Wednesday, June 24, 2009

praying for me?

my family and i support a missionary family in india through GFA, Gospel for Asia.  the other day i received a letter from the family we support.  something shocking jumped out at me.   in the letter he wrote..."thank you for supporting us through finances and prayer, we are praying for you also."  they are praying for me? that really got me thinking.  number one, it made me a little guilty.  i thought, how much time do i really spend consistently praying for people in the mission field.  it seems so far away, out of reach (out of sight, out of mind???).  but recently i've become close with a family that has a married daughter who lives and serves in a third world country.  i was able to meet and spend time with her and her family while they were here on furlow last month.  that sort of changed things for me.  hearing about their life, their work, their living conditions, their struggles and battles.  meeting their children, sharing a meal...well the idea of them living far away and committing their lives to the service of Jesus in a way totally different from (and totally foreign to) me became much more real.  tangible. and i realized how much we, as a body, need to cover them with prayer.  because if we do indeed believe what we say we believe, that God is real, Jesus is who he claims to be (the ONE)...and that there is in fact an enemy that wants us hurting and suffering...then we MUST pray!!

number two, i felt undeserving.  i live in the wealthiest country in the world.  spoiled doesn't even begin to describe our way of life.  not just materialistically speaking, but 'spiritually' speaking too.  we've got churches of all kinds on every corner.  religions we have created for ourselves, gods we've created for ourselves, rules we've created and broken and changed to fit our (sinful, but don't use that word) desires. what a great trick of the enemy...keep us SO saturated in things that seem 'spiritual' and we'll drown in our own sticky, mucky nonsense.  they live in poverty, in the midst of persecution.  and yet they're passion far exceeds that of most people that call themselves Christians in America today.  and they are praying for me?  wow.

and finally, number three, i felt excited.  because i was struck by the fact that these faithful people all the way across the world share something in common with me!  our love for Jesus!  our common belief that his return is imminent, (likely to occur at any moment).  that is the goal, the purpose, the reason for telling others about him... "don't miss out!".  our church has been going thru the book of Revelation for the last couple of months and it is spectacular!!  Revelation 1:5-8 basically sums it up:

"...to Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father- to HIM be the glory and power forever! Amen.

Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him...

"I AM the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and WHO IS TO COME, the Almighty."

we have to live in light of his imminent coming!

LIVE IN LIGHT OF HIS IMMINENT COMING!

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