The Crystal Lewis Blog

my family and i support a missionary family in india through GFA, Gospel for Asia.  the other day i received a letter from the family we support.  something shocking jumped out at me.   in the letter he wrote…”thank you for supporting us through finances and prayer, we are praying for you also.”  they are praying for me? that really got me thinking.  number one, it made me a little guilty.  i thought, how much time do i really spend consistently praying for people in the mission field.  it seems so far away, out of reach (out of sight, out of mind???).  but recently i’ve become close with a family that has a married daughter who lives and serves in a third world country.  i was able to meet and spend time with her and her family while they were here on furlow last month.  that sort of changed things for me.  hearing about their life, their work, their living conditions, their struggles and battles.  meeting their children, sharing a meal…well the idea of them living far away and committing their lives to the service of Jesus in a way totally different from (and totally foreign to) me became much more real.  tangible. and i realized how much we, as a body, need to cover them with prayer.  because if we do indeed believe what we say we believe, that God is real, Jesus is who he claims to be (the ONE)…and that there is in fact an enemy that wants us hurting and suffering…then we MUST pray!!

number two, i felt undeserving.  i live in the wealthiest country in the world.  spoiled doesn’t even begin to describe our way of life.  not just materialistically speaking, but ’spiritually’ speaking too.  we’ve got churches of all kinds on every corner.  religions we have created for ourselves, gods we’ve created for ourselves, rules we’ve created and broken and changed to fit our (sinful, but don’t use that word) desires. what a great trick of the enemy…keep us SO saturated in things that seem ’spiritual’ and we’ll drown in our own sticky, mucky nonsense.  they live in poverty, in the midst of persecution.  and yet they’re passion far exceeds that of most people that call themselves Christians in America today.  and they are praying for me?  wow.

and finally, number three, i felt excited.  because i was struck by the fact that these faithful people all the way across the world share something in common with me!  our love for Jesus!  our common belief that his return is imminent, (likely to occur at any moment).  that is the goal, the purpose, the reason for telling others about him… “don’t miss out!”.  our church has been going thru the book of Revelation for the last couple of months and it is spectacular!!  Revelation 1:5-8 basically sums it up:

“…to Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father- to HIM be the glory and power forever! Amen.

Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him…

“I AM the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and WHO IS TO COME, the Almighty.”

we have to live in light of his imminent coming!

LIVE IN LIGHT OF HIS IMMINENT COMING!

one of the countless things i love about my parents is the fact that they both consistently tell me about new things God is showing them through their quiet times or doing in their lives.  this has been an encouragement to me as i  have journeyed through life and found myself in stressful seasons of life.   my mom has clearly conveyed to me the idea of finding ‘joy in the journey’ along the way, and my dad has shared the sheer miracle of the Word of God being new every morning….living and active!  thank you parents!

well, i had one of those moments this morning… where in spite of the fact that i’ve read Proverbs many, many times (yet another dad thing… “there are 31 of them you know, one for each day”) i had an ‘a ha’ moment with proverbs 3:21-24 today.  here is what it says:

‘…preserve sound judgement and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.  then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble; when you lie down you will not be afraid; when you lie down your sleep will be sweet.’

i can’t tell you how many times i have had trouble falling asleep because my mind won’t quit going over stuff!  stress about tomorrow, fear about next week, what if, what if, what if.  my ‘a ha’ moment came when i put ‘preserve sound judgement and discernment’ and ‘go on your way in safety’ and ‘when you lie down you will not be afraid…your sleep will be sweet’  all together.  it’s all one thought. when Solomon says ‘they will be life for you’, he’s referring to sound judgment and discernment.  when he says ‘then you will go on your way in safety’  he’s referring to the fact that when you use sound judgement and discernment (make good choices) your way will be clear.  when he says ‘you will not be afraid when you lie down, and you will sleep soundly and sweetly’, he is referring to the fact that once you’ve made the right choices (with your time, your words, your actions) using what?…. sound judgement and discernment, your stress level will dramatically decrease.  amazing.  seems so simple.  yet why do we (ok, i) still skip the sound part of the judgement? why do i drop the discernment and instead head straight for selfish desire?  well, i’m perpetually human, that’s why. a sinner at heart.  i’m reminded once again of my total need for Jesus.  my need of his grace.  my need of his influence over, under, in and throughout my life.  

i want to encourage you.  just like my parents have done for me… keep at it!  Jesus = JOY.  the only joy to be found in this journey of life we are all on is in Jesus.  so actively seek him.  pursue your relationship with him.  let him open up the doors and turn on the light to reveal sound judgement and discernment through his Word.  then preserve them. they will be life for you.