Ironman….

Two weekends ago I went to Chattanooga, TN to watch my god-son participate in an Ironman. That means a 2 ½ mile swim, 116 mile bike ride (normally 112 but they added 4 more for some reason) and a 26 mile run (marathon) – all of that to take place in one day. It was something to watch. He hit the Tennessee River about 7:30 Sunday morning. That was the easy part. And one of his good friends was standing there with an encouraging sign when he came out of the river. 

When he came in from the 116 mile bike ride we could sense he was really tired but still able to muster a smile when all of us reached out to give high fives as he began the 26 mile run. Over 14 hours and 40 minutes later he crossed the finish line. He was officially declared an Ironman. He was absolutely past exhaustion when he crossed the finish line; however, the joy on his face along with the sense of accomplishment were priceless.

Later on, he was able to share with us some of the behind the scenes circumstances of the Ironman. He shared how he struggled just over the half way mark of the bike ride and how his knee was hurting so bad he wanted to quit. (He got a foot injury several weeks out from the event and favoring the foot caused knee issues during his training process.)  During the run the knee and foot issue grew much worse. He was thinking he may have to quit when two girls came along beside him going at the same pace as his. They spurred him on and before it was over they were all spurring each other on. They crossed the finish line together. 

I could NOT keep from paralleling his journey from ours as believers. Scripture has so much to say about us regarding our finishing the race.

2 Timothy 2:5 (ESV)
An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 

2 Timothy 4:7-8 (ESV)
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Acts 20:24 (ESV)
But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Philippians 3:12-14 (ESV)
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 12:2 (ESV)

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Galatians 5:7 (ESV)
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (ESV)
 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

My precious brothers and sisters in Christ stay strong no matter your circumstances right now. Finish the course!! Pray for God to bring runners alongside you!! Run alongside someone else that needs the encouragement. We run for much more than a title… we are running for the sound of His voice as He proclaims, "Well done, good and faithful servant.”

We are in warp speed regarding our trip to Kathmandu with lots of shaking and moving going on this week. It is serious time in the area of preparation as we begin to gather all the items into their intended locations to be packed. Moving weight around to different states and locations so we don’t exceed our 50 lb. weight limit is almost as trying as moving my own human weight to different areas and locations. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. However, the excitement of bringing things together before we leave the country is priceless to the soul!

Thank you, thank you so much for those of you that are giving towards this trip as the LORD moves on your hearts. We have had 9 more missionary women sponsored since last weeks’ blog! That puts us at 35 with only 15 more to go! Yea, God!! Keep praying with us that God will continue to move on people’s hearts to give.  

Also pray for our women on the field. They too are aware that our coming is eminent and are trying to get things in order for their households as well. 

I don’t know how much you enjoy it but I love watching and reporting to you in the blog the movement of God on behalf of the missionary women overseas and the team that He has called to go. Thank you again for being a part of His ministry as we all serve Him together.

Running the Race,

His,

Vickie

Another opportunity….

This past weekend I was given the opportunity to minister to a wonderful group of women for their Fall Retreat. Our theme was “How Is Your Soul”? It was a wonderful time and God really showed up and ministered to our hearts. During the afternoon free time we shot skeet. All I want to say about that time together is… All the ducks in Arkansas would have nothing to be concerned about if our group was the only ones hunting them during duck season. Just saying…

We are gearing up more and more for Kathmandu. It is only 8 weeks away. So hard to believe we are this close in. We had 5 more missionary women sponsored this past week. We are up to 26 with only 24 more to sponsor. Please continue to pray for hearts to be moved towards sponsorship. I love it when one of you calls me or I see you along the way and you tell me, “I see you have such and such number of missionary women sponsored so far.” This lets me know that you are following the trip and praying for the ladies. Thank you sooo much. I can’t even tell you how excited the women are that we are coming to Kathmandu. So many of them are working hard and having a difficult time since the “earthquakes”. Apart from Christ it would be impossible not to live in a state of fear in that environment, wondering if and when another “earthquake’ will come. Praise God for all the many ministries and relief organizations that are coming and going in that part of the world to help give hope, encouragement, food, water, etc. 

 

This week I want to encourage you to take time to encourage someone. Especially, those that don’t look like or act like they need it. Sometimes they are the ones that need it most. God knew we would need encouragement or He would not have said, "But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews 3:13 (ESV)

Love you guys…

His,
Vickie

Praise …..

This past weekend I had the opportunity to speak at a women’s retreat.  The theme was “Praising Jesus”. If God has positioned you to minister His truths in such a fashion you will understand when I say “I don’t know what the women gleaned from the messages but God really spoke to me in the preparation time.” I don’t suppose I have ever dug so deeply into the subject of praise even though I have heard and been trained up in powerful biblical truths about it over my 25 years as a believer. Of course only a portion of what you pray about, research and study over for hours and days of preparation ever really make it to the intended group. But, my heart will be sealed forever with those truths this side of heaven. 

The biblical stories of those that praised Him sacrificially in the middle of their circumstance has never been as clear as it is to me now. But we see it throughout scriptures as men and women who are fully devoted to God praise Him in spite of their circumstances. I encourage us as His children to glean the understanding of the power of praise as we continue into these last days. There is a principle that I want to share with you that I gleaned from the story of Paul and Silas’ imprisonment that I had not considered before my preparation time last week. Please read Act 16:16-34 first.

Acts 16:16-34 (ESV)
¹⁶  As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷  She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” ¹⁸  And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. ¹⁹  But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
²⁰  And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹  They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” ²²  The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. ²³  And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴  Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶  and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. ²⁷  When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸  But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹  And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰  Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹  And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³²  And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³  And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴  Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Ok, common sense principles we get from the story:

• Paul and Silas were going about the business of serving the LORD with the calling He put on their lives.
• The enemy was at work (through the girl with the divination spirit) trying to distract them.
• Paul took authority over the enemy (spirit) in the Name of Jesus Christ.
• The men who were not able to use the woman for gain took up an offense towards Paul and Silas and stirred up the magistrates (law) towards them as well.
• They were beaten and thrown into jail (the dungeon, darkness) and their feet shackled.

You know what it’s like to be serving the LORD and have the enemy attack, to speak the truth of the LORD over it and have someone condemn you for it, to have others come along and take up an offense and believe the lies of the enemy, to be bound up by the enemy. 

Did you start praising God in the middle of your storm? Did you praise Him for all that He is doing, has done, and is going to do with tears rolling down your face and a broken heart? 

Paul and Silas praised Him! And as they praised Him they were set free from the bondage of the shackles. Here is the biblical principle I gleaned from this story for the first time…though they were set free from the bondage of the shackles they did not flee their circumstances. They could have bolted out of that cell but they didn’t. They remained (waited on God) in their circumstance even though He had set them free from bondage. The result was their testimony of waiting on God led to the salvation of the jailer and his whole family. WOW!! 

Are you in the dungeon? Is darkness surrounding you, do you feel hopeless, is the stench of defeat holding you in bondage? Offer a sacrifice of praise! Praise Him not because you feel like it but because He deserves our praise. He is worthy to be praised. And when He releases you from the bondage, don’t run out of your circumstance before He leads you. Your testimony in the storm may be the very thing that causes another to look up and call on the name of the LORD.

The following song reminds us of this truth:    https://youtu.be/L5bLvVjJ4MA

We have 21 missionaries sponsored as of this writing.  Thank you so much for your faithfulness to the ministry of Pure Joy International and the desire God has given us to help keep our missionaries and missionary families on the field of service to which God has called them. Please continue to pray as the team is in the preparation stages of the trip. Pray for the remaining 29 missionary women to be sponsored. Remember our theme is “His Eye Is on the Sparrow”. Pray for the worship, messages, gifting that is taking place. Thanks to all of you in local churches here in the U.S. that commit to pray, gift, give and go. His heart beats through all of you to the “ends of the earth”.

Love You with the Love of our Holy God.

His,

Vickie