themoodyblogger

I have typed and erased. Typed and erased. Typed and erased. There is no way to ease into what I am about to say. (This blog has been in drafts since January. While snuggling with my E this morning, I decided to go ahead and post.)

Why would anyone choose to be an orphan? When a person chooses the world and not Jesus, they choose to be an orphan. 75 % of the planet will choose to stay in the orphan bed. They will choose not to have a relationship with Jesus.

Satan has tricked many into thinking they cannot leave those in the orphanage. Satan has tricked many into thinking that those who have gotten out of the orphanage somehow think they are better. We don’t. We want you out. Staying there is death. Literally.

John 14:18 ESV

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

He has come. He is calling you. Do not choose the orphan’s bed because you are too stubborn to leave it.

Is life easy once you leave the orphanage? No.

It can be a little scary.

And a lot real. What was once in darkness is now in the light.

Learning how to love and be loved.

God has chosen us as His children. Do we stay in the orphanage where it is predictable but cold or do we follow where it is unpredictable but warm?

Run. Run away from the orphanage to your eternal family. We are waiting.

Mark 3:31-35 ESV

And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Six hours in a car = A Thanksgiving post after a long hiatus.

Empty.

The word, the thought that keeps coming to me.

The reason why I haven’t been blogging lately.

The feeling I have at the end of the day.

Me.

Not just empty. Emptying. Dripping. Pouring. Constantly.

Cleansing.

Purifying.

Refilling.

Peace.

Philippians 2:4-8 ESV Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing (emptied Himself), taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.

Highly recommend Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

Love and peace to you and yours this beautiful Thanksgiving Day. 

Lori

You revive me
You revive me Lord
And all my deserts are rivers of joy
You are the treasure I could not afford So I’ll spend myself till I’m empty and poor
All for You You revive me Lord

This is the view from our mission home in Zamorano Valley. My second home. Boy how I miss this place.

It is not just the view that I miss. Serving with a team of Christian brothers and sisters is refreshment to my soul. Eating, sleeping, studying, sharing, and worshiping together. As a dear friend said, this is about as close to heaven as we are going to get on this earth. The last night, many of us went outside to our “place”. A porch/balcony on the second floor of the mission home. All voices singing and worshiping God. Yep, I could do that for eternity. 

I said in my last post that God shows me something every time I go to Honduras. This time He showed me that I definitely need to spend more time in His presence. As another friend shared in small group this week, we cannot stay on our spiritual “high”. We must come back down the mountain. This is how our relationship with God works while we are on earth.

Coming down the mountain is hard (literally and figuratively). If I want to shine, I have to be more intentional than ever about spending time with Jesus.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
  
(Exodus 34:29-35 ESV)

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
  
(2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ESV)

Here is the next section I am memorizing in Matthew 5:

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
  
(Matthew 5:13-16 ESV)