Out of the Saltshaker

God's Spirit was with us as we took a personal look at "Being Transformed through Sharing Faith" last Saturday.

I highly recommend Out of the Salt Shaker and Into the World by Rebecca Manley Pippert. It is an extremely practical gift to help you face and overcome your fears. Full of practical examples, you will observe many possibilities and explore how you can grow in confidence in sharing the Good News you've found. It also has questions for group study in the appendix--another practical tool.

Thank you to readers who prayed for us that day. We will discover one day how those prayers impacted eternity.

I never lead a retreat or speak unless I've asked a group of people to pray for me, because when we pray according to God's will, I KNOW He hears us. And, since that's the case, I know He greatly blessed those women with a refreshed urgency to share God-words, marrying them with the good deeds.

I also want to lift up Ed Silvoso's Prayer Evangelism as another great tool. The reminder is that we pray and become sensitive to God's holy nudgings before we say anything. Talk to God about your neighbors before you talk to your neighbors about God!

There are many good tools available. There's a resurgence of interest--finally--in obeying the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). It's time. It's past time, yet the Lord is patient. Let's not waste His favor.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Read 2 Cor 5:11-21 and listen for the Spirit's alerts. What do you discern?

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God (verse 20).

What is Christ's appeal through you?

Transformed Through Sharing Faith - Women's Seminar

Women's Seminar- Saturday, April 27th, 9 am to 3 pm.

Poor examples and distorted expectations often undermine our confidence in sharing our faith. "Transformed Through Faith Sharing" will examine the Great Commission, the role of the Spirit's enablement, and common fears.

Besides spiritual and emotional refreshment, you will leave with practical ways to overcome your identified fears and share your faith.

This women's seminar will be held at Cross-Wind United Methodist, 616 N State Road 25, Logansport, Indiana on Saturday, April 27th, 9 am to 3 pm.

Your registration of $39 includes a healthy and delicious lunch catered by Rob & Angie McMinn. We invite you to get a group of friends and come sharpen your skill as a disciple of Jesus Christ for the transformation of your world!

Groups of 5 or more pay $29 each if registered together and prepaid by April 20th.

Please send your name, address/email, phone, church affiliation, and checks payable to Paula Gast, 5801 Trinity Road, Muncie, IN 47304. For groups, please send in one envelope with info for each person. Thank you.

 Please contact Paula Gast through transformingword@sbcglobal.net if you have further questions.

 

Guest Blog--Insights in the Dark

One of our daughters shared this experience with me and kindly agreed to share it with you also. Thanks, Charissa.

It's 4 a.m. and I am wide awake. My alarm certainly didn't go off, and I didn't get to bed till 1:30 a.m.. I lay in bed for a half hour hoping to fall asleep. My day is full--I know I need rest, but it makes no difference. So I get up and go to my desk to get some work done for the day.

It's now after 5 a.m. and yoga seems like a good idea. If I can't sleep, I might as well relax and stretch out my body from the craziness of the week. It's only 5:30 now. What to do?

I get a sudden urge to go down to the beach, so I peer out my window and see a quiet sky lit only by stars. The urge is so strong I don’t question, just change my clothes and grab my phone.

No one in the elevator, no one in the lobby, not even in the gym I pass by. I get to the stairs that lead down to the ocean. I stop and wonder, What am I doing? It's 5:45 in the morning--not a soul out, it's pitch black, and here I am going down to the beach by myself.

What if there are scary men down there? I feel a quiet check in my spirit saying what I’m doing is right, so I proceed down stairs I can barely see.

It is beautiful and creepy stepping into the sand. Not a person in sight, the little I can see is directly in front of me. The stars in the sky envelop me and the sound of the waves crash around me. I stumble upon some chairs near the stairs, so I decide to sit in what seems like a safe place.

I look up admiring the stars and the moon, thanking God for the beauty he has put on display for us. I close my eyes and breathe in the fresh salt air, thankful that God has worked healing into nature for mind, body and soul.

I open my eyes. There is a dark moving object on the shoreline. With each wave crashing, it takes new shape. Is this an animal coming out of the ocean? Will it harm me? Will it kill me? Should I be afraid? Realizing I shouldn't have watched those videos of killer whales surfacing on the shore to kill their prey then return to the water, I begin to feel fear release from my body. At a tender rebuke from my Creator, I close my eyes, focus and meditate on God, and breathe calmly again … even though I occasionally open my eyes to confirm there is no killer whale coming out of the ocean to harm me.


 

With eyes opened and focused on what is most likely a rock, I become aware of how fear separates me from the sweet connection I have with God when I focus solely on him.

I wonder: of what else am I afraid?

What if a man is going to walk up towards me, realize I am alone and harm me?
What if the company I so love working for has to close their doors and I am out of a job?
What if the house I am in now sells before I can find something else? Will I even be able to find a place I can afford?
Will I ever meet a Christian man I want to marry?

The waves continue to crash around me, but calm has come. God is replacing fear with truth.

The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?

Fear and trust don't work together. I will focus on what I can't quite see, or what I can't see at all. Gazing up at the stars and the moon that is taking on more light from the rising sun, I choose to trust.


FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

Read Psalm 27 and Luke 12:22-43.


One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze up on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple (Psalm 27: 4).

David had reason to doubt and fear. Evil was planted at his door, but he made the choice to live in trust, not fear: to seek, dwell, gaze and seek some more.

What are the things that breed fear in your life?
How can you actively shift your gaze from the things you fear to God who is good, strong and our salvation?
What does it mean to seek, dwell, gaze and seek some more?

We Won't Fear, Then

Fear can grow in us like cancer.

News about Iran, the UN, our own economy, national and local politics, our bank accounts, children, accidents, cancer, business closures, home foreclosures... I could go on... all feed our fear.

Dislodging us from familiar ruts, upheaval can leave us shaken and fearful.

Psalm 46 reminds us that God is bigger than whatever earthquakes we experience.

"God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea" (verses 1-2, NIV).

It's only natural to be scared when our stability is shaken. That's why it's good to remember that God is stronger ... and is with us in the earthquake. Even though we walk in the midst of trouble, He revives us.

Despite where we find ourselves, God can bring good out of chaos. But we have to hush ourselves in the holy place (see verses 4-6) and, in the Almighty’s presence, we can quietly listen for the Lord’s voice and look for His works (verse 8).

It takes supernatural power to deal with fear. But we access that through the gift of Jesus Christ who is with us. (See verses 10 -11).

So then, even if the mountains get shaken, we won't fear.

For Your Consideration
(See also Psalm 23; Psalm 138:7-8; Romans 8:28-39.)

What helps you remember that God is with you?

Have you told the Lord of Heaven's Armies about your earthquake?

How do you keep fueling your faith and keep from slipping back into fear?

Save Me!

"Save me, I pray, from ...,
for I am afraid ....
But you have said..."
(Genesis 32:11-12, NIV)

Adrenaline was running through his veins as he progressed toward his disenfranchised brother, Esau, and his four hundred men. While he prepared to make a quick exit if needed, Jacob called out to God.

His fear and distress were palpable. He divided his sheep, servants and family into two groups so at least one could escape if they were attacked.

And he cried out to God to save them.

He admitted that he was afraid Esau would come and attack him, his wives and children. He wasn't hiding that. How could he? So many lives were at stake as he faced eating the fruit of his old deception.

So in the face of possible death, Jacob reminded God of His promise. "But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted" (Genesis 32:12).

Later that night Jacob wrestled with the Angel of God by the Jabbock River. He had to acknowledge his strength was no match for God's, and after he did, he walked toward Esau with confidence, despite a new limp.

"I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." (Genesis 32:30)

Jacob's fear of losing his life at Esau's hand brought him to a different type of power encounter. There he regained his life.

For Your Consideration:
I invite you to meditate on the components of Jacob's prayer and make them your own.

1. "Save me."
In what arena of your life do you need God's intervention?

2. "For I am afraid."
Can you name an emotion that might be fuelling your desperation? And will you name the source of that emotion, laying it out before God? (Compare 2 Kings 19:14-19).

3. "But you have said."
As you recall scriptures the Spirit of God has impressed upon you, which promise can impact your situation in life changing ways?

Artwork by Ira Thomas, http://www.catholicworldart.com/Jacob.html