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Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace

May14

instrument of peace 2

Words are timeless. The Scriptures are the purest example of this, but sometimes even mere mortals manage to write down a few thoughts that last centuries. The poem below was written about 800 years ago. You’ve probably heard it before, but it’s a good reminder of what we should strive for as Christians.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon:
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

~A Prayer of St Francis of Assisi

Jesus, I am so much more inwardly focused than I should be. Lord, “grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand, to be loved as to love.”

In His Love,

Rebekah L.

Fostering the Family

May9

I was listening to this the other day. I’m not even sure what to call it. It’s not  a song, and not a sermon. Just a video, a call to family. It’s not a call to the immediate family, or even to blood relatives, but a call to the Christian family. Because we do, after all, share the same Father.

Which got me thinking. If we share the same Father, we are all family. Do we act that way? Do we treat every lost person we see as family? Unconditionally loved, happy to see them? In our hearts, do we recognize them as brother and sister?

I know I don’t. I try to. But all too often, going through my day, I treat people like strangers. Because really, they are. It’s both strange and eye-opening to walk through crowded streets of Manhattan, not knowing a soul but knowing that I’m walking through family and potential family. Because that’s what it is for those who are lost – a potential family. A family that is just waiting for them to join it. To come back to it. To come into their identity that Christ gave them, to live the way they were created to. To come into their inheritance as sons and daughters.

But what am I actively doing to welcome them in? To claim them as brother and sister and show them what this family looks like? God gives me discernment over people sometimes, and it guides my prayer. Other times He gives me a word for people and I do my best to be bold enough to speak it. But if it’s not a direct order, I usually leave them alone. And I don’t think that’s really enough. Yes it’s the crowded streets of Manhattan. But a smile, a greeting, a compliment…those things cost nothing. It doesn’t always have to be profound. Every moment is a chance to show our Father’s love.

Yes, some families here on earth are dysfunctional. Some family members don’t treat each other all that great. But not ours. Not with the Dad we have. So we shouldn’t act like it.

I posted the video below, just because it sparked all my rambling. And I leave you with a call of your own, as you go through your day. It’s a call to not just be outwardly nice to people because we know we should, but to see every person you come across through the eyes of the Father, and see them as a potential brother or sister. What family members have been right in front of you have been right in front of you this whole time?

God bless!

~Rebekah A

Simple Gifts

May7

592127_old_style_steel_fan

The other day I was at the department store when I saw a fan on sale. I contemplated purchasing it for myself since the warmer weather will be coming soon, but then I suddenly had the thought that I should purchase it for my brother-in-law instead. My brother-in-law hates to be hot. I knew he would use it and this one was really nice. It has multiple settings, six speeds, the ability to set it to automatically turn on and off at pre-determined intervals and a remote control. It’s just a fan, but as fans go, it’s a pretty cool one.

I was nervous about giving it to him because we have a very strained relationship and we never exchange gifts. He is an atheist and limits the exposure his children have to me because he doesn’t want me influencing them. He assumes all Christians are unintelligent and hypocritical. More than that, he holds a lot of bitterness and anger towards Christians. I can understand his feelings because he was hurt very badly as a child when his father became a “Christian” and walked out on the family, never to support him again. The only contact he had with his father after that was the occasional phone call where his father would tell him repeatedly that he is going to hell. When this is your experience of Christianity, it is natural to distrust Christians.

I took a chance and gave him the fan. I felt that it was God who gave me the idea in the store, so despite my nervousness, I went through with it. And you know what? He sent me a text message the next day that said, “I just wanted to say thank you for my new fan. It is perfect for me and you can rest assured that it will get used every day. Thanks again. I love you.”

This simple text i1101414_my_phones incredibly touching to me and it is a gift for which I am very grateful. My brother-in-law went out of his way to thank me and show appreciation. He even expressed brotherly love. I stand amazed at the goodness of God! I see the door opening a little. I hope to be able to show him that not all Christians are like his father. Although we make mistakes, most of us are genuinely trying to live for Christ and to show His love. It is my prayer that one day he will be converted and model Christ in a way that his father never did.

Rebekah L.

The Visions: Loved like Gomer Was

May2

To those who haven’t been keeping up with my scattered series, back in February I was messing up- unofficially dating a guy who wasn’t in church and it got to the point God felt the need to send a prophet to email my parents visions he had seen of me to prevent me from making horrible mistakes in my life.  With all of it fading more and more into my past and becoming more sure-footed on the straight and narrow towards God, I want to close up the series with this thought: I am loved like Gomer was.

aloneFor those who don’t know, Gomer was the wife of the prophet Hosea.  A prostitute and adulteress, she left him to go back on the streets that he had taken her off of and God told him to bring her back in Hosea chapter 3.  So the prophet bought her back. Redeemed her of her past- just has Jesus has done for me.  I praise and thank God that He found a way to bring me out of a situation that could have potentially led to me who knows? From the visions it seems that I may have slept with him eventually, even left church!  What an amazing God to save me from such BIG mistakes!

God sees us in our worst light- moments where we are turning from Him in doubt or despair – and loves us anyhow.  We are beloved of God! As with Gomer who ran away and committed the ultimate betray and Hosea still took her back and loved her- so is Christ with us!!! Turn back to Jesus today if you are running from Him for you are running from the very being that loves you more than anyone or anything in the universe!!! Jesus paid your debt of sin so that you could have a real relationship with Him!!! Find, as I did, that no matter how much I turned away from Him, blamed Him, and disobeyed His Word, He still loved me and He still loves you!!!!

Know that YOU are God’s beloved and He just wants to love you,

Rebekah M.

Related posts:

http://beingrebekah.com/2013/01/28/praying-monday-pressing-on/

http://beingrebekah.com/2013/01/29/a-daddys-chastisement/

http://beingrebekah.com/2013/02/14/the-visions-part-1/

http://beingrebekah.com/2013/02/28/the-visions-part-2/

http://beingrebekah.com/2013/04/12/the-visions-part-3/

Restoration (Part III)

Apr30

“So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all” (1 Samuel 30: 1-8, 18-19).

Four years ago I went through a very trying time in my faith. My spiritual family and I were hurt very deeply during this time. My godparents were falsely accused of many terrible things. Through much prayer, I eventually made the decision to leave that church and within a few days my god-parents were asked to leave as well. By the end of that year I had lost several close friends.

frriendsOne of these was a dear friend to me that I had defended repeatedly in her time of trouble. Yet when my time of trouble came, she turned her back on me. She sent me disparaging emails, unfriended me on facebook, and disconnected from me socially and spiritually. I was heart-broken.

“Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me” (Psalm 41:9).

All communication between us stopped – with one exception. Every year on her birthday I sent her a one line email wishing her a good year and a happy birthday. Occasionally, I also tried to encourage her in other more subtle ways; for example, leaving uplifting comments on a mutual friend’s post in reply to one of her comments. We were no longer “friends”, but by way of mutual contacts I knew that she could see some of those things. For the most part, my efforts were ignored.

I admit it was difficult for me. I was hurt that she rejected me. I was angry that she was judging me without knowing or understanding what had really happened at the church. I was sad that we were no longer friends. I missed her.

It took me some time, but eventually I forgave her. She was doing what she felt she had to. In shunning me, she was following the direction of her leadership. I understood that to go against the church leadership is rebellion; she was trying to do the right thing. Yes, I had defended her vehemently to that same leadership when they were falsely accusing her of things, but she never knew that. Yes, she believed the false reports spoken about us, but they were constructed in such a way as to be very convincing. In the end I felt badly for her that she was still in that situation when I had found my way to freedom.

Indeed, while that was the most difficult time I have had to endure since becoming a Christian, it was also the catalyst for helping me to grow in Christ and to dig deeper into Him. I have been incredibly blessed in this last four years. I now attend a wonderfully loving church with very supportive leadership. I have been able to attend Bible College, coach the youth in Bible Quizzing, be involved in a Chinese Home Church and meet many wonderful new friends. Everything that I lost was restored to me and then some! Is the church I attend now a perfect church? No, of course not. But it is exactly what I need in my life and it has afforded me many opportunities that would have been closed to me at my old church.

“For I will restore health to you, and heal you of your wounds, says the Lord, because they called you an outcast saying: This is Zion; No one seeks her.” (Jeremiah 30:17).

I have learned that truly all things work together for good (Romans 8:28) and that going through that time helped to bring me to where I am now.  I also have a greater love and appreciation for those around me because I understand that things can change at any time and I know what a blessing it is to have them in my life.

Today, my dear friend that I lost four years ago sent me a friend request on Facebook. This may seem like a small thing, but I assure you, this is no small thing! Tears instantly welled behind my eyes when I saw it. Perhaps we will never be able to recover a friendship like the one we used to have, but I gladly welcome her back into my life. I pray she is well and that God is blessing her.

We truly serve a God of restoration!

In His Love,
Rebekah L.

Related Posts:

 

Bridging the Gap

Apr23

I was recently forwarded the video below. It’s probably close to twenty years old, but it’s remarkable how a mere 41 seconds can be so touching. Perhaps you’ve seen it already, but if you haven’t go ahead and click play; I’ll wait. Actually, even if you have seen it, go ahead and click play anyway because it’s 41 seconds of love and humanity that we could all stand to be reminded of.

This adorable pair of siblings perfectly illustrate the way we are supposed to help one another, love one another, and work together. It is also a picture of how Christ bridged the gap for us so that we could cross the gulf of sin to the presence of God.

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

When the little boy realized that his younger sister could not cross the gap on her own, he literally bridged the gap for her. He lay down and allowed her to cross over despite the fact that she wasn’t the most graceful at the task. He doesn’t move until she is completely on the other side, even when she steps on his hand. Ouch! But one of the things I love about this clip is how as soon as the brother puts his leg across the gap for his sister, she immediately begins to cross! She was too afraid to attempt the feat by herself, but she trusts her brother so completely that she doesn’t even hesitate once he offers help.

Do we trust God like that? He is the solution to all of our struggles. When He offers us help, we should be like the little sister and not hesitate to accept it! Are we so focused on the gaps in our lives, that we fail to trust the bridges God has provided? When I was lost in sin, Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for me and laid down His life so that I could have a way to the Father.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

He bridged the gap for us.

Thank You, Jesus for being the One we can trust in the face of fear and obstacles. Help us to trust You completely and to not hesitate to accept the provisions You have provided for us. Help us to see You in every act of kindness and be inspired to provide a helping hand and show Your love to those around us.

In His Love,

Rebekah L

Ambassadors for Christ

Apr19

ambassadors

This week has been a tough week for the United States. Between the bombing in Boston and the explosion in Texas, many people in this country are grieving and recovering from tragedy. For those of us in New England, the tragedy is still unfolding.

Personally, I know several people who were running in the marathon this past Monday, several more who were near the finish line cheering on the racers, plus I have friends and a couple of relatives that live within blocks of where the bombings occurred. Today, most of Boston and many of the surrounding communities were in lock-down. Although my place of work was open, many of the businesses around us were not. Several of our employees could not come in to work because they live in the lock down zone and were ordered to stay in their homes. Others could not come in because the entire MBTA (our public transportation system) was shut down. Even the taxi services weren’t running for a large part of the day. Although I live a bit outside of the area that is on lock down, I must have seen close to thirty police cars on my way to work. A co-worker sent me a picture of a soldier patrolling the street right outside her window. It is the type of thing that one might expect to see in a war zone, but not in our own backyards.

Yet in all of this, heroism and selflessness abound. It is important to remember that the love of God continues to flow in calamity. He continues to reach out through the hands and feet of countless ordinary citizens; volunteers, donators, EMTs, first responders, nurses, physicians, surgeons, and law enforcement. For every psychopath or terrorist, there are hundreds of compassionate hearts that are moved to action. We have all read the stories of every day citizens who came together to offer food, blankets or a hug to someone lost in their grief. We’ve seen the pictures of untrained hands pinching off the femoral artery to keep a victim from bleeding out. Perhaps we saw the list online of the thousands of people who offered their homes and a hot meal to those displaced in the tragedy. And let us not forget the police officers who ran towards the location of the blast (not knowing if there were more bombs that would go off), while everyone around them ran away. Or what about the doctor who was exhausted from having run and finished the 26.2 mile race? After the bombs went off he immediately ran to Mass General Hospital and within 90 seconds of arriving was scrubbed in to surgery. 48 hours later, that surgeon was still performing surgeries for the victims of the marathon. He was in surgery almost non-stop for over 48 hours after he had just run a marathon! There are heroes among us. Real people, living real lives. Tired, hurting, fallible people, who go beyond their normal physical and emotional limitations to reach out to those around them.

Those acts of heroism do not negate the grief or right the wrong, but they are reminders of love and humanity. Reminders we desperately need at times like this. When we grieve, God grieves with us. I believe He feels the pain that we feel. When we are hurting, He hurts with us. When Jesus walked the earth, He was filled with compassion and time and time again, He reached out to touch the sick and hurting. He brought restoration to people.

As believers, it is our job to represent Jesus on this earth. The enemy wants us to be immobilized by fear, but God wants us to be mobilized to serve!

People can serve without knowing Christ, but can we truly know Christ without serving? If we claim to know Him, we should be on the front lines of service. When horror strikes close to home, it is then that our friends and neighbors need us the most. I want to encourage all of us to serve one another in humility and love. Reach out to the hurting, donate to the destitute, offer a couch to the displaced, pray for the grieving. Be His hands and His feet and His mouth and His listening ear.

Be an ambassador for Christ.

In His Love,

Rebekah L

Beautiful Worship

Apr17

“Take this body,

Take this melody,

Take Your heart’s cry,

And let it pour out of me,

In beautiful worship.

Let Your grace flow,

Through this voice raised high,

In this moment,

Let me proclaim Love’s cry,

With beautiful worship.”

I have posted once or twice before about writing songs – or really, just writing down the words that God gives me. Which is funny, because I am not a songwriter and extremely self-conscious when it comes to singing. I am much more comfortable at the piano. Usually.

However, recently I was sitting at the piano trying to worship through my playing. I was trying to put music to one of the tunes God had given me. It was going terribly. You’d think I was tone deaf and had never seen a piano before. In a moment of frustration, I prayed for Jesus to help me out – help the music flow and help me worship Him with abandon.

Prayer soon turned to song. The lyrics are above. I sat there singing it over and over again. Interestingly, the more this ‘beautiful worship’ manifested itself in random ways. Like just basking in Jesus while walking outside. Or having giddy giggle fests with Him (yes, Jesus is fun like that. I swear). Or unleashing a colossal Jesus-love hug onto my unsuspecting roommate. It was great and unexpected and definitely free-flowing. However, as of yet it hasn’t translated to the piano. But then again, until recently my worship didn’t consist of ANY original music. So I will take whatever comes, ride whatever worship wave God sends to me, and praise Him for blessing me with intimacy!

God bless!

~Rebekah A

Prayer Monday: A Prayer for the Hurting

Apr15

In light of the events earlier today, I wanted to say a prayer for the hurting- join me if you would. 

Jesus, 

What happened earlier today was a senseless act of horror today in Boston. What should have been a moment of celebration where months of training finally came to fruition for so many, ended in tragedy.  I pray for comfort and peace over those affected by what took place and I ask for You to help us to embrace You for who You are: the Wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. You will hold us in this time of pain. You will reach out and comfort those who have lost loved one. You will calm the fear in the hearts of those who are paralyzed by fear from what happened today.  We cannot allow fear to rule our lives. Help us to trust that You hold our worlds in Your hands. Help us to remember that just calling on Your name, the name of Jesus, there is power. There is power to break every chain. There is power to shine brightly in this dark world. There is power to overcome fear, worry, doubt, anger, bitterness, and hatred.  There is power to be love to those around us- to show compassion with our every move. There is power for the hurting to be healed. You mend broken hearts. By Your stripes all those years ago when they were torturing You we are healed. 

I praise You God that You will bring emotional and mental healing. I praise You God that You will help those physically hurt in the blasts. I praise You God that You will bring peace to those living in fear. I trust and believe that You are greater than the darkest of hearts in this world. 

Rebekah M. 

Jesus is the Great Physician

Apr9

stethoscopeMy Muslim co-worker called me in tears yesterday morning to let me know that her daughter is in the hospital. She was admitted over the weekend and required two different surgeries to try to remove blood clots from her body. It was discovered that she has the same very serious blood-clotting disorder that my co-worker has. She is only 16 years old. Naturally, her mother is afraid.

I visited her daughter in the hospital this evening. I went to offer support and prayers for them both. My coworker has spent the last few days by her daughter’s bedside day and night so I wanted to go and make sure she could have a few minutes rest and have a chance to get a bite to eat. Her daughter doesn’t look good. She is very swollen, can’t move and is in a lot of pain, but I’m believing God for a full recovery. I told my co-worker that I would be praying for her daughter and that Jesus is the Great Physician.

Dear Readers, please join me in this prayer. Pray that my co-worker’s daughter will be completely healed and that my co-worker will know without a doubt that it was JESUS who did the healing. I pray that God would use this situation to show her that He is more than just a prophet; He is the Messiah, the Christ, the Living God; He is her Savior.

Jesus,

Thank you for the friendship that is blossoming between my co-worker and I. I pray that you would help me to be Your hands and feet and to minister to those You put in my path. Lord, please heal my co-worker’s daughter. Remove every remaining blood clot from her body and let her recovery from surgery be swift and complete. Use this opportunity to open their eyes to the truth of who You are. Help those of us in the body of Christ to honor You in all we do and to love all people with Your unfailing Love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

In His Love,

Rebekah L.