live every moment of our lives."

Wow.
What a powerful purpose statement for life!

If you're like me, you'll want to read and re-read that quote, ponder, mull, and pray it into your life!

Laughter is Good for the Heart

Today, as my family has been cleaning out old file cabinets in order to set up a new office area in our house, my dad came across a few pictures that made me laugh out loud! He said they are some of his favorites. *smile*

I thought perhaps my blog readers might enjoy a few chuckles as well...at my expense.

This is Katrina...a long time ago...

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Proverbs

Wishing you all joy today in the Lord!

What Does Holiness Mean?

“Apart.
Sacred.
Separate.
Set apart for God’s use alone.
That which bears the Almighty King’s nature.
That which brings Him glory and honor.
That which reveals the beauty, preciousness, perfection of His majestic Person.
That which does not touch the flesh, imitate the manner of the flesh, listen to the counsel of the flesh, or take lightly the danger of the flesh.
That which is come out of the world, does not imitate the manner of the world, listen to the counsel of the world, or take lightly the snares of the world.
A life which belongs to God and is set apart for His pleasure and His glory.
That is what it means to be holy."
~ Eric Ludy

Today's Meditation

"As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct."

I Peter 1:15

A New Sister in Christ

The Lord is so faithful! I stand in awe of His wondrous love...His amazing grace...His redeeming blood...His depth of mercy.

His mighty works never cease to amaze me.

Tonight, at American Chinese Fellowship, where my family ministers together every Friday, I had the incredible privilege of witnessing a precious young lady place her faith in the Lord Jesus as her personal Savior, and become a daughter of the King!

(Photo taken in December, 2007)

Sophia (10) has been faithfully coming to ACF for almost a year now. She could barely speak English when she first arrived here from China. As a result, she joined my junior high/senior high girls' Bible study rather than the elementary class because one of our class members could translate lessons into Chinese for her, and she also enjoyed the smaller class size. Not only has Sophia learned English quickly; she has also proved an eager student of the Bible. As we have been steadily making our way chronologically through Scripture from the beginning (using Michael Pearl's "Good and Evil" illustrated Bible), Sophia has demonstrated a keen understanding of each lesson and a love for learning about God.

This past semester, we have specificully been studying the life of Jesus. I have sensed a tender heart in Sophia toward Him and a child-like faith in Christ, but I was not certain of anything. So, tonight after Bible study, at the specific encouragement of the Chinese pastor who has also been keeping his eye on Sophia, I met with her to discuss the matter of salvation.

It seemed like all the puzzle pieces came together for Sophia during that converasation. While she has "believed" in Jesus since we began reading about Him in the Bible, she said she did not know for sure that she was saved. I asked her if she wanted to know for sure, since the Bible explains it very clearly, and she said yes!

While using several verses from my Bible, I sketched a simple little diagram called the Bridge illustration that clearly conveys the Gospel message. Sophia followed along beautifully and by the end of our discussion, she was ready to "confess with [her] mouth the Lord Jesus" (Romans 10:9), confirming her belief and trust in Him as Savior. She had never prayed before in her life, and at first was a little nervous about "what to say." :-) I told her to just talk to Jesus about what we had been disucussing. What followed was one of the most beautiful, eloquent prayers I think a ten-year-old has ever uttered! Never mind the broken English grammar; Sophia spoke to Jesus from her heart, and it was priceless to hear! We wrote down today, May 16, as her spiritual birthday that she could carry with her as a special day forever.

Truly, there is no greater delight (outside of Jesus Himself), than that of watching a person receive Him as their Savior!

When I think about why the Lord leaves us Christians here on earth after we get saved, the best answer I can think of is because He wants us to spread the Gospel before we depart for heaven; to tell as many people as we can about Jesus and how to have a relationship with Him. There is Kingdom work to be done, and He gives us the immense privilege of being a part! Jesus is passionate for lost souls, and that is something I long to emulate.

To God be the glory; great things He hath done!

The Things I Take for Granted

For Katelin's birthday this year, our family attended The Miracle Worker, the dramatized story of Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan, as presented by a local community theater. The story was touching and the quality of the performance quite impressive!

Attending the show reminded me of the things I so often take for granted. Here is the story of a little girl who could neither see nor hear, but lived in both a dark and silent world...until Annie came along and oh-so patiently discovered how to communicate with Helen. How often do I roll out of bed in the morning without giving a thought to the fact that I can walk, see, hear, and talk?

Seeing this performance and learning about the 15,000 deaf blind children who live in our country this very moment has greatly deepened my gratefulness to the Lord for the daily gifts of sight and hearing. Every morning, I am trying to wake up with a prayer of thanksgiving on my lips for the immense blessings He has given of such seemingly simple things like hearing and seeing, but which, in reality, are enormous privileges.

The next time you enjoy a glorious sunset or hear the cheerful chirping of birds, I encourage you to take a moment to thank the Lord for such blessings!