Journey in Christ     FOUNDATIONAL TRAINING FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY   Gregg's Weekly Rest Stop            December 6, 2010             Whispers of God   These are some minor things God does, merely a whisper of His power.  Who can understand the thunder of His power. (Job 26:14 NLT).   Our joy at Journey in Christ is being an instrument to help people grow in hearing God, and then to help them respond to God by equipping them to share Christ through their personalities.    DISCIPLESHIP TESTIMONY  7 years ago, I ministered to a women who had desperately sought to live by biblical principles.  She had the means to be exposed to many ministry resources, which only led to years of frustration.   I kept pointing her to Christ already living in her in contrast to the biblical principles outside of her that she was striving to live up to.  She ultimately began to see a glimpse of the glory of Christ in her.  God was revealing His Son in her!   She responded by starting to share Christ through her God-given love for writing, even while on a journey of brokenness.  This journey is for all Christians to be "broken bread and poured out wine" to others.    After 7 years of profound brokenness, she emailed me about starting a formal email writing ministry entitled Whispers of God.  To the right are excerpts from  her first Whisper, written from her brokenness and poured out to others.   MINISTRY TESTIMONY She also noted in her email that she was discouraged by someone's critque of her writings.  Following are excerpts of my email response to her.   It is not the product of our writing that is to be our sole focus, it is the process of our writing.  For in the process we are relating to our precious Lord Jesus in us.  Our delight in writing is our delighting in Him and His delighting in us!   Our writings are to simply testify of what we hear the Lord speak to us.  Our writings are living conversations with those who read the writings and who also yearn to hear God through their process with God.    Keep writing from your heart, the heart God gave you and the heart He united with the heart of Christ!  He is molding you through your writings for His glory.   CLOSING All of us have a ministry written on our hearts to be served out of a life-long journey of brokenness.  This is not a gloomy truth, it is a most beautiful truth!  Brokenness is not always pretty in appearance, but beauty is always poured out from brokenness.  The beauty of Christ.   Listening for His beautiful whispers,

 

 

PS,  Being "broken bread and poured-out wine" is a phrase used often by Oswald Chambers, author of the devotional book My Utmost for His Highest.  The origin of the phrase is Jesus' last supper with His disciples, leading to Jesus' being broken and poured out for us on the cross.  Because Christ is our life, this, too, is our nature and our call. 

 

At right are excerpts from Oswald Chamber's book.

 

British Army Chaplain during WWI in Egypt.

Died pouring his life out for soldiers at age 44. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

To hear someone say "I can't do this any more," may make us think we should tell him or her that they can, or may make us want to try to fix the person or the circumstances.  

 

We must be broken from the illusion that we have control over people or things.  This is God rescuing us from ourselves, bringing us to the end of ourselves.

 

The first time I began to see myself powerless was the hardest.  It was like taking my first step into a dark room, not knowing what would be ahead or behind me. 

 

But this is when I began to learn to live by faith, when I knew that Christ would live through me.  We were one.  

 

When I began to see His compassion and love for others within me, I realized I could love others with the same love with which He loves me.  This has given me hope about loving others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Beautiful scene Joy & I saw last weekend driving through Pendleton, SC.