Friday 5

1. Scripture memory has been a part of our time here at FPO - and I'm very thankful!  Memorizing scripture was an active part of my walk with Christ for most of my life but has not been as of late.  I have throughly enjoyed hiding His word in my heart and watching Him teach me new things, while reminding me of others! One verse has been Isaiah 50:4 - "The Soverign Lord has given me an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary.  He awakens me moring by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught."  I'm not always faithful to awaken when He awakens me, but am I ever thankful when I do!!  See what He wakes me up to???

2.  Who did Christ come to save?  Everyone.  No one is exempt.  Acts 26:9-11 - "⁹ “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities."  - want to know who said that?  That would be Paul - as in the man who helped partake in the first ever church planting movement...he was the leading terroist of Christians everywhere - he then became one of the greatest missionaries ever.  Why?  The Lord grabbed ahold of him - pray that we would not confine God to a box.

3.  The Psalms continually speak of the help that comes from the LORD.  Our prayer is that our testimony will always be Acts 26:22 - that no matter the situation or circumstance we will always say "But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike..."

4."To borrow is easier than to innovate" - please pray with us as we work with the Mahafaly - that we will look at EVERYTHING we do.  We will need to be confident that what we are teaching is biblical and not western.  Wedding ceremonies, funerals, church, ministry, life...what does it look like biblically?  Whatever we find...that is the way we should teach it - even if that looks very different from what might be normal to us.

5.  Prayer support is something that is continually being driven home to us.  We need people on their knees.  Everything we know is about to change.  We are about to enter a spirtually oppressed place - a place where Satan has been welcomed and embraced.  We go confidently but not arrogantly.  Our enemy is real.  Our God is bigger.  We are not on the winning side - we are on the side that has already won.  He tells us to be continually in prayer - to be before Him with every single thing...please do this.  We feel humbled and honored to have you lift our family up.  We do not take it for granted.