Trusting God

It seems like I read somewhere that if we can trust God with our spiritual lives, why can’t we trust him with our physical lives?  As I was reading in Romans today, I was struck by the faith of Abraham.  God had given him many promises and yet it was several years later before Abraham started to see the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises, through the birth of his son Isaac.

“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”   Abraham did not work to make the promise of God come true, instead it was a gift from God.  God promised to make Abraham a father of many nations, even though Sarah, Abraham’s wife was barren.  Sarah was elderly and beyond childbearing age before she became pregnant.  This was a gift and a work of God, Sarah had no ability to conceive by her own power.

God took two senior citizens and began a fulfillment of his promises not only to them, but to generations of believers that would come after Abraham and Sarah.

As I think about the challenges I face in this season of life; my spirit hears, “Trust me, as I was faithful to Abraham and Sarah, I will faithfully see you through this life.”

As a believer I have put my trust in God’s saving grace through Christ Jesus my Lord. The question to myself is; If I can trust God, to save me and bring me safely to His heavenly home, as He promised; can’t I trust him to walk with me through my everyday struggles?

Nothing is too hard for God.  He knows our financial, spiritual, physical, mental and emotional struggles.  He is able to help us overcome any obstacle that we face.  We only need to trust and rely on Him and take a step of faith to receive more of His grace every day.

Lord, help us to not only trust you for our eternal life, but to also take care of us and help us through the challenges we face each day.  Amen

Encouragement in God’s word:

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.  Amen.” Phil. 4:19-20

  “For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:8-10

The Warrior's Cry

Son of God, Son of Man, lead us through this desolate land.  Lead us with your light so bright.  Give us strength for the fight.  When darkness presses in, may your Spirit give us truth within.  Son of God, Son of man, may your brightness flood this land.  As the hordes of evil try to press in, Jesus you are our Light that is our defense.  Push the darkness back, open up the blind eyes to see, set the captives Free.  Give a battle cry Oh Lord and may we follow you as you go forth, our conquering Lord and King.

“Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before.”

No weapon formed against us can prosper.  If God is for us, who can be against us? The Lord is our light and salvation, whom shall we fear?  The mountains tremble at his name and the earth shakes in the presence of the King of glory. Who is this King of Glory?  Christ Jesus is his name, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Son of God we proclaim.

Finding Christ in Christmas

Why do we get tangled up in the tinsel and wrapping paper?  Christmas is about Christ.  It seems like every year I start out with this goal to focus on Christ for Christmas and then I get caught up in the hustle and the bustle of the season.  I love to give gifts and I enjoy getting them.  I start focusing on what gifts to get and who to get them for.  I start thinking, “Did I get the right gift?  Will they like this gift? What can I get that person?  They have everything.”

If I allow my thoughts to continue in this pattern; I can find myself tangled up in the trapping of buying, giving and getting gifts instead of focusing on God’s indescribable gift, JESUS, born in Bethlehem long ago.

Who is this babe that we celebrate on Christmas day?  A child born in a stable, who the angels declared and the shepherds ran to see.  He is the long awaited Messiah, Savior of the world.  He is the perfect Son of God; the promised King that will rule with justice and righteousness forever.  He is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to the, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you  in born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manager." Luke 2:8-12

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon  his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”  Isaiah 9:6-7

The Christmas presents will all be unwrapped on Christmas Day and wrapping paper will be strewn all over the floor.  Soon the Christmas tree, ornaments and lights will be put away and not pulled out for another year.  Many of the gifts that we are so excited about giving, or getting will be used up, worn out, or maybe even forgotten by next Christmas. But there is one gift that will never wear out; God’s amazing gift to this world, Christ Jesus our Lord.  May you and I find Him in this Christmas and share him with others.  He is the gift that keeps on giving

Have a Joyous Christmas filled with the Love of Christ.

Love, Triss

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Hope ( A Son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder)

As I listened to the news and see so many things that break my heart, I felt that I needed to focus on hope.  Christmas time is a time that I grew up feeling was a joyous time full of anticipation and hope.

Those lingering feelings are still with me and when I look at the problems in the world, I start to feel them fade because I forget that my hope is not based on the government that I see here on earth, but instead it is based on a heavenly government that is on the shoulders of the Son of God, Jesus.

Today I want to remind myself and you that we have a hope in a Wonderful Counselor that can give us wisdom during trying times.  He is also a mighty God that is able to do much more than we could ever ask or imagine.  He is a Father to the fatherless and we can sit in his lap and receive love and comfort.  Finally He is the Prince of Peace.  During these tumultuous times, we have Jesus our Lord to run to so we may experience a peace that is beyond understanding.

Dear friends, whatever you are facing, remember that our time here is a momentary light affliction and that we have a just and righteous God, who is on the throne and He will faithfully bring us through this time into His kingdom that never ends.

May the Lord so fill us with hope in our spirit's  through His Spirit that others may receive the gift of  Jesus this Christmas.  Amen

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

“There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:7

Portraits of Peru-Anderson

So here I was the second day in Peru, going to meet my six year old sponsor child for the first time. I love children and I enjoy connecting and playing with them, so why was I nervous about spending a full day with Anderson?  I was thinking, what am I going to talk about with him all day long? Will he be shy? That’s how he looks like in his picture.

As I was in lobby of the hotel, looking around at the kids, one seemed familiar. My interpreter said, “There is your sponsor child, Anderson.”  I walked over to this little boy with big brown eyes and deep brown skin.  As I went to talk to him, his mother gently pushed him towards me and his face split into a smile as he gave me a hug.  I knew everything was going to be okay.

I asked him few questions about his family, school and hobbies, before we had to get into the bus to go to the beach.   As we were talking, Anderson found out there was a hotel and swimming pool at the beach and he was so excited about going swimming in a pool.  He had been to the beach before, but never a pool!

As we drove along the highway, he pointed out different things we were passing.  His questions came non-stop. “Is there a slide in the pool?  My dad told me about a giant slide that went into a pool.  How long will it be before we get there?  I hope there is a slide in the pool.  Look, there is car coming towards us.  Oh one just passed us up.”  His enthusiasm and excitement was contagious.

I then told him that he probably would count at least a hundred cars passing us before we arrived at the beach.  He proceed to count each car passing and as the interpreter said number after number in English, I told her she didn’t need to interpret each number, especially since I had given Anderson the idea to count them all.

When we arrived at the beach, Anderson saw the swimming pool and we  had to call him back to get his wrist band and wait for all of us to change our clothes.  As we were in line waiting to change into our bathing suits, the music played and Anderson started to dance.  I told him that I loved to dance too, so the two of danced around and around.

When we went to the beach, we played soccer in the waves with a beach ball.  Anderson loves soccer; He told me that he watches every soccer game that Peru played.  He could tell me the scores of the games and which games they won and which they lost.  While we were playing ocean soccer, we would yell gooooal, if we kicked the ball past each other.

Finally we were able to play in the pool.  Before any of us adults could get to the pool, Anderson was already there and he jumped in uninhibited.  We played keep the ball away from the shark and the alligator, and splashed around in the pool for almost hour. 

As we were playing, Anderson noticed a little boy and girl nervous about getting in the water and he went over to encourage them to get in.   He talked to the parents and the children.   He was a confident and compassionate little boy.

When it was lunch time, it was hard to get him out of the pool, he so enjoyed it. But we managed to convince him that he needed to eat his lunch. As were eating, more talking and questions came.  Suddenly he noticed that other people were playing at a nearby pool table.  He wanted to play too, “Can I play? Maybe they will let me play if I ask.”  Mom told him wait until after lunch.  Between mom, the interpreter and I, we convinced him to finish lunch before playing pool.

After we finished our game, we all sat down and I gave Anderson and his mom some little gifts. Of course he wanted to play with the balls, but mom said to draw a picture to give to me.   Mom knew that it was almost time to go.  With mom’s help Anderson drew a picture of the interpreter, him and me playing in the pool, and then we prayed and got back on the van.

 As we were leaving, Anderson said, “Mom, we need to come back her again.”  Now his question was, “When could they come back and do this again?”  And then he asked me a question. “When will you come back again?”  My heart wanted to say soon.  I had fallen in love with this little boy so full of life and love.  My answer instead was, “probably not for a while, it depends on God’s plan.”

As we drove off, satisfied with a day that was beyond my expectations, slowly Anderson relaxed and fell asleep.  All of us felt quite content and tired, so we joined Anderson in a little nap, as the driver drove us back to Piura.

Portraits of Peru-Seeing Jesus

Lord, where did I see you?  I saw you in a child’s smiling face.  I heard you in the strum of a ukulele and the worship of a team mate.  I saw you in the hands of a friend helping a young child tie knots in a pillow.  I saw you in the laughter of two young girls making friends with children in Peru. 

One place that I saw you Lord that humbles my heart was in the quiet lady, who served at the restrooms all day long.  Children and adults would go in and out of the bathroom stalls and she came behind them all with her bucket of water to flush the toilet.  Not a complaint or bad attitude did I see or hear; I just saw a humble servant, doing what needed to be done.

The Ladies in kitchen Lord, cooking, serving and cleaning up the dishes of over 100 children, twice a day;

I saw you there too.

Where else did I see you Lord?  I know that you were working everywhere.  I caught glimpses of you throughout the days and still Lord I am sure that there were times that I was distracted and I did not see you pass by.   

A gentle touch, a kind response, a listening ear, a silent tear and a joyous praise, those are places that I am in each day.  I am not only in Peru; I am where ever you go.  I have promised to be with you always.  You only need to have your spirit in tune with mine.  I will show you where I am working and will invite you to join in.  Be careful of allowing the world to distract you from the purpose I have called you to.  When you start to drift away, call out my name and I will pull you back to me, the anchor of your soul.

Lord, my prayer is that you truly change me, don’t let me remain the same.  Keep reminding me of the people and the work that you are doing in Peru and the work that you want to do in and through me here.  

Don’t fear my little one; you are a work in progress.  I pour out my grace upon you every day and the good work that I started in you; I will be faithful to complete it. Keep following me step by step.  When you fall and scrape your knees, I will be the One that picks you up and helps you continue on my path. I love you and you are mine and I am yours.

[My hope is that you my dear friends will see Jesus in your everyday and that you will know where he has invited you to join in with his work.  May he remind you that he is with you and he will guide you along the way. Love, Triss]

Portraits of Peru-Milagro

What can I say about Mila?  She is one of those people that you instantly connect to.  On our first day in Piura she and Jenny, both of them interpreters, sat at our table for lunch and started asking questions, making us feel comfortable and welcomed in their country.

Mila had a beautiful big smile and a huge heart, I could tell that right away.  Whenever she interpreted the message for me to the children or the adults, I could hear the love in her voice.  One thing that is important in interpreting is not only getting across the words, but the meaning and heart of the message and she definitely did that!

Sometimes she prompted me by asking questions or making suggestions about what I should ask.  They were the perfect prompts because other ideas would come to my mind, as she made suggestions.

In one instance, she was interpreting for me in the ladies group and she suggested me sharing part of a scripture that applied to the topic.  As I shared that scripture, more came to my mind and I was able to expand on her prompting and encourage the women to trust Christ to be the strength they needed for every situation.

In the same women’s group, I had been asking all the questions, when Mila suggested that I share my experience on how the Lord had helped me through a difficult situation.  As I opened up and shared my story, the women were able to see my vulnerabilities and how Jesus had taken me through my trials and strengthened me.

My heart is connected to my sweet sister in Christ, Mila, and I am so grateful to the Lord to have the opportunity to meet her, to pray for her, and to share the love of God and good news of Jesus to others, as a team.

The last thing I remember her saying was “…until we meet again, either here or in heaven.”   Mila, I love you and thank you for making an impact on my life and on the lives of others.  I hope to see you again here, but if not, I know I will see you someday, in the presence of Jesus.

Triss 11/23/16