And Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem...

“And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

  

As I read of this in Matthew 11:1-6, I know in my heart that I do take offense at the Lord.

 

I am offended when I have to make an important decision and I cannot discern His will. 

 

Jesus said this when John the Baptist was in prison. John was suffering uncertainty, wondering if he had heard God correctly during the days of his baptizing ministry. John sent his disciples to Jesus to inquire if Jesus really was “the Expected One”, and Jesus, understanding John’s agony of heart, gave John the evidence he needed. “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Jesus was presenting His evidence—the fulfilment of God’s prophetic word (Isaiah 35:5-6, Isaiah 29:18-19) and God’s mighty heart to care for His people. Jesus' ministry was motivated by obedience and compassion.

 

I often hear people agonizing, wondering if they had heard God correctly, and had acted according to His will. Jesus was quick to answer John's heartache. He did not accuse John of lacking faith or of being double-minded. Yet, when people feel uncertainty, often accusations bombard their hearts and minds, and they begin to take offense...

 

I am offended when He is silent regarding the desires of my heart.

 

People love to quote verses from Psalm 37:4 "...and He will give you the desires of your heart." My studies of Job, the holy man of God whom the Lord put on display for all eternity as one completely loyal to God Almighty, have shown me that every desire that Job cried out before God was fulfilled, in God's time and plan. I see also that Moses desired to liberate the Israelites, and God led him to do just that. In God's perfect time and plan.

 

I am offended when evil prospers and the fragile are destroyed.

 

As I work here in West Africa, I see the ruthless hand of rejection and abuse everywhere. Yet, as I walk the streets of Europe and the United States, is it any different--just clothed in more civilized forms? While the sick and the lame are outcast and abused in Africa, are the shy, less cool children any better treated in the United States?

 

I want God to do something other than He is doing.

 

“And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

 

Would I have been one of those who waved palm branches on Sunday, and shouted for His death on Friday?

 

Am I willing to trust His judgment and provision?

Do I truly believe that He is Lord of the universe, and Lord of my heart and life?

Will I love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength?

—or  do I reserve the right to disagree with Him, to give Him counsel that I am sure He needs, because things are not going as I feel they ought?

 

Trying to manipulate God to do my will is not righteous, nor is trying to manipulate or control others. In Revelation 1:13-18 we see the power, majesty and authority of the risen Christ, yet in Revelation 3:18-20 Jesus warns us of two things:

          “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.”

Jesus was not calling us to discover our inner passion and follow our dreams, as the church so often calls us to do today. He was calling us to be zealous for God’s passion and dreams, and to repent of pursuing our own passion and talents, saying to ourselves, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing…” And Jesus went on to say to those who are full—

          “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

 

Where is Jesus in our lives right now?

Is He asking permission to enter?

Are we His counsellors, or is He ours?

 

His words to John the Baptist echo in my heart:

“And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

 

Lord, help me to air out my opinionated heart and let You live there freely. Help me to seek Your counsel, and repent from the arrogance that would be offended at You. May I give You honor in all that I think, speak and do, and may You be the love and joy of my life…

 

Academy Art Festival

This has been a fun week. Wednesday night we had an art festival, where we celebrated everything from paintings to poetry to music to karate... and our kids performed as the crew looked on in delight.

Auction of Dreams...

On Monday, March 15, we teachers held an auction to raise money for our Kenya trip. What an amazing response! Teachers and others donated services for the auction, and everyone turned out full of good cheer and laughter. I was so heart-warmed by the goodwill. People gave us $4,540 altogether. What a blessing!!! Here are some fun shots of the group. The final surprise was when our Principal, Nikki, stepped up and auctioned off the auctioneer, whose friends took her up on the bidding if he would shave his head and face. How we all laughed! Isn't it wonderful to be a part of the family of God as we strengthen one another?

Since then we have had an additional $3,350 donated, so we can go, fully paid! What an incredible gift! Thank you, Lord, for such extravagent generosity!

New laptops!

Tonight the students of grades 9-12 at the Academy signed for new laptops to use during the school year. I am so grateful! We only have 9 computers in our lab, which means that research and word documents must often be done outside of school time. Not any more! We are so blessed!

 

 

We have a dream...

 

 

MERCY SHIPS ACADEMY serves the families on board the M/V Africa Mercy with a quality education. And we have a dream.   We dream of serving the many nations of the ship families with an international curriculum that would better interface with their own nations' educational requirements. It's a big dream, but we have a dedicated staff working concertedly to bring that dream to reality.   This restructuring of the school includes seeking full accreditation through the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) who has counselled over 5,000 schools in curriculum development in more than 100 countries.   We are determined to serve our families better. Would you partner with us?   We have an opportunity to take our 12 staff members to an ACSI conference in Kenya, April 1-4. This offers intensive training for serious international Christian educators. There we can interface with many other multi-national schools in Africa as well as with ACSI officials. You can learn about it on the ACSI website at www.acsi.org if you follow the directions to conferences and workshops. The one in Kenya is called ICEC.   The conference costs will be covered for by Mercy Ships Academy, but we need to raise $8,500 to cover the travel costs. We were hoping to receive a grant to cover this, but sadly that plan fell through. We don't want to give up on the dream just yet.   Would you take a moment and ask God if He is inviting you to help us realize this dream? Such a professional training would really help our teachers in their challenge of restructuring the standards of the Academy.    Thank you so much for taking time to hear our heart, and to consider partnering with us in prayer and in finances.   If you would like to help us financially, you can send a donation to Mercy Ships, P.O. Box 2020, Lindale, TX 75771, USA, making sure to include AMAC in the memo section of your check.    I am really excited about this opportunity. It will also be the first time for me to see some of the people I trained with back in 2004 in Africa Inland Mission!

 

Life is full of unlikely moments

In the mornings from 6 to 7 a number of us come together for prayer on deck 7. Imagine our delighted surprise to see two people riding horseback along the greenway parallel to the beach! This happens several times a week. The two ride leisurely along, side by side, and end their ride with a mad race along the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. There in the midst of Togolese farmers who struggle day after day to bring forth a small harvest in their allotted patches, two eager horsemen trot, engrossed in their own companionship. Even so, God tucks joy into the mundaneness of our toils, if we will but look up and be refreshed by it.