Thanks so much to all of you who have taken the time to look at our before and after house photos and encourage us from a distance! It's fun to have a super helpful (while still lame) venue to share them on such as Facebook. Otherwise, many of you would never get a glimpse of our world below the Equator!
As far as politics goes down here, we are taking a day off from school tomorrow to lay low due to some warnings from the US Embassy of some rioting that is expected to take place. As some of you may have read in the recent news, the US Ambassador to Bolivia was declared "Persona Non Grata", or was kicked out of the country, and the US immediately responded by kicking out the Bolivian Ambassador to the US. Not only that, but the same measures were taken in Venezuela after the transactions between the US and Bolivia (you're more like to have heard of this as opposed to news of our neck of the woods). Please pray for the safety of foreigners here, as well as the Lord's providence and being able to continue our ministry at school.
This past week I shared a good word through a devotional time with our staff. I have really been wrestling with the idea lately of living out of the overwhelming abundance available to me as opposed to what I often seem to operate out of- an exhausting deficit. Do you ever feel like you go through life waiting for others to affirm your worth, expecting to get something for your work, thinking that others somehow owe you something? In Spanish I love the phrase "falta nada"- which literally means lacking nothing. This is you and I in Christ- not only lacking nothing, but having everything. I want to share a picture with you I found this past week through looking deeper into the original Hebrew of the text:
"HO! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in
abundance." -Isaiah 55:1-2
Of course Tim turned this into a hilarious rap due to the first odd word, but what we saw was an ironic statement embedded here: those without a penny to their name are invited to come and somehow purchase the richest foods, and yet those with pockets full of cash are choosing to waste it on junk food and empty pleasures. So what is this vague abundance we are offered really mean?
The word abundance comes from the Hebrew word
deshen, which translates to
fat ashes. Oh you mean this still doesn't offer clarity? Well in this context, the fatty ashes were the burnt offering of the best calf brought to the altar, the unblemished lamb sacrificed under the old law. So, in a sense, the Lord is laying out His best and fattest calf, His deshen, for us to enjoy free of charge.
I remember a specific night in high school youth group, when the pastor set out an incredible communion table and encouraged us to "feast on Jesus." While some of us were initially turned off by the sadistic image this phrase conjured up, once it sunk in and I understood his meaning, it was really a beautiful picture that has stuck with me for many years. Christ's life, given in exchange for mine, not in the form of a flaky pathetic styrofoam cracker but a heaping loaf of
pan..."I came that you might have life, and have it
abundantly." -John 10:10
I pray that you live in light of the fullness that has been set out before you.
