Friendship Greenhouse

Some people touch our lives only briefly...
while others leave a lasting impression
and are never forgotten.

-Anonymous

There are only three days left before we leave Thailand. For sure, once we land in Manila, my heart and mind will shift gears, and will be focused on more immediate concerns. All that will remain of the past year in this country will be the pictures I took, the journal entries I have written and a heart full of beautiful memories.

As the day for our departure draws nearer, I feel like I'm on fast-track mode. I want to take as many pictures and write as many journal entries as I can. If I had my way, I'd be posting blog entries more often than I already have these past days!

You want to hold on to something so beautiful, so precious.

You want the moments to last forever.

You just want to make sure you'll never forget...


I have discovered these past weeks that friendship, just like plants, can be made to grow faster given the right environment. Put trust, love, care, concern, unselfishness, fun, laughter and compress all these qualities into a series of quality time together, and you have a friendship that grows deeper and stronger. It really feels like we entered a friendship greenhouse and ended up with a friendship that has grown so much in just a few weeks.

For the past two Sundays Ut and Oy have picked us up from Hope of Chiang Mai so that we could eat lunch together.

The Sunday before last (September 14) we had lunch at a native Thai restaurant where we had our fill of northern Thai cooking.

On our way to Chiang Mai City

After a delicious meal

After lunch, we went to a lovely tea house beside the famous Ping River. It is called Vieng Joom On, or the Pink Tea Shop.


They serve over a hundred different varieties of tea. We had Dream Tea and two kinds of cheese cake. The place was so cozy and homey, with soft music playing in the background--a perfect setting for an afternoon cup of tea with dear friends. As it was raining outside, we spent a little more time just chatting, and taking pictures of the lovely surroundings.

"Please make yourself feel at home!"

This is a real samovar!

We would have wanted to sit outdoors if it were not raining.

Photo op

Last Sunday (September 21) Ut and Oy picked us up from church again.

Ut took this photo of Ernie and me on our last Sunday at Hope of Chiang Mai church.

They took us to a Thai restaurant on Fah Harm Road that serves the best Khao Soi in the city. Khao Soi is a noodle dish with tasty soup laced with a bit of fresh coconut milk.

Mouth-watering Khao Soi

Friendship is so much fun! There is always something to smile about!

After two rounds of Khao Soi, we went to this coffee shop for some very good coffee and cake.






There were even special fans attached to the trees which gave off a cool mist!

I just want to thank you our dear friends. Ut and Oy, for having been so kind and helpful to us. You have made our stay in Thailand so special. Thank you for loving us, thank you for your friendship. I know that someday, somewhere, somehow, we will see each other again!

Now arise, get out, and return...

Follow the cloud...

I will instruct you and teach you
in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye. Psalm 32:8


Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying
"This is the way, walk in it,"
Whenever you turn to the right hand,
Or whenever you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21

One of the benefits of being God's child is the guidance that He provides every step of the way. The Bible passages I have quoted above from Psalm 32:8 and Isaiah 30:21 have been true in my life again and again.

When the president of Maejo University gave Ernie the invitation to extend his work contract for another year after it ends this September, we have both asked the Lord to show us His will regarding it.

On our hearts were the desire to go back home for good. Ernie was needed back at the university where he works, and we knew we needed to be back with our family again. Yet, we did not want to make a decision according to our personal agenda, we wanted to be sure it was what God wanted.

Lynne Hammond says,

Many Christians miss the will of God in their lives. Instead of waiting on Him, they just try to figure out in their brains what the best course of action would be...but God's plan isn't in our brains, it's in our hearts! And if we want to know what that plan is, we must allow the Holy Spirit to bring it up from our hearts and reveal it to us in times of quiet waiting. (from Lynne Hammond's book, The Master is Waiting)

Ernie was in Hawaii on a speaking assignment for two weeks in July. He had to give his decision before July ended, to give time for his papers to be processed for the new financial year.

On July 23, while reading in the book of Genesis to continue my study on the life of Joseph, I was struck by these lines from Genesis 31:

Then the Lord said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you." (verse 3)

"I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family." (verse 13)

The lines were just the very confirmation that we were waiting for. Somehow I knew that our stay here was over. I believe that God has already accomplished what had to be done in our lives for this season. Still, my God favored me with a specific answer to the prayer I made just a few weeks before Ernie left for Hawaii.

Another season has ended; now we must pull up our tent pegs, fold up our tent, and move on to follow where God's cloud leads.

With this revelation and clear direction for the next step, my heart is at peace. While it has given me sadness at having to leave, I have to face reality. We can't live in two physical worlds at the same time.

I know that this was just a healing season for Ernie and me, a kind of incubation period for God's deeper purposes to be birthed in our souls.

Because we knew we were obeying our Master, we did what needed to be done these past two months with a sense of purpose and resolution.

What a good parent God the Father is! He does guide His children with His eye. As a parent I know exactly what that phrase means. When my children were small, I always wanted to be sure they were safe. I would often watch what they were doing. I wasn't literally holding them, but my eye was on them. One eye on them, and another eye on whatever it was I was doing at the moment. Even up to their teenage years, my husband and I would "keep an eye" on them. Admonish them, encourage them, or give them advice and words of guidance, whenever needed.

Now I am ready to return to the land of my family. His sure word says, arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family. Very specific.

It was meant for Jacob, but it has also become His rhema word to me.

God was taking up Jacob on his promise that if God will be with him, and protect him, and lead him back, only then would he make God his God... a rather self-serving kind of promise, nevertheless, God honors it.

And just as God called Jacob to return to Bethel, I also hear the same call.

Pastor Ron Thomas says that the journey back to Bethel begins when we once again hear and obey the voice of God.

I am struck by the specific things that Jacob did in response when he finally heard the voice of God.

Before returning to the land of his forefathers, Jacob did re-visit Bethel. A humbled, more subdued, much wiser man, compared to the impudent and arrogant lad that he was twenty years before, he says to his wives and children:

Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone...

So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel)...he and all the people who were with Him. And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel...

Then God appeared to Jacob again... And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel. (Genesis 35:2-3, 6-7, 9-10)

In Bethel, Jacob encounters God in a fresh way. God reminds him that he is no longer Jacob, but Israel. God also speaks to Him again the covenant promise that He gave to Abraham and Isaac.

Within these few remaining days here, I am seeking God's heart. I don't need to go to a literal Bethel, for I know that Bethel is in my heart. I just need to purify myself, cleanse my soul of things that have weighed me down or distracted me.

Just as Bethel was a place of revival and restoration for Jacob, I seek God again in my own Bethel. I want to be reminded of who I am, and be reconnected to God's eternal purposes for me for the next step of my journey.

Yes, much remains to be done when we return home but it will not be simply a picking up from where I left off.

I return to my homeland as a new person. Having gone through an inner transformation, and equipped with fresh revelation and new lessons, I am ready to face another level, another season, another breakthrough.

A Prayer Granted

Hope of Chiang Mai Church

"If you abide in Me,
and My words abide in you,
you will ask what you desire,
and it shall be done for you."

John 15: 7

It was our last Sunday at Hope of Chiang Mai Church yesterday.

During the worship service the pastor and the congregation prayed for us. Our care group leaders, Marcus and Boom, and some of the elders in the church gathered around Ernie and me to also pray for us. They even honored us by giving us a lovely bouquet of red roses, and garlands of fragrant sampaguita flowers. It was really a touching moment.




As I was preparing to come to Thailand a year ago, one specific prayer I had was for God to bring us to a church that was alive, growing, and hungry for more of Him. I asked God for a pastor who would faithfully feed his flock with solid teaching, and a worship team that was obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.




My faithful Father gave me all that I asked for.

And now the time has come for us to move on.


As the service was ending, I felt such a deep sadness in my heart at having to say goodbye. This church has been our home for the twelve months that we were here. In that brief span of time, we have developed close relationships. People have opened their hearts to us, and we have truly felt welcomed and loved.

At Ann's Coffee Shop

Pastor Suchart

Thank you Pastor Suchart for being such a faithful and humble pastor. You have the heart of a shepherd. You have been such a blessing to us!

Pastor Nimit

Thank you Pastor Nimit. The three nights during the Bible Intensive Course that I sat under your anointed teaching had such a deep impact upon me!

Marcus and Boom and their daughter Janina

Thank you Marcus and Boom for your care and kindness. You have modeled for us selflessness, generosity, kindness. Thank you both for joyfully doing the difficult work of translating while Pastor Suchart is preaching. Marcus, your teaching is practical and flows from your heart. Boom, you have the heart of a worshiper. And Janina has really brought such a delight to our hearts by her worshipful dancing even at an early age!

Tessie, you have been sent by God to be a kind friend to me. Thank you for having been there. You have a gentle heart. God will restore to you all the years that the locust has eaten.

Ann, thank you too for joyfully translating Pastor's sermon. Together with Joanne, Marcus, and Boom, the sermons have come alive for us who do not speak Thai because of you. God will reward all of you richly for your willing obedience.

We have really enjoyed your delicious coffee, but more than the coffee, the ambience of your coffee shop and your sweet smile will always be a part of my beautiful memories.

And dear fellow members at the International Fellowship:

It has been such a joy walking with you on this journey. We will remember to pray for you often. May God keep watch over us as we are far from each other.

God's Way from Zimbabwe, during a Care Group meeting at our flat.

Jan Lu and Ping

Wen and Ah-Bing

With my young Chinese friends

Thank you, dear brothers and sisters at Hope Chiang Mai, for sharing your lives with us. We will never forget you. We will cherish the warm memories we have of our journey together.

We take comfort in knowing that "friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them."

I know we will meet often at God's throne of grace!

Brand New Power Lines (Breakthrough, Part 2)

"Power Supply Line" by Gabriel Allon

The one who breaks open

will come up before them;

They will break out, Pass through the gate,
And go out by it; Their king will pass before them,
With the Lord at their head.
Micah 2:13

So they went up to Baal Perazim,
and David defeated them there.
Then David said, "God has broken through my enemies
like a breakthrough of water."
Therefore they called the name of that place
Baal Perazim.
1 Chronicles 14:11

In the Bible, a person's name was synonymous with his nature. Part of my excitement in my spiritual journey was getting to know another aspect of God's nature through a new name He would reveal to me in a particular season.

In 2003 I turned 50. It was the year of jubilee for me. This was the year when I sensed God personally speaking to me many words of restoration that He spoke in the Bible. I would read promises such as those found in

Hosea 2:14 - I will give you back your vineyards, you will sing again as in the days of your youth;

Isaiah 40: 1-2 - I speak comfort to you, your warfare is ended, your iniquity is pardoned, and you will receive double from My hand for all your sins;

Isaiah 58:11 - You will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail...

and know in my spirit that they were being spoken to me.

The song of Robin Mark "Days of Elijah" has always been one of my favorites, and for this season, it spoke deeply to my spirit. Each of the names mentioned in this song were men in whom God had worked a deep restoration - Elijah, Moses, Ezekiel, David, people with whom I felt a certain closeness at that time.

Whenever I would sing this song, I would feel my spirit soaring!


Behold He comes, riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun, at the trumpet call
Lift your voice, it's the year of jubilee
And out of Zion's hill, salvation comes!



What awesome promises the year of jubilee holds! For me, my fiftieth year was a door that suddenly swung wide open and God's acts of restoration were ushered in.

This is not to say that the pruning came to a complete stop. On the contrary, it seemed that God brought me to another round of pruning. But because of the cushion of many promises of restoration given by my heavenly Father, I viewed these new trials as I would a surgeon's knife. They were a means to my deeper healing and restoration.

Just as this year was ending, God gave me another word: frontier. 2004 was to be the year that I would go into uncharted territories. I sensed God calling me to move up to a higher level, and that it would mean a major "going out" for me.

For the past years, there had been a call to leave my comfort zone and go to a place that God would show me. He was calling me to radical obedience.

It is easy to obey when what is being asked is not so difficult. But when God asks me to leave a ministry behind, and doesn't tell me what is in store for me, it's not really that easy.

Oh, I knew. This was my season for a breakthrough. There were new lessons to be learned. Nevertheless it wasn't easy. I needed to be sure I was hearing God right and to be certain that I was acting on faith, not on presumption.

I was the head of our church's school ministry then, and had been principal for almost 18 years. But circumstances around me were changing. I felt like I was in a very tight place. There was pressure, there was fear. Mostly fear of the unknown. I was aware of new plans being conceived, and somehow, I sensed that I was not to be a part of these plans.

When the school year 2003-2004 ended in March, I already knew that "my season at the school had come to an end."

Those words caught me by surprise one day as I was pouring my heart out to the Lord. I was asking Him to reveal to me the next move, for increasingly I had felt boxed in. I am not judging people's motives, but to be honest, I felt surrounded by enemies, and they were closing in on me.

"Your season at the school has come to an end." This was what I clearly heard from God.


But there was no one around to take my place, and as each school year ends, the two months of summer preparation for the next school year are quite crucial. So I kept asking God, "Who will You send to take my place? What will I do? I can't just leave everything in the middle of everything...."

"Can you trust Me with your life?"

I remember that question. He always seemed to ask me that whenever I found myself in a tight place.

Years before, when the head position at the school was thrust upon me without my being prepared or even willing to do it, I saw a poster in a bookstore with these words:

Don't think of it as a job, think of it as your life.

I did a counted cross stitch wall hang of those words to put in my office the day I became principal of our church school. That was in November 1989.

Only a few of my very close friends really know this part of my life story: when I took over as the principal of the school, a very difficult season in my life was just beginning.

But God does have a unique sense of humor. I don't mean this to say that God is laughing at my predicament. It's my way of saying that the way He operates is quite contrary to this world's system.

"There must be some mistake, Lord. I'm not the person for this job."

"Can you trust Me with your life?"

It was always about trusting, and obeying.

A deeper faith requires a deeper obedience. That phrase sums up the story of my life.

And for a woman committed to obeying and growing in faith, there really was no other way... but "to trust and obey."

Oftentimes, the obeying did not require any tangible step, but simply to say in my heart, "Yes, Lord, I trust You with my life."

By faith, Abraham obeyed...

Another schoolyear was about to begin but it felt like I had reached a dead end. I didn't really know what to do, or where to go. And I couldn't imagine what God would do to help me in what I was going through. "Why am I still here, Lord? Lead me to the next step, Father... I don't want to go ahead of you. Show me the way out."

There were nights that I literally felt a hand around my neck, trying to strangle the life out of me. Fear gripped my heart. It seemed that someone wanted to snuff the very life out of me.


Then one day it happened.

One early evening in July 2004, barely a month after the new schoolyear had opened, a fire broke out in the school building.

An Ancient Paths seminar was scheduled for that evening at our school. Many participants had signed up to attend it, and the ministry team who had committed to help out was to meet for prayer that afternoon. Early that morning, during my devotional time, I sensed God speaking a very specific instruction to me. He said, "When you meet for prayer this afternoon, tell your pastor not to have the airconditioning units running all at the same time. Don't use the airconditioning on the second floor together with the ones in the seminar hall."

Well, when we met for prayer, there was no time for me to tell this to my pastor as he had already instructed the different small group facilitators to go to their specific rooms and be in prayer.

All I could do was run from room to room, telling them to turn off the airconditioning. As I reached the ground floor, the maintenance man met me to say that the control panel seemed to be overheating. I told him to switch off the power at once.

It was silly to do that; the video seminar teaching had already begun and to turn the power off would plunge the whole building into darkness. But I knew we needed to act fast.

I was on my way to the sanctuary where the seminar had just started, when a part of our electrical lines suddenly burst into flames! Everyone ran out into the street; I stood by the gate asking God to intervene.

The amazing thing is that it was only the service entrance power line that burst into flames. In a few minutes, part of the electric post which supplies power to the school was also in flames. I thought that the fire would quickly spread to the rest of our building's electrical wires and burn the whole school down.

But it didn't happen.

When the control panel was inspected the following day, it was discovered that only the portion leading out to the electric power service entrance was burned. The other half leading in was intact, not at all burned.

The fire broke out at the exact moment that the main switch was turned off. A second too late and the fire would have burned the whole building down.

I still shiver whenever I remember this.

That night, I asked God, "What is your message for me in this, Lord?"

His reply: "My daughter, I am giving you brand new power lines in your life."

A few days later, I received an email from my friend Jeff. Jeff lives in Penang, Malaysia, together with his wife Ann. They are the Asia-Pacific regional directors of Youth With a Mission. Though Jeff and Ann are close friends of mine, we don't hear from each other regularly.

I wrote him a brief email that week asking him to pray for me. I didn't give details. So I was surprised when he sent me a reply saying that as he was praying for me, he sensed God giving him Psalm 18 as His word for me. Then Jeff added: "I believe God wants you to have a new spiritual environment in your life. It seems that you need to move on to the next level."

He did not know about the fire. He did not know about my struggles.

As I was reading Psalm 18 I couldn't stop the tears. Once again, my Father was speaking specifically into my life with His words:

"...The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer
My God, my strength in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold;
I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

The pangs of death surrounded me
And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid
The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me
The snares of death confronted me;

In my distress I called upon the Lord
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple
And my cry came before Him even to His ears...

He sent from above, He took me
He drew me out of many waters
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me...

The Lord was my support
HE also brought me out into a broad place
He delivered me because He delighted in me."
Psalm 18:1-19

Clearly, a new day was breaking for me.

Daybreak

By September 15, just a few weeks after the fire, I was out of the school.

It was a ministry I had loved and which had provided me with so many opportunities to grow. It wasn't easy to leave behind people I dearly loved - the students, the staff, the parents. Together we had grown, struggled, worked, rejoiced...

But God had called me to obey, and He had prepared the way for me to enter into a higher level in my spiritual journey. The old power supply lines of my life were overloaded and would not suffice for the next move of God. They needed to be replaced with new ones in preparation for bigger kingdom assignments.

I was indeed entering uncharted territory. And it was in this season that I would get to know God more as my Baal-Perazim, the LORD of the Breakthrough.


It may be that as you read these lines, you find yourself in a tight place, and you wonder what the next step is. You are waiting for the Lord to show the way.

Could it be that God also wants to replace your life's faulty wiring with new ones that will carry His new anointing for your next assignment?

Will you call upon Him in faith now, and declare His name, Baal Perazim? God is true to His name, He always lives up to His promises. He honors the faith of His children and will reveal Himself to you as the Lord of the Breakthrough. Surely He will meet you at your point of need.

Read Lord of the Breakthrough, Part 1

Where a Desolate Soul Finds God

by Francis Frangipane

Jesus gave the last hours of this age a poignant headline. He called this period "The Great Tribulation." The word rendered tribulation means "grievous affliction or distress; pressure or burden upon the spirit." As we move closer toward the end of this age, we should expect that catastrophic distresses and pressures on man shall increase.

Added to the increasing stress of our times is the decreasing desire of government and society in general to restrain moral decadence. We live in a time when a significant portion of our society is in open and defiant rebellion toward God. The prophetic words of Psalm 2 are being fulfilled before our eyes: World and local leaders "take their stand and the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed" (v. 2). As they renounce moral values, their militant cry is, "Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!" (v. 3).

Jesus warned of this day, saying, "Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold" (Matt. 24:12, nkjv). If you are one who has resisted the increasing darkness, you know how intense and multifaceted the battle is. Whether you are fighting to remedy an injustice in your community or just trying to keep your family together, barely do we make headway in one area before five other areas are breeched.

In spite of breakthroughs occurring in several cities, many good people have grown weary. They are just going through the motions. The prophet Daniel warned of a time when the enemy would "…wear down the saints of the Highest One" (Dan. 7:25). To emerge victorious in this day, we must climb into the reality given to us by God in Psalm 91. There is place of replenishing life---a fountain of eternal life where we can abide. The Bible calls this place the shelter of the Most High.

Elijah: a Man Like Us
Elijah was a man with passions like ours, and he fought in a spiritual war similar to ours. In his battle for the soul of Israel, he stood against the wiles of Jezebel and her husband, King Ahab. Yet his most intense battle was not against visible foes but against personal discouragement.

As bold as Elijah was, he lived as a fugitive moving in and out of caves and places of hiding. Jezebel had murdered nearly all of the Lord's prophets, replacing their godly influence with the dark, satanic oppression accompanying the priests of Baal and the Asherah. A new initiative, however, had come from the Lord: Both Elijah and the prophets of Baal were to build altars, each to the deity they individually served. The God who answered with fire would be acknowledged as Lord over the nation.

King Ahab and all Israel came to the confrontation. Try as they may, the priests of Baal could draw no response from their demonic idol, Baal. In dramatic contrast, at Elijah's prayer, fire immediately fell from heaven and consumed his sacrifice. This was Elijah's greatest victory. And when the Israelites saw the display of God's power, they bowed to the ground saying, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God" (1 Kings 18:39).

But the Lord was not finished. After Elijah had the priests of Baal executed, he went to the top of Mount Carmel, and, kneeling face down, he prayed seven times for rain until the Lord brought a great downpour that ended a devastating three-year drought. On this one day, both fire and rain miraculously fell from heaven!

Perhaps if this tremendous day had occurred at almost any other time in Israel's history, the nation would have repented, but it did not. Baal worship should have ended, but it continued. In fact, nothing changed. Instead of the revival that Elijah envisioned, the opposite occurred: an enraged Jezebel vowed to kill the Lord's prophet, spurring Elijah to flee into the wilderness. There Elijah collapsed, exhausted and despondent, beneath a juniper tree. "It is enough; now O Lord," the weary prophet prayed, "take my life, for I am not better than my fathers" (1 Kings 19:4).

Elijah had offered the Lord his very best effort. This day had been the culminating event of his life. Elijah had prayed that Israel would know the Lord was their God and that, in response, the Lord would turn Israel's "heart back again" (1 Kings 18:37). Yet, like the prophets before him, Elijah could not trigger revival for Israel. Discouragement overwhelmed him. He had had enough.

Have you been to the point of spiritual or emotional exhaustion where you too have said, "It is enough"? Perhaps you were frustrated by your own inability to effect positive change in your family or you've fasted and prayed for your church or society but no visible change occurred. You gave your all but found little success. Disheartened and weary like Elijah, all your resources were spent.

Elijah laid down and slept. As he did, an angel touched him and said, "Arise, eat" (1 Kings 19:5). At his head were bread and water. Elijah, weary with life itself, ate and withdrew back into sleep.

Once more the angel touched him. "Arise," he said "Eat, because the journey is too great for you" (v. 7). For all our visions, plans, and programs, the journey before each of us is also "too great." Indeed our journey is divinely designed to be too great for us. The Lord has no plan where we succeed without Him. Life is so constructed to drive us to God.

Back to Our Foundations
"So [Elijah] arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God" (1 Kings 19:8).

The Lord gave Elijah strength, not to send him back to battle but to bring him back to basics. If we become more consumed with our task than we are with our love for God, our lives will eventually become brittle and desolate. To restore our souls, the Lord brings us back to the essentials of our faith. Indeed, He might even stop our labors completely and direct us to the simpler realities of prayer, time in the Word, and worship. He reminds us that, of all He calls us to accomplish, His greatest commandment is to love Him with all our "heart…soul…mind…and…strength" (Mark 12:30). Without this focus, we lose touch with God's presence; we are outside the shelter of the Most High.

The Lord brought Elijah to "Horeb, the mountain of God." In Hebrew, Horeb means "desolation."[Hebrew: Charab - to make desolate.] The barren environment mirrored Elijah's soul. Yet to God, Horeb was actually a place where the issues of a man's heart were flushed to the surface. There is no theater at Horeb, no acting. It is the place of unembellished honesty and core-to-surface transparency.

How Did You Get Here?
Perhaps Elijah's greatest virtue was his zeal. Indeed, twice in his communication with God, Elijah speaks of having been "very zealous" for the Lord. But zeal unaccompanied by wisdom eventually becomes its own god. It compels us toward expectations that are unrealistic and outside the timing and anointing of the Lord.

To remain balanced, zeal must be reined in and harnessed by strategic encounters with the living God. Otherwise we become frustrated with people and discouraged with delays. We step outside our place of strength and spiritual protection.

Elijah had come to Horeb and lodged there in a cave. Soon the Word of the Lord came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (v. 9). This is one of the most important questions God will ever ask us. His question probes the reality of our spiritual state: "How did your service to Me become dry and desolate?" God wants us to know that when we fail to esteem Him as our first love, we will always find a desert awaiting us.

Our primary purpose in life must be to abide in Christ. Otherwise we can become so consumed with the deteriorating condition of the world that we fail to see the deteriorating condition of our own soul. In His love, the Lord stops us and forces us to look honestly at our heart: Is this existence that I now live the abundant life promised me from Christ?

Let's speak candidly. We have nothing to prove and no need to pretend. We can abandon the internal mechanisms of defensiveness and pride. If we are disappointed, we are free to express it; if frustrated, we can admit it. We must simply and truthfully evaluate, without rationalization, our true spiritual condition.

Lord, reveal to me my heart. Bring to the surface of my consciousness those disappointments and heartaches, as well as my sins and failures. Remove the cargo of oppression from my soul. Help me, Master, to lie still as You perform heart surgery on me.

Transparency is the outer garment of humility, and humility draws the grace of God to our hearts. Is not intimacy with God the very thing we most neglect? And is not the Lord alone our source of strength in battle? If the enemy can distract us from our time alone with God, he will isolate us from the help that comes from God alone.

Let us, therefore, approach the living God without any garment other than transparency.

A Fresh Anointing
As the pressures of this age escalate, we will soon discover that yesterday's anointing will not suffice for today's battles. The Lord brought a new beginning to Elijah's life at Horeb---one that would ultimately release a "double portion" of power to Elijah's successor, Elisha. Under this new anointing, Jezebel would be destroyed, Baal worship abolished, and the only period of revival the northern tribes ever experienced would begin.

To reach a similar place of breakthrough, it will take more than the momentum of our own zeal. We should not be surprised if God calls us to pass through our own Horeb.

How will we recognize this place? Horeb is the voice of personal desolation; it is the desperate compelling of our heart to possess more of God. We must now listen carefully to the voice of God. For it is at Horeb that He brings us deeper into Himself. It is here, under the canopy of His compassion, that we discover the purpose of our brokenness: our desolation is, in fact, a time of preparation.

The Lord is about to bring a new beginning to you. When you return to the battle, you shall war from the shelter of the Most High.

Lord Jesus, apart from You, my life is dry and desolate. Forgive me for trying to do Your will without abiding in Your presence. I desperately need You, Lord. This day, I commit my heart to return to my first love. Teach me, Lord, to consider intimacy with You the greatest measure of my success. Let me see Your glory; reveal to me Your goodness. Guide me, Oh Holy Spirit, into the spiritual fortress of the presence of God. Amen.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The preceding message is from Pastor Frangipane’s newly revised and updated book, The Shelter of the Most High. Previously published as The Stronghold of God, this classic speaks more urgently today than perhaps at any time since 1992, when it was first published (Chrisma House).

Far Above Rubies

Celebrating after a week of seminars in Manila

(This photo was taken on June 7, 2008)

The wonderful thing about friends
is that they can grow separately
and yet not grow apart!

- Anonymous

Today is Ruby's birthday. I want to dedicate this post to her.

I met Ruby in the springtime of my life. She was a bride to be, and I was a young wife and mother. It must have been twenty-five years ago. The exact number escapes my mind, but it doesn't really matter.

But I do remember the hope, the promise, the youthful hearts we both had, our eagerness and enthusiasm, a vision shared.

Our church was young, and we were on fire for the Lord. We were a small group of believers in a church led by a pastor and his wife who were truly Spirit-filled. Ruby and I, together with our husbands, and other friends, met as often as we could, for any reason -- be it a Bible study, somebody's birthday, an anniversary, somebody leaving, someone's homecoming, a child dedication, a burial, cooking lessons, a bountiful harvest...just about anything was an excuse to get together. We would go to the beach on Saturdays, we would have early morning breakfasts, lunch at a restaurant, dinner at someone's house.

We specialized in potlucks -- "bring your pot or trust your luck" was what we called it. In later years we eventually modified the term to potbless, "bring your pot and share your blessing," to make it sound more spiritual.

There were Christmas Cantatas, Christmas and New Year parties, Easter morning sunrise services, Holy Thursday Passover meals, and weekend get-togethers.

I was one of Ruby's eldest son's "godmothers", or sponsors, at his dedication, and William, her husband, was our daughter's "godfather."

Spring turned to summer. We were opening new ministries in the church. Our church school was born. Our families were growing. Ruby was about to have her second baby, my third child was already a toddler.

The friendship continued. We saw ourselves learning, growing, maturing. Fruits were ripening, harvest season was always just around the corner.

We weren't perfect, but that was never the focus. There were new leadership skills being acquired, unique giftings being recognized. The small group ministry was introduced, and eventually, she and her husband became the leaders of a different group, while Ernie and I were the leaders of another group.

Every friendship has its autumn and its winter... for a season, Ruby and I drifted apart. For a long time I could not understand what happened to our friendship. It was autumn, a season of stripping.

Autumn was followed by winter, a season of renewing.

But in my heart I never let go of my friendship with Ruby. I knew we were just going though a period of growth. Somehow, I know she never let go of me, too.

Well, seasons come, and seasons go.

In another spring, our hearts found their way to each other. And this is where we are now.

She and her husband have stood by us. In the past years, we have been touched by their generosity, and kindness, and willingness to walk with us beyond the first mile of duty.

During the times that I needed a shoulder to lean on, she and William have been available. I would just call her, even in the middle of the night, and they would come. No questions asked.

Our friendships fulfill different purposes, and we both have other friends who also hold a very important place in our hearts. But this is true of Ruby and her husband: they will always have a special place in our hearts as a family.

We have gone through a special bonding, joyfully working together in the same vineyard these past years, ministering God's healing to people with deep emotional wounds.

I have been blessed to have someone who believes in me, accepts me, honors me, and loves me as an older sister.

This friendship quote is an apt description of Ruby:


A friend is someone who knows you as you are,
understands where you've been,
and accepts who you've become


Our friendship has stood the test of time, has grown deep roots, and has become established in God's fertile soil.

In this season, I have rediscovered my friend Ruby; she has truly become my friend for all seasons.

--0--

Dear friend, today is your special day and I want to do something special for you.

I did a little research on the internet, and look at some of the "ruby facts" that I have come up with!


Which color would you spontaneously associate with love and vivacity, passion and power? It's obvious isn't it?

Red!

Red is the color of love. It radiates warmth and a strong sense of vitality.

Red is also the color of the ruby, the king of the gemstones.

In the fascinating world of gemstones, the ruby is the undisputed ruler.

For thousands of years, the ruby has been considered one of the most valuable gemstones on earth.

It has everything a precious stone should have: magnificent color, excellent hardness, and outstanding brilliance.

In addition to that , it is an extremely rare gemstone, especially in its finer qualities.

More "ruby facts" :

1. Ruby is distinguished and known by all for its fiery red color. The word ruby comes from the Latin word, 'ruber' which means red. Aside from its color, it is a most desirable gem due to its hardness, durability, luster, and rarity. Transparent rubies of large sizes are even rarer than diamonds. Transparent, flawless rubies exceed all other gems in value. Rubies must be transparent to possess gem value. Opaque, or semi-opaque rubies have little value.

2. Ruby is considered one of the four precious gems, together with the sapphire, the emerald, and the diamond. At one time, rubies were worth more than 7 times that of diamonds and rubies have been considered highly valuable by kings and queens throughout the ages.

3. Ruby is a red variety of the mineral corundum. Sapphire, the other gem variety of corundum, encompasses all colors of corundum aside from red. In essence, ruby is a red sapphire, since ruby and sapphire are identical in all properties except for color. The color of ruby ranges from bright red to dark reddish-brown. The most preferred color is a deep blood red with a slightly bluish hue. Such ruby is known as "Burmese Ruby" or "Pigeon's Blood Ruby." Ruby from Burma is famous for its exceptional coloring. However, Burmese ruby rarely exceeds several carats; large flawless rubies can be worth millions of dollars. Most rubies on the market are from Thailand, and these rubies have a brownish hue. They can be heat-treated to improve color. Heat treating a ruby can also increase its transparency by removing tiny internal flaws.

4. Rubies were first synthesized in 1902. Many rubies on the market are synthetic. Natural rubies are exceptionally rare, but synthetic ones (sometimes called "created ruby") are manufactured very cheaply. The process of creating synthetic rubies is known as the Vermeuil process. One has to be careful as these can be sold as "genuine" rubies. Only experts can distinguish between natural and synthetic rubies.

5. Rubies have a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness just below that of diamonds. But while a ruby is a tough and durable gem, it is still subject to chipping and fracture if handled roughly.

Sources:
All About Rubies
The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom - Complete Information Guide
Gem by Gem - International Colored Gemstones Association


These facts speak for themselves; in fact, the similarities between the ruby gemstone and your real life is quite striking!

But more than these, I have known you to be a woman of wisdom.

God has many excellent things to say about wisdom in the Bible. I want to quote a few verses, before I end.


Receive my instruction, and not silver
And knowledge, rather than choice gold
for wisdom is better than rubies
And all the things one may desire
Cannot be compared with her.
Proverbs 8:10-11


Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
Proverbs 31:10-11


I'm amazed that the wisdom God has given you is of far greater value than what your name, a rare and precious gem, stands for!


May this new year of your life continue to open up the pathway leading to your eternal destiny, my dearest Ruby!

Lord of the Breakthrough (Breakthrough, Part 1)

Originally published in this website on August 21, 2008

My kingdom is not of this world...


I will bring the blind by a way they did not know;

I will lead them in paths they have not known.

I will make darkness light before them,

And crooked places straight.

These things I will do for them,

And not forsake them.

Isaiah 42:16

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out
to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.
And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Hebrews 11:8

In the Bible God is known by many names, and one of my lifetime goals has been to study as many of His names as I can.

I have known Him to be my Creator, my Redeemer, my Faithful Father, my Friend, my Provider, my Healer, and many others.

As the year 2000 was about to start, God introduced me to another name by which He is known, the Lord of the Breakthrough.

I will share that precious experience in a two-part series on this blog.

In some of my earlier posts, I wrote that 1989-1999 was my season of pruning.

In gardening, pruning serves a very good purpose -- to promote growth and fruit-bearing. Often, the pruning cuts off even fair blossoms, a seeming waste. But out of the pain of this particular season came lasting fruit: God did open my heart to hunger for more of Him, and broke through many intellectual barriers in my mind.

I was not aware that the pruning season was about to end, or that I was on the threshold of a new beginning in my life. But I did sense a deepening intimacy in my relationship with God. That was also when He began giving me a name, or a theme, for each year as it was about to start.

Since 1996, one passage that I have repeatedly encountered was Hebrews 11:8 which reads:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Obviously God wanted to make things very clear for me, which was so reassuring. He was calling me to higher obedience, giving me an inheritance...but it also required of me a deeper faith to obey.

Abraham has always been to me the prototype man of faith, and indeed he is. In my heart is a deep desire to really be a woman of faith. But for me to be just like Abraham, going out to an unknown place (literally or figuratively)...well, that was something else.

There were no specifics in the command. I have discovered this to be often the case with God. The decision to obey comes first, only then does He show the next step. What guarantees are there? Abraham himself had no guarantees when he stepped out in faith. All he had was the faith that the One who is calling is Faithful.

And God did prove Himself faithful to me. He prepared my heart, step by step.

The first word he gave me was "kingdom." At that time, my husband and I had not fully recovered from our financial disasters; I wasn't really sure of what the future had in store.

I had often poured my heart out to God regarding this but did not really expect a specific reply. One morning, however, He gave me a clear word through this verse:

"Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."(Luke 12:32)

What a delight, what a comfort those words were to me!

I was also studying Luke 12 at that time, and the entire chapter had a lot to say.

There were reminders not to be sidetracked from what God really wanted to do in me and through me.

God was telling me to take heart because my life did not consist in the abundance of my possessions: my net worth in this world was not how He measured my true value.

In that passage Jesus talks about seeking first His kingdom which wasn't a difficult thing to do because it was my Father's good pleasure to give me the kingdom!

I don't think God ever spoke to me this way before. Through these verses, my Father's comfort was so real, it was like I could reach out and touch it.

The year 2000 was the "year of the kingdom" for me. In books that I read, in sermons that I heard, in a hundred and one other ways... the word "kingdom" would somehow come up. That led me to study more intensively about the kingdom of God.

Where there is a kingdom, there is a King. Learning more about the Kingdom pointed me to God as the King of heaven, King of the universe, King of this world, King of my life.

I was given a different kind of longing, the longing to be a kingdom person, not a worldly person. I began to have a kingdom mindset, seeing things from the perspective of heaven. The good news that Jesus brought wasn't just any gospel, it was specifically about the gospel of the kingdom.

Things that I used to know only in my head came to have more personal meaning. Getting to know the King up close gave me a desire to know what heaven is really like.

The kingdom of heaven is actually an upside-down kingdom. Yes, God is King, He is the Almighty, He is holy, and He deserves royal treatment. And Heaven will be the grandest kingdom that this world has ever known. In fact, it could never compare with any earthly kingdom.

Nevertheless, it is an upside-down kingdom. What works for the kingdoms of this world is never going to work in God's kingdom.

Heaven operates under a totally different economy:

he who is first shall be last...

the meek shall inherit the earth...

the foolish things of this world will shame the wise...

he who loves his life will lose it,
and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life......

unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and die, it remains alone,
but if it dies, it produces much wheat...

God would speak these words to me in the early morning hours, and it felt like I was hearing these familiar words for the first time.

I knew I needed to be that grain of wheat, and let go of my self life. This was the season when I first understood the life out of death principle.

Everyday comes with a gift, the opportunity to "die" many deaths, and the choice to be vulnerable, instead of defending, protecting myself at every turn.

With each opportunity to die is an invitation to entrust my life to Him anew. Oh, to have a kingdom mindset in running the affairs of my life!

--0--

It's been almost ten years since God spoke that kingdom word to me, and here I am still learning kingdom lessons.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Corinthians 10:3).

The way this world's system of "one upmanship" operates is not how the kingdom of heaven operates.

Oswald Chambers puts it this way: "Our Lord's teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a man, His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself; and the characteristic of God is self-expenditure."

I have always loved those words anti-self-realization and self-expenditure.

This world is constantly luring me to develop my self, to realize my full potential... but Jesus emptied Himself, made Himself of no reputation, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped...but taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men...He became obedient to the point of death. (Philippians 2:6-8)

How self-protective, how easily offended I can get, though I may not show it. How judgmental I could become! But actually, offense and critical judgment are subtle forms of self-protection and self-realization.

Yet Jesus emptied Himself.

When oppressed and afflicted He opened not His mouth...
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so He opened not His mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)

That is anti-self-realization to the max! Knowing He was going to be killed, He didn't struggle to protect Himself. Also true of Isaac as Abraham was about to offer him as a sacrifice.

Built into my pruning experience was the call to embrace the humility of Christ. And although I have honestly said, "I gladly accept the call, I willingly surrender," still it goes against the grain of my human nature. Never an easy lesson to learn.

Self never surrenders without a fight. When I feel my boundaries being overstepped, or my motives misunderstood...

But Jesus willingly laid down His life.

Having a kingdom mindset is to know that my life is not my own.

Today I make another choice to live out kingdom truths in my daily living. I want to go up another level...

Another level,
Another harvest
Another day for You to manifest Your promises

Another moment
Another season for a breakthrough, breakthrough...

Another Level by Israel Houghton

My prayer:

Father, thank you for this season of breakthrough.

May the word You give me as Your daily bread nourish, break up and soften the hard portions of my heart where self still rules.

Make me always willing to give up any cherished belief, opinion, point of view, argument, any thought, that exalts itself above You and does not align with Your heart.

Protect me from the knowledge that puffs up. I only want Your love that builds up to be the motivation for my life!

Let Your word transform me, from the inside out, by its life-giving power. Free my heart from pockets of resistance that pride still occupies.

I honor you as King, I submit to You completely.

Read Breakthrough, Part 2