MESSAGES FROM GOD

This is an exciting post to write!
     I'm not surprised, since I know that God does this, but when you experience Him speaking to you and the reality of the message applies directly to where you're at in that moment, then it's time to pause and give thanks to the One who knows us so well and knows just exactly what we need.

* Sunday morning was one of those times.
     I have been here in Kiev, Ukraine now for 4 weeks - THAT'S really hard to believe - and I'm just barely scratching the surface of understanding the language. So as I went to church, I hoped but did not expect to feel a part of the service, especially the sermon (проповедь).
     However, with my Russian-English parallel Bible I was able to follow along somewhat with the Scripture reading (I still make a few mistakes with some of the letters in the alphabet, and he was reading quickly), so I at least knew what he was speaking about. My vocabulary is growing slowly, but there were times when he slowed down or emphasized certain points, and I was ACTUALLY able to understand a few of the words and phrases!
     The Scripture passage was Daniel 1:1-20, and he read and spoke on it in sections. I don't know what the main points of his message were, but here's the really awesome thing: God spoke a message from that Scripture passage to my heart during the sermon and it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear!!

What was the message?
     Well, you know that Daniel 1:1-20 recounts the beginning of the time that Daniel and his comrades, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (otherwise known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) spent in Babylon as exiles. Under Daniel's leadership, they requested - and were granted - the privilege of abstaining from the king's chosen food and drink in order to stay true to the Lord God, and Daniel was confident that they would not be found wanting. After a 10-day trial, they were found to be better in appearance and health than the other young men and verse 17 also says that God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom.
     The message that God spoke to my heart was this: that putting Him and His desires for me in the place of primary importance is what will cause me to prosper. Now, I'm NOT saying that I am expecting God to instantly give me supernatural insight and skill with the language (even though that would be amazing), but I realized that if I want to have success in what I do and be pleasing to my Lord and King that I MUST make sure He has first place.

     I'm trying to get into a new routine here, and daily devotions have been a little irregular over the past couple of weeks, so I made a conscious choice that despite everything else, I would make sure that the first thing I do to prepare each morning is to take my quiet time with God. I pray and ask Him daily to help me with the language learning and whatever challenges will face me that day, but I also have a responsibility to walk in relationship with Him as He desires me to. And I know that when I put Him first, I will have the proper perspective and responses to the situations I face.

* The other message was one that I received today, so that is why I am writing it down now.
     I receive a daily email devotional from "Joni and Friends," the ministry of Joni Eareckson Tada, and it is always encouraging to my spirit. Today's message was exactly what I needed to hear and, God-incidentally, it was the first thing I saw when I opened up my email this afternoon.
     The title of it is called "Fruit Comes Through Struggle" and it talked about how a grapevine needs to struggle in order to produce excellent fruit, because if it has an easy time growing, all the nutrients will go into the leaves and it will only look good.

     The challenge, of course (kонечно), was to apply this to our lives: to see the struggles that we face as coming from the Lord's hand, and to realize that without them we will not produce the kind of spiritual fruit that He wants to see in our lives.
    Why was this particularly applicable today? Because I had a difficult language lesson today -- it felt like I was running into a roadblock to understanding the concepts I was being taught. I don't like to struggle - I want to feel competent, to see myself making progress and to understand. But as I read the devotional I realized that these language lessons are not merely for learning the language -- they are a potter's wheel for developing character and if I can learn to humble myself, accept my mistakes, be thankful for the teaching AND the struggles, and keep pressing on, then I will eventually produce fruit. I'm fairly certain that I won't be fluent, but God knows what I need in order to be involved in this ministry He has called me to and He is sovereign over ALL the circumstances of my life.

So bring on the challenges!
     With my Lord walking with me and my eyes on Him, I cannot fail and He will cause me to bring honour to His Name for the things being accomplished in and through my life!!