Broken Seat

John 16:7 (NIV84)

But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

Good morning Zebras,

The seat in my van has broken twice and it is starting to act up again.  The first two times it was the back of the seat, this time it feels like it is the bottom part.  But it doesn’t really matter, what matters I realized the other day as I was driving down the road, is that I don’t trust this seat anymore and I was doing my best not to sit in it.  Mentally, I was trying to levitate myself, which is impossible of course, so that I did not need to rely upon the seat to hold me up.

And God said that’s what you are doing with Me too. You are mentally trying to do it yourself so that you do not need to rely upon Me to miraculously provide.  You are afraid that I am going to let you down “again.”  That you are going to throw all your eggs into the God basket and I am going to drop them, so you are holding back…just a little. 

And of course He was right.  Flinging yourself after God is a scary thing, giving it all up and dancing naked before the Lord with no thought of your own interests is tougher than it seems.   And it is really tough here in the United States where we have so much and we are so able to take care of ourselves. I think culturally we are taught to work hard, rely upon ourselves and out of our abundance give to God.

Biblically, I think we are to supposed to be broken bread and poured out wine and out of our great poverty rely upon God.  But how many of us really do?

How many of us have really given it all up for God without holding anything in reserve in case the “God thing” doesn’t work out?  How many of us have flung ourselves off the cliff, knowing God is going to catch us?  Or do we have a more “balanced” approach?

He obviously has the heaven thing all under control, but doesn’t He appreciate our help with the day-to-day details of life?  Doesn’t God help those who help themselves by planning out every detail of their existence?  Isn’t that what we are taught?

But it isn’t true. God is not impressed with our abilities; He is impressed with our availability and our willingness to lose it all for Him.

Have a wonderful Easter little Zebras, remember Jesus died and rose again not only to conquer sin and death but to give us the Holy Spirit which indwells all believers and gives us the power to do all that God is asking of us even if it is really, really scary.

Love,

Jill

 

 

The Prayer of Moses

Exodus 33:12–17 (NIV84)

 Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’  If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.  How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

Good morning Zebras,

I keep thinking about the weekend and what made it so special.  And the answer is of course, God showed up in a big way.  But why did He show up?  I think the answer is that there were so many people there whose heart longed to see more of God.  Like Moses, their prayer was for God and God alone.

And it was wonderful.

So, I am feeling God prompting me to plan the first co-ed Zebra retreat: A Weekend with the Lord.  It will be a weekend for men and women eighteen and older who desire to have more of God’s presence in their life.  People who when they read today’s verses, their hearts say “Amen!” 

I am feeling it should be Jan 24-26, 2014, which right now feels along time away, but we all know God often makes us wait. And I think it is time to go back to Mt. Hermon.  That is where God confirmed this ministry was going to be my life and there seems to be a Biblical principal about returning to the place where you first heard God speak.

I am not sure exactly what the event will look like yet, but that seems to be the way God works with me.  He gives me the idea and then He fills in all the details as needed.

The reason I am telling you this is because I would greatly appreciate your prayers as I go forward.  First and foremost pray that if this is just an idea from Jill, God will shut it down.  Gently would be preferred, but if I’m stubborn…

And please pray that I know how many spots to reserve. Mt Hermon requires a deposit and a numerical commitment.   I have had a problem with numbers since the first Zebra retreat and although the person who is financing this is willing to reserve as many spots as I say I don’t want them to lose money because I heard God incorrectly, again.

After that, please just pray as God leads, because we all know that when God’s people pray great things happen.

I love you little Zebras, together let’s see what God is going to do.

Jill

 

Show Me Your Glory

Exodus 33:18 (NIV84)

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

Good morning Zebras,

Thank you to everyone who prayed for the High Sierra Fellowship retreat this weekend in Tahoe.  I’m still processing all that happened.  My personal prayer for the event had been today’s verse that God would put us in the cleft of the rock and pass by in a spectacular way.  And he did.  I think many of us, including me, will never be the same.

Thank you to every woman who listened to the Lord and in obedience did what He asked them to do.  The unity of Spirit was incredible and it gave me great hope that God’s Spirit is alive and well and maybe revival is really on the way.

Although it is too hard to explain the weekend, I wanted to share two quick stories which will hopefully encourage those of you who were not able to be there.

For the last few months my bra has been driving me crazy.  I have gained a few pounds and it is too tight so it is causing some chafing.  I haven’t shared that with anyone, but God knew and He provided.  One of the gifts waiting for me in my room when I arrived on Friday was “Body Glide” the original anti-chafe balm.  And I had to laugh.

Then on Sunday during the last session I shared that after the first Zebra event at Mt. Hermon, I heard God say “Well done good and faithful servant.”  It was the first time I realized that “well done” wasn’t just for when you are dead. That God says “Well done” to His faithful servants all time and isn’t that all of our hearts’ desire to hear “well done good and faithful servant,” each and every time we do ministry?

When the session was over and everything had quieted down; my friend, Kim, came up and gave me a bag.  It contained a coffee mug, now I get a lot of zebra mugs so when I saw that it was a mug I thought I knew what it was, but I was wrong.  Instead of being a zebra mug it was a big blue mug with “Well done, good and faithful servant!…your faithful service is an offering to God.”  And I cried.

The weekend began with the Lord meeting my needs and ended the same way.

And here’s the really cool part, Kim had originally bought it for the mug exchange game on Friday night.  But God had impressed upon her she was not to put the mug in the exchange she was to give it to me, so at the last minute, she ran out and bought a second mug.   She had the mug with her all weekend, she could’ve given it to me at any time, but she waited to give it to me at the end, and that made it perfect.

So take heart little Zebras, stay strong, God loves you.  He knows what you need and He will provide, all we need to do is listen and obey because He may want to use you to provide for someone else.

Love,

Jill

Do All Things in Moderation

“Do all things in moderation”

Good morning Zebras,

I did a search on today’s verse only to find it is not contained in the Bible.  Figuring I had gotten some of the words wrong I shortened my search to “moderation.”  But when it came back with zero results I was surprised and confused.  The word “moderation” is not found in modern Bibles.  

But I’m not the only one.  I went on Google and put in the phrase “do all things in moderation” and came up with a lot of hits, mostly related to what does the Bible say about moderation?  My favorite one said that we are like the guy in Princess Bride who kept saying “Inconceivable.”  We don’t’ really understand what the word means.  And he also gave the following history of the phrase:

 

moderation in all things proverbial saying, mid-19th Century; a more recent formulation of the idea contained in there is measure in all things. The essential thought is found in the work of the Greek poet Hesiod (c.700 bc), ‘observe due measure; moderation is best in all things’, and of the Roman comic dramatist Plautus (c.250–184 bc), ‘moderation in all things is the best policy.’ (Knowles)

All of which got me thinking...what does the Bible say?

 

It says not to sin and even a moderate amount of something God has called sin, is sin.  Adam and Eve learned that the hard way.  And it says to exercise self-control because even those things God has given us for our enjoyment like sex, eating, talking, and relaxing can rapidly deteriorate into sin when done incorrectly or in excess.

Too much eating becomes gluttony, no matter what you’re eating; incorrect use of the tongue results in complaining, gossip and slander; too much rest and relaxation and you become a lazy fool and a sloth.  And although sex is one of the pleasures of being married outside of marriage it can go horribly wrong.

God does not tell us to do things in moderation, He tells us to do everything as if we are doing it for Him and only you and He knows what that looks like in your life.

Love,

Jill

A New Beginning

Good morning Zebras,

I wanted to give you a quick update.

About twenty-some people showed up last night, so if you’d asked me last night if it had been a success I would’ve said no, but this morning I would say yes.  I was the one who wanted a big crowd, but that was pride.  The things God prompted me to pray for happened. 

I think it was a beginning of a new direction for the ministry-and like all beginnings it was a bit rough. I need to work on the message-but I don't feel convicted I said anything “wrong” I just didn’t say it quite “right.”

I am grateful to the people who showed up and I’m also grateful there weren’t more people there.  It was without a doubt one of the most difficult things I have done so far.  And I know it was possible only because of all of your prayers.

Ellen Marks, the worship leader, ended with a great gospel presentation.   She has such a wonderful tender heart for the lost, which comes across so beautifully when she shares the Gospel.  I think she was Barnabas to my Paul and made me realize I will always need a person like that to be part of the team. 

Anyway Zebras, thank you very much for the prayers.  Please, if God prompts, keep them coming because this doesn’t feel like the ending to the story, just the beginning of a new chapter.

Love,

Jill

Good Story

Matthew 14:26–29 (NIV84)

When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”  “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”  “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

 

Good morning Zebras,

Once upon a time there was a Christian lady who was tired of having a useless faith and she prayed earnestly to God to allow her to get out of the “boat” and walk out on the water with Jesus.

And He did.

He started off small. Opening doors for her to go and speak at different events, first it was an event in Santa Rosa, the next year He added Sacramento and then He told her to go over the mountain to Nevada and speak there.  Even though she cried all the way over the mountain, she had never left California to speak before, she went because she knew God was telling her to go and because He had opened the door

Time passed and God kept teaching the woman new things.

First, He taught her He was a good God.  That His goodness was not measured by her life experiences but by what He had written in His Word.  He taught her that He really loved her, and that He was Holy and Perfect and in-charge.  He helped her to learn that sometimes when you work to please God, it makes men unhappy.

And she went around telling people what she had learned.

Then He taught her more, for although she had spent a lot of time learning about God the Father, she had forgotten about the Son.  So she spent year learning about Jesus.  She learned that Jesus was not only God’s Son, he was also God and that following Him meant more than just a life of free grace, it meant living a life of obedience to God as modeled by Christ.

And once again He opened doors for her to go and tell people what she had learned.

 

But God is a triune God and although she had learned about the Father and the Son, God showed her she was ignoring His Spirit.  It is God’s Spirit which allows His people to do all that God has called them to do.  And it was the final piece to the puzzle.

So now when she went places, she didn’t just talk about one aspect of God, she talked about four, God’s Word which reveals God, who sent His Son, who gave His life so that we could not only eternal life, but also the Spirit. 

And God blessed her efforts.

So she started praying God would open a door in her hometown where she could give this wonderful message of hope to the people she loved and knew. But because she thought it would be scary, she prayed God would do it in a miraculous way so she would know without a shadow of a doubt that it was Him opening the door.

And He did.

This Saturday, with only four days’ notice God has opened the doors at the Benicia Clock Tower for His message of hope.  And although the story is way too long to tell here, the following excerpt from an e-mail I received should give you an idea of what God did to make this happen.

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Feb 26 (2 days ago)

From: Benicia Grad night

To: the board

 I'm sure you've seen by now that we cancelled the poker tournament due to lack of interest.

Luckily, Jill will be using the Clock Tower for an "Evening of Hope and Encouragement" …From her description of it, it sounds like a lovely evening... I know, from poker and drinking to something much more spiritual and soul-satisfying!  Ha!

----------------

And I thought “Only God…”

So the only thing left is to get the word out.  Everyone is invited, men, women and youth, saved and unsaved because it is God’s event and only He knows who is supposed to be there.

Love

Jill

An Evening of Hope

This Saturday, March 2
6:30-9 pm
Benicia Clock Tower
Free admission

Not Just For One

John 11:51–52 (NIV84)

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.

Good morning Zebras,

Have you ever heard anyone say some variation of this thought: “If I was the only one who was going to accept Christ, Jesus would have come and died just for me.”   

I have and I’ve wondered if it were actually true. I find that people usually say it when they are trying to convince themselves that they have value.  But why do we have to have God die just for us to make us feel important?

Then last year Katherine, my daughter, started talking about it.  She asked me if I had ever heard anyone say “God would have died just for me.”  When I replied I had, she shared that her New Testament Survey professor at Moody said it wasn’t true.

At the time I was so excited to hear it, that I didn’t ask her what verse they used as reference.  And when I asked her a few weeks ago she couldn’t remember.  So I started praying that God would show me where it was.

This morning I think I found it-actually I think I found at least two.

John 6:37–39 (NIV84)

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

John 17:2 (NIV84)
For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.

Jesus says He came to get all the people God had given Him.  The word “all” is plural which means Jesus never came for just one person He came for everyone that the Father had set aside for Him to get.  That means there is no way to know if Jesus would have come for just one person because that was never the task.  Saying it might make us feel more important, but it doesn’t mean it is true.

Jesus did come for you, and He came for me, but He came for millions of others too and it is our job and privilege to tell them so.

Love,

Jill