2009 "Shining Truth"

But also I am writing a new command to you, and you can see its truth in Jesus and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

John 1 2:8

Truth that shines is illuminated truth.

Truth that is illuminated has been touched by the light and revealed.

 

And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
      A morning without clouds, 
      Like the tender grass springing out of the earth, 
      By clear shining after rain.’

2nd Samuel 23

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend^[a] it.

John 1:4-5

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 14:6

But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
      That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. 

Proverbs 4:18

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works

and glorify your Father in Heaven." Matthew 5:16

"Arise, shine for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD, is

risen upon you." Isaiah 60:1

He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 

Revelation 1:16

Father God, 

May this new year be one of "shining truth." May we commit to seek Your "shining truth" in all things - this year and always.  May those of us that see...be blinded...and those that have been blind, gain sight. May Your Truth, that has become flesh and walked among us... lead us in a way we haven't gone before...a path where we lean not on our own understanding but completely and fully on the Light of the World to illuminate the way. May the Jesus that shines forth through us, blind others to "us"...to our person...obscurring "us"...but radiating and illuminating Him. May we not hesitate to follow and to put our trust in You LORD, for Your glory is risen upon us and the true light is already shining.  Thank you for these present tense promises and Your "shining truth", LORD. Thank you for Your Son, Jesus. It is in His Name, we pray.  Amen.

 

Praise for the Small Things

    

Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.

Hebrews 13:15 AMP

The world's greatest gift was delivered in a little package - a baby. God loves to use small things and improbably small situations to speak BIG.  He used David against Goliath and He often uses the situations we've almost taken for granted to make a huge point. 

This week my son had basketball try-outs and I offered and he asked for prayer - at least 6 times.  It was when he asked if I could pray for him and his friend and then I turned to find them both down on bended knee...that I noticed His great power at work in the "small" moment.  When I got in the car this morning, wincing from stiffness in my body, this same "small" person put his hand on my shoulder and said, "LORD, please make mom's shoulder feel better. In Jesus' name, Amen" it was all I could do to see and drive at the same time, as tears of thankfulness and the realization of God's speaking BIG flooded in.

Please join me in making a different kind of Christmas list...a "Praise List" of God speaking in the small things. May the words of our testimony speak BIG and glorify His name! (Send your praise to gdhiggins@gvtc.com and I will gladly post it.) Merry Christmas!

Praise List for the Small Things That Speak BIG!

* Thank you LORD for showing me that my youngest child is already a BIG prayer warrior in Your kingdom. Gina Higgins

*Thank you LORD, that when I was discouraged this week, you sent the perfect antidote at the perfect time. Your love is humbling...and HUGE! Sonia Roper

*Thank you Lord for the small changes my husband made this week, that spoke HUGELY to my heart, without me even saying a word to him and instead bringing the issues to You. That's exciting! AB

*Thank you so much LORD for people, and friends that listen to Your Holy Spirit when you tell them to call and spend time with someone, like someone did for my daughter today.  It may seem like a small thing, but to those who are lonely and hurting it is HUGE!!! Andrea Baine

Our Gift This Year: Open and Broken

Photo courtesy of sharemycraft.hgtv.com 

Let's face it - we all fall short, all the time.  But are we waiting, as if we were in airport security, for the "sin" wand to beep incrementally louder and louder until everyone is looking... before we actually admit it and open up our hearts?  Are we confessing that it was us?  Or are we lumping our sins in with the collective offering and sliding through airport security undetected; our unconfessed sin in someone else's "personal items" bowl?

Only the sin that is confessed and laid at the foot of the cross can be touched by the atoning blood of Christ.  Our confession, releases His power and His power releases us from the wage of sin that is, "death."

We know God wants our sin revealed so that we may be healed.  He wants it out in the open and our natural man broken in order that we might be desperate enough to repent, and humbled enough, to receive. For He longs to forgive us. He longs to redeem us from the pit, so that we might know He is God.

Can we ever gaze upon the cross without "confoundedness and shame?"  Think about Christ...the one without sin, out in the open and broken. A Savior altruistically loving us into an eternity...our freedom bought by what only the wage of our sin could pay.

 Just as Christ was open and broken before the world, we must be "open and broken" over our sin.  Without it, we cannot repent of our wrongdoings...and if we cannot repent (because we are not sorrowful enough for all of our dealings not leading to righteousness) then we cannot receive "the Greatest Gift the world has ever known." 

Praying we will all receive Him anew this season as we celebrate how

"He so loved the world..."

"O Come Let Us Adore Him"...Thank You Father that You love us unconditionally so that we never need suffer shame but can come to Your throne of grace unhindered and with repentant hearts that are soft and ready to receive Your forgiveness.  Please accept our gift this year of our open hearts and broken, surrendered selves  in order that Your love and Kingdom power be further released into our lives and the world. In Your Son's Precious Name We Pray, Amen.

FRIDAYS AT TEN: A Community at Prayer

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

Colossians 4:2

Scripture Readings:

Gal. 5:15-26

Zephaniah 3:9-17

Heb. 12:25-27

1st Chronicles 14:8-17

Isaiah 60:1-9

Words Given:

*In a plowing season

*Pray for breakthrough, protection, provision

*Stand!

"Power of Prayer" Testimony:

We prayed that the wedding Steve Craig was officiating at would be an evangelistic tool for God.

A man came up to him at the wedding and asked him, "should John 3:16 mean something to me?" 

Prayers:

 Arise, shine;

      For your light has come! 
      And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 
      Isaiah 60:1

A predominant theme this past week was children and so we lifted up our children,

parents, schools, leaders, churches and nation for God's hedge of protection to

be around all the places we frequent and for their to be less of us and more of 

God...all the time.  

Join us every Friday at 10 a.m. in the Crossroads Building (the first Friday of the

month is specifically dedicated to our community's children.)  

May God Bless You this Thanksgiving.

The "B" in Butterfly is for...Becoming

I pray, we, as parents would have the grace and guidance from the Father that when we look at our children, we won't see them as their sin.  Not that we don't discipline or correct them, but that we would realize that He is continually working and creating in their lives even when we only see ugliness or things we don't like (worms); that we would look beyond that and see them as He sees them; beautiful, colorful butterflies that are delightful to the eye. Being someone who has experienced firsthand, the devastation that a child's sin and rebellion can bring upon a family, I can honestly say that the Father speaks beautifully to the heart of a mother who is feeling as if she is in the pit because of what her child has done.  Only the Father can glue a mother's broken heart back together making it more loving and compassionate than it ever was before.  Only the Father can show the birthing and hope of His new creation in Christ through a parable of butterflies and caterpillars.  Not just stories that have somehow made their way to me, but solid, tangible living creatures in my own backyard.  He gives me reminders of this every day and calms my soul with lovely strokes of colorful flutterings.  When I see a butterfly it takes my breath away, it is such a reminder to me of what my child is "becoming" through this time of struggling in her cocoon (sin).  Only a loving, merciful Father would be kind enough to sustain me that way.  I pray that you also will allow Him to show you butterflies and that you would not focus on the worms!

~ Andrea Bain

Of Poignant Dreams and Powerful Poems...

The dream:

I was walking down a dirt road and I passed by all of these healthy looking deer lying around. When I got to the end of the road I was horrified to find a severely starved deer tied up to a tree. I ran to the convience store because I knew the deer was to the point of death and could only swallow and hold down milk...solid food wouldn't do for this severely hungry deer. So I ran to this store and I was in a desperate hurry because there was only lunch meats in the fridge and finally after searching and searching I found some milk and fed it to the deer in a sauce pan. Then I woke up. I think this is about seeking "pure spiritual milk" and returning to the "elementary principles of Christ" 

The poem:

What if I saw Jesus?
Not in my pancakes or on a crying statue
But back then
When he walked in human form
Before he beat in the hurts around me
And his name was constantly on their breath

How would I define him?
Nothing spectacular
Would I second-guess his goofy theology? 
And question his use of scripture?
Would I even like Lazarus
Or would I wish he had stayed dead?

Would he heal me if I were bleeding?
If I was deaf
Or blind
Or just a little hard and angry
And if he did
Would I turn and follow only him?
Would I even turn back and thank him
Or would I be one of the ten 
Who shrugged off a miracle?

If he charged me to tell no one
To not mention God’s shining on him
Would I listen?
Or would I blabber on and on
If he told me to go and share my story
Of brokenness and pain
Would I run and jump at the chance to
Utter some vulnerability
Or would I wait and hide in shame?

Would I like the people he liked?
And see past the crookedness and ugliness

Or
Would I define Jesus just like I defined the rest of you?
You, being the ones around me
Who have poured into me
And hurt me the same

When Jesus sat at the wedding of Cana
Would I label him a drunkard and discredit him from then on
When he flipped over the tables in the temple
Would he be destroying my merchandise too?
T-shirts devoted to the idol I have built
Bumper stickers devoted to the temple of megan cullip

When he touched the leper
Would I be able to hug him and high five him
The same?

When he stood up and yelled in front of everyone
In the temple
During Succoth
Would I dismiss him as obnoxious?
Or too loud?
Would I compare him to those people in class?
Who can’t seem to resist to raise their hands
And shake up the status quo
While the rest of us sit in the back
Play dumb
And watch the fire inside fade to black
Stopping the waters from flowing within

Would I trust him enough?
To crawl into his lap,
To let my hair down
And wash his feet

Or
Would I consider him cold and hard?
And bury my talent in the sand 
Like I often consider authority to be
How I shut my mouth off
For fear of being noticed
Fear of their presumed harshness
And so never make a risky investment

While others flourished and were nurtured
By rabbis who only wished talents to multiply

When He cried “Abba!”
Would I have dismissed it as weak and childish?
I haven’t spoken “daddy” 
Since the days of Hop on Pop
When I still jumped inside to see
Him come home
Before I stiffened and ran away

Would I have the sense to realize that
In my Abba’s house
There are many rooms
And so stop striving and clawing my way
To be recognized and fed 
The filth muck syrup of human praise

Would I stop striving
And simply
Rejoice with those rejoicing
And
Weep with those weeping

Would I have the courage to keep knocking
On the door of my savior’s house
All the while believing 
That God is a god
Who waits
To test
And know
If our hearts have what it takes
To beat in tandem with His

Could I lead like Moses?
Standing and looking over the Promised Land
The one I failed to inherit
And yet 
Still
Bless the ones who pushed me?
To anger
And frustration
To strike the rock
And so die 
In the sand my feet touched
When I first called Him holy

Would I bless them?
Your children

Or 
define them as rebels
Recalling only their darkest hours
And in my last hours
Would you Oh God..be the one to bury me?

How would I define Jesus
Would I define him as sweetly has he 
Has defined me?

Or
Would I miss your beauty?
Because I was afraid
To approach the mountain
Where the thick darkness was
Where you stood

Could I look past it and see
That the whole time you
Stood there smiling
Shining on us
Thundering the whole time
Just to say
You are not angry

To say that you know
On a good day
And a bad
We have made these choices
Thought these thoughts
And you just want us to come back

To realize that fig leaves
Are never enough
To cover ourselves

To understand and know
With all our hearts
That death 
Has lost its sting

That while we sit punching air
Sweat and blood running
That you are a God who has already
Fought the fight
For
Us

And that we need only 
To be still
And watch
How you define and write
New names
New stories
All pointing
To the fire that burns inside of us
And the spirit of him who
Still
Raises the dead

~ Megan Cullip ~

The Ocean of Divine Love

"The Lord sometimes suffers his people to be driven into a corner that they may experimentally know how necessary he is to them. Ungodly children, when they show us our own powerlessness against the depravity of their hearts, drive us to flee to the strong for strength, and this is a great blessing to us. Whatever our morning's need may be, let it like a strong current bear us to the ocean of divine love. Jesus can soon remove our sorrow, he delights to comfort us. Let us hasten to him while he waits to meet us."*

Could it be that the ocean of divine love washes over us the moment we surrender

and allow His nature predominance and rule over our emotions?  

Instantly we are afloat on the waves of mercy...His love, His strength, His grace flooding

our spirits as we no longer "bar the gate" with our wounded hearts.

God doesn't exist to justify our hurts...He is there to comfort us "through them," so that through our tears and our own brokenness we can comfort others and through no power of our own - extend love to the one who hurt us. 

At what moment are we going to allow the ocean of divine love to wash over our feelings of anger, unforgiveness, envy, jealousy, fear and hate...will it be in 10 years? Next month? Next week?

Tomorrow? Today...or right now?  

Heavenly Father,

I pray we all choose now. Your love is better than life.  I pray we realize we need hearts full of "unconditional love" more than we need justification for holding on to emotions that slowly poison us and destroy our relationships.  Revive us, refresh us and hear our cry as we come boldly before Your throne of grace with our wounded hearts and say, "I surrender all."  Thank you Jesus. 

Amen.

who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:4 NKJV

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

And they divided His garments and cast lots.

Luke 23:34 NKJV 

 All I want is You to have Your way

You are the Potter and I am the clay

All I need is You to have Your way
You are Creator and I'm what You've made

Finally I Surrender

You are God...I am man... You are sovereign

(Misty Edwards - Surrender lyrics)

* Taken from Charles Spurgeon's  Morning and Evening, Morning, September 17th

Prayer Sign-Up Lists

Thank you for signing up to pray.

Below are the time slots currently available.

If you would like me to add your name to 

a time slot please e-mail Gina Higgins at:

 gdhiggins @gvtc.com with the date and time. 

* NOTE: After noon on Friday, Sept.5th, please contact Sonia Roper at S.roper@sbcglobal.net.

Thanks so much!

Thursday, Sept. 4th

Noon - Sue Powell

12:30 - Joy Potts

1        - Cecily Breig

1:30

2 - Deb Myers

2:30

3 - Mel Swartz

3:30 - Mel Swartz

4  -  (covered - cannot read name!)

4:30  - Teresa Moore

5       - Millie Mitchmore

5:30  - John Jones

6       - janet Cray

6:30 - Angela Gilbert

7      -  Ernest Gallando  

7:30  - Tana Croley

8       -  Lynn Chenault

8:30  -  Cecily Breig

9       -  Wes Moore

9:30  - Dede Wolf

10     - Steve Craig

10:30 - San...?

11      - Wendy Davis

11:30 - Tom Davis 

Friday, Sept. 5th

12 - 2 am - Dawn Marshall

2 -  (Covered - C.R.Name)

2:30(Covered - C.R. Name)

3     - Mel Swartz

3:30 - Mel Swartz

4      - Joanie Dean

4:30  - Mechelle Salmon

5       - John Roper

5:30  - John Roper

6       - Denise Whistler

6:30  - Lee Fisher

7       - Ann Lynette Gallas  

7:30  -Bruce Murchison

8       - Ernest...Ballardo

8:30  - Tina and Marvin Melson  

9       - Tina Melson

9:30 -  Patricia Manrique/Michelle Bondanza

10     - Marvin Melson

10:30 - 

11      - 

11:30 - 

Noon

1       - Jenny Rudd

1:30  - Brent Bommann

2       - Deb Myers

2:30  - Vera Cruz

3       - Mel Swartz

3:30  - Mel Swartz

4       - Linda Schweighert

4:30  - 

5       - Millie Mitchmore

5:30  - (Covered - C.R.Name)

6       - (Covered - C.R.Name)

6:30  - Kim Dean

7       - Kim Dean

7:30  - 

8       - 

8:30  -   

9       - Bella Salazar

9:30 -  Scott Giese 

10     -   Pastor Heare

10:30 - Gina Higgins

11      - Gina Higgins

11:30 - Sonia Roper

Saturday, Sept. 6th

12 am - James Croley

12:30   - Covered - C.R.Name)

1          

1:30

2       - Megan Cullip

2:30  - Megan Cullip

3       - Jack Dean

3:30  - Mel Swartz

4       - Mel Swartz

4:30   - Mechelle Salmon

5        - John Roper 

5:30   - John Roper

6        - Laurie Cheves

6:30   - Dan Mooney

7        - Brooke Blevins

7:30   - Brooke Blevins

8       - Lee Fisher

8:30  - Cheryl Swartz

9        - Debbie Murchison

9:30   - Bruce Murchison

10      - Tina Siller/Ernesto Gallardo

10:30

11 - Covered - C.R.Name

11:30 -Noon  - Hortensia Jimenez/Mark

Noon 

1          - Nancy Salazar

1:30

2

2:30

3       - Mel Swartz

3:30  - Mel Swartz

4

4:30

5      - Millie Mitchmore

5:30 

6

6:30

7

7:30

8

8:30

9

9:30

10       -  Pastor Heare

10:30  - Debbie Bommann

11

11:30

Sunday Sept. 7th

12 am - Sonia Roper

12:30   - Joanie Dean

1

1:30

2

2:30

3       - Mel Swartz

3:30  - Mel Swartz

4       - Joanie Dean

4:30  - Michelle Salmon

5       - Teresa Moore 

5:30  - Nancy Salazar

6

6:30 Judy Smith

7 - Patricia Manrique/C.R. Name

7:30 - Laurie Cheves

8

8:30

9

9:30

10       - Nancy Salazar

10:30

11

11:30  - Nissi Salazar