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In my last post I raised the question, “What does it mean to walk by the Spirit?

Psalm 1:1-2 gives us a good picture of what walking in the Spirit is, because God blesses the one who loves and delights in God’s Word, and whose thoughts are not far from it, day or night and who is not living in the same way as the “wicked,” “sinners,” and “scoffers” around her.

Love

I also affirmed that love of God, indicated by love for his Word (Psalm 1:2), is the crux of our walk by the Spirit. Furthermore, to love God is to love his Son, Jesus Christ, who said, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father … Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” (John 14:21, 23). Here we see the circle of love completed. This is the love that undergirds our walking by the Spirit.

Humility

In our self-centered culture, where we all tend to want our own way, doing only what “I” want to do and resisting the concept that we are accountable to others, we have to remember obedience and submission are not bad words, especially in relation to the authority of God’s Word. They are requisite to walking in the Spirit. A humble spirit is a requirement for submitting to God. God’s blessing of favor is on the meek, the humble, the teachable person (Matthew 5:5). The teachable one learns from Jesus’ teachings and obeys them. Humility is a most vital step toward walking in the Spirit.

We struggle within ourselves to be that humble and teachable person. Jesus knew we would need help to understand and do his words, even when we are his children, so he sent the Holy Spirit to live in and be with his followers after he ascended to the Father following his death and resurrection. He said, ¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you … ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:15-17, 26 emphases added). Learning through the Spirit what Jesus taught is another vital step in walking by the Spirit.

God’s Spirit living in us teaches us God’s words. He makes sense of the Word of God (see 1 Cor. 2:7-13). To live by the Spirit of God means to live in loving obedience to the teachings of God. Obedience to God is born of and nourished by the love of God flowing into and through us, enabling the circle of love to be completed in us.

Obedience

If obedience to God’s Word is crucial to walking in the Spirit, what has He said that we should obey? It is on us to find out. And I think we all know where to start; we read our Bibles to learn who God is, what he is like, how he has dealt with humankind since he created us, and what he has told us about how to live in the world. Among other things, we learn the lengths to which he has gone to redeem us (John 3:16; 17:3). This alone should humble us to listen to him and do what he says!

You can see, then, why daily Bible reading and meditating on (thinking deeply about) God’s word is so vital. Remember Psalm 1:2. Be someone whose delight is in the law/Word of the Lord, and who meditates on his Word day and night. Make the most of the opportunity to read and study the Bible. Not everyone in the world has that privilege and we should not take it for granted.

Personal Bible reading and study, combined with taking time to research and prayerfully meditate (think) on the scriptures is likely one of the most powerful and deeply affecting ways to learn what God has told us, since we ourselves put forth the effort of learning from the Word and listening to the Spirit of God teach us.

God has also given Spirit-gifted teachers and others to the church, so listening to speakers, reading books and articles by these men and women of God is a good way to enhance our study of the Scriptures. But remember, everything we hear and read must be put to the test of the Word of God. That is, God’s Word is the standard by which all of men’s words and ideas are examined and we hold tight to what is in line with God’s Word (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21).

In the past few years, I have begun to study the scriptures in a way that opens me up to having those “ah-ha” moments more frequently, as my mind (and the Spirit of God) puts the “two and two” of his truth together for me. When I show up to learn from the Word, the Spirit shows up to teach.

We’ll talk more about that in the next post, on our journey to understand what walking by the Spirit is all about.

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Photo by Ben White on Unsplash.

If you’ve been in the church for any length of time, as I have growing up hearing sermons and Bible teaching all my life, you get familiar with lots of biblical phrases that, though you may have a vague understanding of their meaning, perhaps have never had them well defined in your mind. Yet we can read and use these phrases without thinking deeply about what they mean. A few years ago, I began contemplating more deeply the meaning of “walk by the Spirit.”

What in the world does it mean to “walk by the Spirit”? What does it look like when I do walk by the Spirit?

In scripture, the word “Walk” is often used to indicate our lifestyle, the way we live our lives. For example, read this familiar psalm: “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers” (Psalm 1:1 NIV, emphasis added). It is clear that words of everyday activity—walk, stand, sit—things most of us do every day, are used to depict spiritual activities as well as physical realities.

The word Walk is often used interchangeably with Live; so then, to say “walk by the Spirit” is the same as saying “live by the Spirit.” So, what is walking or living by the Spirit?

Psalm 1 verse 1 tells us what we should not do and verse 2 gives us a pretty obvious clue of what we should do, a straight-out statement, in fact, as to our responsibility in walking by or in the Spirit. Not only are we not living like those around us (v.1), but we are one of those “whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.”

This love of the Word of God undergirds our life-walk, our lifestyle in the Spirit. And of course, love of the word of God both flows from and results in love of the God who spoke those words. This is the crux of the matter of our lifestyle: love of God.

³⁶ “‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’”

³⁷ “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.”

If we focused on those two commands, especially loving God with all we are, we’d be walking in the Spirit. To help us in our endeavor to walk in the Spirit, there are things we can do to cooperate with God’s Spirit as he seeks to teach and help us.

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More thoughts on that in the next blog post. In the meantime, we could spend some time thinking about being someone who delights in and meditates on God’s Word—where would that lead us? And what it means to keep Jesus’ commands, especially the greatest commands: loving God above all else and loving others.

Where would that lead us?

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash.

Jesus answered him [Nathanael], “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:50-51 ESV)

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I’ve been writing about Nathanael’s experience of coming to believe Jesus was the Messiah. It appears he did so based on the fact that Jesus revealed he had seen him under the fig tree, an occurrence that evidently Nathanael knew couldn’t have happened unless God revealed it. Jesus said to Nathanael that he would see greater things than that, as the verses above attest.

In my last blog I talked a little about the “greater things” Jesus alluded to and those mysterious angels, God’s spirit-servants who play a part in God’s will being done on earth.  Hebrews 1:14 teaches us that angels assist us, we who trust Christ for our salvation, who also have a part in doing God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

Jesus’ words about greater things in John chapter 1 makes me think of what he said about greater works in John chapter 14.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 ESV emphasis added)

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Could these greater things and greater works Jesus spoke of be related? Perhaps in the first instance, you will see greater things, Nathanael and the other disciples are simply observers of spiritual realities as they watch Jesus perform miracles, cast out demons, and heal the sick. As amazing as that is there is more, apparently. For in the second instance, you will do what I do and greater works than these, Nathanael, the other disciples, and even we as Jesus’ current day followers, become more than observers; we enter into the realm of initiators and participants in the spiritual realities of Jesus’ work on earth.

If this were a psalm, I’d insert “Selah” right here. Let’s Pause and think about this.

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Because Jesus went back to the Father in heaven, we his followers, the church, will be carrying on his work on earth. We become participants in the greater things being done and observed by others by doing the greater works of Jesus. In these works, we willingly serve with all our heart and soul and strength.

But we do not depend on ourselves alone.

Jesus promised, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” and “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:18, 15-17).

Never alone, not on our own. How then do we do God’s will, those greater works? “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6b). The Holy Spirit of God lives in us to do the will of God, through the church, Christ’s body on earth.

The Spirit is our Helper in this life as we seek to live for God’s glory, carrying out his will on earth. And remember, we are not the only servants of God; there is a world of spirit activity swirling around us, from earth to heaven and heaven to earth. Unseen but very real angelic spirit-beings serve God with us (Hebrews 1:4, 14); they in spirit, we in spirit as well as flesh and blood bodies doing God’s bidding in this world.

By what means do we do the will of God, those greater works he talked about?  “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). We ask in prayer according to the known will of God and Jesus, through his Spirit in us, does the work in and through us, his church.

Doing God’s will on earth begins and is sustained with prayer and the Word of God.

Would Nathanael have grasped what Jesus said to him (“Before Phillip called you, I saw you under the fig tree”) if he hadn’t been spending time communing with God under his “fig tree,” his prayer closet, his Beth-el? Would he have understood Jesus’ reference to “Jacob’s ladder” if he hadn’t been familiar with the Scriptures (Genesis 28:11-19)?

“You will see greater things than these … you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1: 50, 51). Jesus only reveals such truths to those who are listening, to those who have “ears to hear” and obey.

Nathanael was intimately acquainted with heavenly ladders, angels’ activities, and God speaking to His children, because he studied God’s Word and communed with his Lord. And he spent time with others of like mind. Though he may not have understood all the symbolism of ladders and angels’ work, he was yearning, leaning into God’s truths thus far revealed in Scripture, desiring to know more, desiring to know the God who stood at the top of the ladder, the God who spoke to his children.

And so should we be.

We should be making the space and time to commune with our God in prayer and study of his Word, keeping this in mind: The point of Bible study is to learn what God has said and then put it into practice. Jesus did not say the ones who hear his word are blessed. He said blessed are those who hear his words and put them into practice (Luke 11:28). Nathanael was among those of like mind who were blessed by God for he studied and paid attention to God’s Word, living it out, and when the Messiah stood in front of him, he was able to recognize him as his God and King, ready to serve with all his might.

When we pray, we do so according to what we know is God’s will, those things consistent with God’s character. We learn these things from studying his Word. When we pray asking the Father in Jesus’ name, in his authority, he will act to glorify the Father, doing those greater works through us, his body, his church.

And he may even use angels.

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me. …⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:43-51 ESV).

Believing is Seeing

In my last post I talked about Nathanael’s encounter with Jesus, and how he at first was dubious about how anyone from Nazareth could be the Messiah of Israel, for goodness’ sake.

However, because Jesus told Nathanael he had seen him under the fig tree when there was no way Jesus could have done that without divine intervention, Nathanael believed Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the King of Israel that Nathanael had looked for with longing. Then the Lord told Nathanael he and the others would see greater things than these, things like angels going up and down on a ladder reaching to heaven called “the Son of Man,” who was the Way into God’s presence. It was Jacob’s dream at Beth-el come to life, Jesus’ words declaring himself the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac, and finally to Jacob (Genesis 28:10-22).

Greater Things

The “greater things” Nathanael and the other disciples would see, according to Jesus, was a new realm of spiritual activity that they would become not only observers of but participants in, revolving around the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus himself became The Way to God. He is the “ladder” to heaven. God’s minister’s, his angels who serve him faithfully, though unseen and unrecognized by us, are always doing the will of God (Hebrews 1:4, 14). And we will be, or should be, too.

The appearance of angels can be found throughout the Old and New Testaments. I think because angels are so mysterious to us that though we give a nod of acknowledgement to them, we tend to skim over their activity spoken of in Scripture. Or on the opposite end of the spectrum, see angelic activity, good or bad, everywhere. We know very little about angels so we perhaps are wary of them.

 God has, however, given us all the information we need to know about angels, that they are “all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Angels do unquestioningly the will of God and in some way I do not fully understand, they assist us to also do the will of God, as they ascend and descend, from earth to heaven and back again, on the Son of Man.

Faith to Action

Someday we will all understand this angelic process when faith becomes sight. For now, we can find comfort and assurance that we are not alone in our quest to love and obey our Lord against all odds in this life.

But what is it we are to be doing in love and obedience to our Lord? We’ll consider that in the next blog post.

There seems to be more talk about Revival these days. But just what is a revival and how do these things work? What do we expect of them and how can we make them happen? I would guess that for as many people asked those questions, you’d get as many different answers. We all have our preconceived ideas. But what does revival really mean and how is it maintained?

My husband has done a study on the history of revivals and has created a study/workshop on Implementing the Essentials of Revival.[1]  Quite an eye-opening study. Although we can know and agree on some things about revivals, such as, they are preceded by concerted prayer (though concerted prayer doesn’t always lead to revival), we cannot know how or when the most important element will manifest: the Spirit of God.

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As the Wind Blows

We cannot put God in a box. He moves as he wills.

My husband was born again in a revival in the early 70s (aka the Jesus People Movement) so I know revivals happen and am thankful for such outpourings of the Holy Spirit! But what about after things settle back down? How do we maintain our own personal “revival” spirit? Is it even possible?

The bulk of the New Testament was written to speak to problems in the early church and how we are supposed to live as believers in Jesus Christ. Each epistle, especially, is a call to the people of God to align themselves in obedience with God’s word, with Jesus’ teachings. Here, in scripture, is the “food” for our growth, our sanctification (process of becoming holy); it is the material the Spirit of God uses to teach us God’s will and way.

It would take pages for me to highlight some of the things we have already been given (taught) in God’s word about how to live a godly life in Christ. It’s all there in scripture. Many in the world today do not have God’s word but I trust you are taking advantage of the fact that you have the word of God to study and learn from as God teaches by his Spirit.

Realities of Revival

As I mentioned above, we all can agree prayer is a major part of getting our hearts tuned for revival. Another is increasing in the knowledge of God; his will and way, through seeking him in the Bible, being teachable and learning, putting the word of God into practice in our lives. These things prepare us in everyday life to receive the work of God’s Spirit.

Oswald Chambers pointed out a crucial aspect of maintaining our walk with the Lord when he said, “One thing God constantly requires of us is a oneness with Jesus Christ. After being set apart through sanctification, we should discipline our lives spiritually to maintain this intimate oneness. … all your striving to maintain that relationship by some particular method is completely unnecessary. All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live your life with God in any other way than his way. And his way means absolute devotion to him. Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus.”[2]

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).

“Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³ For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Revival indeed.

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[1] For more information on Essentials of Revival contact jacqueline@jacquelinegwallace.com

[2] Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, March 9, Updated English, emphases added.

In the fall of 2012 Randy and I moved from West Virginia to California ending our hands-on ministry in McDowell County. We handed off the West Virginia work to others while we established ourselves and sought new avenues of ministry in California. I’m sure some people wondered why we left West Virginia for California. Well, in great part, winter weather (which WV has in abundance each year) was never my friend as one who has Myasthenia Gravis (severe muscle weakness) but after a traumatic injury, it became clear we needed to leave ice and snow behind us permanently.

I wrote a blog post about that traumatic event in 2010 and have reposted it here. It is another example of the goodness of God in the midst of bad. Don’t we all cry out for that in our times of trouble? Well, I’ve had a few of those times in my life and I’ve never been disappointed in God and his goodness. Read on.

Broken!

There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. And I am triply thankful to be here after 2 weeks in hospital, for surgery and then rehab hospital. It was not a bad place, just not home. There is no place like home.

Just in case you wonder why I was in a hospital for surgery and then rehab, on Wednesday, December 1, I was walking down our sidewalk to the house when my femur snapped in half and I fell, thankfully onto the grass. When I tried moving my leg the bottom half didn’t move. It was definitely broken. I knew I couldn’t crawl up the hill and cement steps, nor down to the house. I knew Wendy was expecting me to bring the car around (the reason for going to the house was to get my keys) so we could do an errand for the ministry and would wonder why I was taking so long. Surely someone from the office just across the street, which I could see from my position lying on my side, would poke their head out the door and look for me …. I refused to let myself panic, hunkering as best I could against the wind whipping a few snowflakes around me. The ground was cold but not yet snow covered nor frozen. As long as I didn’t move, I didn’t hurt … yet.  I prayed God would send someone out of the office soon so I wouldn’t be there too long on the ground. I tried yelling, “HELP!” several times and waved my arm. Amazing that you must use hip and leg muscles for yelling. And how quickly one’s voice gets hoarse.

Though I was scared and cold, I knew this could be much worse. I could be alone here, no one in the office, no one expecting me at any moment. I thanked God that others would soon come looking for me, that the ground and weather was not yet full blown winter, that I had gloves on, that I had a hood on my jacket which I put under my head on the ground; for so many things. It could have been so much worse.

Rescued!

After what we estimate was about 30 minutes, Randy came out the door of the office onto the porch. Just then I yelled and waved my arm and he yelled to those inside to call 911. I was going to be ok. Deliverance was on the way.

Everyone from the office piled out and did whatever they could to assist. I was piled high with blankets and a heating pad to keep me warm. I had begun to get seriously cold just before Randy showed up. It took another 30-40 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and needless to say I have never experienced such pain as when I had to be moved onto a stretcher for the ride to the hospital, and subsequent moves from one pallet to another in hospital. It would be several hours before I received any pain meds. But I was thankful to be rescued, for that is certainly what it was. As I said, it could have been so much worse.

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After an agonizing X-ray (my femur bone, in 2 pieces, was crisscrossed), it was determined I’d have surgery the next day. In mid-afternoon Thursday I went to surgery (in which a rod was inserted into my femur) and after a day or so transferred to the rehab hospital next door where I spent a week and a half.

Winter storms came rushing into our area with many inches of snow and single digit temps and even below zero windchill temps. Randy couldn’t even get out every day to come the 35 minutes to hospital to visit me. I was glad he was wise and stayed home in the worst of it, though I missed his company. Mountain roads can be treacherous. With this weather the prospect of getting me down through our yard into the house when I was released seemed daunting. It was of great concern to Randy. But God graciously let me be released on one of the only days we had calm weather, higher temperatures and sunshine. The roads were clear and with the help of 3 friends, who practically carried me in the little wheelchair I had, I got down the several steps in our yard and into the house with no incidents. Again, we are so thankful, so thankful.

Unknowns but No Doubts

I do not know why all this is occurring. The why’s belong to God. But I know beyond a doubt that God is good. I have simply yet pointedly prayed that God make something eternally valuable out of all this. Suffering of any kind should never be wasted. God doesn’t waste anything. He knows I am His, totally abandoned to Him; to live for, love and serve Him. May He work out His eternal, righteous purposes through this brokenness of my body.

I am doing rehab on my own at home so far. We do not yet know if there is a home health company which accepts our insurance which can provide in-home rehab. But I see my orthopedic surgeon this Thursday (23^rd December) so please pray all is well, that I will mend properly with no problems, that I will have no blood clots or fat embolisms which can happen with a femur fracture.

Randy has been caring for me at home, fetching and doing everything for me that I am incapable of doing for myself yet, plus running the household: laundry, cooking, dishes, cleaning, etc.

Since our home has a step into our downstairs half bath and a flight of stairs to the only shower, and the yard is all incline and sidewalk steps, Randy has determined for my welfare and safety that as soon as I am ok’d to travel, I will be going back to California to live with our children for my recuperation. It will be a long road to complete recovery with incremental improvements, but by God’s grace I will improve every day.

Randy assures me he sees (my improvement) each day now. If you’ve been through anything like this, you know exactly what it is all about. (While in California, I had surgery to insert a rod into my left femur as it had the same damage the right femur had, with numerous fractures ready to break my bone.)

Thank you for your prayers for me. Please continue them and hold Randy up as he has the extra load of work and burden of concern for me.

Grateful to God for His mercies … and friends like you. May you know more deeply this year His goodness.

Today the Goodness of God Goes On

All those prayers have been answered! The goodness and nearness of God is our comfort and strength in hard times. And in all times. God is good.

First seen on Jacque’sjourney.blogspot.com. Reposted from December 2010 blog post.

Photo by Sadan Ekdemir on Unsplash

Thirteen years ago this month I was in the home stretch of my 18 month breast cancer treatment, living with my wonderful kids in Colton, California, loving my time with my sweet grandkids, but missing my husband who was back home in West Virginia. Throughout this 2009 blog post are sprinkled prayer requests, and as I read through it, I realized all of them have been answered. You cannot argue with what is real. See what God has done.

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February 10, 2009, I wrote:

Thirty down, two to go! Radiation treatments, that is. I look like I have a bad sunburn (on the skin at the site of the radiation) but so far no peeling and very little soreness. All our prayers have been answered to this point and I am very grateful things have gone so well. I am trusting that the internal damage is also at a minimum as we have prayed. God has been good to me and I try to tell that to others, always giving Him the glory.

Friday, February 13, I go in again for another Herceptin infusion [this was one year from the beginning of my cancer treatment]. These last a few hours each session. I will be continuing with these Herceptin treatments every three weeks through the month of July 2009 [I didn’t continue these that long due to the heart damage I sustained; my oncologist called a halt to the Herceptin treatments early]. Then I will be officially done with cancer therapy, except for taking a pill (to suppress all estrogen production) for a total of 5 years. Both the Herceptin and estrogen suppression treatments give me extra protection against cancer recurrence. Not everyone tests positive for these particular receptors, but I did and therefore can benefit from these treatments.

So praise God with us and continue to pray for total healing from cancer, myasthenia gravis and any heart problems.

And now for other great news from the Wallace clan: Jeremy and Monica (our eldest son and wife) are expecting baby #3! We are all looking forward to his or her arrival sometime the end of next summer. Please pray for mommy’s and baby’s health and safety. [He, Jaime, is a strapping 13 year old now and the third of my three fine grandsons; I also have two beautiful granddaughters. Just a little grandma boasting. Jaime’s mommy is fine too, by the way.]

Randy is in Florida as I write, speaking in churches and colleges, recruiting interns and staff for Mustard Seeds and Mountains, promoting Mission as Life trips and the ministry in general. We are excited about the work God has put into our hands, co-laboring with God in McDowell County, West Virginia, yet touching the whole world.

How so, touching the whole world? Mustard Seeds and Mountains’ ministry to people who come and work with us, either on a Mission as Life trip or as an intern or longer term staff, is powerful to change lives because of the working of God’s spirit in all concerned. We at Mustard Seeds bathe everything we do in prayer … as you will hear Randy say, “Pray the work.” Since we are convinced this is God’s work, not the Randy and Jacque show, nor that of anyone else on staff, we look to Him for guidance and the power and provision to accomplish what we need to do.

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And I want to encourage you to do the same, whatever God has put in your hands to do. Together we will build the kingdom of God, come what may. There are no superheroes in God’s kingdom, only servants of the Most High God, the Faithful One, to Whom we are called to be faithful. Got a higher calling? There is no higher calling!

I praise and thank God I have a reason to get up in the morning. His presence and faithful promises keep me going, even when I am tempted to feel sorry for myself. I miss my husband and will not see him for several months, and I get weepy at times. Yet I choose to praise God for all His benefits to me. He has been so good to me. Praise His holy Name.

Thanks for caring and letting me share my thoughts and needs with you. May Jesus Christ hold you together (Colossians 1:17).

Jacque

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PS Today, February 11, 2022, 13 years later, I am going strong, literally. The myasthenia gravis (severe muscle weakness) has been suppressed and I’ve been stronger in the last 13 years than I had been for the previous 40 years. I’m healthy, my heart function is normal, and to date am still cancer free. I’m staying active, even writing blog posts again. And I’m still praising God for his goodness. That is one thing that won’t end.

This blog post first appeared on Jacque’sJourney.blogspot.com in February 2009.