Living Loved

I was at Hosting His Presence tonight (incredible time of worship at Cross Roads Community Church on Mondays if you’d like to join!) and the Lord brought a picture to my mind that I thought I’d share.  It moved me, so I hope it speaks to you as well.  It sounds a little cliche at first, but bear with me : )

I saw a scene of when Christ comes back for his bride.  It was a picture of him standing at the entrance to heaven welcoming us.  There were some people who were walking past him as he welcomed, and you could tell they loved him and were glad to see him. They smiled at him, but continued walking inside because they weren’t quite sure what to do with him.  Then there were others who, at the sight of Him, RAN with all their strength and jumped into his arms and clung to him weeping and laughing.  He had his arms around them just as tightly as they were holding him and he was laughing with them.  It was the emotion of a bride seeing her husband return from a long trip, and the emotion of a child seeing their daddy for the first time after he’d been away all at once.  It was every type of love in one embrace.  Those people could not walk by him to go inside.  They didn’t care about heaven, they cared about HIM.  His measure of love was not different for the two types of people.  He loved them all the same.  What was different was their measure of love for and intimacy with him.  When you walk in intimacy with him, its not that you feel that he loves you more than others (its not a competition), its just that you can’t contain your love for him when you’re around him.  

What type of response does his presence elicit in you?  Forget what you think the “proper protocol” is.  He wants you to run, jump on him.  If you don’t feel like you’re there yet but want to be, ask him to hold your hand while you learn to run.  He is so pleased that you want to be with him and He will hold your hand until you get the hang of it.  He wants nothing more than for you to love him to that degree.  He will honor the desire of your heart, even if you don’t know quite how to walk it out.  The great thing is, there is no maximum level of closeness with him.  No matter how close we think we are, there is always much more of him to be had :) Enjoy being in each new layer that he reveals to you as you increase your intimacy with him.

24 things I learned in Nicaragua.  Have a read and I pray your heart is stirred.  You’ll have a few laughs and maybe shed a few tears along your way down the list. : )

1)   Drop your prerogatives and expectations at the door.  Instead of directing a trip, God will use the trip to direct you and you’ll have much more fun than you would have had going by your plans.

2)   When they say “Don’t drink the water” (they mean it) and you accidentally drink an entire glass within the first hour of landing you will become a hypochondriac for a second, but it won’t kill you.

3)   Embrace Everything with love: set backs, cultural differences, misunderstandings, and 200% humidity.  Fro’s for Jesus are acceptable : )

4)   Nicaraguan Oreos taste different from American Oreos even though the wrapping is the same (I still get my cheat even if I’m in another country!)

5)   You will have a lesson in humility when you are overly confident in your Spanish skills and attempt to ask the waiter if he would bring you some ketchup, but you really asked him “Do you like ketchup” and he will replys “Si!” and just walk away.

6)   Spiders grow bigger in Nicaragua…I now understand what it means to be “stricken with fear”.  I still can’t look directly at this picture.

7) Kids who have absolutely nothing will spend their last 10 Cordos (about $.40) to get you a banana because they are so excited to be kissed, hugged, and loved on.  We have so much to learn from them.

8) Not all Nicaraguan kids think clowns are funny…

9)  Spending a day playing with a beautiful, loving, charismatic 13yr old girl who steals your heart and becomes the delight of your day, then finding out that prior to her rescue she was sold into sex trafficking for a US $7.50 and was raped and beaten for weeks will break you and devastate your heart in a way that nothing else in life will.  This happens everyday, and that’s why www.onebyonenicaragua.com and www.houseofhopenicaragua.com need you, your hearts, and your help.  Don’t just let it tug at your heart, check them out and support what they are doing. (I’m selling their jewelry if anyone wants some)

10)  God gives your arms supernatural strength and endurance when you’re holding precious Nicaraguan babies who fall asleep and tee-tee on you : ) (Yes I said “tee-tee”)

11)   It takes a lot of effort to remember you can’t throw toilet paper in the toilet (Trash can by every toilet…takes some getting used to :P)

12)  Kids are so cute and sweet until a piñata gets involved…then they turn into vicious piranha babies!

13)  Christ’s love and laughter trumps language barriers every time : )

14)  Sitting outside at night with a cool breeze blowing on your face and feet, the smell of Nic streets, the night’s warmth on your skin, while watching heat lightening in a lightless sky is intoxicating.

15)   Praying over women out loud for hours, completely letting the Holy Spirit direct your words is more powerful than any service we could have conducted.  The Holy Spirit taught me how to pray in him that week.

16)   If you’re a girl, you’ll hear “hey mami” more times in a week than most mothers of two year olds do in a month.

17)  Outside in a rocking chair listening to the rain, time can pass and feel like 3 hours and 3 minutes all at once.

18)  The children in Nic have so much love in them that you physically feel it in them when they hug you.

19)   It is breath taking to wake up and walk out of your door to wild flowers and hummingbirds.

20)   Do not talk to pork chop, the guard dog.

21)   In Nic, in the middle of all the dirt, trash, and poverty, you will feel cleaner than you ever do in America.  This is everyday life for these kids.  How dare we do anything but get down in the dirt with them and love.

22)   You really only need soap, a little mascara, and a good headband to feel cute : ) (That’s what I told myself anyways.  Not much else you can do!)

23)   Getting drenched in sweat because you’re holding 2 kids in your arms and two others are walking beside you holding your elbows while you walk through neighborhoods in 100 degree weather is an absolute hot sweaty joy!

24)  Sobbing while you pray for little girls by name at night who have been rescued from trafficking and forced prostitution is heavy and exhausting, but what an indescribable honor to stand and fight for them and their healing.  They are beautiful, precious, priceless, invaluable princesses of a heavenly Father who loves them more than words can say, who delights in them and sings over them. (Zeph 3:17) The enemy has no right to them, nor will he ever.  They are the Kings daughters, and we fight with Him for them.

In Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in Latin America, organizations are taking a stand against the injustice of human trafficking.  Over 60% of the human trafficking victims in the entire western hemisphere are exported from Nicaragua.  One by One, the Refuge Project, and House of Hope, all of whom I had the privilege of working with, are doing tremendous things to combat this and make that stat disappear, but they do need help.  Resources and funding for non-profits are scarce down there, so they rely heavily on us here in the States to allow them to continue to do what God has called them to do.  I pray your heart has been stirred.  You can check out more pictures on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150332419821103.388471.503906102 

If you’d like to learn more or see how you can help, visit www.onebyonenicaragua.com (help both boys and girls, the link on  their page 32forone is wonderful) www.therefugeproject.com (rescues boys from trafficking)or www.houseofhopenicaragua.com (rescues girls from trafficking and helps adult women in prostitution get out of that lifestyle.)

Here’s a clue!…

The year of 2011 has been an absolute holy roller coaster for me details I will share in later posts) and I realize I have neglected my blogging responsibilities, so here is my first update of 2011…I waited to make it a good one J 

I am fantastically but enthusiastically busy.  Life has sent some interesting turns to me since the beginning of the year, all of which the Lord has used to teach me more and more to walk by blind faith.  Though a bit of a struggle at first, I’m learning to embrace the peace that comes with not seeing where my next step is going to be because I know He will place my foot where He wants it to go.

One of the surprises that He sent my way this year is a little journey overseas.  As many of you know or have heard, the fight against prostitution  & human trafficking has been an immense burden that God has grown in my heart since the January of 2010.  I’ve done things on a local level to address this, but haven’t had the opportunity to combat it on an international level yet.  Well, July 28^th through August 5^th I will be joining a team  of 5 traveling to Nicaragua to work with children that are or have been victims of prostitution and human trafficking (largely sex-trafficking).   I was not looking to go on any mission trips this year, but when this opportunity presented itself, I heard so clearly that Father wanted me there.  The country of Nicaragua is the largest supplier of trafficked children in the world.  Over 60% of trafficking victims come from Nicaragua because of their orphan rates.  What better place for me to go to serve with the heart He has placed in me?  It was one of the clearest calls he has given me in a while.  

We will be partnering with an organization called One By One Nicaragua (www.onebyonenicaragua.com  You will fall in love with the organization!) and will be assisting them in loving on children in Jesus’ name who have been enslaved, both physically and spiritually, by a lifestyle that they never should have been brought into.  We will spend some time at a shelter for girls who have come out of lifestyles of prostitution and have been able to be rescued and healed through Christ’s love.  The shelter offers protection from anyone who may be trying to get them back on the streets, healing and counseling, and the ability to learn a trade to support them selves so that they do not have to return to their previous lifestyle when they are ready to leave. 

We will also be working largely with children who are still on the streets and are not able to be completely removed from the lifestyles that they are forced into.  We will be hosting afternoon programs where the kids can come play, eat, be counseled and loved on for a few hours in their day.  It gives them a chance to be reminded what it feels like to actually be a child and be loved in the middle of all the darkness they are surrounded by.  This afternoon program is hoped to be a bridge for the children to get into foster homes and shelters the One By One is now in the process of organizing. 

I cannot tell you how humbled and thrilled I am to have been given the opportunity to go on this trip.  I feel such a calling on my life to fight for justice.  I want to be a warrior covered in grace who fights for those who cannot fight for themselves.  I know that this trip is going to be a tool that the Lord uses to confirm and hone in on the calling He’s placed on me and I ‘m excited to see what He has in store. 

So there you have it.  A few shots (dear Jesus help me) and a couple of weeks from now, I’m leavin’ on a jet plane.  I would absolutely LOVE your prayer support and encouragement as we get ready to go.  Please be in prayer for the kids that we will have the honor of working with.  Pray that we will be able to pour as much love into them as possible while we are there and that they would be able to see how much more love their heavenly Father has for them and that they would take hope away with them each day. Pray that I will be responsible in preparing myself spiritually in the weeks leading up to the trip so that I can see clearly the opportunities that the Lord will place in front of me there.  Pray that we will honor and serve the staff of One By One while we are there.  We want to serve them and go overboard with help so that they can rest a little while our team is there and be refreshed. 

I’m excited to have you be one of my prayer warriors, and I am thrilled to have an army fighting for me in prayer as we prepare to go!  I couldn’t do it with out you.  My last word that I will leave for you is this: No matter what your circumstances tell you or how dark it seems to get, never lose sight of your passion.  You have specific passions in your heart because they are supposed to be there.  If God didn’t want them there, he would have given them to someone else! J Don’t think that just because you don’t see an opportunity to use them now that you should forget them.  Be patient and cling to them for dear life.  They are yours and no one else’s.  If you don’t act on them, no one will.  Claim them, make them yours, look for opportunities to act on them, and you will live so fulfilled that you overflow with passion and joy no matter what goes on around you.   Talk to you soon!

(Disclaimer: Don’t miss the video at the end of this post!  It will rock you.  I even give you permission to skip down to it if you get bored reading and watch it! Its rap, you know I like to think I’ve got street cred!)

I love it when I’m reading familiar scripture and something that seems like such a minute detail practically jumps off the page at me.  You know Jesus is telling you something when He makes things fly off pages.  Talk about his word being “living and active”… it activates itself right off the page when He wants you to hear something and you’re listening!

Last night I was reading the story in Luke 15 of “The Lost Son” or as many of us know it “The Prodigal Son”.  We all know the drill: bratty kid gets prideful, thinks he knows what’s best for him, takes his portion of his inheritance from his father and gets the heck outta dodge to go some where that is the equivalent of middle-eastern Vegas.   He squanders ALL his money on “wild-living” (we’ll leave it at that, you can probably fill in the blanks) and then a famine comes on the land.  He’s broke as a joke and then a recession hits.  Not a good way to be set up going into that mess! (That’s what you get when you squander and don’t plan ahead!)  He takes a job working with pigs where he was so hungry that “He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating but no one gave him anything.”  The world that he thought would bring him freedom and luxury and happiness wasn’t being so nice to him any more when he had nothing to give to it.  (The world never loves you; it only loves what you give it.  When you run out, it will turn you out.)

This brings us to where words started to jump for me.  In v. 17 it says “When he came to his senses…” the son decided that he didn’t know what was best for him and that his father actually COULD take much better care of him than he could himself (sound familiar?).  In order for him to “come to his senses”, however, it means he would have had to have had them at some point, and then lost them.  He had his senses his entire life while he was contently living in his fathers care.  He lost them, though, the moment the thought entered his mind that he could take better care of himself than his father could and wanted to leave the family.  That mentality is not our right frame of mind.  When we become a child of God and co-heir with Christ, we are confident in his care and love for us.  Satan, however, loves to step in and try to talk us into losing our senses just like the son did here.  He fills our heads with pride and the lie that we can take better care of ourselves than our father can (Hello! it started with the fruit, Eve!), and if we’re not guarded we begin to believe it and make choices from our own will instead of the will of our father who loves us more than we love ourselves and always has our best interest at heart.  We lose our senses just like this prodigal son.  The great thing about the prodigal son, though, is that through all of his mistakes, he was sill a son & part of the family.  Our failures and mistakes can never take our heritage and sonship! Don’t miss that!  Even when we go through prodigal seasons, we do not lose our sonship.  Sonship is our right frame of mind.  Losing our senses means forgetting our sonship.  We “come to our senses” when we remember our sonship, and return to a life that exemplifies that.  God not only allows us to come back after our waywardness, but he welcomes us with open arms.  Don’t let Satan tell you that if you’ve walked away from God that you can’t go back or that its easier just to stay gone.  If you were with him in the first place, you are still a son and you can ALWAYS come home.  He waits for you to come to your senses and return to your right position of sonship with him.

This brings me to my second phrase that sprouted wings and flew off the page. (This one was the kicker for me)  In v. 20, the son humbled himself and started his journey back to his father and it says “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him…”  We can feel like we’ve got miles to go for improvement, but our Father sees us the moment we make our first step.  When we’ve been in a wayward phase of life and think about how far we have to go before we deem ourselves as being “where we need to be” we can feel like we’re “a LONG way off” from being home.  This is when he sees us and runs to us.  He doesn’t wait for us to make the long walk home alone and fix ourselves up for him.  He sees us the moment we take our first step of return and runs to us.  He embraces us and walks us back to the house (even carries us if we’re too exhausted).  What a father we have!  I’m so thankful for his love.  His love does not require “fixing up”, he takes us just as we are, wounds, fears, failures and all, and then he begins the clean up process WITH us.  We do it together.  He gives us new clothes, adorns us, and feeds us.  We don’t have to do all of that before we go to him (his clothes are much better than the ones we could give ourselves anyways! Its like Goodwill vs. Gucci).  All we have to do is come to our senses, realize that we need to return to living a life of sonship instead of “independence” (which isn’t really independence at all, its bondage to pride and sin) and then take the first step.  He will rush right out to meet you and handle the rest.  Don’t be discouraged by what you think your road to recovery looks like or by how much improvement you think you need.  Satan will try to get you discouraged over that.  He wants you to focus so much on your short comings that you forget your sonship and the love and strength of your Father.  DON’T DO THAT! If you let yourself get discouraged by that, then Satan has won.  Its not up to us to make ourselves perfect.  God does that through Christ.  Its just up to us to take steps.  God is not concerned with the walk home because he knows you two can handle it if he directs the steps.  Just come home.  Maybe you need to come home for Christmas?  What better place to be on Christmas than taking your tired, broke, & weary self back to a father that has been loving and missing you tremendously and is ready to lavish his love on you.  V 32. “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”  Come on home and let the celebration begin.  He is watching in eager anticipation for the moment you make that first step of return so he can run meet you.  Come home.

Video:  http://vimeo.com/9601818 Just come home

FEM is a network of representatives from different organizations in Greenville that are seeking to empower women in addictive and abusive lifestyles to take hold of change.  Our mission: “Empowering women to rise above their circumstances and take hold of a new way of life.”  Many of you have heard about our first big event that we held in October called FEM Fair.  It was a huge success (see two posts down for details of the event)! 

We are now sponsoring a clothing drive for the ladies we are helping become empowered so that they can have a fresh start in their wardrobe as well as their hearts!  We need clothes!  Ladies, you know your closets are cluttered with clothes that you don’t wear.  This is how that happens…

You do this….

Then you feel like this…

So do this … and give them to us!

Go on, admit it, no matter how many times you tell yourself “It might come back in style next season” its not going to…It hasn’t for the last 6 seasons you’ve had it stashed in a box!  Go ahead and pull those things out and start a FEM Drive pile! We’d love to have your help with this so just check your closets, gather any gently used clothing together and contact me at Hopkins.madison@gmail.com .  I’ll arrange the pick up.  All donations need to be in by December 10^th  (we’re giving them out on the 12^th).  That means you’ve got 3 weeks to tell your moms, sisters, aunts, cousins and even grandmas to check their closets!  We need clothes for all sizes and ages.  Help your closets out and give them a good cleaning, and help give these ladies a make over inside and out!  Thank you so much for your heart to help.  With out your help and support, we couldn’t do what we do.  I’m excited to see how many make overs we can give!  We’re honored to be used to help restore beauty for ashes one step at a time!

 ¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
 ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
   instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
   instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
   instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   a planting of the LORD
   for the display of his splendor.” - Isaiah 61:1-4

I want to share something that the Lord spoke to me so clearly last week in hopes of it being an encouragement to any of you who might find yourself in the position I found myself in.   As part of my time with Jesus each day lately, I’m reading through the gospels in the evenings.  I’ll be honest, and I’m a little ashamed to say, I can’t remember the last time I’ve read straight through any of the gospels.  I wanted to see all accounts of Jesus’ time on earth in all 4 gospels.  I mainly wanted to dive into the life of my Savior and be reminded of how he lived his daily life, the passion that he had for loving people & showing them life in Him, and the righteous hatred and intolerance he had for Satan’s meager efforts to thwart His will on earth.   It has been absolutely amazing. As I began in Matthew, I was having a blast journeying through his life, the miracles he worked, and the power that He had over evil.  I was loving every minute of walking right along side him, feeling like one of the disciples.  This had been a journey of intimacy with him, feeling more and more intimate with him with each turn of a page.  I love him so much!  Then, I neared the end of Matthew and I found myself in a bit of a situation…

I got to Matthew 27, and this begins the account of the last supper, Jesus’ arrest, and his crucifixion.  I was ok through the last supper, made it through Jesus’ prayers in the garden, and then when Matthew began to describe Jesus’ arrest, it hit me…this feeling in my heart and my gut that I couldn’t shake.  I couldn’t read any further.  I didn’t want to read any further.  Here I had spent the last 26 chapters growing in intimacy with Jesus and loving every step of it, and now I had to go through seeing Him tortured, beaten, and broken beyond comprehension.  I just couldn’t get over the feeling in my chest. 

So I decided to talk to Him about it & work through it.  I began by stating “Jesus, I don’t really want to read this.  I don’t want to see in detail what you went through. It hurts me to see it. “  I felt him reply, “You need to read it baby girl (that’s what he calls me).  You need to know what I went through.  You can’t ignore it under the excuse that you don’t want to hear it.”  I sat Bible in my lap and tears began to well up.  I replied to him, “But it hurts me to see you hurt.  Not only is it horrible seeing you hurt, but on top of that, knowing it was my sin that caused it.  My sin put you there.”  I started to begin apologizing (just because I didn’t know what else to do). I know I’m fully forgiven, and his death is what made that possible, but I was still sorry that it had to result in so much pain for him.  Before I could even utter an “I’m so sorry Jesus” He cut me off and said “Don’t you even go there with it young lady.  Don’t you see how I see?  YOU didn’t put me there in that pain.  SIN put me there.  I see you COMPLETELY separate from any sin.  Because you are in me now, you are blameless.  You are clean.  You are holy. Don’t you dare go and try to blame yourself for that when that’s exactly what I died to set you free from!  By allowing yourself to sit there feeling guilty you’re putting a spirit of condemnation on yourself and aren’t living in the freedom I died to give you. YOU didn’t do that to me.  Sin did that, and you no longer live under sin and condemnation, you live under me, my love and my freedom.” (See Romans 8) 

Holy moly, at this point I was on my sofa sobbing.  I responded “OK, I’ll read, but I need you to help me because it still bothers me to see your pain.”  And LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAID…(this absolutely broke and rocked me)  He replied to me “OK, here’s what I want you to do.  Begin reading, and every time you get to a description of my pain that makes you want to flinch or turn away, hear me say ‘I LOVE YOU’ and keep reading.”  I lost it.  Tears were streaming down my face, nose running all over the place, it was an interesting sight, lol.  I decided that for every time I heard him say “I love you” I would say it out loud back to him.  So I began… 

“Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him”

“Madison, I love you”

Pilate said “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” They all answered, “Crucify him!”

“Madison, I love you”

“They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.”

“Madison, I LOVE YOU”…

This dialogue between us continued until I was done reading.  Instead of coming out of it feeling guilty, responsible, or condemned, I felt absolutely and overwhelmingly loved.  That is, after all, the intended message of the cross.  He died to show us his love and set us free.  Sin causes our death just like it caused his.  He doesn’t want us to feel responsible, He wants us to live a life that claims the power of what he died for…rescue from sins power and victory over the death it brings.  If you’re feeling guilty from your past or ever feel like your past has made you inadequate or undeserving of future blessings, you need to stop the moment you feel that spirit of condemnation and claim Jesus’ all-freeing & overwhelming love for you.  Satan wants us to live under guilt and condemnation, but it is a lie.  Everything he speaks is a lie.  We are not condemned, and we have no reason for guilt because in Christ we are whole and pure.  If you struggle with guilt or condemnation over anything I challenge you to begin now learning to rebuke it and not let Satan keep you under it. Satan wins when you let yourself live under guilt. Break out of it through claiming the power of Jesus love and the righteousness he has already given you.  If you feel inclined, take that journey through Jesus’ crucifixion like I did and let him talk you through it.  Hear him speak over you how much He loves you.  Say it out loud.  I promise you will come out of it feeling loved like never before.  It is the message that the cross cries out.  Its the message He desperately wants you to hear.  Do you hear Him? He died so you could hear Him saying it. “I love you.”

I’m sitting here trying to think of how to start this post, and all I can get out is “God you are abundantly (always more than we expect or ask for) faithful & good”.  Last night, a vision that God called me to 10 months ago finally had its first step into reality.  The very first FEM Fair was held in a local community in down town Greenville. FEM is a new organization that I’ve had the privilege of helping get started to “Empower women to rise above their circumstances and take hold of a new way of life.”  That’s our mission statement and that’s what we want to offer ladies who are involved in prostitution, addictive, or abusive lifestyles and are ready to take hold of change.  We held our very first event last night and the response was absolutely perfect. We went into it with the mindset of “If we have one or two come to get help, that is worth every hour, sweat drop, penny, and step of planning that went into this”.  Well we had 26 ladies & we all had a blast!  We fed them till they were stuffed and had enough to send them all home with more.  We had gifts for every single one of them, FEM tote bags, raffle prizes, live poetry readings, a women’s empowerment speaker, even an “I Live Empowered” banner for them all to sign as a promise to themselves.  We also had free STD/HIV testing & representatives from the Phoenix Center, Safe Harbor, Shepherds Gate, Wellspring Living SC, Greenville Mental Health Association, Greenville Rape Crisis & Child Abuse Center, AID Upstate, SISTA, and more present with resources to offer these ladies.

It was a night of lavishing love on women who hadn’t felt it in a long time.  Who have forgotten what it feels like to be called beautiful (or may have never known it at all).  Who feel like their lives have become a pile of ashes.  That’s where my amazing volunteers stepped in to show them the perfect love of Jesus.  We went into this event knowing that all the resources offered were good, but Jesus’ love & strength only found in Him is what they truly needed to heal and begin to flourish.  God had been preparing these ladies hearts for this event for a long time, and we just had to be obedient & show up to pour out his love. And love we did!  Hugs, laughs, and encouragement were exchanged all night.  It was truly a time of bringing light into a dark place.   Here are a few of the stories from the night…

Our lady representing Wellspring living of SC ( www.wellspringsc.org ) brought Bibles to pass out at her table.  She handed one to a lady, and when she took it in her hand, she looked at one of our volunteers, began to tear up and said “That sweet lady gave this to me.  I need this in my life.  I’m going to be sure to read it this time.” 

Another lady had not really wanted to come at all.  She didn’t know if she could trust us, and was hesitant to show up.  She did come though and she happens to be a trusted voice in that community.  If she liked it, every one would like it.  She was still skeptical while she was there though, you could sense it.  When we had our last raffle prize of the night,…a beautiful big basket of bath goodies, lotion, body spray, photo album, a poetry book, chocolate, and more…you guessed it, SHE WON!  It made her night!  For the rest of the time she was talking, laughing, having a time! Come to find out, she had no power in her house right now, and the gift basket was a huge blessing that brought some joy to her situation!

Lastly, we had the privilege of meeting Precious, and her name was absolutely perfect for her!  She was about 4 yrs old and came with her mom and she captured all of our hearts, especially one of our volunteers, Mandy.  She played with her all night and just hearing the sound of her laughter fill the auditorium, see her sweet care free spirit play, and be able to enjoy her innocent presence was all the more reason to keep us doing what we’re doing.  We want to show women that they are beautiful starting at that age, so that as they grow, they believe it and don’t have to turn to destructive lifestyles to search for acceptance, love and fulfillment.  We want ladies who have had a past of ashes to be able to return to the care-free innocence of Precious and be restored in Jesus.

These are just a few of the incredible moments that God orchestrated last night, and this is only the beginning!  We are in the middle of a move of God in our city, so please join me in praying it forward.  We’re already planning our next FEM Fair and can’t wait to get started.  We want His love to shine so brightly that darkness can no longer exist.  We want hearts that have been stolen and ravished for so long to be taken back in his name.  We want women to be able to bring their ashes and trade them for beauty in Him.  Beauty is, after all, at a woman’s core. She yearns to be seen as beautiful.  She longs for it.  The world tramples her, uses her up, rapes her, whores her out and leaves her with nothing but ash.  Jesus says “Bring me your ashes, baby girl, I want to unveil in you the beauty I created you with.  I love you.  Ashes are your past, beauty is your future in me.  Let me show you.”  We want them to hear that and know its truth.  It’s why we do what we do.  FEM exists to fight for hearts of women and tell them they are beautiful until they believe it.  Here is the scripture God called me out of.  I’d love for you to join me in praying it for these ladies and lifting up the future of FEM.

Isaiah 61

The Year of the LORD’s Favor

 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners, ^[a^]  2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

I can’t help but notice that so many of us are feeling attacked right now in different areas of life as we are seeking Gods will.  They could be financial struggles, relational struggles, job struggles, anything that is weighing on your heart and attempting to steal your joy and your victory that you have in Christ.  Attacks do two main things:  attempt to keep us from doing Gods will or discourage us after we’ve done His will so we will be less likely to do it again soon.

Satan loves to attack us in the areas that he sees us seeking to be obedient to God’s call for us.  For instance, if you’ve heard the Lord calling you to do something bold financially for Him and you are obedient and do it, Satan is going to try to attack your finances after you do to make you doubt your obedience and doubt God’s provision for you.  Maybe it’s relational.  You know God has placed some one in your life strategically for you to love and be a witness to, and when Satan sees that you are being intentional in your friendship with them, he is going to attack that friendship and let things come between you and that person God has placed in your life.  Maybe it’s direct straight up spiritual battles.  You can sense the enemy attacking you directly and its wearing you out.  Remember that fighting is exhausting even when you win.  Its ok to feel tired, but don’t let it overwhelm you.  Tell God you’re exhausted and rest in your King and let him rebuild your strength and fight for you. 

Attacks come in all shapes and sizes, (bad attitudes, worry, stress, fear, doubt, second guessing God’s will etc etc etc) but the important thing is to recognize them for what they are, and determine NOT to let the enemy win the battle!  When we learn to recognize we are in a battle, that is the first step to winning it. (Hello!  You can’t fight if you don’t know you’re in a battle!) Romans 8:37 says “..In ALL these things we are MORE than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (My emphasis added) We are PROMISED victory in Christ, but we can’t access that victory if we don’t know when we’re in a battle and need to fight!  Learn to recognize your attacks, and then claim the victory you have.  Victory is not a possibility, it is an absolute for those of us who are in Christ.  We never have to doubt that.  Doubting our victory is only weakening our faith, and that is not what Christ died for us to do.  Claim it and then fight that battle like you know you’ve already won!  Here is the scripture that God brought to my attention regarding these battles we all feel like we’ve been fighting…

^{Isaiah 54 13:17}

¹³ All your sons will be taught by the LORD,
       and great will be your children’s peace.

¹⁴ In righteousness you will be established:
       Tyranny will be far from you;
       you will have nothing to fear.
       Terror will be far removed;
       it will not come near you.

¹⁵ If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
       whoever attacks you will surrender to you.

¹⁶ “See, it is I who created the blacksmith
       who fans the coals into flame
       and forges a weapon fit for its work.
       And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc;

 ¹⁷ no weapon forged against you will prevail,
       and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
       This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
       and this is their vindication from me,”
       declares the LORD.

These verses comfort me and jack me up like crazy!  When we are in Gods will and are seeking Him, we always have the victory.  The Lord HIMSELF teaches us!  That is huge.  The God of creation loves us and wants victory so much for us, that He himself comes to teach us and fight with us.  When we allow ourselves to be taught by him, our abundant peace is guaranteed.  As he teaches us and we learn, we will be “established in righteousness”.  When we are attacked, we have nothing to fear.  Fear comes from being uncertain of the outcome of the battle, but we have confidence in Christ.  Fear will not even be allowed to come close to us.  Fear isn’t an option.  In verse 15 God promises victory again.  “Who ever attacks will surrender to you.”  The word surrender implies that not only was the enemy conquered, but when we rose to fight, he knew he had no chance against us and gave up!  That’s why he was not only defeated, but he surrendered.  Our enemy is afraid of the power we have in Christ.   Finally, God promises that NO weapon forged against us will prevail, and THIS IS OUR HERITAGE.  Do you hear that!? You are born into victory when you are in Christ because his victory on the cross is passed down to you! Victory is our heritage!  You don’t fight alone or in weakness.  You fight in Christ and with power.  God promises it.  Rejoice in it! Live like it!  Claim it!  Fight with it! 

Often times when we pray and seek God for a specific answer to a prayer or solution to a situation we tend to wait on his response for a while, and when our impatience gets the best of us, we try to take matters into our own hands and “help him out” by looking for the solution ourselves.  Now, I’m all for being motivated and a self-starter!  Those are great qualities to have, and that is not what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about saying we’re trusting God to prove himself faithful (which He always will) but then panicking when we get impatient and grasping at things He has clearly not given us. 

When we ask God to come through for us on an issue or answer a specific prayer, his response is a gift.  He loves to bless his kids if we will be patient for his timing.  That is the point of a GIFT….it is GIVEN to you.  You don’t have to go on a wild goose chase to find it.  When someone tells you they have a gift for you, they give it directly to you.  It requires no effort but a willingness to accept it on your part.  That’s how God blesses us.  He hears us when we cry to him, but His responses and blessings have divine and perfect timing.  He gives us our answer the moment He sees fit, and since He knows what is best for us, that moment is always perfect.  We just have to teach ourselves to trust that.  We can say we trust him, but until that trust is tested and we are forced to depend on it, we will not know how strong it is. 

Be encouraged if you are in a time of waiting.  He sees you, loves you more than anything, and he knows your desires.  He is holding your gift until the perfect moment where you need it most and will appreciate it most.  Be looking for what He is trying to teach you in this waiting period and take hold of it.  Remember, you won’t have to run around looking for your own version of the solution.  He WILL give His perfect solution to you if you wait on him.  No panicked goose chases necessary J

“ ‘For I know the plans I have for you’ declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future’.” –Jeremiah 29:11

 “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.  They will mount on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.” –Isaiah 40:31

Many of you have been asking for more details on what in the world my posts are about on women in prostitution and women in addictive/abusive lifestyles, so here is what’s going on…brace yourself, its very exciting!  No, I have not taken up an “evening” job on the side :) God burdened my heart tremendously for hurting women at the beginning of the year.  When God places a specific burden on our heart, that’s often His way of telling us to do something about it!  As I prayed for Him to specify what exactly He wanted me to do with it, He kept bringing me back to Isaiah 61 and He made it very clear that He wanted me to find a way to reach out to ladies involved in addictive/abusive lifestyles and prostitution in Greenville.  After asking him to make sure I was hearing him correctly, He responded with a resounding “YES!”. So off I went.  I didn’t know what I was getting into.  I just knew that  I was pursuing this passionately and wholeheartedly.  When God calls you to do something, the only two options are to act or disobey.  The thought of the latter should so grieve us that we can not imagine doing anything but the former.

For the first part of the year, I worked on establishing relationships with organizations and law enforcement that were willing and eager to help these ladies.  That brings us to the present.  For the past 2 months, I’ve been meeting on a regular basis with representatives from several organizations, shelters, as well as rehab facilities who have been eager and willing to jump on board and plan something to offer these women.  With the leadership and help of others, we finally came up with an idea.  We are creating an event we will hold this fall to provide resources for these ladies to help empower them to rise above their circumstances and take hold of a new way of life.  We will have many local organizations present with information on help, free confidential HIV/STD testing, entertainment, and more for these ladies to feel empowered to step out of a lifestyle of pain. It is going to be AMAZING!  God has orchestrated this whole thing and it is turning out to be FAR GREATER than anything I originally expected!  Ephesians 3:20 has been the theme verse of all of this!! “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, TO HIM BE THE GLORY!…”

God has completely rocked my world through this entire journey.  It hasn’t all been peaches and daisies and there were certainly times of ups and downs, but He has taken me to completely new levels with him, transformed my mindset, and I’m praying for more.  For those of you who would like to continue to hear more about what He is doing with this, just email me at Hopkins.madison@gmail.com and I will place you on an e-mail update/prayer request list.  We may also have opportunities to get involved in the future, so let me know if you’d like to be a part of it!

NOW FOR YOUR CHALLENGE…What has God given you a passion for?  What gifts has he placed in your hands to be used for him? What burden has he placed on your heart?  Respond to it,  Act on it! Be fearless & fierce, because we serve a God who DESIRES to use us if we will just be bold enough to let him.  There is a world of hurting and hungry people that are waiting for us to step up and be obedient to what God is calling us to.  Don’t let the excuse “I don’t know where to start” keep you from allowing God to use you in a mighty way!  You are not inadequate, you are just what He wants to use.  That’s why He made you exactly the way you are.  No one else can play your role in his plan.  His plan for every one of our lives is IMMENSE, and we have to realize it and live like we KNOW it!  Don’t settle for mediocrity in your faith and in doing what he has called you to. Have audacious faith, pray boldly and expectantly!  Allow Ephesians 3:20 be the way you approach life.  He is just getting started and is going to move in MIGHTY ways in through you and through people who fight for what he has made them passionate about.  The Nations still need to be reached.  It starts with a passionate heart and a first step…start a movement… change your world!  I’m praying for you!