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Knocking at Your Door

Jul 262011

Submitted by: Crystal Calloway

Do you ignore when the Lord is knocking on your door? Have you misunderstood His intention and does He knock again, but in a different way?

The other day I read a devotion regarding affliction and why Christians suffer. The scripture reference is from 2 Chronicles 33:12, “In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.” I related this to my father, who was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer, for the second time. Why do my parents have to go through this again? However, my family does realize it was through God’s perseverance to get my dad’s attention this diagnosis was made and the situation is much more manageable!

My parents and step-sister’s family had been camping for several days and were packing up to leave the campsite. My dad lifted a heavy equalizer bar on a camping trailer, helping my step-sister’s husband. Later that night and into the next morning, Dad experienced bleeding while urinating. Several hours of driving and road closures due to flooding, lay ahead of them to get to their hospital of preference but God lead them and they made it!

Upon arriving at the hospital and through several evaluations and procedures, it was discovered the cancer had not yet attached itself to the walls of the bladder! Because Dad has other health risks, it is necessary for him to be evaluated by his cardiologist before the bladder surgery takes place. However, the urologist will be able to remove all of the cancer! God is good!

I am so thankful for God’s “knock” at the bathroom door of my parent’s camping trailer! Thank you, Lord, for being so faithful! I pray our whole family is able to learn more of Your love and compassion through this affliction. Amen.

Blow The Lid Off!

regional review, Testimonies

May 312011

Submitted by De’Etta Goecker, Asia Regional President

“Faithful, abundant and True,” has been a timely study in Misawa.

I read as Priscilla shared – we file our knowledge and experiences with God into a box. The box is filled based on study, church traditions, history with God – it is o.k. to have a God box. It is arrogant to put a lid on the box and assume God cannot and will not ever act in a way not contained in our box. I’ve watched God move in unexpected ways in Asia region. The following quote echoes what I hear God speak to me in our trysts through the word, meditation, and the sweet confirmation of the Holy Spirit revealing His word and character.

“Our God is predictable in His character, but He is unpredictable in His activity. You cannot box God in. When you put your lid on a box, it doesn’t limit God; it limits your awareness of God. He’s still moving and speaking, yet you can be unaware of His transcendence, His greatness, and His ability because it’s outside your little box.” Page 94, Faithful, Abundant, True.

When God chooses to act in an unexpected and unpredictable way, I am forced to make a choice. Will I retreat to my comfort zone? Will I become disillusioned with God? Will I doubt His existence because He is not meeting my expectations? Will I see His activity as an invitation to move out of the box? Will I accept His loving invitation to know Him deeper? Will I allow myself to discover new aspects of His character? Will I confidently dance with him in a vulnerable place where my knowledge of His character is the only thing of which I’m sure? Will I allow Jesus, rather than my box, to be my fixed point of reference (Heb 12:1-2)?

I’ve watched God move. Local conferences were interrupted with tsunamis. Local boards suddenly scattered. Many groups saw over 70% of their women depart, many haven’t returned as of yet. Leadership selection teams were disrupted. PCS schedules were changed. Regional Conference location changed. Struggling leadership teams report full selected boards! Petty conflicts have died in the face of true crisis. Bridges for the gospel of Jesus are being laid! The body of Christ is pulling together on behalf of an unchurched nation. I see our prayer for intimacy with God and each other being answered. I see small cultural shifts as we pray for revival in the nation of Japan.

Let’s allow God to blow the lid off our boxes. I want to be fully aware of God’s activity. Don’t you? You can trust His character. I see a new desire to dance with God outside of the box. Will you join the dance?

________________

The Asia Regional Update is posted on the first Tuesday of every month. For comments click here.

Is my name safe in your mouth?

Marriage & Military

Jan 202011

When the topic of Marriage Vows surface in conversation, you learn a lot about people and their belief systems. The standard Christian vows include, “Love, Honor and Obey.” Most people get heated over the third word, Obey. The Love part is easy or else you wouldn’t be standing there, right? But have you ever spent time on the second word, Honor?

I grew up in a household that believed criticism was the path to motivation. A lot of people buy in to this false understanding. In fact, until I met my husband, I assumed it was perfectly normal and that everyone lived this way. While many do, it’s no path to a healthy relationship.

One of the first things that really struck me when my husband and I started dating was how encouraging and uplifting his words were. To be honest, though, it didn’t get my attention until I realized that as he talked about me a lot to ‘the guys,’ his words were always kind and flattering. He never talked ‘smack’ with the guys and he never betrayed my integrity to others. This was brand new to me…brand new!

The more I understood he was sincere, the more I strived to learn this new ‘thing’ myself. It became a surprising factor in our relationship as we began to build trust. His faithfulness to hold my name safely in his mouth, spilled over to my believing in his faithfulness to our relationship. When the words, “I love you,” finally spilled (from him first), I never questioned their sincerity. I knew my heart would be just as safe as my name had been.

Over the years, my most consistent battle has been to overcome my mouth. It gets me into trouble more than I’d care to confess. But what I’ve learned is that building people up is much more effective than tearing them down. Tearing someone down gives them little to strive for; however, building someone up gives them confidence to overcome limitations.

So, what about you? Is your husband’s name safe in your mouth? Are you protecting his integrity? Are you the most trustworthy person he knows that will faithfully hold his secrets as your own? His insecurities?

A wise friend once told me that your words serve one of two purposes: they are either contributing or contaminating. What are your words doing in your marriage?

You may reach Tracy here with comments.

God's Faithfulness

regional review, Testimonies

Nov 262010

Submitted by Lori Newbauer, West Region Prayer Coordinator

“The LORD is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.”

Psalms 145:13b

A few weeks ago my family went on a camping trip to the New Mexico Mountains. We left early in the morning before the sun came up, so as we were driving it began to get lighter and lighter. My husband was driving, my daughter was sleeping in the back seat and I was in the passenger seat listening to a positive and encouraging radio station. As I was listening I was worshiping and talking with God. The sun rise was on our right side, so it was coming right into my window. As the first peaks of the sun pushed its way over the horizon a song came on the radio. You Light Up the Sky. As I was listening and worshiping God began showing me His faithfulness and all the times in my life that He was there.

So many days we are to tired or too busy to see a beautiful sunrise. We get up and run out the door to begin our day, sure some mornings we look at the sky and might say “wow that’s pretty” or “oh why do you have to be so bright sun shine”. But God gets up each and every day and says “its time to bring a new day and a new promise to My children”. He enjoys painting the sky with the dark purples, pinks oranges and yellows. Sometimes He’ll add feathery clouds or big puffy cotton ball looking ones. But each sunrise is the same and yet different. It will always rise each day.

That is our God. He will always be there in our good times and bad ones showing us how much He loves us. He comes in and paints our world in colorful hues, adds light to the dark places and shows us there is nothing He can’t do. So the next time life seems like the middle of the night and darkness is all around, just wait God will light up the sky and show you His faithfulness.

PWOC Europe Update

Local Limelight, News & Announcements, Who are we

Aug 122010

By Christine Young, Europe Region President

It’s that time of year when summer is coming to a close. Soon the kids will go back to school and PWOC will kick into high gear as our new theme begins to blossom uniquely in over 150 chapters worldwide. Europe is one of the eight regions in PWOC International with 34 chapters: 21 Army, 10 Air Force and 3 Navy.

Our region is unusual in that it has 8 Areas and two major conferences each year. In the spring we’ll have WILD and in the fall we have Worship & Study with about 400 women attending.

One thing we are observing across our region is that women are responding to God in obedience and doing things differently than what has “always been done” in the past. There is a level of freedom and permission that is evident and it’s exciting to see women respond to God and try new things.

One example at the regional level is that we are having 6 speakers at Worship & Study this November, rather than one…and we didn’t change our budget. We found speakers who are a part of PWOC and our military community. These women understand who we are and what the needs of our women are as battle weariness and deployments continue. So, we’re stepping out in faith and trying something new with great excitement as we look forward to seeing all that God will do in the lives of women who attend.

I love Hebrews 11:1 that reads “now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Later in that chapter in verse 8 we see that “by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out not knowing where he was going.” My prayer for each woman in PWOC is that she has an intimate relationship with Christ and that she hears and obeys His voice. Sometimes that means we have to act on what He asks us to do when we have no clue where we are going or what His purpose is. Faith may require that we step out “blind” with boldness and in obedience. May we all be found faith full.

Spiritual Remodeling

Devotions

Mar 152010

God began a painful transformational process in me over ten years ago. Recently He’s been targeting ingrained habits, priorities, and mindsets. Each day I must choose to let Him kill the old sin nature. I must choose to walk in a new direction. And I must choose between bondage and freedom.

The Lord’s most effective way to get my attention is to allow physical weariness. He knows me so well. Choices I make largely are based on how I feel physically. I cannot ignore how I feel nor can I push myself or rush His process. I learned long ago to request that He allow a trial to last as long as necessary so I could learn the lesson and prevent enduring it again in the future.

He has been faithful, but trials wear me out when they continue endlessly. It’s as if the Holy Spirit has embarked on a remodeling project. Maybe I should wear a shirt that says, “Under God’s Construction.” That would explain my grimace. I can feel the old nature dying as the Spirit chips away. This reminds me of the passage in Romans 8:36-37 – “As it is written:

‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

To truly be more than a conqueror through this miserable process, I must throw myself at Christ’s feet in submission and receive the good work He’s doing within me. Then I will reap the rewards of deeper spiritual maturity, increased faith, greater character, and fulfillment of His plans for my life. Each day brings the opportunity to do a new thing, reject bondage, and choose freedom.

What is God doing within you today that you want to resist? Let Him place you on His Potter’s wheel and mold you into the beautiful creation He designed you to be. The results will be worth it.

Journey of Transformation, Part 1

Jesus Answers, Life Happens, Life Happens Jesus Answers, Real life stories, Testimonies

Oct 222009

Cry of Desperation

As I walked around the apartment in Friedberg, Germany, I cried out to God to help me overcome damage from the past. Pacing back and forth, Bible in hand, I read Romans 12:2 aloud, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

The year was 1999 and I had reached a point of desperation. Decades of dissatisfaction with myself brought personal interrogation: What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I be different? Why do I get so angry? Why am I so unhappy? Nine years earlier I was on a quest to get these questions answered with the help of a qualified Christian counselor, but I moved away and neglected to continue my quest. As a result, unresolved anger, bitterness and resentment took up residence in my soul. They enjoyed each other’s company like members of a sick, twisted, dysfunctional family. Their father, Satan, used them to full advantage.

The Enemy of my soul succeeded in rendering me depressed, unmotivated, insecure, confused, fragmented, and ineffective. This swirling brew of footholds trapped me in a pit of muck and mire. In Scripture, muck, or mud, and mire represent anything that entraps us like quicksand (Psalm 69:14). In my case, these footholds began developing early in life. An unhealthy, discouraging childhood shaped me into a miserable woman with no sense of self, no clear identity, no sense of purpose or value or worth. As more damage accumulated, the footholds became strongholds binding me in a straight jacket of lies and false beliefs. I believed I was unworthy, bad, wrong, inadequate, inferior, helpless and hopeless. My victim mentality gave Satan more power over me. The lies and false beliefs he planted in my brain affected every area of my life.

I needed help but didn’t know where to turn. Germany wasn’t exactly brimming with Christian counselors, and I didn’t feel comfortable going to a secular social worker or anyone in the military system. What would people think? Feeling isolated and alone, I continued down the path I’d been on – praying for God to deliver me while attempting to make changes in my own strength. My changes were false and temporary, directed from the outside in. I felt like some unknown force had a grip on me so powerful, so deeply rooted, that I couldn’t break free … no matter what I did.

My superficial attempts at behaving differently, changing my attitudes, and being more positive resulted in failure and frustration. Only Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit, had the power to transform me from the inside out. Fortunately, I was at the place where I acknowledged having a problem and I sought God’s deliverance. However, my approach and expectations were unrealistic. I didn’t just beg God to change me. I expected Him to reach down inside my soul and supernaturally pull out the strongholds. I wanted Him to heal me on the spot … or shortly after my pleading began. Yeah, right. He had a very different plan – a plan I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

TO BE CONTINUED …

Women of PWOC, stay connected! In the coming weeks I will continue sharing my Journey of Transformation from being wounded and angry to healed and thriving. My purpose in sharing this story is to glorify God, to show the truth about Him, to display His goodness and provision in the midst of suffering, and to give you hope. No matter where you find yourself at this time in your life be assured that God is trustworthy and faithful despite how you feel about Him. He does have good plans for you. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11).

LauraFirtko

“Life Happens – Jesus Answers” is a weekly column addressing the challenges we face in life, coupled with the presence and grace of Jesus, our One True Source of hope and peace. The column’s author, Laura Firtko, can be reached by email here: LifeHappens@pwoc.org

God is Always on the Move

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday, President's Pen

Sep 162009

I think God had Henry Blackaby and Claude King write Experiencing God just for me. Well, maybe not only for me. This classic study has helped many Christians see where God is at work and join Him in it.

Don’t you love asking God to show you where He is at work? If you do, you’ve discovered what I’ve learned. Joining God in what He is doing is necessary if we want to see God-sized results.

God is always on the move. He’s not into maintenance. He doesn’t tolerate status quo. He’s always about doing a new thing. God has a progressive work to do, not only in you, but through you. He wants to use you to make a difference in “your neck of the woods.” He wants to flow through you to change your family, community, country and ultimately, the world.

But moving forward with God’s agenda can be challenging. We will likely meet obstacles designed to discourage us and deter us from obeying. And we might come face to face with what Blackaby refers to as a “crisis of belief.” Because, in the end, what we decide to do reveals what we really believe about Him. Do we trust His direction or not? Personally, I’ve found that the cost of not following Him is much greater than choosing His way from the very start.

God delights when we step out in faith. He is faithful to provide the strength and grace necessary. It’s our step of faith that allows God to do the next great thing He has for our lives and ministry.

So I ask you, do you want to grow in sweet fellowship with Him? Do you desire for Him to do His greatest work in your current season? Do you want more than anything to join Him in what He is doing?

I believe you do. So, I’m praying some God-sized prayers for you. I’ve listed a few Scripture texts below that you might also want to pray.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 (NIV)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Prov. 3:5-6 (NIV)

“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Prov. 29:25

“…No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him – but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 2:9-10 (NIV)

Always in Prayer,

Brenda Marlin
President, PWOC International

Always-Faithful God

Friday Fruit

Jul 102009

A year ago, my husband left for his one-year solo tour to Korea. This is our first big separation in a long time, and although we live near family and are typically strong people, I’ll be honest and say it’s been hard. I know many of you who have endured deployments to war zones can relate to the geographically single parenthood lifestyle of extreme fatigue and weariness. We have this in common, and I’m thankful for my faith in an always-faithful God and involvement in this amazing ministry.

There have been times over the past eleven months that I have wavered in my confidence in the state of politics, economics, education and morality around us, but what I do know is that God will provide for His own. I have seen it time and time again, although in order to see it, we’ve had to go through it. That’s not the fun part of the process of learning from God.

Our three teenagers are going to be missionaries this summer and will be teaching VBS to underprivileged children, and because of sending multiple children off on a youth group trip, I was concerned about the finances it would mean for our family. In the “eleventh hour” of our family’s long year, we recently heard that all fees for the missions trip are being covered by the kids’ efforts in fund-raising over the past few months. God has again provided for a need and totally blessed us as a family, as a youth group. My oldest son’s hug showed his understanding of this blessing.

Besides tears, the first thing that came to my mind were the words of the Doxology: Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!!

PWOC International Blog

Knocking at Your Door

Blow The Lid Off!

Is my name safe in your mouth?

God's Faithfulness

PWOC Europe Update

Spiritual Remodeling

Journey of Transformation, Part 1

Cry of Desperation

God is Always on the Move

Always-Faithful God

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