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This past week I have had some MARVELOUS MOMENTS or MOMENTS TO MARVEL about the goodness and sovereignty of my God. I am quite aware that these "God Stops" (as Beth Moore calls them) happen everyday around the globe and throughout the universe. Why? Because my God is intricately involved in the comings and goings of His people.
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MARVELOUS MOMENT ONE:
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I have a friend who was caught outside in a violent storm last week, out in the country, away from his car and without a cell phone. His family thought that he was "missing". They had lost connection with him. Hospitals were called... police were contacted... no one had seen him. Many prayers were being sent up to our Father in heaven to keep him safe through the myriad of lightning strikes and torrential downpour.
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There are many miraculous details to this story that I will not go into, but I'll just suffice it to say that when my friend did come upon a house, he was drenched, coated with mud, exhausted, hungry... The people in this house were preparing for a graduation party. They had company and were not expecting the guest that they were about to receive. Yet, they were christian... they were hospitable... They stopped what they were doing... invited him in... allowed him to shower, gave him some clean/dry clothes, food/water, encouraged him as if he were family, and called his family... God had answered the prayers of many!
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MARVELOUS MOMENT TWO:
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Diana was scheduled to speak to our ladies class on Sunday a.m., sharing how God had worked in her life. Her lesson was entitled: THE ONE WHO IS MY LIFE from our ongoing series from the book of Colossians. Diana and her family had company from France last weekend. She was convinced that they had come "for such a time as this" so that her friend would be the one that would actually speak to the class. As you will see in MM3, this truly was a marvelous decision that Diana made!
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In the picture below, at the table, from left to right are Katherine (coordinator of the class), "R" (from France), and Diana (a former missionary to France). Here Katherine is explaining to us why we have a different speaker than Diana.
"R" had a lot to share with us! She spoke in French and then Diana translated. She spoke of being raised in a Muslim family. Her father passed away when she was young and left her mother with 7 children.
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In 1975, "R" and some of her family began to visit a church. The more she was there, she realized that she needed God's forgiveness. Little by little she progressed in her understanding of God's word and learned that forgiveness only came through Jesus Christ. She and two of her sisters repented of their sins, confessed before others that they believed that Jesus was the Son of God, Savior of the World, and then they were baptized into Christ. "R" was 15 at the time. At that point, her family was divided in their beliefs about God and His plan. Two of their brothers were very upset that their sisters had chosen to deny their family origin - Islam.
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"R" emphasized that the journey to live as a christian was a battle, but "GOD IS THE ONE WHO IS MY LIFE!" Already "fatherless", she had chosen her eternal Father!
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As our visitor continued to speak, she told about great heartache and joy:
- one brother was stabbed and left for dead... doctor's gave no hope... christians prayed through the night... the next day it was obvious that he would survive. This really fortified her faith in Jesus!
- a few months later her mom was baptized
- her brother was moved to a long term rehab center in the Alps. One Sunday, he and his wife made the trek down the mountain to put their LORD on in baptism... they had seen a difference... they left Islam...
- another brother died in a motorcycle accident
- their house burned
- one of the original two brothers who was upset about his sisters becoming christians jumped out of a high rise window - committing suicide...
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"R" paused to say, "In all these trials, God was always there! Without God, I could not have made it. He is my life!"
.- "R" married a Muslim.
- They had children and let them decide between Islam and Christianity.
- One son became part of a "drug gang"
- Her brother who had been stabbed died.
- Two months later her mother died.
- One month later her nephew died.
- Her husband left town
- "R" had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized.
- She returned home only to find that her husband had filed for divorce.
- She sought wise counsel from church leaders.
- She chose to wait and pray...
- One month later, husband knocked at her front door asking for forgiveness
- Husband cancelled divorce proceedings.
- Son was put in prison.
- Gang shootout killed most of son's gang... she believes that her son is alive because he was in prison at the time...
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Katherine asked "R" how we could pray for her. "R" responded, through Diana's interpreting, "God is my life! He is my absolute priority. Without Him I cannot live!" She continued to ask us to pray for her sons and her husband that they would come to know and love the God who she adores. She would love for Him to become the GOD OF THEIR LIVES.
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"R's" husband was with her this past Sunday morning. He wanted to be there! He had met our Pitman people who had been to France on a mission trip last summer. He was so impressed with their loving service! Last summer he learned from what he witnessed in our Pitman men and he went home and started doing the dishes. He is now taking a class in France called "The Plan of God". He like the stories of Abraham and the commonality that they show between Islam and Christianity.
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MARVELOUS MOMENT 3:
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It was so surreal that my fuzzy cell phone picture here kind of encapsulates how I felt at the time:
After Steve's lesson, Renee came forward in our second service. She had partially grown up in this congration and had moved away. She had written a letter of her journey and her avid search to "find the one true God". This search had taken her through Islam only to find that their God was not the God that she was seeking. As Dan read her letter to the congregation, tears began to stream down my face. I knew that "for such a time as this". "R" and her family (all the way from France) and Renee (returning home for a visit) on the same day to hear Steve speak and address the fact that THERE IS A GOD... THE GREAT I AM... HE IS ALIVE... HE IS GOD AND GOD ALONE... and JESUS IS GOD... the only name by which we can be saved!!!!.
Renee had already written her letter before hearing Steve's sermon: THERE IS A GOD! Renee had written her letter before knowing that there would be a Muslim in the audience to hear her words. Renee had written her letter... because she was touched by God... THE ONE WHO IS NOW HER LIFE!!!!
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3 MARVELOUS MOMENTS TO BE THANKFUL FOR:
- Our marvelous God, knew that my friend was lost and He worked so that when my friend was found, it was by kind people christian people.
- God prodded Diana to give up her place to tell her story to our class so that "R" could share her story; this happened because of Diana's listening humble spirit.
- God prodded Renee to come home to Pitman this weekend. She told her story to eager listeners in a meeting that could have only been orchestrated by God!
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YOU, MY GOD, ARE GOD ALONE!
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