How The King Has Been Working

Alright let's see if I can cover all the different things the Lord has been doing both here and in my life since we've been here...

1) Here at the church the leadership has all felt a burden for the youth (approx. 20 young men/women) at the church, and has begun to pray for them regularly that God would stir up a desire in their lives, draw them to repentance, and ruin their lives for Jesus. Caleb and I have had the priveledge of joining them in prayer for the youth, and I do believe the Lord, while not finished with His work, has definitely began to change hearts. Two Sundays ago a bunch of us were resting at Dr. Ruben's casa (house) in the afternoon. Some of us were sitting at the kitchen table talking, when Carlos (20 yrs old) began to talk about some of his problems spiritually. The whole conversation was very casual, but was serious as well; we were able to talk with him about finding victory of sin and stuggles in Jesus, looking to Him to help us in our weakness. He understood, and at the end we got to pray for Him. Once we started praying, however, the Holy Spirit showed up: first some of us began crying, asking our heavenly Friend to send the Holy Spirit to help Carlos, and then Carlos broke down and started crying as well, for about 10 minutes. It was a neat time, the Lord brought about Godly sorrow, and since then we've been seeing more of Carlos, although the battle is far from over in his life.


This is my Father's world, and let me ne'er forget,
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world, the battle is not done,
Jesus who died shall be satisfied, and earth and heav'n be won.

This hymn was a blessing to me last week, as I was starting to feel discouraged by all of the sin and strongholds the devil has here. While the culture is different, the sin is very similiar to that back home (i.e. immorality/immodesty, materialism, drunkeness,etc). I was encouraged by the words of that hymn, that the battle isn't over, that the Lord is King, He will be satisfied, and Earth and Heaven will be won. So let's not lose heart, but continue to battle, the victory is sure.


On an unrelated side note, one of the ladies here is going to be writing out many mexican recipies in a notebook for me. Yesterday however Daniel, our friend whom we are living with, cooked us his hometown speciality: Gumbo (He's from Louisiana). So in my cookbook there will be tacos, frijoles, arroz, mole, salsa, gumbo, and hopefully many, many more...


One more neat lesson the Lord showed me this past saturday. The Lord showed me some sin in my life that I had not realized I had! The sin was this: I had a fear of the devil, though not in the way we would imagine. When we think "don't fear the Devil, but fear the Lord," we, or at least I, tend to think along the lines of "don't be scared of devil, the Lord will protect you, He is your shield, tower, rock, etc." This fear I had was different. We all can see and hear of how the Lord has worked in the past, how almost every evangelical demonination began as a group on fire for the Lord, and only as fame and fortune came have some staggered. We hear of revivals that spread, and then see how the devil came in and destroyed such work. It is commonly said that each move of God lasts only 70 years, for the convictions of the previous generation are hard to pass down, and quickly turn to preferences, and then to options. Friends, my fear was that of the devil's ability to destroy God's plans for good, and turn them to evil. That God is constantly moving in different directions, and the devil is closing doors, forcing the King to move elseware. I was afraid that the seeds I sow, the work God does through me, will be twisted in some way by the devil, and thus I am hesitant to seek God more, to work more for the Kingdom, in fear that what God means for good the devil will use for the opposite. This is a grave error, and believing such was putting God's power and authority under that of the devil, not trusting in our Lord's ability to execute His plans flawlessly from the beginning to the end, and from such error I had to repent! It is not that the devil is closing doors to God, but that the world is a bunch of closed doors to the King already, and our Lord is effortlessly breaking through such barriers and bringing His light! The only cause that hinders God's work are when His people, whom He has chosen to work through, fail to fully trust and submit to His rule. If we look to Him, there is not a devil in the world that can in any way hinder His plans. Let us seek God more, wait on Him to be filled with His Spirit to the uttermost, and not be afraid of what will happen. We can trust that God will perfectly equip us to do the work He has prepared beforehand for us to walk in. I repented from such sin, and shortly after the burden broke and lifted with this hymn:

Abide with me, fast falls the even tide,
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide!
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless O Abide with me.

Close to it's end ebbs out lifes little day,
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories fade away;
Change and decay in all around I see,
*O, Thou who changest not Abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour,
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power;
Who like Thy help my guide and stay can be,
In cloud and sunshine O Abide with me.

Take Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes,
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skys;
When morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee,
In life, in death, O Lord Abide with me.

This is only some of the things our Lord has been doing/teaching us, hopefully I'll be able to write more in the future. I was inspired by Holly's blog, she' been writing for a week now and already has 3x as many entries as I do! My appologies to you all, I'll do my best to let yall in on the daily happenings here in Piedras Negras. Dios te bendiga, Espero que poderé escribir más en las dias aproximas.

Chris