The Garage Sale Chronicles - Part 2

THE GIFTS

The second donation call came Saturday morning, October 1.  It was from Matt, one of our youth ministers, inviting me to have all of the leftovers from his & Meghan's garage sale that morning.  I grabbed Tanner and the truck keys and off we went - eventually.

When I got to the truck, I found this...

left over from a previous camping trip.  So Faith Wrenn helped me throw unload everything into a pile on the ground.  I must of gotten hit in the head during the process because I let Tanner do this...

in our neighborhood.  Fortunately, Tanner is very cautious and is my "rules" kid.  He did very well.  I, on the other hand, kept repeating Philippians 4:6....."Do not be anxious about anything....." to myself. 

Once at Matt & Meghan's house, we loaded everything up. 

Then Carla, who also goes to our church, came over and offered her garage sale leftovers too.  (Several houses on their street had garage sales that morning.)  What a blessing for them to donate to us!

The front seat

The back seat

The back of the truck

With the truck bursting at the seams, I called Sheri and arranged to drop off everything at her house.

Rene showed up too - just in time to help us unload and lay claim to part of Sheri & Bradd's garage.

Sheri (left) and Rene (right)

As soon as I got home, Tanner & I put all of the firewood BACK into the truck. (Remember, God told me He would provide for Africa but it would cost me something/a sacrifice just like David in 2 Samuel 24:18-25.  Well today, it cost me physical labor - unloading & reloading this wood.  My back was not amused!)  God is so faithful and true to His Word.

When I walked into the house, Faith Wrenn handed me a phone number and told me to call Mrs. Robin.  So I did.

Robin goes to our church, and her daughter is a missionary who just recently came back to the states.  Her daughter & some of her friends had a garage sale that morning to raise money for a specific need.  Robin had the leftovers packed in her van and wanted to bring them over. 

WHAT A BLESSING!

Then, my neighbors Stephanie & Jody brought over some things.  They are moving to the mission field in Ghana, Africa in November along with their 2 children.  They had several things to donate as they are packing up to go. 

What a beautiful example of Matthew 28:19-20...Jesus said, "Therefore GO and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations, BAPTIZING THEM in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and TEACHING THEM to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Tuesday morning at Bible study, Sheri tells me that things were getting crazy with the sale of their house.  A home inspection had been done by a company from NC and had resulted in a 56 page report!!!  The potential homeowners were freaking out, as you can imagine.  Sheri & Bradd were not happy either.  So, Sheri wasn't sure if they would actually be moving now.  I offered to have the garage sale somewhere else, but she assured me that moving or not, they still needed to clean out lots of stuff, and the garage sale would go on as planned. 

***Thankfully, the majority of the items on the inspection report were very minor (burned out light bulbs, things not working because they were not turned to the proper setting, tightening this & that, etc.)  Everything worked out, and they officially closed yesterday (Thursday October 20)!!!***  YAY GOD!

Meanwhile, more donations kept coming in.  Here's Jordan and Heidi bringing things to my van.

When my children could no longer get to their computers in our office, I knew it was time to take another load to Sheri's!

So I loaded up the truck and moved it to Eppington.  South that is.  No swimming pool but Amazing Friends.  (Sorry about that, I must confess that I have watched the Beverly Hillbillies a few mornings this past week - for old time's sake.)

More physical labor/sacrifice
I'm just praying that my back doesn't give out until AFTER the garage sale

The donations kept coming.  I found these bags waiting for me from Kim V. one night.  

She brought them when she dropped her son off for the 9th grade boys small group that meets at our house on Thursdays.

On Friday, I picked up lots of things from Kelly who cleaned out her guest room to make way for baby Michael's nursery.  How EXCITING!

Also, my sister & brother-in-law JEff Guest donated clothes that my 3 year old niece had outgrown. 

You can see Grace's head on the left looking at her daddy.  She would not let me take her picture so her daddy took her spot.  He also very graciously laid in the floor so I could see him through my mega zoom lens!  What a good sport! I still had to stand on the stairs to take this shot. It would have been easier if I would have just changed my lens, but I tend not to do things the easy way :)

Not only did God provide all of these donations for us to sell, He also gave me 2 special gifts.

Since we moved into our house just over 2 years ago, I have been wanting some lamps to go in our entry way.  Often, I would find some I liked, but they were too expensive.  I just couldn't justify spending the money.  My budget wouldn't allow it.
  
So imagine my excitement when I found these lamps in the garage sale leftovers from Matt & Meghan's house!!! 

ONLY GOD!!!  He provided them for me!  They were exactly what I have been looking for!

And gift number 2 was an answer to prayer as well. 

When I've gone on mission trips in the past, I've always taken Shawn's bookbag with me.  It is what I use each day to carry my supplies in.  Since Shawn & I will be going to Africa together, I knew he would need his bookbag, and I would need my own.  So a few months ago, I started praying specifically for God to provide a bookbag.  I've been to Goodwill several times looking for one, but never found anything.

Imagine how giddy I was when God provided these through the garage sale donations!!! 

Why 2 bags you ask.  Well, Tanner's school books are so heavy that he has started using Shawn's bookbag everyday now.  So, God provided 2 more to make sure everyone in my family has what they need while we're in Africa!!! 

GOD JUST BLOWS ME AWAY!!!!!  His tenderness towards me is often more than I can stand!  He takes such good care of His children!  He deserves all the praise and all the glory!

ISN'T GOD SO INCREDIBLE??!!!  Stay tuned because there is SO MUCH MORE to come.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."  Ephesians 3:20-21

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul, Nancy

The Garage Sale Chronicles - Part 1

BACK TO THE BEGINNING...

The title really should be "The GOD Sale Chronicles!"  We had an incredible garage sale on Saturday, and God showed up in a BIG way!  Even though I wasn't able to blog about this adventure as it was unfolding, I still have to share it with you!  And because God did soooo much through this sale, one blog post just wouldn't be enough.  So, I thought sharing it in parts would be best.  There are so many God stories I want you to hear.  What a mighty God we serve!

Several months ago, God impressed upon my heart to have a garage sale to raise money for our mission trip to Africa.  How do I know it was God?  Well, because I DETEST having garage sales!  They are a ton of work, and I find no pleasure in doing them what.so.ever.

Some people love doing them.  I'm NOT one of those people. I've had 2 in my life and after each one I've said the same thing - "I will never do another garage sale again!"   

You would think by now, I would know better than to say "never!" 

It took me several weeks to even tell my husband that God was prompting me to have a garage sale.  I guess I was secretly hoping God would change His mind :)  Instead, God softened my heart, and actually got me a little excited.  More evidence that this was God and not me.

When I told Shawn about the garage sale, he said, "What are we going to sell?  We don't really have anything here to sell."  *We downsized 2 years ago and are limited on storage space now.*  I assured him we could find some stuff because the sale was God's idea, not mine.

When I sent out our support letter to family & friends telling them about our mission trip to Africa, God had me include that we were planning a HUGE garage sale.  With that in mind, I figured I'd better start finding stuff to sell.  So, right before school started, I cleaned out my kids' drawers & closets.  I started a garage sale stack in the upstairs hallway right with the clothes they had outgrown. 

Shortly after that, God began to make it clear that the sale would not be at our house.  I had no idea where we would have it though.  I asked Him to point me in the right direction.  So one morning while walking with my friend Cindy, I shared all of this with her.  She told me that her neighborhood was planning a community sale in October, and we could use her garage/yard.  I was so thankful!  The only problem was her neighborhood had not chosen a date yet, and Cindy was going to be in Ecuador 2 Saturdays in October.

Several weeks go by and still no definite date yet.  Then at the Global Impact Missions Conference at church in early September, my friend Sheri tells me that they accepted an offer on their house and were scheduled to close on October 20.  (We had lots of discussions about Sheri's house while in Jamaica.  We prayed for God's will to be done - GOD ANSWERED!!!)  Sheri then suggested we have our garage sale at her house on October 15 and make it a garage/moving sale.  YAY GOD!!!

I need to mention that Sheri's address is 2911 so it's known as the Jeremiah 29:11 house - "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  And it has a history of VERY successful garage sales (all for good causes.)

I started to get a little more excited because God was making it very clear He was in control of this sale.  By the way, Cindy's neighborhood did end up having their community sale while she was in Ecuador.  I'm sure her husband Tim is thankful we didn't invade his garage while she was gone!  

Now that we had a garage sale date and location, all we needed was some stuff to sell. 

On Saturday morning, September 24, I got a call from my friend Rene.  Her neighbor Deanne was having a yard sale because she was moving.  Rene wanted to know if I was interested in picking up the items that didn't sell.  Absolutely.  Later that day after a few bouts with rain, I headed over.

My friend Rene is on the left and her neighbor Deanne is on the right.  As you can see, the sun was out by the time I got there and shining down on these two beautiful ladies.

I loaded up my van with our first donated items for the garage sale.  There was something in every seat!  THANKS DEANNE AND RENE!!!

 It was dark by the time I had a chance to unload my van.  I started to leave everything until the next day, but the clothes were wet and needed to be dried.  So, instead of just getting the clothes out, I decided to go through everything & organize it.

While I was outside, my neighbor Rob from across the street came home.  He saw me pulling stuff out of my van and came over to check on me.  Rob is a retired missionary pastor.  He and his family spent 25 years in Germany.  He & his wife are Godly people.  Every time he sees me, he prays a blessing over me. 

Rob and I started talking and I told him about our garage sale for Africa.  He had just been to a church conference where a missionary from Africa shared about God's work in Mozambique.  He told me her name was Heidi Baker and he asked me if I'd ever heard of her.  At first, I said no.  Then as he shared part of her story, I vaguely remembered someone telling me about her a few years ago.

But God did not stop there.  After Rob left, I went back to unpacking and organizing the garage sale items in my van.  The last bag of stuff was in the front passenger seat.  I almost took it inside without going through it, but decided at the last minute to unpack it too.  As I went through the stuff, I nearly fainted when I saw this book...

I was overcome with emotion!  I couldn't believe it!  Rob had just talked to me about Heidi Baker and 10 minutes later, I was standing in my driveway holding her book!!!  ONLY GOD!!!  It was almost more than I could take!  I ran over to Rob's and showed him the book.  A big grin immediately covered his face.  

We spent some more time talking and that is when Rob told me some of the things he had been praying for me and my family.  You see, Rob gets up early every day to pray.  When he looks out his window each morning, he sees the light on at our house because my husband gets up at 4:15 a.m.  So, Rob prays for us.  He's been asking God to burden our hearts for missions and for the lost all over the world.  And THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT GOD HAS BEEN DOING!!! 

"The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." James 5:16

Tears. Tears. And more tears.  Immediately, I wanted to blog about what happened.  I was about to burst!  I wanted to share what God had just done.  But God had me process everything with Him instead.  He even sent my husband to the Gamecock football game in Columbia that night at the very last minute so He and I could have time alone.  W.O.W.

GOD IS SO GOOD! 

There is one more thing I want to share.  When Shawn & I began to pray about raising support for our mission trip, God kept bringing to my mind a concept from these verses in 2 Samuel...

"On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

So David went up, as the LORD had commanded through Gad.

When Araunah looked and saw the king and his men coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”
“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”

Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.

O king, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the LORD your God accept you.”

But the king (David) replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the LORD answered prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped."  2 Samuel 24:18-25 

Basically, what God told me several months ago is that He is going to provide all of our financial needs for this trip (actual Visiting Orphans trip cost, vaccinations, ministry funds, travel money, etc.)  But, it will cost us something, a sacrifice (other than money out of our own pocket.) Does that make sense? 

Well, I got my first taste of this concept with the first load of donated items.  I had spent all day doing laundry.  I'm talking 6 or 7 loads.  I finished right before I went to Deanne's house to pick up her yard sale leftovers.  I mentioned before that it had rained a few times throughout the day.  Deanne was able to get most things covered, but the clothes were pretty wet.  By the time, I got everything home & unpacked, I felt like I should wash and dry the clothes because the garage sale was almost a month away.

Here's a few piles.  I ended up washing 4 full loads total but dried, folded, and repacked 5 loads.  The clothes were given to me for free, but they ended up costing me time, energy, and laundry supplies.  God obviously has some important lessons to teach me through all of this.  He is so faithful! 

And this is only the beginning of the garage sale stories!  Stay tuned for more!

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,

Nancy   

One of God's Blessings in my Life

Over the summer, God introduced me to some incredible women who have truly enriched my life.  Today, I want to introduce one of them to you.

This is Melanie.  We served God together in Jamaica, along with 69 other people on our team.  Prior to our trip, we did not know each other.  And actually, it was Melanie's 2 teenage children who signed up to go on the trip - NOT Melanie.  But God had other plans!

When Melanie's teenagers began raising money to go to Jamaica, immediately God blessed them with more than they needed.  So Melanie called Stephanie, our faithful trip leader, and asked her what to do with the extra.  Stephanie wisely told her that God was providing an abundance so SHE could go to Jamaica too! 

Melanie had a ton of reasons why she could not go, and she wrestled with her decision until it was nearly time to board the plane.  Thankfully, Melanie chose to obey God.  She stepped waaaaaay out of her comfort zone and right into the center of God's will.

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:20-21

I had the privilege of leading a ladies' Bible study with her at the "Big Church" a.k.a. Mt. Nebo in Jamaica.  The more we shared our lives with the Jamaican ladies, the more we realized how much we had in common with each other.  Time after time, I was taken aback by the similarities and parallels of our lives. 

For example, we went to the same college only a year or so apart and both majored in Criminal Justice!!!  God used Jonah in the Bible to change the course of both of our lives!!!  She knew my husband, and her husband knew some of my family.  Just to name a few.  It was so wild!

Interestingly, we look a lot alike too!  Melanie's daughter Sara even thought I was her mom on several occasions. 

One day, Melanie was showing me pictures on her camera and when I saw one of them I thought to myself, "I don't remember wearing that shirt in Jamaica."  Well, I didn't remember because it wasn't me, it was Melanie!  I too got us confused!

The more time we spent together, the more we realized how much we had in common.  GOD IS SO GOOD!   

I am so very thankful for my new friend Melanie!  I am also grateful that we live in the same county and can continue to build our friendship!  What an AMAZING GOD we serve!

"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." Proverbs 27:17

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,
Nancy   

Preparing for Africa

God prepares us to fulfill His plans and His purposes for our lives in so many ways.  It's not always fun and may even be painful.

But it's worth it! 

GOD IS ALWAYS WORTH IT!

"But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 

Exodus 9:16

"The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me;  Your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of Your hands."  Psalm 138:8

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,

Nancy

Hodge Podge

This time last year, I was in Quito Ecuador watching our Mighty God at work in the lives of the people there - it was unlike anything I have ever seen.  One of the best parts was experiencing God with this amazing group of folks who love Him and love orphans. 

I can't believe it's been a year already. 

Among other things, God used that trip to prompt me to start blogging again.  That is how "For the Display of HIS Splendor" began.

Recently, I was looking back over all of my blog posts, and I counted 14 different "drafts" that have not been completed and/or posted for you to read!  That does not include the 5 or 6 posts still floating around in my head.  Let me apologize right now - I'm sorry!  I know I've told you more than once I would share something with you, but never followed through.  Usually it was because life got in the way or God did something else that I wanted to share with you right away.  But that is still no excuse.  Do you forgive me?

I've asked God to please give me some consistent writing time each day so I can get "caught up."  But, I've also begged Him not to stop giving me new "God stories" while I'm catching up!  Please Lord! 

I have to laugh.  My phone just rang & it was my husband asking me what city I went to in Ecuador last year because he had just met some people from Ecuador at Chick-fil-a.  Isn't it interesting how God does that?  I've been reminiscing about Ecuador today, & my husband meets someone from there today.

I love how God works.

Back to my apology.  Part of my problem with blogging is it ALWAYS takes longer to write a post than I think it will.  ALWAYS.  I can write it in my head in no time, but it takes forever once I start typing.  I generally read my posts over and over and over again before I ever publish them too.  I analyze it and analyze it some more because I want to make sure my words are clear and not misunderstood. 

It took me 30 minutes to write a facebook status last week about an upcoming garage sale we are having to raise money for Africa!  And it was only 3 or 4 sentences - I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING!  Absolute craziness!  I've mentioned before that I'm a recovering perfectionist, and apparently blogging brings out those tendencies again! 

Unfortunately, I have also just witnessed 2 very strong Christian bloggers be completely misunderstood and verbally attacked because of it.  While I understand any time you speak out on behalf of Christ, you can expect some folks to disagree with you.  But, people get vicious these days and even make threats.  Honestly, what I have seen equals Christian persecution through the internet.  With this in mind, I need to be sure I'm listening to God very closely as He leads me to write.  My obedience to Him is paramount, no matter how it's interpreted.  And listening can take time. 

So, if you will promise to stick with me, I will promise to share God stories with you from the past and the present.  Deal?

Thank you!  God tells us to remember the things He's done, and that is the sole purpose of this blog.

Let me end this post by sharing a little hodge podge with you.  You'll see what I mean. Enjoy.

You might be a redneck genius if your daughter drops the tub of butter, cracks the container, and you instruct her to grab the duct tape!

************

While driving to work a few days ago, I passed a church sign that said, "God wants full custody, not just weekend visitation!"  WOW! How true is that!

************

Two Tuesdays ago, I asked Tanner, my 9th grader, if he knew (..... hang on a minute, there's a knock at the door. It was my neighbor who is getting ready to head back to the mission field in GHANA, AFRICA and he was dropping off things for our garage sale - YAY GOD.....) when he would be having his school picture taken.  His response, "No, ma'am." 

That same night, I picked up one of the girls for our 9th grade girls small group meeting.  During the ride, she mentions that all freshmen will be having their school pictures taken THAT Thursday (2 days away!)  Thank you Lord for putting girls in my path so I know what is happening at school!

Let's just say that the morning of school pictures, Tanner and I were in the front office bright & early filling out a picture form!  Oh yeah and while we were there, another mom walks in with her daughter and her son.  The daughter already had her picture form completed though.  The mom was there to fill out a form for her son!!!  Tanner and I just looked at each other and laughed.  It must be a male thing & I wouldn't understand!

************

Safety patrol at Faith Wrenn's elementary school started a few weeks ago.  You know about safety patrol, right?  It's the group of 4th & 5th graders dressed in bright safety sashes/vests waiting to help your child in the carpool line by opening and closing the door for them. 

Well, every morning when we pull up, the safety patrol student just stands there and looks at us.  Waiting. They are waiting for me to push a button and open the door for them!!!  Sorry safety patrol, no automatic door in my van!  It's all up to you!  I know, I know...the nerve of me to actually expect you to open the door!  My bad.  

This cracks me up every single morning!!!  Sometimes Faith will sit in the van and wait.  She's trying to help train them.  But, the safety patrol student (and it's a different one every morning) still won't budge!  It is hilarious!  Maybe I should drive Shawn's car so Faith can have the door opened for her at least once :)

Can you imagine what the carpool line will be like when we have grandchildren or great grandchildren if the kids today already expect automatic doors??!!!      

************

I hope my hodge podge made you smile.

"May God be merciful and bless us.  May His face smile with favor on us." Psalm 67:1
By the way, I started writing this post at 1:14 p.m. with every intention of having it finished and published by 2:30 p.m.  It is now 8:52 p.m.  I'm just saying.

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,
Nancy

Maybe she IS listening

I teach my daughter Faith's 5th grade Sunday School class, better known as small group these days.  I actually had this group of great kids last year in 4th grade too.  So now they have the "privilege" of hearing my same soap boxes for another year.  I especially feel for my daughter who gets enough of this at home already.  Poor thing.   I often imagine my voice must sound like Charlie Brown's teacher to her :)  You know, all muffled and easily tuned out.

But then, God gives me a little glimmer of hope.  The kind that keeps me motivated and determined to teach these kids what He has laid on my heart.  Even if I sound like a broken record or Charlie Brown's teacher!

He gave me a little glimmer last night...

During dinner, my husband asked us a Bible trivia question.  True or False:  People were healed just by having Paul's handkerchiefs touch them.

We went around the table and each gave our answer.  My husband then told us that the answer was TRUE. 

That's when my daughter said, "I have a question.  Where is that found in the Bible?"

I almost fell out of my seat!  That is one of my soap boxes!  I tell my 5th graders ALL THE TIME how important it is to have their Bibles with them, especially even at church, so they can look things up for themselves.  They need to see what God's Word says with their own eyes and read it for themselves!  I really try to instill in them not to automatically take someone else's word for it.  They need to read the Bible and allow God to speak to them personally through His Word. And He will!

The only way to know if something is false is to KNOW THE TRUTH!!!  And there is nothing more true than GOD'S WORD!!!

I warned you.  This is one of my soap boxes.  I'll try to slide it out of the way and finish my story.

So, my husband got his Bible and read Acts 19:11-12 to us which says,

"God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled."

(I hope you are reaching for your Bible right now to see if what I'm telling you is true :)

*A Quick Soap Box Note - I grew up in a wonderful God-fearing church.  But some things I was taught as a child "from the Bible" by people with great intentions were actually NOT in the Bible.  I did not find this out until I was studying the Bible for myself as an adult!  When something like that happens, it can make you doubt other things you were taught too.  So to help avoid this, I teach my kids to go directly to God's Word.  Investigate.  Ask God to show them the truth.

I'm not being paranoid.  I'm trying to equip these kids with the Truth.  As a matter of fact, our lesson this past Sunday was on Jesus being tempted by satan in the desert.  Jesus used Scripture as His weapon against each of satan's temptations.  On one occasion, satan actually used Scripture himself and tried to trick Jesus with it.  But, because Jesus knew the whole Truth in its context, it did not work.  If it happened to Jesus, it can certainly happen to us as His followers.  We MUST be prepared.  We MUST prepare our children.

Let me slide my soap box out of the way one more time and finish my story!    

After my husband finished reading the Scripture to us and we had some discussion, Faith said, "There is another question on the table now.  I have another question."

Then she asked, "Who shared the Gospel with someone today?"

W.O.W.

You see, each night at dinner we have a standing question at our table - "What did you do (nice) for someone today?"  This is how we hold each other accountable to make sure we are thinking of others throughout the day and not only ourselves.

But, Faith just took our dinner time question to a whole new level!   

W!O!W!

So, maybe.  Just maybe Faith is listening to me and actually hearing my heart each time I repeat myself.  Either that or she heard someone else say it one time and it stuck with her!  I'm fine with that as long as she gets it!  As long as she gets God & His Truth!

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,
Nancy


   

What is Hindering You

This weekend, I went to Beth Moore's simulcast at my mom's church - Calvary Baptist in Rock Hill.  Their women's ministry absorbed the cost so ladies in the community could come for FREE!  How fantastic is that??!!!

Once I've had a chance to go back and meditate on what God revealed to me through Beth's teaching, I will share it with you.  But right now, I want to share a connection God made between a Scripture Beth used and my devotion today.  

Beth ended her teaching with Acts 28:30-31 which says,

"For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house (*he was on house arrest*) and welcomed all who came to see him.  Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ." 

My daily devotion comes from Henry Blackaby's "Experiencing God Day by Day Devotional." Here is what September 11 said,

GO!

"Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  Matthew 28:19

Our Master commands us to "go." We need permission to stay! The gospel is the account of Jesus' leaving His Father's right hand to go to Calvary.  Jesus instructed those who wanted to be His disciples to leave their homes and their comforts and follow Him.  Some insisted that they could not go yet because they still had to care for elderly parents (Luke 9:59-60).  Others wanted to make sure everything was in order first (Luke 9:61-62).  Still others expressed willingness to follow but wanted to know the details of what they would be doing (Luke 9:57-58).  Jesus never excused those who struggled to follow Him.  He made it clear that to follow Him meant He set the direction and they were to follow.

We can convince ourselves that Jesus does not really want us to adjust our lives, pointing to the success we are enjoying right where we are.  Yet Jesus often told His disciples to go elsewhere in spite of the success they were experiencing.  Peter had just pulled in the greatest catch of fish of his entire career when Jesus invited him to leave everything (Luke 5:1-11).  Philip was enjoying astounding success as an evangelist when the Holy Spirit instructed him to go to the desert (Acts 8:25-40 - to encounter the Ethiopian man - yes, that would be in AFRICA!)  Success where we are can be our greatest hindurance to going where Jesus wants us to be.

If you become too comfortable where you are, you may resist Christ's invitation to go elsewhere.  Don't assume that God does not want you to go in service to Him.  He may lead you across the street to share the gospel with your neighbor or to the other side of the world.  Wherever He leads, be prepared to go.

WOW!

I need to say that again....WOW!

So, the question for you and for me is are we telling others about Jesus Christ boldly and without hinderance wherever we go or are we letting our comfort, our wants, our dreams, our success or even our fears hinder us from obeying God's call to go and share the gospel? 

Oh Lord, please help us through the power of Your Holy Spirit to be bold and unhindered so we can share the Good News with everyone we meet - across the street and around the world. 

Loving HIM with all my heart & soul,
Nancy