Love is Intimate…and Dominican Republic Trip

The word intimate is a word that can bring up a bunch of different meanings and emotions to different people. Your husbands probably think it means, “Meet me in the bedroom!” Wives, you probably think it means, “Hold me, talk with me, and NOTHING ELSE!” Ha, ha!

This week as we continue our look at the Ten Commandments from the perspective of Grace (Love), we are talking about Intimacy. Again I encourage you to go back to our starting point for the 10 Commandments on the blog (March 22, 2012).

So far we have looked at our first three commandments:

1. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).

 Love Command: Love is Loyal

2. You shall not make any graven image (idol) or bow down before them or serve them (Exodus 20:4-5).

Love Command: Love is Faithful

3. You shall not take the name of the LORD in vain (Exodus 20:7).

Love Command: Love is Reverent

The Fourth Commandment is:

4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it Holy (Exodus 20:8).

Love Command: Love is Intimate

The definition of the word ‘intimate’ for our purpose simply means a close, confident, relationship such as with a very best friend.

Is your love toward the LORD intimate? Is He a close friend, a confidant? Is He your best friend? Those that know me well know that I don’t call anyone in the physical my best friend. I have some very good friends and some very close, close friends but Jesus Christ the Son of God is my BEST FRIEND! He is the one I can run to, trust, and share my deepest heart, thoughts, emotions and feelings with. He is always available; He always hears, and He always knows what is best for me. He also knows how to get my attention through conviction, mature me through life challenges, and encourage me through His words. HE IS!

Do you take time throughout the day to talk with Him, be still with Him, praise Him, etc? Do you realize that while He doesn’t physically hold your hand He spiritually holds your heart! He cares; He is gentle, kind, and GOOD ALL THE TIME! How’s that for an awesome intimate Best Friend!

I challenge you this week to take time to be intimate with Him. You won’t regret it and I can PROMISE YOU it will change your life!

Dominican Republic News…

The team meeting was awesome Monday night. We talked via Skype with the team members from Oklahoma and Texas, while five of us from Arkansas were in one  place and the other four from their home bases. We got lots of things talked about and walked through our schedule for the Retreat. Of course as always we all continue to pray daily for the women who will be attending, and we encourage you to join with us.

I’m excited about what God is up to with this team. The team is always different for every trip and it makes for a whole different set of energy. I have one true blue fun girl in this group that I am starting to suspect she really wanted to be a stand up comedian in real life. Hmmm…could that be Faith?

As we continue to prepare please pray those of us who will be speaking as we allow God to communicate into our hearts His messages on our theme of “Endless Love” and our verse, Psalm 103:12.

I love you all! Have a great week with HIM!

His,

Vickie

P.S. God is sooooooo cool. I was just getting ready to send this to the editor and in opening my emails I had a message from Chris Johnson, Pastor of FBC Albertville, Alabama. If you remember I attended their first ever Missions Conference back in January of this past year. It was called Advance 20/20. Awesome conference! Anyway, I just received an email from Pastor Chris who said their church is sponsoring a missionary for Dominican Republic. Why? Because they get missions and what our missionaries go through on the field and the benefit of a time of rest for them! Thank you FBC Albertville, Alabama!

Love is Reverent... and Dominican Retreat Update

We continue our look at the Ten Commandments from the perspective of Grace which gives us the Ten Love Commands.  Again, I suggest if you have not been following our blog since beginning this journey through the Love Commands that you go back and start reading the blog forward from March 22, 2012. 

So far we have looked at our first two commandments:

1.  You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)

      Love Command: Love is Loyal

2.  You shall not make any graven image (idol) or bow down before them or serve them.  (Exodus 20:4-5)

     Love Command:  Love is Faithful

This past week I pray you took the challenge to really ask yourself daily if your love towards God is faithful.  Did you identify anything you are holding on to more than you desire to hold on to Him?  God’s word tells us in Jonah 2:8 “that those that cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace of God”.  (NIV)   I like to look at it this way.  You can’t hang on to the things of this world and hang on to God.   Eventually, you lose your grip on one or the other.

Today, we look at our third commandment.

3.  You shall not take the name of the LORD in vain.  (Exodus 20:7)

     Love Command:  Love is Reverent

Reverent means to respect and/or to honor.  God’s word commands us not to take the honor, authority, and/or character of God and speak deceptively about it, blasphemous, vulgar, falsely, etc.   So many times we as Christians excuse ourselves by believing if we don’t use the cussing version of taking the LORD’S name in vain that we get a pat on the shoulder and a pass.  My dear friends, this verse is telling us not to dishonor the truth of Who He IS as God in our everyday conversations by misrepresenting Him.   Here are some simple examples of this:  Do you claim to be a follower of Christ but you live daily no different than the world?  This dishonors God because it communicates “Jesus doesn’t make a difference”.   Do you teach a Sunday School class and then through the week talk to your family, peers, employees, and employers with harsh language, disrespect, unkindness, all the time proclaiming you’re God’s child?  This takes His name in vain.  Do you wear a t-shirt proclaiming His greatness, or the Cross, or Him as your Savior and you are involved in adultery, stealing, lying, etc. on a habitual basis? 

This week I challenge you to consider your reverence to God.  Are you respectful to Him, His authority and Character as you journey through the day?

Pure Joy Dominican Republic News:

I recently received this email from one of the ladies that will be attending the retreat in May.  I have taken her name out and the exact location of the retreat but you will have no trouble seeing her heart as she wrote to me.

Dear Vickie,

I am one of the 50 going on the retreat in May 23-26.  I am still absolutely blown away and speechless that anyone would do this for us?!?!  I'm 38, and we've been serving now since '96, and I have NEVER seen any type of ministering or act of love of complete giving out towards us such as this.

I just had to say thank you.  I am so very grateful to you and your "team".  I am just thrilled about the theme God has laid upon your heart!  I can relate!  I will be a conference speaker coming up in early May, and God gave me the theme: Promises given in Secret Places" - I felt spiritually and mentally worn out begging on my face for God's voice in giving me His theme.  Know that you are being lifted up in Santiago, D.R.

Abrazos!  (hugs),

This one email represents the heart beat of our missionary women from all walks of life as they await our time together.  I hope you caught that while she is excited about us coming she is also continuing to be obedient to that which God has called her to there on the field!  I also hope you caught that while we are praying for our missionary women they are praying for us too!  God is being talked to from both sides and all of you that pray and give are the filling! (smile)

We have 4 more missionary women sponsored since our last report.  That gives us 17 sponsored with 33 more to go.  Keep praying and keep giving as the LORD leads!!!

Lots of activity is going on in regard to our trip preparations.  Last week some of our team members from Evergreen Church in Broken Arrow, OK had a Night of Pure Joy and were able to share with the women in their church about the up-coming trip and ways they could be involved.  Team members from Antioch, Conway, AR raised some missionary support this past weekend by cooking up desserts for those that called in pie, cake and cookie orders that were then delivered to the church on Sunday for pick up. We received some support for the missionary women from our Houston connections last week as well. 

I am still hearing from the missionary women and their excitement about our coming.  As I shared last week those that live far off from the retreat site continue to figure out how to carpool with each other to get themselves to retreat.   It has been fun watching some of the emails go back and forth from the ladies as they communicate and are already making connections with one another for the trip.

It is so hard to believe that we are less then two months from our departure time to the Dominican Republic. God is working! All the Time!!!! 

Love you all…

His,

Vickie

Love is Faithful...

Last week I began a ten week walk through the 10 commandments with us looking at them from the standpoint of the love commands (a message I was exposed to in 1993 by John MacArthur). I encourage you to look back over the blog from last week to refresh your thoughts on the first love command. We looked at it from the perspective of the law and then the love command.

Law……You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).

Love command……Love is Loyal

As I pondered in my heart this past week about “Love is Loyal” I realized that I had really allowed a lot of junk to creep up onto the throne of God in my life. I hope you took time to think about those things I asked you to look at last week as well. A good ‘throne check’ is healthy throughout the day.

Today, we look at our second commandment from the standpoint of the Law and then the Love command.

Law…..You shall not make any graven image (idol), or bow down before them or serve them (from Exodus 20:4-5).

Love command……Love is Faithful.

Is your love toward God faithful? Is your intimacy with Him and your worship of Him so sincere that you would never consider giving it to another? The children of Israel broke faithfulness with God over and over by worshiping the idols/graven images of the lands they took possession of. What are you worshiping instead of God in your life? Your spouse? Children? Job position? Money? Sports? Religion? A person? Alcohol? Drugs? What are you turning to instead of Him when your life circumstances become overwhelming? There is a saying, “We become like that which we worship.” If we are not becoming like Jesus then we must be worshiping someone or something else. Take a look in the mirror of your heart this week and see what you are looking like.

 

Pure Joy News…

I spent most of last week in Austin, Texas. It was a sweet time of fellowship but more importantly it was an opportunity to have great fellowship with old friends and new. Richard and Trexa Hilderbrand held a “Shrimp Boil” at their home in Georgetown, TX and I had the chance to update everyone on Pure Joy and the expanded vision God has given us as we go forward into the future. Please pray that the words that were shared will take root in many of the hearts represented that evening and that fruit will abound in the days ahead.

The ladies in the Dominican Republic are talking it up amongst themselves regarding the trip in May. In fact, they are already making plans and networking ways to catch rides with others that live far away from the retreat site.  We have one of our ladies flying in from Costa Rica. Pray that all of the ladies will be able to make the connections they need to be able to share in the transportation to the retreat site.  One of our team members received all her personal support for the trip this past week and is praising God for His provision.  He does provide for that which He calls us to, all the time!

Have a God Week!

His,

Vickie

Love is Loyal...

In 1993, I heard an audio series taught by John MacArthur on “Walking in Love”, a study he taught his church regarding the Ten Commandments. It grounded me as a baby Christian and has stabilized me throughout my walk with God. He called them “The Love Commands”. That has been almost 19 years ago, but to this day I still teach the principles I learned from that series.

For the next ten weeks I am going to cover one of the commandments per week on this blog. Please join me on the journey that we may all have the common ground of Jesus as we proceed along the way. For some of you this will be nothing new, but for some of you I promise you that you haven’t considered these truths in this fashion.

Let’s begin by clarifying that the 10 Commandments ARE NOT just Old Testament teachings. In fact, let’s look at what the New Testament has to say about the 10 Commandments.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-20:

 
17. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

We also see Jesus address the 10 Commandments in Mark 12:28-31 from the following passage:

28. And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” ²⁹Jesus answered, “The most important is, 29. ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

So, let’s get started. Today we are looking at the first commandment.

You shall have no other gods before me. Deut. 5:7 (ESV)

That is how we read that verse from the point of the ‘law’, but now let’s add grace (Jesus) to that truth and we get our first ‘love command’: Love is loyal.

Loyalty is defined as unswerving allegiance. Today, ask yourself if your love toward God is an unswerving allegiance, or ask yourself if you have misplaced that loyalty.

Has a person, money, position, materialism, etc. become the thing you are giving allegiance to instead of God alone? Ask God this week to show you the other gods you are putting before Him. Is He alone on the throne? Are you sitting on the throne? Are you putting others on the throne, etc.? God alone should sit on the throne of our hearts! Some of us need to clear the throne room of ourselves, people and stuff.

Warning:

Beware of persons and/or things that demand your loyalty instead of pointing you to God!

Dominican Republic News…

We had our first team meeting through Skype this past week since the team members are scattered to and fro. It was really fun and we got a lot accomplished. God is up to some fun things for Dominican so keep praying for all the messages, worship, fun time, relaxation times, the team as we prepare, and resources to come in for sponsorship.

Several team members from Antioch in Conway, AR had a bake sale to raise money for their team member expenses for the trip. It was a sweet time, and they raised a good amount of resources for their expenses.

Women from local churches in OK, TX, and AR are getting on board with some great surprises for the missionaries come May.

Keep wrapping this trip in prayer daily!!!!

Love you all!

His,

Vickie

Welcome to the Missionaries...

As I write the blog today I am mindful that before the weekend gets here we will have the potential of many of our missionary women who will be joining us in May in the Dominican Republic reading our blog for the first time and onward. To you, our new readers, I welcome you! I encourage you to be excited as you watch God work on your behalf in the weeks to come as we ask our blog readers to pray for you, to give toward sponsorships, and to be a part of other things on your behalf. So, enjoy!

To all of you who read the blog faithfully, greetings as well. Patty and I made a trip to Clarksville, AR Saturday to meet with several women from Stillwell Bible Church. I had met the Pastor’s wife, Debbie Goodman, in January at a monthly meeting of Pastors and their wives at First Baptist Vilonia, AR. It is awesome to watch the opportunities God networks for us to be able to share with women’s groups about Pure Joy International.

We had a wonderful time of fellowship and food at Connie Watkins’ home. I shared with the ladies about Pure Joy and the different ways they could be involved. Patty got us connected so they could watch a video of our Costa Rica trip last year and get a feel for what the missionary women experience when we are there with them. After listening and observing, they asked some questions and have jumped on the opportunity to be involved, and we are glad! You women on the mission field will be too!

We topped out at 50 missionary women on Monday of this week and we have 5 women on the waiting list as of today. Our team is together and we are off and running in the planning and preparing stages of the journey.

Please begin to pray diligently for the financial resources to come in for these ladies. Notice the wording here. Pray for it to come in. Not you send it. Of course if God tells you to give please do. But, I’m saying let’s stir the heart of God to stir the heart of others to somehow, shape or fashion hear about Pure Joy and the Dominican Republic trip and be moved to give toward helping sponsor the missionaries. We (as of this writing) have 13 missionary women sponsored. Yeah God!!! There are 37 more to go. The cost to sponsor a missionary continues to be $500 per missionary for 4 days and 3 nights to pay for all their room and meals and retreat resources. Again it is exciting to watch how God brings it all together: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, dollar bills, 5 dollar bills, 20 dollar bills, 50 dollar bills and hundred dollar bills. That’s what I’m talking about!!!

The point…it all adds up to our missionary women having time to recharge so they in turn can pass it on to their spouses and children, and in return stay on the field to reach the ‘nations’ all over this world with the Good News of Jesus Christ! Amen!  And isn’t that just the bottom line!!

Love you all a lot!

His,

Vickie

Psalms 57:9-11

 
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
 
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!

Direction...

"At the LORD’S command they encamped, and at the LORD’S command they set out. They obeyed the LORD’S order, in accordance with his command through Moses" (Numbers 9:23).

If you would take time to read this verse in context starting in Numbers 9:15 and finishing at verse 23, you would become aware of the continued details the LORD is giving Moses to speak to the people of Israel regarding the Tent of the Testimony.

I want to really focus on verse 23 with you this morning. “At the LORD’S command they encamped.” Has the LORD positioned you somewhere? Has He had you encamped in a particular place, a job, a ministry, a business, a community, a relationship, etc.? Is it difficult there? Are you overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious, and/or confused? Don’t miss the next sentence in that verse: “and at the LORD’S command they set out.”

Being overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious, and/or confused isn’t grounds for moving out of the encampment where the LORD has positioned you. It is an opportunity to glean the field while He has you there and to seek and know Him more. In fact, until the LORD commands you to set out, don’t!

Today, we as believers get caught up in one the following:

• We are in a place/position God never commanded us to be encamped.
• We are in a place/position God commanded us to be encamped, but when He commanded us to set out from that place/position, we disobey.
• We are in a place/position God commanded us to be encamped, but we set out without His command.

You might be saying, “Well, Ms. Vickie, you seem to be on a roll about something today.” Yes, I am. Why? Well, let’s look at the last line in verse 23. “They obeyed the LORD’S order, in accordance with his command through Moses.” “They obeyed the LORD’S order.”

There is a lot of movement and lack of movement going on in the body of Christ from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top that God hasn’t commanded, but people like to stamp His name on it.

Our God is and has plainly revealed to us through His word throughout all of scripture that He is a God of order. Without order there is chaos, frustration, anxiety, confusion, fear, insecurity, and on and on. The enemy loves it when we as believers are disobedient to God’s command for us to encamp and/or to set out from the encampment. The enemy loves it because it brings destruction to the pleasures of God. Today as I write this, I ask you, friend, to check your encampment. Has God placed/positioned you there? Then glean the field even in the storms and seek to know Him even more. He knows! Are you in a place/position that He had nothing to do with concerning your encampment? Then pray and ask Him what to do now. Just because we don’t follow His command going in doesn’t excuse us from seeking to see if we need to go out.

God cares about every detail, and while Leviticus and Numbers drive us crazy with details they are reminders to us that HE is in the details. We say that so flippantly at times, but do you REALLY believe it? Then let’s begin to act like we do believe our Abba by being obedient to HIM!

It is my prayer that what I have shared this morning exhorts, challenges, and/or convicts us all!

The missionary women are signing up like crazy for the Dominican Republic trip! Yeah God!!! We have 41 women as of this writing. We still have 9 positions open. Pray that God speaks and the women listen as He places/positions them for this time of encouragement and refreshing! The team is solidifying as well! Amen!

Now for your part as you journey with us all over the world: Start to pray and ask God if He wants you to be a part of this trip even though you are not leaving the country!

Contact me at vickie@purejoyinternational.org if you have questions. Also, giving toward the sponsorship of these women is always needed for each trip we take. Give as little or much as HE leads!

I love you guys and have a wonderful week in HIM!

His,

Vickie

Put your running shoes on...

The race has begun for the Dominican Republic (DR) Retreat in May. Saturday we were able to solidify our location for the retreat. It is going to be a nice resort area just outside the capital city of Santa Domingo.

We opened registration for the missionary women this week on Wednesday, February 22, 2012. As of this writing on Thursday afternoon (the very next day), we have 16 missionary women already signed up! We are so excited that the word is getting out. One way is that many missionary women around the world who have been to a Pure Joy retreat are paying it forward by telling their missionary friends in the DR and surrounding areas about this retreat. Way to go ladies!!

Prayer time for the DR ladies has begun. The team is starting to come together, and that is so exciting as well! I will write you a couple of team stories next week. One of them is for sure worth a great laugh. Please continue to pray for others who are in the valley of decision, as we will have to lock in flight information soon. Pray God will give them total clarity in their decision.

Talk about running, this week I have pretty much been meeting myself coming and going. In fact, this blog isn’t even the one I started on Monday of this week. It was too serious and my brain couldn’t finish it. You know you have crossed over into just a tad bit of overload when you are watching a young 7 month-old baby in her stationary entertainer (apparatus they sit in with play toys anchored all around it) and you are coveting her carefree, no responsibility, somebody hold me, change me, feed me, and water me life. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! The only sad part about that is she will never remember this time in her life, and someday she will be looking at a 7 month-old in a stationary entertainer coveting the same thing. Ha, ha, ha! Isn’t it true!

So, enjoy your weekend which will most likely be almost over by the time you read this post.

Love you all much!

His,

Vickie