play this while you read:
revelation by Third Day.
"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the
faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a
thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." -Deuteronomy 7:9
So it is raining right now, the water refreshing the plants, suppressing the dust, and bringing a gift of coolness to all of us students :). ...and i just hung up my laundry an hour ago! man. I guess they will get an extra rinse.
There is something about rain that brings peace and refreshment. It reminds me of a verse that had been influential in my life this past year: "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." -Ezekiel 36:25-27
ALL of the verbs in these verses are things that the Lord promises to DO! it is simply a matter of time... and a thousand years is like a day and a a day is like a thousand years to God. It is the Lord who acts... and what am I learning to do? receive. Here is the story...
This week God refreshed my spirit again! I lived with a woman named Mama Hellen in a village in Seroti, part of rural Uganda. It was a week full of cooking, sweeping the compound, washing laundry, killing a chicken :), visiting people, learning a bit of a new language called Ateso, and sharing many stories together.
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| Mama Hellen teaching me how to carry a 20 liter jerry can of water on my head! i took maybe 20 steps with it- so heavy ;) |
At the end of the week, I was picked up first on the bus and simply felt numb. It was a beautiful week- full of laughs, thoughts, and love. I didn't know what to think or how to feel on the bus watching my mama and the compound fade with distance. As we picked up the other girls from their families, I witnessed the good byes, the tears of some of the girls, and the sincere waves and smiles of the mamas and papas as the bus pulled away. I prayed God would let us feel the beauty of the experience, would open our eyes to see as He did, and thanked him for His love we experienced through our families.
The week before that I had been struggling with the concept of the Kingdom of God being here "now" and "not yet." The following verse had been on my mind:
"I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and give himself for me." -Gal. 2:20
What does it mean that we are crucified with Christ? How come I feel like I so often follow the desires of my flesh- why is it still such a struggle to keep my heart and mind in truth?
As I got off the bus, I started walking and the tears began falling. why? I didn't quite know. I just had this feeling of peace and newness in me that was growing, replacing the numbness. God convicted me that I so often still live in this world in my own power... that is why I struggle against my human desires.
However, He began to reveal to me how much I had received this past week from my mama and the other Ugandans I had met. I received sincere love, stories from the traditional African tribe, the food that was picked, pealed, and cooked by loving hands, and the full presence of another person as well as the Lord. I wept as Christ's love for me was realized in a new way in my heart and mind. I finally realized the power that comes in letting yourself receive things from others and God. The power of his grace is everpresent to us! And yet so often I unintentionally deny His grace by working at things on my own. May we learn to simply receive (or receive and embrace as my friend amy told me a few weeks ago)! Ask and receive. The Lord knows, sees, and is everpresently with each of us! Right now, He sees you, loves you way more than you could ever imagine, and desires you to know Him. receive that. let the Lord heal you, redeem you, fill you.
Matthew 10:7-8 says, "As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."
This is what Jesus told the twelve disciples when he sent them out. It is like pouring a cup of water: If the cup freely receives the water, the water will fill the cup as well as overflow out of the cup to the cup's surroundings. May we be that cup that is always ready to receive from the Lord because what He gives will overflow into the lives of those around us- and it will be the Lord's energy rather than our own.
receiving chickens, ground nuts, rain, and joy,
niki christine (as my mama called me :) )
I pray you also receive the joy, grace, and love of the Lord this day! ...that was really long. sorry!
