faith in Jesus Christ Archives - Jacqueline G Wallace.com

May 14, 2015

Keep on Running the Race

All kinds of people run. People of all ages run. They run for all different reasons. I would think it is safe to say most people run because they enjoy it, or some aspect of the running experience. I am not a runner so I am speculating here, based on my observations and what I know of human nature. We get involved in things that we like to do or that are meaningful to us.

I was up early Saturday to be at the site of a 5K Race and 1 Mile Family Walk. You have to seriously like to run or walk to be at the venue that early! Or, in my case, serious about participating in something I believe in: the ministry of She Is Safe (www.SheIsSafe.org). They are reaching out to women and girls around the world to “prevent, rescue and restore” them from lives of slavery, oppression and abuse, in the context of lovingly telling and demonstrating the good news of Jesus Christ.

I was at the race as a member of the newly formed Bakersfield She Is Safe Advocacy Group which sponsored the race. I assisted on the sidelines as others walked and ran, their race fees providing funds for She Is Safe to expand their work to more women and girls in the hard places of the world, bringing hope and new life to them.

Just like I had a specific motivation to be at the race to assist, the runners each had their personal motivations for being there too. And on the strength of their inner drive they accomplished their goal: crossing that finish line. Some wanted to be first. Others simply wanted to finish.

They all met their goals of crossing the finish line on their own two feet (or in their strollers!) because they set their minds to do it. All the runners were applauded and many got trophies or awards for placing in various categories, but the feeling of “I did it!” had to be the best prize of all.

Though I am not a runner of foot races, I am a runner in the race of life. We all are. We each have a race marked out for us and it is our responsibility to set our minds to give it our all, our best. Like Paul, we should be “bringing all (our) energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, (we) strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us” [Philippians 3:13,14, TLB).[1]

“What Christ Jesus did for us” should be all the motivation we need to stick to the race course, regardless of how difficult the going may get at times. Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross”[2] for us, should help us keep putting one foot in front of the other with hope burning in our hearts. He finished his race and sat down next to the Father in heaven. He won salvation for all mankind, for any and all who will put their trust in him.

May we keep our eyes on the prize God has for us at the end of our race, motivated by the supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ. May we live “to win for the Lamb that was slain the reward of His suffering.”[3]

For fun viewing, here’s a video of the 5K and Family walk: http://youtu.be/OtyYT3DPYGI

Photos and Video by www.proshowweb.com

[2] Hebrews 12:2

[3] The battle cry of the Moravian Church’s missionary outreach, based on Isaiah 53:10-12. http://www.globaltribesoutreach.org/articlesmoravian

Originally posted on the Abide Prayer Group blog, a women’s ministry of The Bridge Bible Church of Bakersfield, CA.

November 21, 2014

Chapter 3: On Prayer–Prayer as Our Lifeline

(Though the chapter on Prayer has more to it that what I have posted, I will conclude this chapter with the following post. Then I will only a publish a couple more posts on the final two chapters of Brokenness to Beauty. Your feedback is valuable to me! Was this clear? Was it helpful? Leave your comment at the bottom of the page.)

Prayer is our lifeline, our direct line of communication with God the Father. Certainly we cry out to God when we are in need, when we are hurting, whatever form that hurt may take. My suffering, for the most part, has been physical. Others have experienced rejection, abuse, loss of a loved one, economic uncertainty, persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ, or ________________. Fill in the blank. Regardless of the trial, he is a compassionate and gracious God, a God who is “abounding in lovingkindness” (Exodus 34:6, NASB), and he acts in mercy and grace towards us, hearing us when we cry out to him for he is the God “who hear(s) prayer …,” the One to whom “all men come” (Psalm 65:2, NASB). We can gain great comfort and confidence from this; comfort for our hurting hearts and confidence to come before him because we are learning how good and loving and kind he is, in the midst of our trials.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle” (Psalm 103: 1-5, NASB).

Charles Spurgeon said, “Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers …”[1] Many times—daily—I cried out to God. Pain especially makes me vulnerable to tears. Fear has a similar effect. My default response is to pray, talking—often crying with tears—to God. To this day I work hard at holding it together emotionally in public, but in private, just me and God, I hold back nothing from him. I know I can unload my fears, my uncertainties, my anxieties, my tears on him and He will understand. He can take it. We are always accepted, never rejected. We can be vulnerable and open with the Lord for no one who comes to him in that way is ever rejected.

I also know he is the only one who can do anything about my hurts and fears. Having a friend or loved one’s shoulder to cry on, someone to hold our hand in the hard times, is important and immeasurably valuable, and I in no way diminish how important this is. But the truth is we dare not lean too heavily on any person. There is only One who can bear, and has borne, our sorrows, our pains: Jesus. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15, 16, NKJV). I take that literally. I lean hard on Jesus! He has never collapsed in fatigue. He has never failed to keep holding me together. He can and does work to change what I cannot change.

[1] http://spurgeononline.com/tears-are-liquid-prayers/

October 1, 2014

Kimo’s Dozen (A Peek at Mustard Seeds West)

Mustard Seeds and Mountains (http://www.mustardseeds.org/ ), founded by Randy and Jacque Wallace as a non-profit Christian Community Development organization, operating in southern West Virginia for over 20 years, now also operates in California, affectionately dubbed Mustard Seeds West. We reach out in various ways to needy neighborhoods. In Bakersfield, CA, we are partnering with Plaza Iglesia Cristiana, a bi-lingual (Spanish-English) church, and Positive Change and Development Center, reaching into needy neighborhoods of Bakersfield. Randy and Jacque, members at The Bridge Bible Church, also attend Plaza Iglesia Crisitana each Sunday, helping in whatever ways needed in the borrowed facility: set up, tear down, communion preparation, preaching, teaching. The following account is fresh from this past Sunday at Plaza Iglesia.

You’ve heard of “The Dirty Dozen”. Or maybe not if you are under a certain age. No matter, there is among us an even greater dozen, give or take a few. No, not the Twelve Disciples, though maybe one day. This is Kimo’s Dozen.

And what a crew they are! Twelve wriggling, jabbering, jousting boys ranging in ages from three to ten. Is there anything more bursting with energy and life … and potential for good, or bad … than a dozen boys? And is it any wonder dear Miss Naomi, Sunday School teacher to all the boys and girls from five to eighteen at Plaza, could use an extra “hand” to corral the children she teaches every Sunday?

This past Sunday as I stood in church, not singing the Spanish words this time due to technical difficulties whereby the words could not be projected on the screen so that I could stumble over them, I watched as Martha’s four grandsons trouped in to sit in the front row. I got choked up looking at these live wires being raised by their grandmother. I prayed through my tears, “Oh, Lord Jesus, give us these boys. Save each one, dear God. Surround them. Keep them. Jesus. Jesus.” Even now I am in tears.

Leno, the oldest at about ten years, was baptized last Sunday. I saw him trying to make the younger boys behave …. God is at work.

Randy has stepped in a few times to substitute teach Sunday school at Plaza Iglesia Crisitana. This past Sunday he took the boys and Miss Naomi took the girls. It is hard to count moving heads, but I counted about twelve little boys. All very much alive and well!

Overheard from the Sunday school room: Randy’s voice leading in singing, “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Toward the end of the preaching service I could faintly hear the song, “There’s only one way, one way to Heaven. There’s only one way, that way is Jesus ….”

“Kimo” is what Randy calls almost everyone and he has called the little boys of Plaza Iglesia, Kimo, and now they call him Kimo. And they love him. And they listen to him. Well, except for one little guy who was taking his shirt off and putting it on and sticking his elbows into his shirt and wrapping it around his head so just his eyes showed –Randy grabbed the shirt and tossed it aside, not skipping a beat. He got the boy’s attention! So Sunday school class goes.

But they will remember the songs. And they will know God loves them. And they will know Jesus loved them enough to die for them. And they know Mister Randy, aka Kimo, loves them, too.

Randy is thinking of a place he can take the boys on an outing (they’re already learning to serve by helping set up or take down the folding chairs for church service).

Sounds like Kimo’s Dozen may become an established fact. Give or take a few now and then.

Please pray for the boys and girls of Plaza Iglesia. Pray for the parents to come to know Jesus, too. And pray for Miss Naomi and the pastors, Cesar and Maria, as they reach out into the needy neighborhood of SouthEast Bakersfield.

And pray for Kimo and Kimo’s Dozen, that they will become the Dozen Disciples.