Reflections of Service

A few songs and scriptures that have touched my heart this week!

Lord I'm available to you
You gave me my hands to reach out to man,
to show him Your love and Your perfect plan.
You gave me my ears, I can hear Your voice so clear;
I can hear the cries of sinners,
but can I wipe away their tears?

You gave me my voice to speak Your word,
to sing all Your praises to those who never heard;
but with my eyes I can see
a need for more availability,
I've seen hearts that have been broken,
so many people to be free.

Chorus
Lord, I'm available to You.
My will I give to You, 
I'll do what You say do,
use me Lord to show someone the way
and enable me to say,
my storage is empty and I am available to You.

Now I'm giving back to You
all the tools You gave to me
my hands, my ears, my voice, my eyes,
so You can use them as You please.
I have emptied out my cup
so that you can fill me up.
Now I'm free, I just want to be more available to You.


John chapter 15 and John chapter 17
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you , unless you abide in Me... By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples."

"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Chapter 17 vs 6-19 is Jesus praying to God for his disciples. The Bible says that he who heeds the teachings of the Lord Jesus are His disciples and those who love one another are his disciples. Those who serve Him are His disciples and I was encouraged to know that Jesus prays for His disciples, all those who follow Him. He cares for us so much that He goes to God on our behalf ... "Christ, who is at the right hand of God, also makes intercession for us" Romans 8:34.  How awesome and encouraging! He prays that God will keep us through His name and that we may be joined together as one (vs. 11).

Working with Mercy Ships has shown me a perfect example of the body of Christ. There are so many different facets, departments, and tasks that are performed by so many different people in order for this ministry to function and it serves as a great picture of the fact that  "the body is not one member but many" and how one cannot function without the other (1 Cor 12).

God has really showed Himself to me this week. I have been praying about and thinking about His will for me in terms of extending or coming back to serve in Togo, and at times I feel as if I'm praying on deaf ears. I know that God is there, I know He is listening and hears my desires, wishes, and concerns, but sometimes it feels as if I can't hear what He has to say to me. This past Sunday, I went to Pastor Abu's church and the service was about waiting on the Lord.

He preached from Habakkuk 2: 1-3.
"I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, and watch and see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: 'Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he amy run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Becuase it will surely com, It will not tarry.'"

He used the passage to talk about how the Lord's timing is the best timing and we must learn to wait patiently for His timing. It may be for us to wait for an answer to a question that we have been waiting for an answer or to wait for direction, or to wait for a desire to be fulfilled. While we wait, we are to be faithful and committed to what we are to do in our present circumstances, and even when the challenges and hard times come we must wait our time and not take things in our own hands and move ahead of God. He shared examples of those who didn't wait on the Lord's timing including Abraham in Genesis 16. God has promised him and his wife a child, but Abraham and Sarah became impatient and took things in their own hands, and as a result Ishmael was born and this has further resulted in consequences we currently see and deal with. Saul also was impatient in 1 Samuel 13 where he was to wait for Samuel to perform the offering. He couldn't wait and did the sacrifice himself and as a result, he lost his kingdom. We must remember that "God has a divine calendar." I was really touched by the sermon and felt God was telling me to just wait on Him and in His time, He will reveal to me His plan for my life. GOD CAN NEVER BE TOO LATE!! How wonderful!!
Sunday night in the service on the ship, the sermon started and the topic was "Waiting on the Lord." I was in shock. God couldn't have made it any clearer that He just wants me to be patient  to hear from him. I am ready and willing to do His will, for His glory.

Take My Life and Let it Be
Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing
always, only for my King.

Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold
not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect and use
every power as You choose.

Take my will and make it Thine
it shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart it is Thine own
it shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord I pour
at Your feet its treasure store

Take myself and I will be
ever, only, all for Thee.

Take myself and I will be
ever, only, all for Thee.