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"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." - - - - - Romans 6:8-14
April 28, 2005 ...The Word of the Lord... ...Not my will but thine be done, Lord...
This is probably one of the hardest phrases for an independent, pull-your-self-up-by-the-boot-straps North American to sincerely utter. Think about it. One of the things I truly love about our country is the fact that we have so much choice. We have freedom, we have choice, we have help, we have opportunity. The above statement is actually a choice. I spend most of my life formulating my plans and then going to God to offer them to him so that I can receive his blessing and stamp of approval. I try very hard to come up with good plans that reflect what I believe are good purposes and good desires. The problem is that I have areas that he is not allowed to touch. My plans revolve around what I think I can live with. The problem is, really, that my plans revolve around ME, and not around him.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (v11)
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (v12)
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, (v13a)
but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. (v14a) These are the notes I have written in my bible from a sermon preached by Ligon Duncan dated 4/23/01. May he forgive me for any wrong applications of his message. :) I often write notes in my bible as I hear preaching and teaching, or as I am reading. I try to put the date beside what ever is noted or underlined. I can then go back and remember where I was in life when that particular Scripture had a significant meaning for me. Whenever I read this particular passage, I am reminded of what God has done for me. Back in chapter 5, v6 and 8b, it says "You see, at just the right time, when we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly....while we were still sinners Christ died for us." Not my will but thine be done, Lord. As Christ died and gave his life for me, let me give my life back to him, in every way, and in every area, with nothing hidden from him. I pray that I will be a tool of righteousness for him. ...Theory to Application...
Theory is great, isn't it? The only problem with theory is that it generally needs to be translated at some point into application. So, if in theory I believe that God died for me so that I might have eternal life with him, how does that translate into application? Where does that show in my life? WELL...it shows in context. You know, when I was at Georgia Tech, I became a Christian during my junior year. But the summer before I accepted Christ (to my shame), I had to take a required speech class. In my class was a soft spoken young man who obviously loved the Lord and tried in every speech to convey his love of Christ. Now I was generally a "nice" person but for the last speech I chose the topic of Evolution and gave an on-fire speech to the support of Evolution and to the ridicule of the Creation "theory". It wasn't that I believed in anything in particular, it was just that there was something about this young man and his silly beliefs that I wanted to crush. I could tell while I was speaking that my speech was getting to him, and he countered with many passionate and distressed questions. I sat down feeling triumphant. I'm not sure what I was feeling triumphant about, but I was feeling triumphant nonetheless.
It's interesting to note that I was in the middle of an 8 month struggle to find out why a dear friend of mine so passionately believed in and lived for Jesus Christ. Six months after the speech incident, I gave my life over to Jesus Christ. I still wish I knew who that young man was so that I could let him know. So why share such a shameful story of the past? Well, there are certainly many more, but that would take a book. This is just to say that I think we often lose sight of what God has done for us during the course of our lives, and need to stand back and take in the view. May God use me as a tool for righteousness for all the days of my life, and may every nook and cranny of my life be opened to him. ...Peru, carnets, appointments, flights...
Remember the dilemma from my last letter about having made an appointment to change my carnet (Peruvian work permit) into the new format? I had made an appointment, only to find out later that the appointment day was a scheduled holiday. Unfortunately, that was just a few days before I left. Sure enough, everything was closed, so I spent that particular day in Lima visiting Peruvians I knew in Lima. I went to Cusco the next day, but changed my return flights to come back to Lima one day early so that I could get my work permit changed. At stake: if I didn't get it changed before the end of September 2005, I would either have to come back to Peru before then and do it, or else start the entire process over once I returned to Peru (and believe me, I didn't want to do that! What a nightmare of paperwork, money, and travel!). As I headed to the Cusco airport on Sunday to return to Lima for my NEW Monday appointment, I found out that since the Pope had died on Saturday, Monday had been declared ... You guessed it... a holiday. So I changed my flights from Lima to Atlanta to be a day later, and TUESDAY was able to get my carnet changed. :) In a mere 4 hours.
...School, work, support-raising...
I think I also mentioned in my last letter that I was trying to do too many things and not doing any of them well. I had to make some decisions about what would take priority and what would wait. For now, school is taking priority. Two months ago, I looked as the massive amount of material for my class, and said "Lord, I can't do it, not right now". Then I said, "That's right, I can't, but you can. And if I can possibly do the work and pass this class, it will be on your strength and for your glory, not mine." Well, I am 2/3rds of the way through, and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And glory be to God, because I am not even sure how it's happened.
I also want to give God praises for the 2 churches in Florida that have decided to join my support team. I feel personally connected to both of these churches and it was a tremendous encouragement that they were excited about God's work in Peru. ... More praises...
I also shared in my last letter that I had decided to sell my house. I have mixed emotions about it, but I do believe it is the right and best thing to do. I have a contract on the house. Please pray that the buyers will be able to get their financing and that things will go smoothly. It has worked out very well both for me and for the buyers so far. I want a win-win situation, and I think this is one.
A quick note about my trip to Peru in March - it was so good to see everyone and to be back there. It was almost like I hadn't ever left. We also had a team vision planning meeting and team prayer meetings while I was there, and it was so good to see and interact with everyone on my team. This letter is way too long, so I will close for now and thank you all again for being on my support team. May each of you richly receive God's blessings for your desire to be a part of his work. Laura
1911 Alderbrook Rd. NE
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