Ministry Highlight of the Week - Ukraine Medical Outreach

This week's highlight is Ukraine Medical Outreach. We had the priviledge of getting to know Marianna when we were in Kiev, Ukraine. Her and her husband, Jim, also came to Colorado Springs and it was so good to catch up again and hear of what they were currently doing. While we were in Ukraine, Natasha and I got to go to the hospital and love on a little baby that had HIV. She was four months old. We wanted to take her home that day. She was so precious. It was amazing to see just a glimpse of what Ukraine Medical Outreach does. Please visit their website and see how you can help them today. ukrainemedicaloutreach.org

One Touch

21When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." 24So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.30At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"31"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' "32But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

Nicole C. Mullen (One Touch) from belindaa1 on GodTube.

Words to this song by Nicole C Mullen Been ostracized for 12 years, I'm used to being alone Spent everything I had and now it's gone I'm used to being put down, my issues tell it all My only hope is anchored in this fall If I could just touch the hem of His garment I know I'd be made whole If I could just press my way through this madness His love would heal my soul if only one touch So many people calling, how could He ever know That just a brush of Him would stop the flow If He knew would He rebuke me or shame me to the crowd? Well, I'm desperate 'cause it's never or it's now If I could just touch the hem of His garment I know I'd be made whole If I could just press my way through this madness His love would heal my soul And then suddenly He turned around He said somebody has unleashed my power Well, frightened and embarrassed I bowed You see I told Him of my troubles and how I had to touch the hem of His garment And I know I've been made whole And how I had pressed my way through this madness And His love has healed my soul Then with one word He touched the hem of my garment And you know I've been made whole And somehow He pressed His way through my madness And His love has healed my soul I tell you He touched me He reached way down and touched me When no one else would touch me Yeah, Jesus sure enough touched me And I know I've been made whole

How God Sees Us

This was Joey's status on facebook today and I would like to share it with all of you. On my way to work so have a wonderful day, everyone!!!! Love you lots! My brother in Christ Daniel Kolenda wrote this and I wanted to share it with ya'll. I hope you like it. Does God Really Have a Plan for My Life? How God Sees Us It was harvest time in Israel, and a palpable sense of anxiety was in the air. At any moment the wary farmers might lift their eyes to see a tidal wave of Midianite soldiers pouring down from... the hills like a flash flood from a broken dam. The Bible describes the Midianites as a nation of “grasshoppers” (Judg. 7:12). Whenever the harvest was ripe, they would descend upon Israel's fields and crops in vast numbers like a swarm of locusts, leaving nothing in their wake but destruction and desolation. The Israelites went on the defensive, hunkering down in caves, hiding in the mountains, and building protective strongholds. The nervous harvesters quickly reaped what they could and hid it away in anticipation of an imminent invasion. God had a plan to deliver Israel from the hand of Midian, and He had chosen just the man for the job, but God’s choice seemed highly unlikely. Gideon was not a superhero by any stretch of the imagination. He was a victim of his society’s ills, a man who had been influenced by the climate of cowardice that had crippled and enslaved the Israelites. He was such a prisoner of fear that he would hide in a winepress to thresh his small harvest of wheat (Judg. 6:11). A winepress is no place to thresh wheat; it’s like washing your clothes in the dishwasher. But Gideon had chosen this inappropriate place because he was afraid of the Midianites. He was afraid of losing his harvest and his life, so he hid both underground. It was in this dungeon of fear that the Lord found Gideon, frustrated, trembling, and perspiring. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of [fearless] courage. Judges 6:12, AMPNo one would have anticipated the Lord’s declaration that day. “Gideon,” the Lord says, “you are a mighty man of fearless courage!” Where others saw a coward, God saw a deliverer! I’m so glad God doesn’t see us the way we so often see ourselves. When we look in the mirror we might see someone who is undereducated or inexperienced. We might see someone who belongs to the wrong social class, race, or gender. We might see someone who is too young or too old. And there are always a million excuses why God can’t use us. But God sees more in us than we see in ourselves, and our obstacles, failures, and shortcomings do not intimidate Him. I am also glad that God doesn’t see us the way other people do. Many times when we begin to break out of the old patterns and mind-sets that have held us back, rejecting the status quo, and looking for higher ground, often our greatest opponents are close friends, fellow church members, and even our own relatives. In fact, it’s interesting to note that the Midianites, being descendants of Abraham, were actually cousins of the Israelites. It was these “family members,” if you will, who had so oppressed Israel that they were cowering in fear rather than living victoriously. The enemy knows how to use those closest to us to bring discouragement. They say, “Who do you think you are? Do you think you’re better than us? We’ve known you since you were a child. We’ve seen all your failures, and we know your faults. You are just one of us. Get back in your place!” Some time ago I became interested in purchasing an aquarium. As I began to research this project, I was amazed to discover all the different types of aquariums that can be bought. There are large ones and small ones, freshwater and saltwater. There are aquariums for fish, aquariums for corals, aquariums for reptiles, and aquariums for invertebrates. What really fascinated me was the aquarium for crabs. I discovered that these particular aquariums had no lids, and I was amused when I learned why. Apparently when you have an aquarium for crabs, you don’t need a cover because if one crab tries to climb out, the others will reach up and pull him back down again. I thought to myself, “I know a lot of crabby Christians.” We don’t like to see someone succeed where we have failed. Envy and jealousy often make God’s children competitors and rivals. Often hurtful and judgmental words have wounded brothers and sisters, dragged them down, and kept them from realizing their potential. Sadly this happens all the time in the church world. Just as God is elevating one pastor and blessing his ministry, the other pastors in town oppose him with slander and gossip. They will do everything they can to pull him back down into the aquarium of church as usual. Such a pastor, church, or Christian should take comfort. Someone once told me, “Pity you get for free, but jealousy must be earned.” Jesus Himself was delivered up by His own people to be crucified –because they envied Him (Matt. 27:18). How often we have been discouraged because of what someone else thought or said about us? Fortunately the wonderful reality is that God doesn’t see us the way other people do.

We can't take words back after it comes out

Forgiveness keeps coming back around. I have been thinking about many things and the person I want to be. The legacy I want to leave behind. How will people remember me when I am gone? I think about my funeral a lot. That sounds weird probably, but I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to bring glory to God while on this earth. How am I treating people while I only have a short time here? How am I treating my children? I would never want to die and have left things unspoken. I would never want unforgiveness in my heart and knowing I didn't get things right. We don't have much time here and what are we doing? Are we investing in things that aren't important eternally? How are we spending our time? I am not proud of many things I have done in my life. I am not proud of the example I have shown throughout my life. I think of people back when I was in school that I never talked to about Jesus. There were many that I did talk to about him, but there were many that I didn't. I see these faces today. Some are dead now. I had a chance and did not take it. I knew about Jesus and still "partied it up" with some of them. Did they see me as different or did they see me as the rest of the world? I have been thinking a lot about JC. I have thought about the mean things I said to him as we were separating. I can't blame other people for my actions. It does not matter what someone else says or does. I can only take blame for myself and how I respond. I allowed joy to be taken from me and I am not proud of how I acted. I had already apologized to him for my behavior, but there were many mornings I sat in silence on the way to work still feeling guilty. He called the other night to talk to the children and to tell Gabriel, "happy birthday." As I spoke with him on the phone, I proceeded to apologize again and tell him that God is dealing with me on many things. He didn't deserve to be treated the way I treated him. I brought up pain from his past...not willingly, but it made him remember something with his parents. During this time, I kept a wall up and didn't help him through his pain. That is not me. Even if we were getting a divorce, I didn't have to be cold to him. No one deserves that. I am coming to terms with myself and it breaks my heart when I think about how I have acted at certain times throughout my life. Once words come out of your mouth, you can't take them back. You can keep saying, "I'm sorry" but that person you hurt will always remember what you said. JC said he forgave me a long time ago, but the problem is he still remembers the mean things I said and that is hard for me knowing I caused someone else pain and hurt. Yes, he forgives and God forgives, but I can never go back and undo what I have done and said to people. It's so crazy because what God is dealing with me on, I am seeing and hearing the same things everywhere. I will turn on the tv and a sermon will come on with exactly what God is already speaking. I will turn the radio on and a song will come on that is exactly what God has been speaking. I will open the Bible and see a verse with what He has already been dealing with me about. I will read a prophetic word in my email and it will confirm everything I already know to be true. It is amazing how God works. After I spoke with JC, it felt so freeing when I got off the phone. I still couldn't take it back, but I felt better nonetheless. All I could do was tell him to remember what God says about him and not man. He is not who anyone else says he is except the One who made Him.

Ministry Highlight of the Week - Express Missions International (expressmissions.com)

I have decided to highlight a ministry once a week. EMI is very important to me. I was trying to give monthly and then I went through a hard time. I believe in this ministry so much and they do such a work for God's kingdom. I am honored to call A.C. Curtis (president of EMI) my friend. He has a beautiful wife with a beautiful heart and beautiful children that all love Jesus. This family is such an inspiration and they truly love people. They have a heart for the lost and the hurting. Oh, how I wish we all could grieve the way they do for people. I was able to set my missionary friends in Ukraine (Alyona and Slavik) with EMI and now they are getting sponsored by this ministry. My heart was full of joy when AC went to Ukraine to meet with my sweet friends to help them with what they are currently doing there and to continue to do more throughout Ukraine. EMI saves so many girls every month from sex trafficking as well. From EMI's website: Express Missions International is a missions recruiting and resourcing agency founded to fulfill the Great Commission AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. The stakes are extremely high as millions are perishing without Christ each year, and doing so while millions of Christians are planning vacations and retirement, and thousands of churches are building more elaborate buildings. Those who are hungry both for food and freedom cannot wait much longer. EMI seeks to become that agency for you who are tired of waiting to use your gifts and energy for the cause of advancing the Gospel. We won't ever compromise integrity, compassion, or the Message of the Gospel. The Gospel is what we are all about! Express Missions International works strictly on the international stage primarily in developing countries in Africa and Asia. We specialize in bringing humanitarian aid to victims of war, famine, and disease plus working with indigenous church-planting missionaries. Please visit their website to learn more about how God is using Express Missions International throughout the world. Here is a video I made awhile back and several of the pictures are from AC. He gave me permission to use them in the video. I wanted to capture God's love for people and how He says for us to love them. Please visit expressmissions.com and donate today to help save lives. You will not regret getting involved with EMI I promise.

His Mercies are New Every Morning

Good morning!!! About to leave for work, but wanted to let you know that no matter how hard today gets, keep remembering how good God is. Keep remembering the promises that He has given you. Keep remembering all of your blessings. Talk to Him throughout the day and give Him your day. "This is Your day, God. Don't let me miss something that you have set before me today. Let me see with spiritual eyes and hear with spiritual ears. Let me not be led by my flesh today, but only by Your Spirit. Help me to work today as I am working for You. Help me to stay calm if I encounter co-workers or customers that may get angry or impatient. Let me not allow my joy to be taken, but to keep remembering that the joy of the Lord is my strength and that will help me get through the day. Help me love on people today no matter how they act towards me. I want Your love to pour out of me and Your light to shine through me. Set me apart, Lord. Bring in the customers and help me have a great commission day so I can keep providing for my family. I would love a lot of big sales today. :) But more important than that, I just want You. I want Your presence with me all day. I want to feel you in every step I take even when I am feeling overwhelmed in a moment. Help me to take a breath and feel you there with me. Give me the comfort I need today. Thank you for loving me and thank you for giving me another day on this earth to share Your love with people. You love us so much, Daddy, and I want everyone to know and experience Your love."

Forgiveness

No matter what you are feeling...it may be feelings of depression, anxiety, physical or emotional pain, you may even feel you are at your breaking point...could be finances...God knows all of this and He is right there with you. You may even feel there is something you have done that He can't forgive. Or maybe you feel you can't forgive yourself. There is nothing too big that God can't handle. There is no sin that He can't forgive. If the God that made you and the whole universe can set you free, then you need to forgive yourself and walk out of that cage. I know it's hard. Believe me, I understand more than you realize.