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We’ve all heard of the 10 plagues God sent on the Egyptians to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go……..Here’s one of them.

 

Exo 8:3  The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs.

 

When God sent a plague He didn’t mess around.  Frogs in your house, frogs in your streets, frogs on your porch, frogs in your kitchen, frogs in your bed, everywhere you went….FROGS.  And you just know, Mrs Pharaoh told her husband, you better get rid of these frogs and now.

Exo 8:8  Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the LORD.”

Exo 8:9  “You set the time!” Moses replied. “Tell me when you want me to pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then you and your houses will be rid of the frogs. They will remain only in the Nile River.”

Exo 8:10  “Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said. “All right,” Moses replied, “it will be as you have said. Then you will know that there is no one like the LORD our God.

What Pharaoh said to Moses strikes me as a very weird answer……..Tomorrow???

WHY?????

I’m not here to speculate why. All I know is, a few thousand years ago…Pharaoh wanted to spend one more night with the frogs.

What I want to ask you is this, what frogs are you dealing with today?  Frogs that are on you, around you, surrounding you, keeping you in bondage?

Frogs that have been plaguing YOU…….The ones that God says “I am willing, I am able to set you free. You go to church week after week.  You go to Bible study.  You go to mid week services.  Week after week….   And you tell God….yes, I want to be free.  But I want it……tomorrow.

You don’t HAVE to wait till tomorrow.

God wants to set you free TODAY.    Today is your day of freedom.

There are far too many people living their life with frogs because we answer just like Pharaoh did in this text…..we say….tomorrow

I’ll get around to it….tomorrow.

Yesterday.   You said tomorrow…..

We are in today. Which is yesterday’s tomorrow…..but you still haven’t done anything yet….because you’re still waiting for tomorrow.

Sometimes people exist in today, but they live in yesterday, and never step into the tomorrow that God has for them.  Simply because they refuse to do something….TODAY.   THE THING GOD HAS TOLD YOU TO DO……TODAY

Today is the day…..of salvation…..Today is the day of deliverance. Today is the day of freedom. Today is the day of healing….

I’ve been doing this for a few years now and sometimes I wonder this…..

Why do some step into the fullness of Gods destiny for them…and others don’t?

Some walk in freedom and others don’t?

We sit under the same teaching.

We all have access to the same resources. The internet insures this.

We all read the same Bible…..

The same Jesus died for ALL of us……

Just why is it that some seem to move forward and some don’t.  Does God have favorites?  Of course not.

What I believe is this. The issue is not a political problem, or a social problem, or a moral problem, or an economic problem. Donald Trump is not the problem, Hillary is not the problem, the Russians didn’t do it.

It’s a FAITH problem

Too many unbelieving believers

We need some BELIEVING BELIEVERS. Someone who believes that God is who he says he is….can do what he says he can do……and WILL DO what he says he can do…

There is no tomorrow, if you don’t deal with yesterday……today……you will never step into tomorrow. Now read that one more time.

 

Some Christian’s never step into their future….because they live in their past….and they simply exist in TODAY…….and it’s the same cycle….day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. You gotta make a decision today……

It’s amazing how many of us will never ever deal with yesterday. We will talk about it but we stay stuck in yesterday, we say “Tomorrow”.

If you feel like you are stuck in your past today, remember the following verses:

Isa 43:18  “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

Isa 43:19  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

The Lord says…I am doing a new thing…NOW. You’re greatest days are still ahead, don’t wait till tomorrow to get rid of your frogs.

 

If you would like to help us to live out what God has called us to do in Africa, helping to feed, clothe, provide education and clean drinking water for these precious children:

Online Donations for our account –
http://www.WorldOutreach.org
Click Donate & select my name

        USA & International Cards accepted

 Or Mail Checks to –
World Outreach Ministries
P.O. Box B
        Marietta, GA  30061
        (designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)

 

Or you may simply click on the “DONATE” link at the top of this page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s Love Got To Do With It?

In one word……EVERYTHING. Apologies to Tina Turner, who called it a “second hand emotion.”  I surely respect the Queen of Rock and Roll but I can’t agree with her on this one. The longer I live life as a follower of Jesus (I spent a long time doing just the opposite) the more I am convinced of the fact that this is the epitome  of our existence on Earth. I suppose I should know this just by the fact that God is love but translating that to living life day to day is quite another matter.

Love is a choice we make from moment to moment. I think the “top button” analogy works well with love. When buttoning a shirt, if you get the top button right, all the rest fall right into place. If the top button is wrong you will never get the rest right until you go back and correct that one at the top.  It’s been said “Love first, then do whatever you want”. This speaks volumes on the power that loving God, loving ourselves and loving others can have in our world if only we could all get that “top button” right.

Here’s a kind of checklist based on 1Cor 13 that helps me to keep on track:

Love is patient– do I keep my cool when others disagree with me?

Love is kind– Do I share time and concern with others? Do I try to be thoughtful of those around me at all times?

Love is not jealous–  Do I feel threatened by others talents?  Do I get upset when others are recognized or do I rejoice with them?

Love is not conceited– Do I focus attention on myself or try to look good at others expense?

Love is not proud– Do I know my limitations and ask for help when I need it?  I struggle with this one.

Love is not ill mannered– Is my conversation always polite and edifying/uplifting to others? Do I put others down to make myself look good?

Love is not irritable– Am I touchy or defensive? Am I easy to approach?

Love keeps no record of wrongs– Am I quick to forgive when someone truly hurts me.  This is huge.

Love is not happy with evil– Do I delight when someone else slips up and fails? Do I ignore evil unless it touches my life?

Love is happy with the truth– Do I try to be open and real even when it shows my weaknesses? Am I willing to admit when I am wrong?

Love never gives up– Do I keep trying even when I am rejected? Do I always look for ways to love, care for and help others?

Let’s love the unloveable, just as Christ loved us.

Online Donations for our account –
http://www.WorldOutreach.org
Click Donate & select my name

        USA & International Cards accepted

 

Or Mail Checks to –
World Outreach Ministries
P.O. Box B
        Marietta, GA  30061
        (designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)

 

Or you may simply click on the “DONATE” link at the top of this page.

 

Sometimes I ask why…….15,000 people in Africa will die today, another 15,000 tomorrow and 15,000 more each and every day after that. Think about that for just a minute if you dare. Now add to your thought process another fact. Every single one of them are dying of preventable, treatable diseases – HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB and diarrhea due to a lack of drugs that you and I take for granted. I mean diarrhea!!!!….for the love of God…how do we even allow this to happen? If you have a pulse, that should tug hard on your heartstrings. Here is what has been said about this:

“This statistic alone makes a fool of the idea many of us hold on to very tightly: the idea of equality. What is happening to Africa mocks our pieties, doubts our concern and questions our commitment to the whole concept. Because if we’re honest, there’s no way we could conclude that such mass death day after day would ever be allowed to happen anywhere else. Certainly not North America or Europe, or Japan. An entire continent bursting into flames? Deep down, if we really accept that their lives – African lives – are equal to ours, we would all be doing more to put the fire out. It’s an uncomfortable truth”

I found it interesting that the author of the above statement is not a great church leader or statesman or diplomat. It’s the thoughts of a rock star by the name of Bono as he tries to answer the question “who is my neighbor?”

That’s a question I’ve been wrestling with lately. Here are some of my thoughts. Poverty is a complex “web” that has a whole lot of causes and even more effects, way more than I have even thought of I’m sure.  I often wonder what my life would be or would have been had I been born in another latitude and longitude, where there weren’t quite as many choices.  I have surely done a lot of stupid things but the opportunities available were always there. Not so many opportunities exist elsewhere. Things that we take for granted, clean water, access to food and medical care, education are just not enjoyed by most of the rest of the world.

I’m thinking one of the biggest reasons for a “lack of action” is that we tend to depersonalize the statistics. Every one of those 15,000 people, men , women and children have a name, have a face and was created by God for a purpose. I of course spent most of my life in the West and I can remember my own thoughts as I read or heard such a “statistic”.  You look at the number, maybe read the whole story and most all of us will have a moment of genuine compassion, maybe even send a check to help. But it’s only a moment, it doesn’t last. Then we turn the page (or channel) to look at the sports news, financials, sales ads, etc. We go to the mall, go to the grocery store, go on our cruises and getaway vacations and live in our homes with clean water and central heat and air. I’m not bashing America and the west. Our nation was founded on Godly principles by God fearing men and I believe that’s why we are the most prosperous nation in the world. (its also a testimony to God’s grace and long suffering that we still hold that place)  I make no apologies for Americas’ prosperity, it’s still the greatest nation in the world to live.

However, as a radically changed follower of Jesus (I have learned to not use the “Christian” label, it means a whole lot of things to a whole lot of people all over the world!!)  I believe that the Bible says over and over again that we are to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves, to give to others who do not have as much as we have, to give out of our abundance.  I asked God many years ago to break my heart for what breaks His, that I would go wherever He sent me to be His hands and feet. That’s a dangerous prayer…. so here I am in Africa and the numbers are no longer impersonal. I know the names of the children I have held in my arms as they take their last breath, the name of the mother dying of AIDS related illnesses who has 5 small children she is leaving behind to fend for themselves, in a world that terrorizes and victimizes the smallest and weakest. These kids can be subject to the most hideous cruelty and abuse you can imagine, many times by extended family members who are supposed to love them.  I have found a place to stay for the 9 year old girl who came to a service and met Jesus, and no longer wants to be peddled off to her grandmothers men friends so she can “earn her keep”

These are but a few of the horror stories but I also get to see the hope, the success stories. Through our church plants here in Zimbabwe and in partnership with other organizations, we get to feed over 22000 children every day. More importantly we can show them that they are loved, that they have value in the eyes of their Creator. I get to see the hopelessness of a child nearly starving to death turn into a smile and beaming eyes of a child that now has hope for another day. To see a mother who we have been able to teach a skill and provide the resources for her to begin making a living for her family.  There is always hope in the middle of hopelessness. A great man by the name of Dave Ohlerking coined this phrase…. Hopes name is Jesus!!!!  The pics are just a snapshot of some of the faces that go with the statistics. These are all people that have somehow touched my heart and my life. Take a look and ask yourself….Who is my neighbor?

If you would like to help us to make a difference in Zimbabwe your gifts are 100% tax deductible. Thanks for helping us to do what God has called us to do.

Online Donations for our account –
http://www.WorldOutreach.org
Click Donate & select my name

        USA & International Cards accepted

 

Or Mail Checks to –
World Outreach Ministries
P.O. Box B
        Marietta, GA  30061
        (designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)

 

Or you may simply click on the “DONATE” link at the top of this page.

 

The Alpha and Omega, Savior, the Beginning and the End, the Lamb of God, Creator, Deliverer, Author of Life, Chief Cornerstone, Good Shepherd, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Mighty God, Light of the World, Redeemer, The Way, The Truth and the Life, True Vine, High Priest, Immanuel, I Am, Redeemer, Son of God, Son of Man, Lord of All and most of all Lord of my Life.

Ever wondered what life would be like if you had never come to know Jesus? For me the unequivocal answer is quite simple. My life would have surely ended and I would be stuck in a very warm climate for eternity. BUT….. now I live a life that is meaningful and rewarding, one that transverses eternity. I have learned how to love for the first time in my life, I have learned how to live at peace with myself, to finally be comfortable in my own skin, knowing that the Creator of the universe loves me unconditionally and cares about me. I can have a meaningful relationship with Him, knowing that I can always pour out my heart in sorrow and distress, and better yet that I can share my happiness and joy with Him. He has filled that overwhelming emptiness in my heart that drugs, alcohol, relationships or money were never able to fill. He is a true friend who never complains and always has just the right answer, whether I want to hear it or not. Thank you Jesus. I am so glad you are in my life.

Not only do I know that I know Jesus is real in my life, but I am also blessed to see Him become real in so many other lives. Day in and day out here in Africa I can witness first hand His miracle working, life transforming power. I see it in the eyes of the hungry child for whom God provides their only meal for the day, the one that would very likely starve to death were it not for this food. I see it in the eyes of the disease wracked human beings who are slowly dying from HIV/AIDS. I see it in the eyes of the teenagers and young adults who only ever knew of a hopeless future before we were able to show them the love of Jesus. There is just no greater joy than to see Jesus bring hope where there was only hopelessness, to see Him bring love where there was nothing but hatred and contempt and to see joy and peace where there was only discouragement and frustration.

What an awesome God we serve. Take a moment today to give Him thanks for the incredible love, grace and mercy He pours out on each and every one of us….His precious children.

Financial partners are always welcome. If you would like to help provide school fees, books and uniforms or clean drinking water for our children here:

Online Donations for our account –
USA & International Cards accepted

Or Mail Checks to –
World Outreach Ministries
P.O. Box B
Marietta, GA 30061
(designate for Pier, Fund Code #68)