A Year in Perspective: A reflection over the year 2012

A Year in Perspective

Humble Beginnings:    As I look back on the year 2012 I remember the word humility. Before I reflect with you, I will give you one caution: Prayer is powerful. Last year around the new year, a friend of mine led a Bible study on choosing one word for the coming new year and meditating/praying for it all year. After this lesson, I chose the word humility. I didn’t know really what true humility was, but I knew it was what God wanted for me. In God’s grace I was about ready to be equipped.

Hard times:    After the poor review at my teaching job, I kicked into high gear, striving to be a better teacher, to do things right. I learned and grew as a teacher. I became a much better teacher than when I had started. However, I was not able to keep my job. I prayed more, my faith grew, and I grew.

Time for re-focus:    Just after the school year ended I scheduled surgery for my right shoulder to repair a torn labrum. During the time I was off work, God called me to pray. He asked me to spend time in prayer with Him every day. I did. It was amazing what He did. He poured into me. He poured love into me, grace into me, words of life into me. He healed me. I realized, too, that it was not so hard to love, not when you have been loved by the Creator of the universe. I continued to grow.

Faithful God:    I applied to about 30 different teaching positions in Nebraska and Iowa and heard not a word. I continued to pray, to have faith, to believe God for a job. One day I sent a resume to some random job on a career site for a teaching position of 1 year in South Korea. An email came back two days later as a positive! I knew I was going to South Korea to teach English as God had opened the door a mile wide. God was so faithful!

Isaiah 49:8 “Thus says the Lord ‘In an acceptable time I have heard You, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.’”

God’s call to stay for four more months:    After receiving the open door for South Korea, I then began to focus all my efforts on getting my paperwork together to go. It was a process that was supposed to take about 10 weeks, but I needed it NOW. So again, I trusted the Lord would be faithful to His promise. After the paperwork came through in about half the time it should have taken, I had been offered a few different positions in South Korea already. I felt God calling me to stay in Omaha, that He had something for me here, that He wanted me to stay. It was tough, and had been tough to live at home again not having a teaching job. I wanted to leave, to go! And yet He called me to stay, so I did. I surrendered the next four months to Him in October 2012 and decided to stay.

The power of Prayer:    After discovering the power of prayer, I realized that if I could do nothing else, I would pray. After feeling called to Omaha for a few more months I knew there was a purpose for me here. I knew my purpose had to do with the re-awakening passion inside me for ending human trafficking. In college I had learned a lot about what was going on in the world and in the U.S. involving human trafficking and knew something had to be done! I didn’t know what to do so I committed myself to one hour/day prayer for human trafficking. I also quit my retail job by faith because, though it was a job, I knew it was taking away from God’s purpose for me here in Omaha. I was not serving the poor or seeking justice for the oppressed as God says in His word.  One week later I saw an old friend at a morning prayer meeting: Pastor Cainos. I filled him in on my life and asked for prayer for all God was doing. He called me and asked me to join the Omaha Dream Center, a new church plant, to work with them on this issue of human trafficking. Again, God came through in an amazing and wonderful way because of prayer!

Today: Currently I am working on human trafficking in Omaha, specifically mobilizing prayer for this issue, informing people about what is really going on in their city, and joining forces with other like-minded people to form a united front against this issue in Omaha and the world. Together we can have a greater impact on this issue. In early January I will be attending a conference put on by a ministry called Exodus Cry which will be a powerful time of prayer and speakers who will bring information about how ministries can have a greater impact on human trafficking. I am awaiting word from the public schools in Korea, but at this point have plans to leave for South Korea in February 2013 for my 1 year teaching contract. I am not finished with the issue of human trafficking and will continue rather to be an advocate, informant, and prayer warrior for this issue wherever I am. Please pray for God’s continued guidance in my life to “Walk in the light as He is in the light.” (1 Jn. 1:7) Thanks for reading!

Please contact me if you would like more information or have specific questions! J 

Exceedingly Abundantly above ALL that we ask or think

As I gaze into my computer screen I know I have much yet to do. Christmas presents to buy or make, people to contact, lists to check-off, documents to print, library books to return, etc. The list goes on and on, and to be honest it will never end. There will always be something more to do, something to be busy doing. When I think about all those things I used to get overwhelmed, knowing that I had to juggle all those things and read my Bible AND pray seemed like a lot to put on my plate, but now I simply sit on my bed with perfect peace. Want to know my secret? My secret is Jesus has come into my life, removed everything I once thought was mine, given me His peace (John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.") and then He gave me the desires of my heart, "Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart," and, as if that were not enough, He is giving me "Exceedingly abundantly above all that I could ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20). I reflect on the goodness of God, on the healing that has taken place in my body, on the Divine ways He has taken care of situations in my life, the opportunity to go overseas for 1 year, the family, the people who love me, those who pray for me. I remember how I committed to prayer, quit my job, and 1 week later joined the Dream Center. I reflect on the prayers for 1,000 women who have a heart to end human trafficking in Omaha, and realize there are already many in the army, in the fight. I realize that the meetings, research, and crazy connections are all from the Father. I remember that I am called to pray and the Father LAVISHES His love upon me; and all I can think is, "Exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think." I remember that all He has given me is not mine, but His, and if His hands can hold the universe in place and still gently stroke my cheek, then I can rest in the peace that when God's eyes are on me and mine on His, nothing else in this world matters. This is the Father's love, not to do the bare minimum, not to save us and be done with us, not to call us and then leave us stranded, not to deceive us, but to give us more than we could have imagined or thought, to give us exceedingly, abundantly more. As you reflect on God or as you think of God, remember that He is seeking to show Himself strong on behalf of those who have a heart loyal to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). God is waiting for us to position ourselves to receive His many abundant blessings today. Humble yourself before God, so He may be exalted, so He may show Himself strong on your behalf. Get Jesus, seek Him, ask Him for life, He is already with you, waiting. 

The number 12

There is nothing magical about the number 12, but believe me, God loves it when things make sense. He is an orderly God, a God who makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8), even numbers. So I am talking today about the significance of the number 12. It started with some things that Pastor Cainos was praying at 4:30 prayer about the 12 disciples, and the 12 weeks of the goodness of God. 12 weeks before the end of the year, the Dream Center launched the 12 weeks of the goodness of God, where God asked the team to focus on His goodness. I joined shortly thereafter and then Pastor was praying one day about the 12 disciples and how God wanted us to all lead 12 people to Christ, and disciple 12 people. I thought to myself that it sounded overwhelming. Then God began to reveal something much MUCH bigger. 
In continuing to pray over the past few weeks, Isaiah 61 has been a key Scripture for me to pray over. In verses 1-3 say,
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
² To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
³ To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

In verse 3 you will notice the theme for this blog, which is beauty for ashes. This is one of the biggest focuses of my prayers for trafficking victims. I believe God loves beauty, and if you look around, you will too. God created beauty, and He is the most beautiful being there is. So we cannot discount that beauty is an integral part of our lives and a blessing God wants to give, a part of His promise of redemption to the Israelites. When I googled Isaiah 61 one day (because we all know one of God's greatest gifts is google) it led me to a parallel in the Bible in Esther. Now, I had had two separate people pray over me in the past month or two who had mentioned Esther. So I didn't think this was a coincidence. Then I read in Esther 9:20-22 "And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, ²¹ to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, ²² as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor." 

In this Scripture is the parallel to Isaiah 61 where the Jews celebrate their great deliverance from their enemies. A day which was supposed to be full of sorrow was turned to joy. Just as God promised to give the "oil of joy for mourning." I was blown away by this connection which further emphasized that God is ready to bring those who are oppressed out of their sorrow and give them great joy. 

Now back to the number 12. 

In prayer earlier this week I was having some pain on my way to prayer and simply prayed in the car, as soon as I entered the building and from then on, I had no pain. I was reminded briefly of the woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years and as soon as she touched the hem of Jesus' garment was made whole. The next day at prayer, we read scripture from 2 Chronicles 1 and 7, verse 12 in both chapters stuck out. In chapter 1:12 "Wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.” These words are spoken to Solomon after he requests wisdom from God. God wanted to personalize Solomon's blessing just for him. No one before and no one after him had the wealth and wisdom which Solomon possessed. God is a personal God. 

Verse 12 in chapter 7 says, "Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: 'I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.'" Solomon's prayer earlier in the chapter was that God would rest in the house he had built for Him, clothe the priests with salvation and the saints with goodness, and remember His annointed ones--Solomon and his father David. God heard Solomon's prayer. This is the second time God answers Solomon. first in chapter 1 verse 12 then in chapter 7 verse 12. Then I shared my story of my pain at the prayer meeting and said it had been almost 12 years I had suffered from this affliction. Zoe spoke the scripture of the woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years. Then after some time in prayer I started realizing all the times 12 has popped up and I decided to hit google again. You know what I found? In the book of Esther, chapter 9 verse 1 "Now in the twelfth month, that is the month of Adar." The Jews' sorrow turned to joy in the twelfth month. My mind was racing, this is the year 2012, December is the 12th month, this is the only year we will have 12/12/12 for the next 100 years, we are celebrating the 12 weeks of the goodness of God, talking about the 12 disciples, and the ten commandments AND the 2 greatest--love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself--make 12. I remembered that in revelation the 144,000 who will be the remnant. 144 is the square of 12. I used google again, and found all the instances of twelfth in the Bible. There are a few examples below and the full link is here: 

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/twelfth/ 

I cannot fully explain all of this because I am a finite being, but all I know is that God is up to something BIG. Ezekiel had the word of the LORD come to him in the twelfth year and the twelfth month, God's people were delivered in the book of Esther in the twelfth month, Elisha was plowing with TWELVE yoke of oxen when Elijah cast his mantle upon him (two of the greatest prophets in the Bible), the company of Ezra returning from captivity was protected on the twelfth day, Jehoiachin was delivered out of prison in the twelfth month. There are 12 tribes of Israel and 12 minor prophets. 

Over and over again something is coming out of the number 12. In Genesis 12 Abram was called, the Holy Spirit did not come until there were again 12 apostles (Acts 1), in Acts chapter 12 God delivers Peter from out of prison and the hand of Herod. A man from church has been suffering headaches and sickness for the past eight years, his wife requested prayer on facebook, and the next day her husband was well and feeling much better, as I was praying asking God what it was that needed to happen for him to be set free totally, this number 12 came up, I looked at the comments and counting his wife, 12 people had commented that they were praying for him. 12 people prayed and he was well the next day. I'm not a mystic or a astrologer, but I cannot deny the significance of this number. All this to say that very soon we will see the salvation of our God, we will see God save His people, save those who are victims of human trafficking and when we see it, we will praise the Lord, we will declare He is our God and our strength. Call upon the name of the Lord, He is listening, He is coming with salvation. To close, I share with you Isaiah chapter 12:

A Hymn of Praise

12 And in that day you will say:

“O Lord, I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.
² Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.’”^[a]

³ Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.

⁴ And in that day you will say:

“Praise the Lord, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.
⁵ Sing to the Lord,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
⁶ Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”

Some instances of Twelfth in Scripture:

Ezekiel 32:1 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Esther 3:7 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.

Ezekiel 32:17 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

1 Kings 19:19 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.

Ezra 8:31 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.

Ezekiel 33:21 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.

Esther 9:1 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)

Ezekiel 29:1 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Chronicles 34:3 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

2 Kings 25:27 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;

Jeremiah 52:31 | Read whole chapter | See verse in context

And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison,

Out of control and loving it...

My life is out of control, and completely beautiful. I love that my life is out of my control because I know it is now completely in the Savior's control. What do I mean? Currently I'm unemployed, joined a new church, am applying for a job overseas that I may or may not get, waking up twice a week at 4:00 a.m. to pray, living at home, and am completely content. I am completely content because I was led here by my beautiful Lord and Savior Jesus. I gave Him my life and my everything, and I expected everything to stay the same. It didn't. I asked Jesus for more of Himself, for more of His heart, for Him to do great and wondrous things through me, and when He asked me to give up everything or He took it away I wondered, Why? Well I'm here to tell you it is not because I didn't ask. I asked Him all right. I asked Him for more, more MORE. I begged Him for more, and then He started changing me. Every time Jesus takes something from me (a job, a friend, a longed-for get-together with friends) it is only to give me something better, something greater.Every time He asks me to let go of something, to give something up, it is only to give me something better, something greater, and I can't deny it: He has. I am more at peace than I have ever been in my entire life. My heart is more open than it has ever been. I am able to serve with all my heart, love with all my heart, and worship God with a passion like never before. I have never been so full. My life is out of control and I love it because I don't have to worry about what I will eat, drink, wear, money for student loans, for South Korea, for school, because I know My Husband, My Beloved Jesus will take care of it. I don't have to worry that I'm not working because I am doing the work of the Lord. I don't have to worry because I am doing exactly what I was asked to do, by God. And actually I asked Him. Thousands of times I asked Jesus what He wanted me to do....In my bedroom, in my car, at the store, over and over, "God what do you want me to do?" Screamed in frustration, "God what do you want me to do?!??" Spoken softly with tears, "God what do you want me to do?" Spoken in desperation, "God, please, tell me what to do." I knew, I know that my time and my life are not my own, so if they are God's then He must have something He wants me to do. 

I opened my Bible to Isaiah chapter 1:

1:16-17

“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; 

Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.

Cease to do evil,

Learn to do good;

Seek justice,

Rebuke the oppressor;

Defend the fatherless,

Plead for the widow."

When I read these words I knew. I knew I must help the orphans, the widows, and the oppressed. This is what God wanted me to do. This is what God wants His people to do. God is pouring into me so I can pour into others.

So I am here, and I am choosing to seek justice for the oppressed. Because there are slaves in our nation and in our world who are crying out with no one to hear them, but our Father hears them, their cries have come before Him, and He is raising up people to help them. I choose to be one who obeys. I choose to be raised up for something greater. To rebuke the oppressor, to seek justice, to defend the fatherless and the widow, which these victims are. 
For the next four months while I remain in Omaha I will be working to fight against human trafficking in our city and in the world. I have joined the Omaha Dream Center, a new church plant here in town that is also called to do something about this issue. It is not an easy or a quick fight, but rather a long and difficult struggle for freedom for each victim. Not only freedom from captivity, but freedom from fear and wounds inflicted.We believe God wants to save these women, girls, and boys one at a time. We are basing everything we do off of prayer and the scripture Isaiah 61, so I have begun leading a weekly prayer meeting. Already God has provided Divine connections to people who also have a heart for this issue, and there is even a connection to someone who feels called to battle this injustice in South Korea. Totally God. I give Him all the glory forever and ever! I would appreciate your prayers for me and the team at the Dream Center as we seek God and launch this campaign. If you would like to join in prayer, the meeting is each Sunday night so please contact me. If you don't live in Omaha, I will be posting prayer points on this blog. Ultimately this was His plan from the beginning, and we are just walking in it.