Update #85

"Every knee will bow to me and every tongue will swear allegiance." Isaiah 45:23

Me and my friend Angie in Indonesia

I was recently at a revival and people were crumpling all around me. They would receive prayer and voop! down they would go. I had seen and experienced this before but I didn’t fully understand it. So I asked God…“What the heck is going on here?!”

The verse that immediately popped into my mind was Isaiah 45:23…“every knee will bow.” Ok, don’t quite get it God, can ya give me a bit more detail?

Then I remembered a demonstration I had once seen. A man was holding a water bottle. He unscrewed the lid and said “this is us” and held the tiny little white lid in his fingers. Then he held up the water bottle and said “this is what God has for us.” Then he began to pour the water into the lid – and of course it splashed everywhere and got several people wet. “This is what happens when we let God use us – other people are effected.” It was a powerful illustration.

We, as humans, are fragile beings. Bend us too far and our bones break, muscles tear and we have to convalesce and heal. Push us too far and our immune systems fail and we become ill. Expose us to new bacteria and viruses and we get sick. Put too much stress on our systems and they rebel through heart problems, skin rashes, headaches, stomach ulcers, gastric upset and so on.

God, who is all powerful, all knowing, almighty wants to work through us! Amazing. The kicker is that we can’t handle very much of him – he is huge, vast and powerful. We aren’t. He has to give us small doses of himself or we would die (see Exodus 19-20).

When I asked God about the crumpling people, those falling at a touch, I feel I was told the person praying for them was a conduit - a channel that he was flowing through. Because the person being prayed for was “overcome” by his presence, by the Holy Spirit, they fell. This is what happens when God’s presence enters a room “every knee will bow” (see John 18:6).

Right now we have free will – we can choose him or not. But there will come a point when free will won’t be an option any longer. God loves you – he knows if you are an atheist, if you don’t believe in all this religion stuff, or haven’t made your relationship personal and deep with him. He wants you to choose him of your own free will, your own choice, your own preference. He has chosen you.

Have you chosen him? If yes, are you living your life in such a way that he can “conduit” or “channel” through you to touch others? I Corinthians 13:8 says that there is only a limited time to be used by God – how are you using the time you have left?

Updates:
Living – I found a place! I am right next door to the Johnsons! Thank you for the prayer. I will be moving the week of the 29th! The property close date is still rolling forward due to paperwork stuck in the state capital. Check out the blog for details http://campus.inst.net/
Work – I am taking a partial break and heading up to Seattle for Christmas…yes, leaving 45F and rainy for 25F and snowy! Brrr!


Requests:
Housing – that I will be able to recruit enough help to get my storage unit cleaned out by the 31st, that unpacking won’t take long, and that there will be room for everything!
Work – we are still seeking a training lead! Please pray for this person to surface. This is a key role in our organization and we need someone who is passionate about calling people forth and equipping them for success. We are also seeking a bookkeeper and a publicist.
Travel – safe flight to Seattle on the 20th and back to California on the 28th with all the snow in Seattle travel is a bit on the treacherous side.
Financing – I rely solely on donor support. If these devotions have touched you, caused you to see God differently, or altered your outlook on life AND you are interested in contributing toward my day-to-day needs or to my travel fund, please see ‘Contribute’ at http://www.repurposing.biz/ on the left of the page, or visit http://www.denaandrews.blogspot.com/ and read the footer for additional info.

Blessings,

Dena

PS Merry Christmas!

PPS Choosing God is like voting for the president, your choice will be with you a long time and the ramifications of your decision affect not just you, but many around you.

Update #84

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Me being "kissed" by a 1 year old Thai elephant - she exhaled and startled me!

On Thanksgiving Day, November 27th for you non-Americans, I was in a Bangkok, Thailand bus station. Now, this “bus station” is four stories tall and is a combo mini-mart, strip mall, craft fair, food court, coffee shop, restaurant, bookseller, weight-loss center, cell phone dealer, bus depot (add hundreds of people and their luggage and you get a complete image)…basically, barely controlled chaos.

It was loud. It was colorful. It was crowded. If you have tracked world events in the last few weeks my visit to Bangkok coincided with the shutting down the cities two airports thus forcing thousands of people to consider alternative transport i.e. bus. I was fortunate enough to get two of the last four seats to Phuket (so I could catch a plane to Hong Kong from there).

I don’t speak Thai. I don’t read Thai. I couldn’t understand most of what was said over the loudspeakers. The messaging and music was constant so I eventually tuned it all out. My travel companion, Phil (who I was connected with through a friend of a friend of a friend) has lived in Thailand on and off for about 20 years. Phil, unlike me, does speak and read the language (thank God). At one point we were sitting in the coffee shop/restaurant portion of the depot and he asked “Did you notice that?”

“Notice what?”

“The people.” I looked around. People had stopped moving. All the nationals were standing stock-still, in and outside of the depot. The foreigners (lighter skinned like me) were still zooming, just around all the living-breathing Thai statues.

“What’s going on?”

“Listen.”

The Thai national anthem was being played. In reverence to their country and king the Thai people ceased activity and made observance of something they held dear. It was moving to behold.

Wow, I thought to myself. What in my life has the power to make me still myself in the midst of activity? What do I hold in that high of reverence an honor? What do I respect and admire enough to cease activity if it calls to me?

I think I miss a lot. I think that I am often too busy to hear the calling of the still small voice that sings to me of sweet things and peace. I am so conditioned to the loudspeaker message, music, and background noise that I tune out important things.

I tune out God. I tune out all but the squeaky wheel and the “must do’s.” I tune out the callings to my soul to “be still.” After observing the Thai’s I have tried to slow down, to listen more, and to take time to “be still and know God.”

Will you join me?

Updates:
Living – I am living with my relatives, but the Johnsons have made an offer on a property in Los Gatos and so I will be moving in the next month or so. Check out the blog for details http://campus.inst.net
Work – I am back in the San Francisco area catching up and prepping for the upcoming year. I am excited for what it may bring!
Travel – My luggage stayed with me my entire trip! Whoo Hoo! …AND was underweight – a small miracle seeing that the Indonesians are abundantly generous with gift giving. HA! That is an understatement! I didn’t get much sleep and all the planes were PACKED, but I did have my own little TV screen for the longest leg so I watched a lot of movies. I head to Seattle for Christmas the 20th through the 28th.

Requests:
Housing – moving soon…stay posted!
Work – we are still seeking a training lead! Please pray for this person to surface. This is a key role in our organization and we need someone who is passionate about calling people forth and equipping them for success.
Travel – safe flight to Seattle on the 20th
Financing – I rely solely on donor support. If these devotions have touched you, caused you to see God differently, or altered your outlook on life AND you are interested in contributing toward my day-to-day needs or to my travel fund, please see ‘Contribute’ at http://www.repurposing.biz/ on the left of the page, or visit http://www.denaandrews.blogspot.com/ and read the footer for additional info.

Blessings,

Dena

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY dear FELLY!