After my first mission trip ever, I came home energized and ready to change the world. The poverty I witnessed in Haiti disturbed me more than I had expected and I wanted to find a way to make it better. I did not know where to begin to make a difference. Before long, life returned to its regular pace, and daily responsibilities put saving the world on the back burner.

The desire to help others did not diminish with time. But life did keep getting in the way of serving those in need. At times, I felt discouraged in the efforts. I even thought of giving up. In desperation, I prayed and searched my Bible for answers. Then, one day it hit me. I am trying to do all this work on my own. I do not have the power to change the world. I realized I was not the Power of One that could cause a change to happen, and only God could do it.

Our Almighty God is the Power of One that created our planet, whose voice calls down the thunder and causes lightning to flash (Jeremiah 10:12-13 NIV). And to help the poor, I needed to plug into the Power of The One, God. Once I learned to follow instead of trying to lead, the pathway became smoother. God wants our help in the world, but He certainly does not need it. We are blessed to participate in His work. Click To Tweet

1 Corinthians 14:1 (NIV) Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.

Following Christ instead of trying to pursue my agenda gave me a new superpower for changing the world. My superpower became saying “YES” to God’s calling on my life. I no longer had to figure it all out. I waited for the Lord to move and then when I felt called to follow, I said yes. Now, twenty years later, I still follow this model and it still works. Following Christ has taken me places I never expected to go. And each new experience with Him enriches my life.

Galatians 6:9 (NIV) Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Following Christ into a ministry of any kind will never be free from problems. The road that follows Christ is narrow, and few will take it (Matthew 7:14 NIV). But Christ will reward those who chose His pathway. The secret I discovered is to follow His lead down the road and to say yes when I feel His nudge. Once I plugged into the Power source, God allowed me to see how He could change my world.

Blessings,

Yvonne – #blogger, #speaker, and #author

Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

All proceed from the sale of my book, Turning Mountains into Molehills, go to fund our charitable work with Orphan Relief Effort, Inc. The book is available on Amazon.

We find the story of Gideon in the Bible. The story begins in Judges, chapter six. Gideon faithfulness to God allows him to become a warrior, leader, and prophet to the nation of Israel. Gideon’s goes into battle against their enemy with 32,000 men in his army. The Lord instructs Gideon to reduce the number of fighting men. Finally, in obedience, Gideon minimizes the size down to 300 men. Because of his faithfulness. Gideon won the battle in spite of the overwhelming odds with God’s help.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

We do not know much about Gideon’s family. What we do know is that Gideon came from insignificant family lineage. God sought out Gideon because of his great faith and willingness to obey God even when the request did not make sense to those around Gideon. He was not a perfect man, Gideon made mistakes as pride gets in his way. But his story teaches us that no matter how enormous the odds are against us, God will see us through all of our battles as long as remain faithful to Him.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

I want to introduce another Gideon, Gideon Giri. He is one of the orphans at our home in Nepal. He came to live at the orphanage in 2010 when he was about seven years old. His dad was a lame beggar in the streets of Kathmandu. With no steady income, the family could no longer care for Gideon, so they brought him to the orphanage. The odds were against this young man from an early age. But God sought out this Gideon and provided a place to grow in faith and love.

Christ has gifted Gideon for his faith with a talent for painting. Gideon has taught himself how to create beautiful pieces of art. He has won local, national and international recognition for his abilities. We are blessed to watch this young man grow in his faith and his gifts. In fact, Gideon painted the artwork for the cover of my book, Turning Mountains into Molehills. Would you please join me in praying for this young man’s future as we watch to see how God will use the faith of this modern day Gideon.

Blessings,

Yvonne – blogger, speaker, and author

Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

All proceed from the sale of my book go to fund our charitable work with Orphan Relief Effort, Inc. The book is available on Amazon.

My husband loves to fish. Several times each year, he heads out with his fishing buddy for several days of adventure on the lakes. He comes home sore and exhausted but contented. His sunburned face lights up as he recounts the fish tales to me. I would venture to say fishing is one of his happy places.

Because my husband fishes, it helps me relate to the fishermen of the Bible who later became some of Christ’s disciples. Fishing was their profession, but I think they also enjoyed the call of the water. They fished with friends and helped out each other when the nets became overloaded. They shared life on the water.

John 21:3 (NIV) “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.”

After Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples are in hiding. Peter announces that he is going fishing. Peter wanted to return to the comfortable, and his friend went with him. I imagine they are sad and tired after a night of unsuccessful fishing. All the events of the previous weeks probably are weighing on their souls. What did the future hold for them?

It is in that moment that Jesus calls out to them. From the shore, He tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. Unaware of who this person was, they obeyed anyway. The caught a significant amount of fish. They quickly realized it was Christ on the shore and everything started to make sense for them as they ate breakfast together.

Matthew 13:47 (NIV) “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.”

I find it so interesting that the disciples listened to this voice to throw their nets on the other side of the boat. I think they were ready to give up and go home, but they tried it anyway. I would have thought the man was crazy and ignored him. Many times, God calls us to action even when life feels overwhelming. Can we respond in faith to God’s direction even at the low point in our lives?

The disciples obeyed. They reaped the rewards of their faithfulness with a net full of fish. They also got to sit down and enjoy breakfast with Jesus. For me, this story demonstrates how Christ calls to each of us. Many things in our world will crowd out the voice of Christ. If we are faithful to follow, despite how we feel in the moment, then we too will reap a reward. Christ’s call will never be convenient or make sense to the world. But the results of following the call might be enormous.

Matthew 4:19 (NIV) “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

Blessings,

Yvonne – blogger, speaker, and author

Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”