Your Everything

I love a really great song - one that brings memories to mind, tears to my eyes, or has to be played loudly with the windows rolled down - music is a gift and I'm thankful for it. My ipod has quite the collection and unless it's Christmas, I like to have it on shuffle. It never fails that even when on shuffle two songs always are played back to back. "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman and "The One You Need" by Shane & Shane. Listening to these songs as a mom can be somewhat heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time. However, this past week, I was riding home with Steve from a day spent together at the beach (Ryleigh was at home being spoiled rotten by our awesome teammates) and God started using this song to speak to my heart.

I wish that I could be your everything
Be the one to give you all the things you need
Sometimes I’m gonna let you down
But there’s Someone if you just believe
Be your hero like He’s always been for me
Darling, Jesus is the one you need.

 I've heard "The One You Need" 100s of times, it is indeed a beautiful song about your children needing to know Christ and that no matter how much we (as parents) may love them - we simply can't be their everything. Only He can be their Savior. However, on this particular day, God struck me with how applicable it is to my own life. How even as an adult, a wife, a mother, I still struggle with allowing Him to be my everything. Even though I know His truths, I struggle.

 I am married to a fabulous man.  He is a lover of the One True God, incredibly handsome, amazingly thoughtful, my best friend, and the greatest picture of our Heavenly Father’s love to me, Ryleigh, and others – BUT he can’t be everything to me.  The thing is, sometimes, I expect him to be.  I put unfair expectations on him that only my Creator can fill. 

I also struggle with trying to be Steve’s everything.  I expect things from myself that only Christ can do for Steve.  I long to be all Steve needs but there is no way that I can be – that’s not what husbands/wifes/mothers/fathers/children/friends were created for.  We were created to be a representation of the gospel to all of those who are around us.  We were made to bring glory to the Father.

I am to exemplify the respect and submission of  the bride of Christ in our marriage.

Steve is to exemplify the love of Christ in our marriage.

Nothing more – nothing less –

We will fail, we will struggle…but if we find our source, our identity, our needs met – in Christ alone then we will ultimately have the victory and bring glory to Him.

 

 

Christmas in Mahafaly Land

Last week, Steve and Doug took a quick trip out to the 4 main villages.  They really enjoyed their trip and Steve wanted to share what it looked like...however, Doug has already done a blog about it so we're just going to let him tell you...

Doug's blog...

Last week we took a quick village tour in order to celebrate Christmas in each village. Nathan’s home church sent us some toys a while back in order for us to share with the kids in the bush. So in each village we shared about the story of Christ’s birth and gave those gifts to children and families of those who regularly meet with us to pray and study God’s Word. This was a very simple and practical way for the church to share Christ’s love with their fellow brothers and sisters who live thousands of miles away on the other side of the world.

Seeing a slinky for the first time

 

Believers in Andremba opening their gifts

Starting in Andremba, we traveled from village to village asking the believers why we celebrate Christmas and sharing the story of the greatest gift that was ever given. Everything went so well and fell into place just perfectly. Each group in each village was available to meet, and very happy to receive their gifts from those in the states. We shared with them that the churches in the states were praying hard for them, which may have made them happier than when they received their gifts! Before giving the gifts to the leaders of each group, we explained that God had already given the greatest gift by sending His Son Jesus Christ into this world to free us from the curse of sin. We shared that we give because He gives.

Giving out the gifts was a funny experience. We didn’t actually distribute the gifts because they have their own cultural way of doing so, and we wanted the gifts to be distributed from the church group in each village. So when we opened each box to explain to the

Kalaha got his gun and hat for the picture. It's all about appearances.

leaders what the gifts were, the toy giraffe received some very strange looks. Obviously, villagers in the bush of Madagascar have never seen a giraffe before, but when they saw the toy, their first question was, “Is it mean?” which really means, “Would it hurt me if I came across it in a field?” Haha. We explained to them that it’s basically like a cow with a long neck that eats trees, I mean eats leaves. The other thing that caught them a little off guard were the candy bracelets. I had to explain to them that the string was not ok to eat, just the colorful things on the string! Haha.

I told them to smile, but used the word for "laugh" by mistake

Our most interesting experience happened in Tanantsoa. When I asked them why we celebrated Christmas every year, we got an answer we didn’t expect. First, they said it was a time to get ready for the New Year. Nope. Secondly, they said that it was a time to thank God for the past year and look forward to the year to come. Wrong again. I asked them if there was any other reason that we celebrated, but they responded that those were the only two reasons. The people of Tanantsoa had never heard what the point of Christmas was or why we celebrated. So I was able to briefly share with them, for the first time, the reason we celebrate the day. I asked them if they remembered the story that we shared previously about the coming Savior and then emphasized that the reason we celebrate Christmas is because that Savior came. I shared that years later he died on a cross in order to free us from the curse of sin. When I broke down the word “Christmasy” in comparison to “Jesosy Christy” it definitely all came together in their minds! Haha. It hit me later on that coming from my little Bible-belt bubble, where everyone knows about or celebrates Christmas (some for the wrong reasons), that

there are people in this world who have never heard about the true reason for Christmas, for there are many people in this world who have never heard about Jesus. If you have never heard about Jesus, then you don’t know that Jesus was born, or that he is the Savior of the world, or that he died on a cross in order to save humanity from their sins, or that he was resurrected and is alive and well today. Needless to say, this was a great time for the people of Tanantsoa and I’m just thankful that God used someone like me to be His mouthpiece. What amazing grace we receive from the Father, and what a great gift we have received in Jesus; the gift of salvation and eternal life.

So in light of that story and the Christmas season, I want to extend my thanks to all of you whose giving through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) allows me to work and live among the Mahafaly people. Your faithful giving allows me to share the story of Christ’s birth and the gospel that saves with those who have never heard. Let these stories encourage you to remain faithful in your financial giving as well as your prayers for missionaries around the world living as heralds of the gospel of God’s grace and peace to all peoples.

Believers in Tanantsoa, just after discovering what Christmas is all about

So again thank you for your fragrant offering to God and may you all have a very Merry Christmas as you reflect on the gift of Jesus and the day that light ripped through the darkness in the form of a little baby boy, the Savior of the world.

Three Christmas Gifts

Three Christmas Presents

Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one

who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is

righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the

devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of

God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of

the devil. —1 John 3:7–8

 

Ponder this remarkable situation with me. If the Son of God

came to help you stop sinning—to destroy the works of the

devil—and if he also came to die so that, when you do sin, there

is a propitiation, a removal of God’s wrath, then what does this

imply for living your life?

Three things.

And they are wonderful to have.

I give them to you briefly as Christmas presents.

 

1. A Clear Purpose for Living

It implies that you have a clear purpose for living. Negatively, it

is simply this: don’t sin. “I write these things to you so that you

may not sin” (1 John 2:1). “The Son of God appeared to destroy

the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

Notice the singular “commandment”—“This is His commandment,

that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love

one another, just as He commanded us.” These two things are

so closely connected for John he calls them one commandment:

believe Jesus and love others. That is your purpose. That

is the sum of the Christian life. Trusting Jesus, loving people.

Trust Jesus, love people. There’s the first gift: a purpose to live.

 

2. Hope That Our Failures Will Be Forgiven

Now consider the second implication of the twofold truth that

Christ came to destroy our sinning and to forgive our sins. It’s

this: We make progress in overcoming our sin when we have

hope that our failures will be forgiven. If you don’t have hope

that God will forgive your failures, when you start fighting sin,

you give up.

Most of you want to fight sinful patterns in your life. And what God is saying to you

is this: Let the freedom to fail give you hope to fight. I write

this to you that you might not sin, but if you sin you have an

advocate, Jesus Christ.

 

3. Christ Will Help Us

Finally, the third implication of the double truth that Christ

came to destroy our sinning and to forgive our sins, is this:

Christ will really help us in our fight. He really will help you.

He is on your side. He didn’t come to destroy sin because sin

is fun. He came to destroy sin because it is fatal. It is a deceptive

work of the devil and will destroy us if we don’t fight it. He

came to help us, not hurt us.

So here’s your third Christmas gift: Christ will help overcome

sin in you. 1 John 4:4 says, “He who is in you is greater

than he that is in the world.” Jesus is alive, Jesus is almighty,

Jesus lives in us by faith. And Jesus is for us, not against us. He

will help you. Trust him.

John Piper "Good News of Great Joy" December 25