The Runaway Slave

I had a dream last night that woke me up with a startling call to join the ranks of the Lord's Army.

In the dream I saw a very large black man (think John Coffee in the Green Mile). In my spirit I knew he was a slave. It was the middle of the night and the middle of a severe storm. The runaway slave ran with all of his might. Cold rain beat down on him. Lightening pierced the sky to light his way, and the thunder seemed almost constant.  As he ran he got hit in the face by branches, his arms and legs became bloody from the cuts they received, and the unstable mud caused him to fall several times. The burden to pick himself back up was so great that I often wondered if he would be able to rise again, but the fight to freedom within him grew with every fall, and he continued.

He ran in this condition for what I understood to be 100 miles before he finally reached a land of freedom. When he finally stopped he was beyond exhausted, wet, and weak, but he was free... and he had carried his two children with him to freedom.

"For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first."

2 Peter 2:19b-20

As Christians I think we often accept that Jesus willingly took our punishment for us, and then we become passive with a belief that the battle has already been won, so there is no longer any fighting that needs to be done. God loves us so much that he died for us and now he fights our fights for us. Our only job is to show up in Heaven and receive our reward...

Our reward for WHAT??

After we accept The Way that Jesus provides for us to be saved, it is then up to us to fight the good fight and run the race set before us. In my dream, the race was to freedom, and the race was against time. The enslavement was the sin and bondage of our old life. The captors were the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil who desire to keep us in our sin. They were represented by all of the elements (darkness, rain, trees, thorns, mud, etc) trying to stop the slave from reaching freedom. (Ephesians 6:12).

There are many evil things in this world who are on mission to kill, steal, and destroy the freedom that we have in Christ. They desire to place us back in the bondage of our sin so that our new state of defeated Christian will be worse than our original state of mere sinner.

We must persevere through the spiritual war. As Satan and his followers beat us down to get us discouraged, and whisper condemning lies into our ear we must use the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) to fight our way back to freedom, (and in order to use the full armor of God, it is implied that we have already put it on...)

In the dream I was not able to perceive that the man running carried two children (one boy and one girl).. He seemed to be running his race to freedom alone. It was only after he reached freedom that the freedom of his children was also revealed.

And this is our promise from the Lord. If we do accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and if we do fight to free ourselves from our sinful nature and choose to allow the Spirit to guide and change us, then our children will inherit freedom with us.

"They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them."

Isaiah 65:23

The Ma'di Bible

About a year ago I wrote a post called The Spanish Bible. I would encourage you to read that post before continuing with this post if you have not already done so.

God gave me an opportunity in 2013 to share the Good News with a man from South America. The man was eager to learn about "this Jesus" of mine. I told him what I could in a broken language, but I missed the chance to give him a Bible in his own language.

It's been almost five years since I had that opportunity, and about a month ago, I was given another chance to practice my obedience and offer another man access to The Word of God.

On Superbowl Sunday (February 5, 2017) Josh took our four children to a Superbowl party and I stayed home. I set about deleting all of my Facebook friends before deactivating my account, but I decided after deleting all my friends that I would keep the account open because Perry Stone has a special Facebook group for his "Partner Strike Force" members. I didn't want to miss the special video updates and monthly giveaways he did to this exclusive group, so I kept the account open.

While going through Perry Stone's Facebook page answering people's random questions about a new New Testament commentary Stone had just released... How much did it cost? Where could it be ordered?... I saw a question in the middle of all the raves of Perry's Bible that said, "I'm in uganda, east africa. How can i get a copy of holy bible?"

I sent a public reply directing the man to Bibles to Africa, but I also sent him a private message telling him that I would be happy to send him a Bible if he told me his address and what language he would prefer his Bible in.

Well, he was excited. He told me his language was Ma'di. When I looked this up, only 0.004324% of the world's population spoke this language, and I worried I had gotten myself into a pickle.

The research began to find a Ma'di Bible. I found out that the New Testament had been translated in 1977, but that the only print copy that I could find was in a library. One website literally read, "The Bible is translated into this language, but we do not know where you can obtain it."

The Lord directed me to www.Bible.is. This website had an online version of the Ma'di Bible! I agonized about what verse I should send a man who may never have seen a verse of scripture before, and I decided on 1 John 4:7-8, and I asked him if the following was written in the Ma'di language.

1 Yoana 4:7-8
"7Ma adrunzi ma lelendro ri, kole olekiru ndro, a’dusi le enga Rubanga dri. Ma’di ’ba cidru le’di ndro rii ani ’bara Rubanga dri ’i, vua oni Rubanga ote. 8Ma’di ’ba le’di ku rii ka Rubanga ni kpe, a’dusi Rubanga ni le."
His reply almost brought tears to my eyes.

"Wow! Exactly manzo okpwosi Alicia that is my language."

After doing a little more research, I found out that only 0.0025% of the world's population actually speaks the Ma'di Manzo Okpwosi language. The Lord had led me to this man's EXACT language... not the Ma'di variation of it that is spoken across the river. God be praised.

I asked permission to get the digital copy printed and then got to work on copying and pasting the online version chapter by chapter into a Word document that could be edited and formatted for print.

Because of the hours involved in formatting the Bible I went ahead and asked Steve, the man from Uganda, how many copies he would like to have. He asked for 30, and I was thrilled!

But I didn't want to stop there. I found a Facebook group called  Ma'di OO, and I sent the coordinator a private message explaining that I was printing Bibles in the Ma'di language and asked her to see if there would be an interest within her private group for these. After a week she placed an order for 110. The orders came from all over the world.

Today I received the printed proof of this Bible. I think I still have some work to do on the margins, because they are just too close to the center fold on the inside, but, other than that, it looks really good.

I contacted a man that I did mission work in Africa with when I was 17. I know that the mission organization he works with just started operating in Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda at the end of 2016, the very area this language is spoken. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I really hope that I will be able to serve his team by providing New Testament Bibles for that mission too.

Oh, and let me finish this story by telling you about two prayers I prayed. One was about a decade ago, and the second was about six years ago.

During the first prayer, I expressed to God my desire to work in the mission field of translating Bibles. I wanted to take an active role in spreading the gospel so that every nation, tribe, and language could hear the good news, so that Jesus would be closer to establishing his kingdom on earth. I did not see any way to be used in this area at that time as I just didn't know any obscure language, and I really didn't even know how to become part of a ministry like this.

The second prayer came after watching the Invisible Children movie. I was ready to up and move to Uganda to help these children who were being forced into such violence, but really, what good would that do? That would have just gotten me killed. My prayer was simply, let me help at least one child who has become a victim of the LRA's demonic agenda; let me share with them the only thing that will set them free- the Bible. Like my first prayer, I didn't see how this prayer could ever be answered.

But, thank God, through his grace, mercy, and kindness, he saw fit to answer the prayers of a housewife in middle America, even after I had determined there was no way for them to be answered.

I trust God to deliver one of "my Bibles" into the hands of one of the precious men or women who was a child ten years ago serving in or running from the LRA.

All praise goes to the Lord for orchestrating this beautiful story. I thank God for the lesson he taught me through the Spanish Bible so that he would be able to use me five years later to provide, not one, but 140 Bibles to his waiting children. I am humbled to be used in this way.

Translation:
HOLY BIBLE
New Testament

Table of Contents

Mark 15 & 16
Margins are too close in the center

"Be careful, she's better than you."

Good morning!

I love when the Lord wakes me up at 3:00 in the morning. This is a post I wanted to write before going to bed a few hours ago, but I've had a quick prayer and am ready to write now.

Ladies love to talk bad about other ladies. Okay, SOME ladies like to talk bad about other ladies. We don't think of it as gossiping; it's not. It's simply telling about something that happened- factually (or not). It's explaining the reason why we were made to feel the way we feel- honestly (or not).

A few days ago this week, I had a good reason to be spouting off some "truths" about another sister in Christ.

My husband listened quietly in the car.

Our children were within earshot, and if my oldest son is within earshot, he is straining his ears to hear every word. Now, the boy is completely deaf if you tell him to do ANYTHING, but a conversation that is not had with him in a car... now that's remembered in detail.

After I finished my first relieving round of information, my husband kept right on driving, and without even looking at me he said, "Be careful, she's better than you." He had a spirit of kindness, gentleness, and love in his voice, and not a tone of anger, judgment, or ridicule.

That's it.

He's right.

And my precious son got to hear it all.

I knew immediately what Bible verse he was referring to: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of others." Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

It was hard at that moment to consider this woman as better than myself. My mounting anger was justified, but I choose to remain quiet.

I am grateful that the Lord saw fit to complete me with a man of few words who is able and willing to speak truth into my life.

This week my husband answered the call of Galatians 6:1, "Brothers, if a person is caught doing something wrong, those of you who are spiritual should restore that person gently. Watch out for yourself so that you are not tempted as well." (ISV)

I am grateful for my husband's humility and willingness to bring me closer to the Lord.

Spiritual Disciplines

I have been challenged this week by a former Muslim Fatimah from Singapore. After finding Jesus, she says that she is forever grateful for her upbringing. In trying to be a good Muslim, she learned many disciplines that help her in her Christian walk.

Good Muslims are required to pray five times a day. This Fatimah did not ever miss a prayer. It did not matter where she was or who was watching when it was time to pray; she would drop to the ground and say her prayers. Good Muslims are required to fast 30 days during the month of Ramadan. Being the daughter of an Imam, this Fatimah would fast up to 45 days around Ramadan. And finally, because she wanted to be faithful to allah, this Fatimah spent time trying to memorize the Quran every day before she left for school.

She said that Muslims put Christians to shame with their discipline.

Christians do not have a minimum number of times that they are required to pray during a day. We are simply told to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Christians do not have a minimum number of days that we are supposed to fast during a year. We are simply told to fast (Matthew 6:16-18).

Christians are not required to memorize their Bible. We are simply given an example of hiding the Word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11).

I fear that because Jesus frees his followers from all bondage (Galatians 5:1), many Christians in America today are lazy about their own spiritual disciplines. We have been free so long that we take our freedom for granted.

In general, American Christians only tend to speak to God when they want something. It is a one-way monologue, and then they are left doubting this Jesus other people say they have a relationship with.

In general, American Christians do not fast. It is something they have never done, it is something that has never been taught to them, and many do not find the necessity in learning this discipline for themselves. It is funny, Satan has successfully compelled many religions to fast, but Christians will not fast for the only true God.

In general, American Christians do not memorize their Bible. Again, some Buddhists, for example, memorize 20,000 pages worth of their scripture in their flesh. American Christians fantasize that they cannot even memorize one verse, even with the help of the Holy Spirit.

As Christians, we are free from legalism in our religion. But we should not use this freedom as an excuse to become lazy followers of Christ. Many other religions successfully invoke a fear of a false god if their followers are not spiritually disciplined. Where is this fear of the Christian God in America? Where is our discipline?

A Live Coal

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

Isaiah 6:5-7

Isaiah knew his own unworthiness in the presence of God. The seraphim offered a solution, and Isaiah seems to willingly have opened his mouth to be cleansed. Would I have been so willing?

Today I heard a story about a Christian woman in China who suffered and was tortured for years because she believed in Christ. She recalls one point of wanting to give up when she looked down and noticed her footprints shaped in the pools of her own blood. She thought of Jesus walking to the cross possibly leaving footprints in his own blood- for her. Her strength was renewed.

Would I willingly accept a live coal to be placed on my lips so that I could draw closer to God? Would I willingly trudge through my own blood through hours of pain to be more like Christ? Will I accept temporary discomfort in this life if it is how the Lord desires to cleanse me of my sin and conform me into the image of his son? What if that discomfort is ridicule? persecution? torture? death?

If I am unwilling to have a live coal placed onto my lips, when will I ever be willing to die for Christ? Matthew 10:38 says, "he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me."

I do not have a literal live coal being offered to me tonight or any other day. Instead, I have the opportunity of my own cross set before me to make me worthy. Jesus does justify us, but it is our choice to take up our cross and carry it to our own death-to-self that sanctifies us; and, according to Matthew, makes us worthy.

Isaiah choose to be cleansed in a manner God preferred- a way that probably wasn't all that comfortable, and a way that probably didn't make much sense to him. But he still choose to trust God, obey, and endure whatever temporary consequence he suffered in order to be made worthy. And then, after his faithfulness, he was rewarded with the presence of God.

One of my favorite verses in the entire Bible follows this choice of Isaiah's to be made clean:

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah 6:8

Isaiah's obedience gave him the opportunity to be used by God.

Will you, dear brother or sister in Christ, choose the live coal that is placed before you every day? It is your choice to accept the recurrent cleansing God offers, cleansing that only comes from dying to self.

A Quick Blog On Friendship

This is my answer to one of the discussion questions in one of my current KI classes.

How can we be a good friend?

John 15:15 says that Jesus has made us his friends. It says that he made us friends when he taught us everything that he learned from his Father.

If we are to be like Jesus, then I believe we cannot be a good friend unless we are willing to take an active role in another person’s spiritual life. If the other person is an unbeliever, then we can only be a friend to him by developing enough of a relationship with him that we are free to show him his sin, and then show him the Way Jesus has provided for him to be saved.

If the other person is a fellow Christian, then we can only be a friend with him if we find ways to encourage him and keep him accountable in his walk with God.

There are many other ways the world suggests to be a good friend, and I believe a lot of those ways could be considered Biblical, i.e. being loyal, not gossiping your friend, and helping him get through rough times in his life…  but because none of these listed items assist in that person’s final salvation, if the “friend” is a non-believer and we haven’t shared a way for him to be freed from his sin and have eternal life, then we have not loved him, and we have certainly not befriended him. We have stalled or hindered his walk with God.

What Is Wisdom?

I am taking a class on the book of Proverbs over at Koinonia Institute. I thought I'd post a quick answer to one of my discussion questions because I think it's a good question that each of us should consider.

Use your own words to define wisdom. Besides Jesus, who is the wisest person you know? Why?

There are several ways to describe wisdom, but I believe the definition I would most attain for in my own life would be an ability to consistently and accurately discern God’s will coupled with the learned, disciplined willpower to obey it.

Solomon was one who was given the gift of wisdom. He was able to write all sorts of proverbs that helped many people, but ultimately that wisdom only resulted in a head-knowledge, as his life did not become Christ-like and he strayed from the center of God’s will.

Wisdom is useless if its direction is not obeyed, and I believe one is not truly wise unless he or she is somehow able to both obtain wisdom and then obey its promptings.

Besides Jesus, the wisest person I know is my mother. She consistently puts into action the things she believes God would have her do, and this, to me, is the essence of wisdom.