Tuesday was a very short day.
It was still Monday evening when we left Atlanta and when we arrived in Johannesburg South Africa 14 hours later it was after 5:00pm. Today may go down as one of my least productive days in history...and that is quite an achievement even for me.
But this evening is a good chance for our team to catch our collective breath before heading on to Malawi tomorrow. It will give us the chance to get a good night's rest prior to our short flight to Blantyre. Because when we arrive in Malawi we will hit the ground running.
The last time I checked I believe we were scheduled to visit a training center for handicapped women. At this center women learn a skill and a trade that will enable them to generate some income for their familes. I think we will also be making our first visit to an orphanage tomorrow. Our day is already filled so you can see the importance of this night's rest.
We are pretty tired. Spending up to 14 hours in a steel tube where the seats are too small and too close together is not the most condusive environment for relaxation. We need to be refreshed. Our spiritual lives are that way, too. While we are living out our daily lives for Christ, whether in our normal circles of influence or by acting as the hands and feet of Jesus outside of our normal routine, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to renew us and recharge our batteries. In the Psalms, David likened it to a deer who is panting for water.
While it is one thing to desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit when we are spiritually depleted, shouldn't we as followers of Christ have an insatiable need for the Holy Spirit's power? Shouldn't just being in the presence of God's spirit create within us a desire to know him even more intimately? To abide in him even more deeply? Unfortunately, for amny of us - myself included - the only time that we desire more of God presence is when we discover that we are incapable of doing something without it.
On the long flight to Johannesburg I was watching the movie Duplicity. Clive Owen's character was telling Julia Robert's character how he felt about her. He said: "I think about you all the time. Even when I am with you I can't stop thinking about you." That is a serious desire to be with someone. How would our lives be different - and by extension how would the world be different - if we had that same intensity of desire to know God and experience his presence on a continual basis? It literally boggles the mind. We could have the same impact - if not greater - as the early believers found in the Book of Acts.
Ponder your desire for God as you continue to pray for ours...
Soli Deo gloria,
Michael
It was still Monday evening when we left Atlanta and when we arrived in Johannesburg South Africa 14 hours later it was after 5:00pm. Today may go down as one of my least productive days in history...and that is quite an achievement even for me.
But this evening is a good chance for our team to catch our collective breath before heading on to Malawi tomorrow. It will give us the chance to get a good night's rest prior to our short flight to Blantyre. Because when we arrive in Malawi we will hit the ground running.
The last time I checked I believe we were scheduled to visit a training center for handicapped women. At this center women learn a skill and a trade that will enable them to generate some income for their familes. I think we will also be making our first visit to an orphanage tomorrow. Our day is already filled so you can see the importance of this night's rest.
We are pretty tired. Spending up to 14 hours in a steel tube where the seats are too small and too close together is not the most condusive environment for relaxation. We need to be refreshed. Our spiritual lives are that way, too. While we are living out our daily lives for Christ, whether in our normal circles of influence or by acting as the hands and feet of Jesus outside of our normal routine, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to renew us and recharge our batteries. In the Psalms, David likened it to a deer who is panting for water.
While it is one thing to desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit when we are spiritually depleted, shouldn't we as followers of Christ have an insatiable need for the Holy Spirit's power? Shouldn't just being in the presence of God's spirit create within us a desire to know him even more intimately? To abide in him even more deeply? Unfortunately, for amny of us - myself included - the only time that we desire more of God presence is when we discover that we are incapable of doing something without it.
On the long flight to Johannesburg I was watching the movie Duplicity. Clive Owen's character was telling Julia Robert's character how he felt about her. He said: "I think about you all the time. Even when I am with you I can't stop thinking about you." That is a serious desire to be with someone. How would our lives be different - and by extension how would the world be different - if we had that same intensity of desire to know God and experience his presence on a continual basis? It literally boggles the mind. We could have the same impact - if not greater - as the early believers found in the Book of Acts.
Ponder your desire for God as you continue to pray for ours...
Soli Deo gloria,
Michael
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