Persistent.....

Hope you all enjoyed our journey through some of the characteristics of God.  I can never say to you enough, "We don't trust who we don't know".    Please continue to look at and meditate on the character of God daily.  Just pick one of His attributes and let it marinate in your mind and heart daily.

Today I was reading over the parable of the persistent widow from Luke 18:1-8.

Luke 18:1-8 (ESV)
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming."  And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

As I thought about how persistent she was I thought about my little nephew and how persistent he is at the age of 20 months when he wants something.  Even as I write this blog I can see me this morning listening to him say, “duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck” and pointing to the window.  We live on a lake and that is part of our morning ritual at times.  Once he is up and coherent he likes us to raise the blinds so he can see the ducks.  This morning it wasn't happening fast enough for him because I wasn't coherent – seeing as how he had been awake from 3:00 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.  So excuse me if I didn't just snap to it at 7:30 a.m.-  ha,ha,ha!  If you are a parent or a parent figure with a young toddler or child you know what I'm talking about.  

Our Father wants us as His children to be persistent when we are praying and not lose heart if we see no immediate response.  This passage encourages us in principle to continue to seek Him until we have an answer.   That answer may be yes, no, wait, or specific clarity for what you are to do or not do.  One of the things I am learning to do these days is to pray until I am released.  Yes, until I have peace in my soul over the issue.  Peace doesn't mean I got what I prayed for; it means I know He heard what I had to say and released me, for me to trust Him that He will act in the best interest of the situation for His Glory. 

Tanzania will open up for registration next week on Monday. Missionary women, remember we take the first 50 ladies that register, then start a waiting list. So first come, first served.

Our theme is "I Shall Not Be Moved" and our verse is Psalm 62:6.

His,

Vickie

God is Truthful.....

It’s been said, "I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you."

Wow! Isn't that a powerful quote?  It is really so true.  It isn't so much the lie but the breakdown in trust that takes place.  I have observed and counseled people through the journey of reestablishing trust and it is a painful if not impossible journey at times. 

Early in my relationship with the LORD, my spiritual mom had me memorize this verse;

Numbers 23:19 (ESV)
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

The reason being is that she wanted me to rightly know where to place my trust, in God and the things of God alone.  Another verse I have hidden in my nugget bag along the way to accompany this teaching about trust is Isaiah 2:22 because it reminds me again that man is human and God is the One to count on.

Isaiah 2:22 (ESV)
Stop regarding (trusting) man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

So I learned God is truthful.  He is Truth. Therefore, I could always trust His Word and His ways even when I didn't and/or don't understand.

Deuteronomy 32:4 (ESV)
The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Psalm 33:4 (ESV)
For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.

John 17:17 (ESV)
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Isaiah 25:1 (ESV)
O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

My dear ones I challenge you today to evaluate where you place your trust.  God or man?

Love you all!

His,

Vickie

God is a Jealous God....

Topics today: God is a Jealous God ...Continued study of God's Character and Valley Baptist Church....Global Impact Conference (GIC)

God is a Jealous God....

The word ‘jealous’ can stir up emotions in a person, can't it? In the biblical counseling ministry I would say myself and many other counselors have been exposed to the ugly fall out of a person that has been consumed with jealousy and/or the victim of it.  Jealousy and envy can make someone check their brain at the door faster than most any other emotion I know. (smile)

A woman wanted to reach her husband on his mobile phone but discovered that she was out of credit.  She instructed her son who was on site to use his own phone to pass across an urgent message to his daddy.  After Junior had called, he got back to Mommy to inform her that there was a lady that picked up Daddy's phone the three times he tried reaching Dad on the mobile.  She waited impatiently for her husband to return from work and upon seeing him in the driveway she rushed out and gave him a tight slap.  Then she slapped him again for good measure.  People from the neighborhood rushed around to find out what the cause of all the commotion was.  The woman asked Junior to tell everybody what the lady said to him when he called.  Junior said, "The subscriber you have dialed is not available at present.  Please try again later."

I rest my case! Ha,ha,ha,ha!

You might ask, “but if God is a jealous God isn't that sin?” God's word says jealousy and envy are sins. And it also says God is not a man that He should lie.  So how do you reconcile those truths?  This is why it is important to be able to look at the word of God in its original language.  The word ‘jealous’, used in scripture regarding God, is the Hebrew word gannâˈ; it is an adjective used only in reference to God in scripture.  Every place else the word jealous is used it is in regard to human jealousy either as a verb gânâˈ which refers to human passionate jealousy or envy, and/or a noun qinˈâh which takes on a wide range of meanings from zeal for God, to anger or envy. The exact meaning of these words is determined by the context.

God is innately jealous for us to love Him instead of spending our time worshiping and loving idols in our lives that cannot meet our eternal needs.

Jealous - God is unwilling to share with any other creature what is rightfully and morally His.

Exodus 20:5 (ESV)
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Exodus 34:14 (ESV)
For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Psalm 78:58 (ESV)
For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.

1 Corinthians 10:21-22 (ESV)
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.  Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy?

Valley Baptist Church....

This weekend Melinda (graphic designer for Molly Missionary) and I were privileged to be a part of the Global Impact Conference at Valley Baptist Church Searcy, AR.   We represented Pure Joy International during the weekend.  We had an incredible time because God did some incredible things.  The most awesome one for me is that we had been praying for a contact person for our Burkina Faso trip.  Well, guess who set up a booth right next to ours -  a missionary couple from Burkina Faso that is stateside for a few months.  Got to love how the LORD works!  Found out they knew the other woman I had been trying to get hold of from that area who is stateside right now but had not been able to reach. And to top it off, I got a text from that woman while talking to the missionary couple!  With God those chances are 1 in 1!  

We have a location for Tanzania.  We are solidifying cost as of this week.  Working out all the little details that are important before signing on the dotted line!    Please pray with us that we don't miss a thing.  Also, please begin now praying for the teams to come together for both trips and for the missionary women that will be attending the retreats that have no clue yet we are coming.

Love you all so much...

His,

Vickie

This Week a Tribute....

I want to step back from our look at God's character this week and give a tribute to someone very special in my life, my spiritual mom.

February 12, 2014 my spiritual mom stepped into the very presence of God.   To say that she lived her life for Jesus is an understatement.  She lived life…every ounce of it that He blessed her with!  She was a running faucet of the love of Christ.  She loved Jesus, she loved Wil (my spiritual dad), she loved her children, grandchildren, her siblings, her church family, her friends and other peoples’ children, too, whether old or young.   She took God's word at face value and the teaching of Titus 2 that said, "older women train up the younger women ...”  I am one of those many younger women that she trained up and poured her very being into.  I caught more from her than she ever taught me and I praise God for that.  Because I caught a love of Jesus and a love for His word from her, I also caught that being a Christian meant doing everyday life with Christ and life can be hard but our God is bigger than all the difficulties.  I caught that when I have exhausted all my means for fixing something, my Heavenly Father is there smiling, waiting on me to let Him.  I caught that I don't have to like everybody in the world but I do need to be nice to them as unto the LORD (smile). I caught an incredible understanding of the importance of authority and how God set that in motion and how it protects us as women when we honor it.  I caught the truth of God's love at work through one of His servants and the impact it can have under your own roof and across the oceans.  I could go on and on but I suppose in its simplest form you can say I caught a glimpse of Jesus this side of heaven and for that I am eternally grateful.  Thank you my precious Friend.

Pat Vancil 1937-2014

His,

Vickie

Greetings Friends...

The blog will be a little late this week as I am out of town. Look for it in a few days.

His,
Vickie

God is Immutable...

Change is a funny thing isn't it. Change is something that impacts all of our lives throughout our lives. Some changes we have no control over, we just have to decide how we chose to deal with the change. Some change we do have control over and we have to decide if we are going to exercise the control we have over it or not. If not, then I suggest to people quit complaining about it if you aren't going to do something about it.  Some changes we instigate ourselves and have total control over.

Things we can't control ........Other people, Circumstances not set into motion by ourselves, The weather. (smile)   You get the point.   Things we can control........ourselves and how we chose to handle the things we can't control.

All of the above to say.....I love this attribute of God.  He is immutable.  It is so nice to know that He IS.....

Immutable - God is always the same in His nature, His character, and His will.  He never changes, and He can never be made to change.

Hebrews 1:10 (ESV) And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;

Hebrews 13:8 (ESV) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Malachi 3:6 (ESV) “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Numbers 23:19 (ESV) God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

James 1:17 (ESV) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

In a world that is turned more and more to the deeds of darkness, where truth and justice have no place in everyday life for so many.

Where promises and commitments are becoming obsolete. Isn't it good to know that our God is Who He says He is in all His Nature and Character.  Amen!

Tanzania....Details are continuing to be locked in. Will share when dates are finalized.

His,
Vickie

God is Eternal...

Can you imagine life without time constraints?  When I have the opportunity to go on vacation -- which I don't even remember the last time I took a real genuine vacation. (I should see a counselor about that, ha,ha,ha!)  Anyway, when I have had the opportunity, the first thing I do is take off my watch and put it in the glove box of the car.  (Obviously, I've never flown to my vacation spot. ha,ha,ha)  Anyway, I do that because I am on vacation. I consider that as my time to NOT have any time constraints on anything.  When I eat, when I go to bed, get up, how long I stay at a certain place…it is my time to do what I want, period.   No “have to’s”.  Don't have to be here by a certain time, be there by a certain time, have this done by a certain time, etc., etc.  You get the picture!  It is amazing how time influences our daily routine and the amount of unspoken stress and sometimes spoken stress that accompany it.  Yet God is the cause of time. 

I have more thoughts about time and why God put it into place than I have space to write.  But I challenge you to think about time ....why did God put time in place on this earth?  Yes, it constrains and yes, it can cause stress at times, but it does a whole lot more than that which is really awesome stuff.  Think about it!  I would love to hear your thoughts on this one!!

Eternal - Eternal refers to God's relationship to time.  Past, present, and future are known equally to Him. God has no beginning, and He has no end.  He is not confined to the finiteness of time or of man's reckoning of time.  He is, in fact, the cause of time.

Revelation 1:8 (ESV)
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Deuteronomy 33:27 (ESV)
The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy.’

Psalm 102:27 (ESV)  

But you are the same, and your years have no end.

Romans 1:20 (ESV)
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

1 Timothy 1:17 (ESV)
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

2 Peter 3:8 (ESV)

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

We are closing in our dates and location for Tanzania.  The retreat will be in November and most likely toward the middle of the month.   November 12- 15 are looking like the actual retreat dates.  So please continue to pray.  Also, we are most likely moving the September retreat for Ghana to the location of Burkina Faso or Senegal so please pray as we solidify this location.

Love you all so much...

His,

Vickie