Photo by Kevin Cardin, licensed with Adobe Stock Jesus said, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42 Years from now, when the children are grown, They'll not remember how clean was the home, Did a light coat of dust inveil the walls? Were there a few toys scattered in halls? But they will remember deep in their heart, A weary and worn mother who failed to stop. Working and working from dawn to the night, Carrying burdens and fears, so uptight. Working and working, no time for prayer, 'Til pressures are mounting and tempers do flare. Wide-eyed young children, mama is mad, Dare not they speak, their hearts are so sad. The arms that caress, the words that instruct, Are lost now in anger and words that rebuff. Oh mama, dear mama, flee from the trap, When pressures are rising, there's this and there's that. It's only your children, their precious dear souls, Their eyes that are watching, lives in a mold. What are they learning when they look at you, The lessons that you teach them, now are they true? Wait not a moment, when fear grips your heart, Piles of laundry, and supper to start. They'll not go hungry, or without clothes, Flee to your Father, your cares He does know. Go steady your heart, as you seek Him in prayer, Small eyes are watching, will they catch you there? Down on your knees when things go awry, When burdens seem piled from here to the sky. Flee from the tasks like a fox from a trap, Buried in the burdens of the this and the that. Receive the vision from heaven above, Tender young hearts in need of your love. Lost in their lessons, now they have chores, They have their work, and you, you have yours. But the Father, His purpose is higher than ours, We see the clouds, He makes us the stars! We see the work, He sees the plan, And we'll see it too, if we seek Him again. Let His Spirit guide you and lead you in time, We are the branch and He is the vine. Run not so fast, poor Martha, see Mary, It's fear, not your faith, that's making you weary. Be still My child, and know that I am God, When the road is long, and the way seems hard. As you carry your burdens, let Me carry you, With your hand in Mine, we'll make it through. From valleys to mountains, to valleys again, I'll be your Lord, and I'll be your friend. I'll bring you from trials to victory still, If you'll trust and obey Me; seek only My will! I am the Potter. Rest in My hand, blessed clay, Pray without ceasing, all through the day. I'll bring you from trials to victory still, If you'll trust and obey Me; seek only My will. As your heart rests in Me, your burdens grow light, Your work will be joyous when your heart is right. My purpose you'll see in your hand on the plow, Even glimpses of glory in the here and the now. My purpose in matters once wearisome and trite, Will shine in your soul as the new morning light. Licensed with Shutterstock I don't need to see fruit. I need to love God with all of my heart and do what He says to do. I don't need to prove to anyone that Tin Man Ministries is fruitful. I need to please my Daddy God. That's it. In other words, I don't strive to show others that I or TMM is bearing fruit. I just love Him, obey Him and pray. He produces the fruit. I don't have to see it with my natural eyes. I believe it with my spiritual eyes. If I abide in Him, there is fruit. It's a Biblical truth found in the book of John. It says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit" (John 15:5). The late Mother Teresa and missionary Heidi Baker didn't move with the poor, feed them, clothe them and adopt them, to prove to the world that they and their ministries were fruitful. They loved God. They obeyed God. They loved the people God placed in front of them. It's simple, but people complicate things. To the natural eye it may seem that I have only ministered to a few. What if each individual person that I have spent considerable time ministering to and pouring into, then impacts hundreds or thousands, including their churches, towns, families and very importantly, their generations! Heidi Baker of Iris Global has a motto, "Stop for the one," meaning, stop what you are doing and love the one in front of you. What if I spend months or years loving on the one, and that one turns out to live a life such as Billy Graham, Lou Engle or Bob Jones. Since my husband and I founded TMM, I have tried to model my life after Mother Teresa and Heidi Baker, but in my younger years, I desired to be like my Auntie. My Auntie never became famous, but her great love and faith in God caused me to pray, "Lord, make me like my Auntie." I watched her sacrifice for others and love them unconditionally, including the delivery person, her elderly neighbor and her rebellious grandchild. I watched her live out her faith in God, never wavering, whether in the storms of life or sunny skies. I know this for certain, this one life impacted my life and now my life is impacting my generations and even the nations. I can say this because I have the eyes of faith to believe it. God's word says, "Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Paul lists men from the Old Testament who became "famous" because of their great faith to believe the promises of God. He goes on to say, "These heroes all died still clinging to their faith, not even receiving all that had been promised them. But they saw beyond the horizon, the fulfillment of their promise and gladly embraced it from afar" (Hebrews 11:13a TPT). I have a promise from God that He gave to me before TMM was founded in 2012. "I will use you to bring healing to this generation." I have faith to believe that this promise will be manifested, even if I never see it with my natural eyes. I believe God will produce the fruit of this promise (and all the others), including the harvest of my prayers and the sowing of my tears in intercession. The fruit will manifest, from faith, in God's perfect timing. I will cling to these words, "These were the true heroes, commended for their faith, yet they lived in hope without receiving the fullness of what was promised them" (Hebrews 11:39 TPT). Do I want to see the fruit of my labors? I do! Sometimes in my weakness, I pray to God, "Let me see some fruit Lord!" He very lovingly obliges me, because He knows that it encourages me to continue the work that He has given me to do. Licensed with Shutterstock Image via Pixabay cc "The Lord is my best friend and my shepherd. I always have more than enough. He offers a resting place for me in his luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace, the quiet brook of bliss. That’s where he restores and revives my life." Psalm 23:1-3 TPT I was at a place in my life once again, where I suffered the loss of close friends. Not only did I lose my prayer partners, but my heart was broken from several other of life's blows. As a soldier in Christ, I found myself wounded, weary and alone. It is at these times that I must go to God with my broken heart and lift it up to Him and say "Here is my broken heart that's been shattered in pieces. Please heal it and make it whole." I mustn't seek a person or a thing, such as alcohol, to numb my heart. I mustn't busy myself with distractions and pretend the pain isn't there. These actions do nothing to heal my broken heart. I must go straight to Jesus! Jesus is the Healer; the gentle Surgeon; the Giver of new hearts.¹ Jesus died on the cross so to "bind up the broken-hearted."² After we've surrendered our pain to Jesus, sometimes He will send a person our way to minister to us. I call such a person, "God's love-with-skin." God sent Joy (a fictional name) to me for this very purpose−to minister God's love to me at that very moment in my life when I was feeling the intense heat of the fire. Joy and I were introduced by a mutual friend over the phone and we met for lunch one day to get better acquainted. That morning Joy sat with God in prayer and welcomed Him into her day. She heard Him tell her that I was in need of being refreshed, so Joy knew that God was going to use her to bring me refreshment. And let me tell you, God was in our midst during our meeting that day and it made the pain and burdens of my soul feel light; just like Jesus said in Matthew 11:29, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." It was like I was in the midst of a fiery furnace, but the heat didn't consume or overwhelm me because Jesus sent a dew-laden breeze to refresh me. It's like the words from Isaiah 18:4, "I will look from My dwelling place quietly...like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” After Joy and I had lunch, we sat in her car to pray and listen to worship music. Joy sat there, yielding herself to God−her heart, her hands, and her voice−to be used by Him to refresh me, as she remembered His words to her that morning. I sat there worshipping the Lover of my soul, whom I was desperately clinging to, so as not to drown in the stormy sea that raged about me. It was then that Jesus came to me in a divine encounter that rocked my world and made it all worthwhile... I saw Him standing in a doorway. Behind Him was an all-white bright light which beamed forth from the door and encircled His body. He stepped through the doorway and walked up to me. He had a white robe with a Jewish prayer-shawl draped over His head and shoulders. He had the wounds in His feet. Jesus placed His hand gently on the side of my face and said "My beloved one. My cherished one." I then felt a gentle breeze blow on my face. He then looked me straight in the eyes and said "I don't mind looking you in the eyes." I replied, "I have nothing to hide from You." I then noticed His smile. He had white shiny teeth as He smiled at me. I felt in my heart that He was happy with me. Jesus then reached out to take my hand, so I reached back and took it. I knew that it meant that we would walk together on this journey of life, hand in hand. When I took His hand, it made me feel safe. My thoughts went to the many men who abused me in my lifetime. But holding Jesus' hand, I felt safe. I cried out, "Don't let me go!" But even as I said those words, I knew that He never lets us go. We are the ones who let go of Him. I began to walk forward with Him, feeling that I never wanted to leave His side because I knew that as long as I stayed close to Him, He would protect me. That day Jesus came to me because I was clinging to Him and looking to Him for His help. He came to me in a vision and also through Joy, a willing vessel who reached out to me, a near-stranger, but a sister in the Lord, and through her prayers and mine combined, Jesus came. And with His presence comes every means of provision needed for the journey. Thank you Jesus! Thank you Joy for saying yes to God. Thank you for being a yielded vessel for the Master's use.³ You are an oak of righteousness planted by the Lord to reveal His glory.⁴ Ezekiel 36:26¹
Isaiah 61:1² 2 Timothy 2:20-21³ Isaiah 61:3⁴ You changed water into wine. You made a borrowed axe float. You raised the widow's son from the dead. You walked on water. You placed a coin in the mouth of a fish. These are the things Your Word says you can do. These are the things that are true. Is there anything too hard for you? You call the things that are not as though they are. You parted the Red Sea just in time. You raised Lazarus from the dead. You created the world out of nothing, with just Your Word. With You, all things are possible. With You, nothing is impossible. Is there anything too hard for You? You gave the widow all the oil she needed. You gave children to the barren wombs, You shut the mouths of lions. You did not let your servants be consumed by fire. You made the blind man see. You can do miracles in my life too. You do the impossible. There is nothing too hard for You. Jesus, God's Son, died on the cross for our sins. You took my sins and made me clean. You work in my heart and sanctify me daily. You love me and made a place for me in heaven. A sinner, made clean, to one day see Your face. To me, the greatest miracle of all, Your love in this life and then the next. With You, all things are possible. Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 2nd Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (c) 2019 ANNETTE HAHNER |
Spirit-Filled Authors
* HollyOtten Categories
All
|