Blessings through obedience

The longer I live as a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more I believe in God’s blessings, and that the all-powerful, all-knowing God, without Whom nothing would exist, wants us to be blessed, to be full, to be healthy, to be whole. We are His, and as He explains through Luke in His scriptures, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” I believe that God is explaining to His children, and even more specifically to parents, that if you long to give good things to your children and comply with what they ask if it’s in their best interest, why would the Father, being holy and perfect, not do the same, or a million times more than that.

Ever since I accepted God’s gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ and received the Holy Spirit, I have been able to understand God’s way and His word in a way that I was not able to before. This is not surprising as it’s written in 2 Corinthians 3:16 that “whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Ever since this remarkable, life-changing instance, I believe that I have more understanding of God’s law—it’s purpose and importance. As the Lord spoke to me this morning, mainly through Psalm 119, I felt that I gained even more understanding about the blessings that come through obedience to His way and His law.

When it comes to blessings through obedience, we must remember that God’s ways and His thoughts are much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). They are perfect. This means that a blessing through obedience could look very different than receiving some desired material item because you follow God’s laws, or things going exactly the way that you want. I do not believe that being a child of God means that our entire lives will run smoothly and be trouble-free. That is not what the Word teaches us, and thankfully we do not have to win our salvation or His blessings through our actions or performance.  However, I do believe that one great function of God’s laws is to protect us and to prosper us, that He wants us to keep His precepts because it is the best for us and because it brings glory to the King of Glory.

I remember shortly after becoming a Christian, about four years ago, the Holy Spirit began revealing all of this to me. He said, “Mallory, I want you to stop doing this thing because it’s hurting you and I don’t want that. I love you.” (Whenever I feel that I’m hearing God’s voice, it’s all about His love for me- Glory be to His great name.) As we begin eliminating certain sins from our lives, we begin to receive God’s blessings. I do not believe that God is watching down on us from heaven and when we start living life according to His laws, He gives us something we want as a pat on the back. Or that He punishes us if we start veering from His path as a spanking on the butt. However, it is quite logical that the “rules and regulations” that the perfect Lord God Almighty gave to us when we became imperfect are perfect in themselves. So, if we follow them and are obedient to them and to His voice in our lives, we will receive that blessing that is ours to keep in Christ Jesus.

As a quick example, recently I have wanted to wake up earlier to spend more time with God, praying, reading His word and meditating. I know this is something God wants for me as He speaks countless times in His word about making Him first in our lives. When I am tired and want to spend a few more minutes in bed, or when I’d rather use that time exercising and do not take the time to be with Him, my day goes differently. My heart and spirit are not as joyful, peaceful, or calm. When I do take that time in the morning, I am blessed. I do not receive anything material and my day is not mess free, but it does go differently because of my attitude and reaction to everything. This is 100% from the Lord-- the benefit of focusing on Him before I engage in anything, and just one example of the blessings that come from seeking Him and following His word. Whenever I feel that the Lord is leading me away from something or toward something, if I am obedient to that, the blessing is just there: HIS blessing.

Yes, God brought me back to this theme in the morning through Psalm 119, and what a beautiful prayer it is for His children.

I am laid low in the dust,

Preserve my life according to your word.

I recounted my ways and you answered me;

Teach me your decrees.

Let me understand the teaching of your precepts;

Then I will meditate on your wonders.

My soul is weary with sorrow;

Strengthen me according to your word.

Keep me from deceitful ways;

Be gracious to me through your law.

I have chosen the way of truth;

I have set my heart on your laws.

I hold fast to your statues, O Lord;

Do not let me be put to shame.

I run in the path of your commands,

For you have set my heart free.

 

Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees;

Then I will keep them to the end.

Give me understanding, and I will keep your law

And obey it with all my heart.

Direct me in the path of your commands,

For there I find delight.

Turn my heart toward your statues

And not toward selfish gain.

Turn my eyes away from worthless things,

Preserve my life according to your word.

Psalm 119:25-37 NIV

God bless you and keep you.

Peak into summertime...

Hi beloved friend. Hope you're having a nice end of the summer transition into fall. This summer was especially busy for me here in Jarabacoa, filled with new challenges, new people, and fun to be had! I am always thankful for your prayers that maintain and sustain me in the Lord Jesus.

As you may remember reading in my last update, I served as director of the older kid’s program in ANIJA this summer. This was one of my greatest challenges since being here in the D.R. I have never served in a leadership role like that and it ended up being one of those things that’s just harder and more work than you expected it to be.  Never being the leader of a program, one thinks (hopefully it’s not just me) that besides making sure everything runs smoothly, which it probably will, and distributing the funds and doing a bit of planning, there really won’t be that much to do or that much that can go wrong. It’s a program that’s run every summer; so, I’ll just fill this need, doing what I’ve seen others do in the past, and all will be peachy. Then, reality happens.

People are needy and you’re the one who’s supposed to meet those needs. Things aren’t planned and you’re the one who’s supposed to plan them. There is no way you can please everyone, but you try to with the decision that is always yours to make. And with not anticipating these things that go along with being a leader, you can drive yourself crazy going into it. And this is where I found myself at the beginning of this summer, trying to "fill a need" with a naïve attitude and mindset, and not being as prepared as I could have been.

However, the Lord is always faithful and after all was said and done, this was another one of His glorifying seasons in my life here. He taught me life-altering, invaluable lessons about humility, grace, and my own self-worth and sufficiency in Him. I've spent my whole life caring a lot about other's opinions of me, too much at times, putting a lot of my self-worth in what they think of me and my performance. This summer, I lied awake at night stressed out because of people's opinions of how I was running the summer program (most imagined I'm sure) and how much had gone wrong that day in my mind. This is the point where God really began to speak to me about who it was I was trying to please and whose opinion really mattered. As I’ve served on the field here for almost two years now, and have found myself in positions I never dreamed I’d be in, positions I wasn’t "prepared for”, I have seen my weaknesses and shortcomings more magnified than ever. That’s also where I’ve seen God’s grace and power magnified and where I’ve been humbled beyond belief, and I'm so thankful that He keeps bringing me to those points. My father is amazing in His goodness, and I'm grateful for all the personal challenges that this summer brought.

 

2013 Summer Highlights

·         One of the biggest highlights was that a service team from my home church, Holy Trinity, came down! It was incredibly encouraging to me, and watching God move throughout that week was awesome. Also, my brother Jason was on the team! :)

 

 

·         Leading 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade in the ANIJA summer program each afternoon; we went to the pool, rode horses, baked, painted nails, biked, and took a trip to the movie theatre!

 

·         I did my first Bible study in Spanish on the book of Nehemias. It was a great experience and exciting when I could tell that the kids understood me, and even more when they understood what God was telling them through me! I love watching the Holy Spirit conquer language barriers.

·         In the mornings I spent my time at ANIJA as well. I worked with the younger children on the sponsorship project that we’re currently doing. Since summer program ended, I have been going around to the children’s homes to work on the projects there as well. I always enjoy being with them in their homes!

·         I was also more involved with service teams than ever before because of the volume of sponsors who came down. One of my duties as sponsorship site coordinator is to connect sponsors with their sponsor child when they are in town. I had the privilege on going on visits with the sponsors to their child's home almost weekly. Below is a picture of a child meeting her sponsors for the first time.

 

·         There were a group of ten interns living and working in Jarabacoa all summer. Although I didn’t get to know all of them well, it was an encouragement to be around them and to feel their excitement to serve God. I mentored one of the girls and that was a huge blessing.

 

What’s coming up

·         I just moved into a new house, which I really like, so my new roommate and I are still getting acclimated and setting everything up.

·         This semester, I’ll be working in the library again, training an assistant, and working with sponsorship. I’ll also be involved with the University program, mainly building relationships with the ladies. I’m very excited about this.

·         I have a trip home planned from Aug. 31^st – Sept. 9^th for a friend’s wedding. It will be a short trip, but I’m hoping to many of you while there!

Please continue to lift me up in your prayers. I am approaching this third year in a new, more organized way. Please pray I would maintain this new organization in my life here, would take time to rest, and would continue to carry out the work that God has put before me, and to know and remember what that is on a daily basis. Pray for opportunities to build deep, lasting relationships with the university girls and for the Bible study that we'll be doing in the fall. Also for continued involvement in my church here, that God would continue to use and grow me there as well.

I am beyond grateful for your on-going support toward God’s mission here in the D.R. May the children know His light and salvation!

Jesus said, " Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14