This week my team kicked off another year of ministry, and at our team meeting we had a devotional on Psalm 62.
Funny enough, this has been a Psalm I've been reading weekly all summer, I guess probably even longer. It also was mentioned in a sermon at a church I visited in July month. I love when God connects the dots in my life by bringing the same lesson to my attention in multiple ways. Psalm 62 is about God being our hope and refuge. The word "alone" is used multiple times (some translations say "only" or truly"). It's the same Hebrew word used in each reference ("ak" which means "alone" ... and sounds like a cat trying to cough up a hairball when pronounced). The Psalmist (likely David), uses it to highlight that it is God and only God who is our source of true hope and refuge. I've been reading some of my favorite Psalms in the ESV Devotional Psalter I picked up last spring, and love what the author writes about this Psalm: "The conviction into which this psalm is settling us is that the Lord himself is our deepest, our truest, our only stable refuge. Into what are you funneling all of your heart's anxieties? What are you banking on? What do you spend extra money on? What do you daydream about? The answer to these questions reveals our real refuge." Uffda. What do I daydream about? Lately, a husband. Now, I'm not generally someone who struggles in their singleness. Sure, there are good days and hard days. Mostly I spend my days doing a job, I love in a city I love, surrounded by incredible people that I tolerate (just kidding, I love them too). So what more could I need? Well, a husband would be nice. Some of the biggest worries in my life would probably be lessened if I had a spouse: car issues, financial security, a desire to know someone intimately and be known by them. Honestly, those are the big three anxieties that I come up again and again and again. But. My soul waits for God alone. My soul waits. For God Alone. Daydreaming about a magic fix for my problems isn't healthy. When life happens and things don't go how I expect, instead of daydreaming about a husband I can push past that fantasy and stand on the belief that God is my deepest, truest, most stable refuge. He's a rock. I can stand on the truth, on the rock, instead of on the shifting sands of my emotions. This is what it means to take thoughts captive; to say, "God, I'm not going to daydream about that. I'm going to thank you for being my ultimate refuge" and then actively think about something else instead of dreaming my worries away. My soul waits for God alone...my soul waits.
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"I will taste and see that you are good." This lyric from the song "Come to the River" by Housefires has been resonating with me today. Tasting something that is good (like my caramel latte this morning) implies I am experiencing it. I know in my head that a caramel latte tastes good; but I also have actual experience drinking it- tasting the sugary, buttery flavor of the caramel as it mixes with the rich espresso and smooth milk. (Now I want another caramel latte...)
Tasting and seeing involves involves an experience - and tasting and seeing God's goodness assumes I have an experience with God's goodness. I can know intellectually, theologically, that God is good, (and I think that's really important!) but tasting that goodness indicates experiencing it for myself. I have experienced the goodness of the Lord; and not because of any good I've done - no way! I've seen and experienced his goodness in my life in numerous ways despite the awful things I've done in my life. That makes his goodness towards me all the more sweet. And not fake sugar sweet, but sweetness that is lasting and real and deep. I was talking with a friend yesterday and explaining how powerful this experience of God is, especially when we're sharing our faith. No one can refute the power of Jesus. You can disagree with an opinion, or a statement, but you can't disagree with an experience. I can point to my life and say Jesus has transformed my heart, and that change cannot be refuted. I can point to things that God has given me - things that are just what I need at the exactly right time, over and over again. His good and perfect timing cannot be refuted. "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him." - Psalm 34:8 While at Cru17 we were able to hear from President Steve Douglass, who shared vision for the ministry moving forward, and encouraged us with news about partnerships that ministries are making, working together toward fulfilling the Great Commission, some of which I thought I'd share:
Translations of the Bible There are approx 7,000 languages on the Earth. About 3,000 of these languages have enough of the Bible translated to do evangelism and discipleship; another 2,200+ have progress happening towards having resources developed. That leaves somewhere around 1,800 left to work on developing translations and resourced. Recently God gave the president of YWAM an idea to partner with WyCliffe and Cru (specifically the Jesus Film) to knock out those 1800 languages by sharing human capital, finances and digital resources/strategies. With the use of technology like Artificial Intelligence, languages can be grouped by similarities and translated in clusters, and then individually tweaked and perfected by humans. This work is rapidly enhancing the rate of translation for these 1,800 languages. It's predicted that there will be enough Bible translated to make evangelism and discipleship resources in every language no later than 2033. Engaging Unengaged, Unreached People Groups A people group is unreached when less than 2 percent of its population is evangelical Christian. Currently, there are around 7,000 unreached people groups in the world. A people group is unengaged when no evangelical church planting strategy is being implemented among them. Steve shared there are around 1500 unengaged people groups left in the world, though I'm seeing online through some research that there are more like 3200 unengaged groups. But, approx 350 of these groups are being engaged every year...that means in 5-11 years (depending on the stats) there won't be any unengaged people groups left. Spreading the Jesus Film This film has been translated into 1500 languages...that's the most translated of any movie. It's a bit ridiculous to think about that. I got to share the Jesus Film with my team in Brazil in college, and I will never forget the little face that looked up at me and asked "Why did Jesus have to die?" as she and her mom watched the film. It was surreal to watch people who had never heard of Jesus learn about his life through the video in their own language. The Jesus Film has had a cumulative audience of 7.5 billion people. This is not unique views, this means that people have been double-counted if they saw the film twice. But still...7.5 billion views?? Crazy. I know statistics might not mean much or be motivating to you, but they are to me! I loved hearing from Steve that large, world-wide ministries are seeking to partner together and share resources to go after the fulfillment of the Great Commission. |
Amy WellnerEncouraging others to intentionally live out their God-given identity. Archives
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