Whatever the Test...Trust in Him

“Rachel, you’re next!”

My turn had come. The moment I had been preparing for the past four months was here. My heart pounded and my mouth felt as if I hadn’t had a drink for 24 hours. I followed the man who had called my name to the door of the testing room.

One of the testing rooms for Bible Bee Oral Rounds 

“Do your best!” he smiled as I entered the room. My mind was whirling. I felt cold. I was both very excited and very nervous. As I walked up to the front of the room, I looked around for my Dad. Our eyes met and he gave me thumbs up and an encouraging look. I got to the front of the room and stood in front of the table as I had been instructed. My judges, a man and woman, sat behind the table. The woman smiled and handed me the headset. I took it and put it on, adjusting the microphone so it was in the correct position.

She began to give me my instructions for the oral test. “You have up to 5 minutes to quote up to 3 passages. Don’t feel like you need to rush because you will have plenty of time.”

“Yes,” I thought to myself. “Do. Not. Rush!” I let out a slight nervous sigh as she finished giving me 

my instructions.

“When you’re ready, just state your name and the Bible version you will be using.”

I sent up one more prayer for strength and focus. I had to quote these three passages of scripture with as few mistakes as possible, with about thirty people listening to me! I didn’t know what three passages I would be reciting…only that they would be 3 out of the 205 passages I had memorized for the 2015 National Bible Bee. These 205 passages totaled up to over 800 individual verses and the passages all varied in length from 1 verse to 22 verses! And while I had worked diligently to memorize and perfect these verses the last 3 months, I still had those passages I struggled with. I hoped I would not receive one of those passages, but I knew all I could do was my best in God’s

Bethany, Emily, Bella, and I: waiting for testing to begin

strength. And here I was, ready to take my oral test at Nationals 2015.

Somehow, I found my voice.  

“Rachel C-----, King James Version.”

Ready or not, here I go!

The woman gave me my first reference and started the timer. “Please recite: Romans five, one through eleven.”

Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes and began, in a shaky voice, to recite the given passage. “Romans five, one through eleven. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also…”

I quoted the passage, not too fast, but not too slow either…thinking about each word. God showed Himself strong! Just before my oral round, I had a practice session in our room with Daddy, quoting verses and warming up so my mind was “in motion”. During that practice session, I had quoted this passage, and had a brain freeze - forgetting how the passage continued at one point in the middle of it. Because of that, I had gone over this passage several times. Now, I was quoting that same passage, which was fresh in my mind, and I didn’t blank! Praise God!

“…we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Romans five, one through eleven.”

One down, two to go!

“John twenty, twenty-four through thirty one”, was the next passage I was given to recite.

I swallowed hard. This was one of those passages I had struggled with. But a couple weeks before Nationals, I had found a pattern to the saids and saiths that had confused me, and added hand motions. That helped tremendously. If I focused and used my motions, I could quote it right most of the time. I practiced it often. And here I was: needing to quote this passage for my oral recitation. I knew it was possible, but I must really focus under the pressure. “Lord, help me,” I silently prayed.

“John twenty, twenty-four through thirty-one. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails…”

Waiting for Opening Ceremony to begin the first evening.
So much fun! ^_^

I was here to do my best. As I quoted the passage, I used my hand motions, careful thinking about each word before I pronounced it. I came to the last two verses, which were especially good ones…

“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing ye might have life through His name. John twenty, twenty-four through thirty-one.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, for as far as I knew at that point, I felt like I had kept it all straight! Praise the Lord! Two passages down, one to go.

The woman gave me my final passage. “Please recite: Psalm sixteen.”

 “Psalm sixteen. Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord…”

This passage was a favorite, and I knew it well. Like Romans 5:1-11, I had quoted this prior in my warm up session with my Dad. God allowed me to have one last run-through of the Psalm.  I also remember, that day, walking down the hallway to go somewhere, and I held a portion of my verse cards in my hand, reading this Psalm. I had reviewed it then, too!

I emphasized the familiar words…

“…Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm Sixteen.”

I took a deep breath. I opened my eyes. I was done. As I removed the headset with shaking hands, the woman congratulated me and said I may go sit down. My eyes welled up with tears of happiness and relief, and through the applause of the crowd, I made my way back to where Daddy was sitting. He gave me a hug.

I sat there and sent up a prayer of thanksgiving to my Heavenly Father. God had girded me with strength, and had made my way perfect.¹ I had quoted all three of my passages with no passes, no word prompts, and no tongue twist-ups. Glory to HIS name!  I had trusted Him to help me, and He did!

Closing Ceremony evening. Here's the annual "winner!"
picture! Congratulations, Delie! 

At that point, I didn’t know how many points I received, or if I made any mistakes, but six weeks later, I found out my total score of both written and oral recitation tests.

Guess what? I received…a perfect score!!! Praise the Lord! I ended up placing 34^th out of all the contestants in my division of 15-18 year olds. All during the study season, I had prayed that He would bless me with a perfect oral score, and I placed my trust in Him for strength. Without Him, I knew I could not have memorized 880 verses word perfectly in three and a half months. I just had to give it over to Him, and trust Him completely for the results. It was totally worth it.

So now, I’m going to give you a dare, but it’s a good dare. I dare you…whatever you are facing in life, maybe with an upcoming test, a trip or an event you’re worried about, or any difficulty; you fill in that blank…Trust fully in God. He promises to never leave you, or forsake you.² He is our refuge and strength and a very present help in trouble.³ Ask Him for strength. Fully rely on Him. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. He shall direct your path!⁴

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. {Psalm 18:30-33} 

Oh…while we’re on the subject of the National Bible Bee, I really want to encourage you to compete in it, if you are 7-18 years old. I can honestly say it changed my life for the best. Digging into God’s Word will never return void! Doing the Bible Bee has been one of the best things I've ever done! :) I looked forward to competing each year with great excitement. ;) Registration for the 2016 Bible Bee is now open!!! Click HERE to go to the Bible Bee website and find out more information. If you have any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them for you. =) Blessings!

1: Psalm 18:32. 2: Hebrews 13:5. 3: Psalm 46:1-3. 4: Proverbs 3:5-6. 

Trusting God in the Hard Times

The following is a devotion I wrote and presented at a camp I attended recently. :) - Bonnie

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James 1:2
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Okay, so the first thing I want us to notice here is that James puts this little thought right at the start of his letter, straight after his greeting is over. Why? Maybe because it's important and he wanted us to take notice of it!

The second thing I want us to notice is that James says "consider it pure joy my brothers WHEN you face trials of many kinds" - notice it's not IF you face trials!

Trials and hard times will come to us. If you haven’t gone through any hard times in your life, don’t worry! No Christian is exempt. Trials will come, unfortunately. It's a matter of when, not if!

It's partly because we're in a spiritual battle and Satan is trying his hardest to draw us away from the faith. He doesn't concentrate on those who aren't Christians because he's already got them. We're the ones he's after, because we belong to Jesus.

I want you to imagine you’re baking a chocolate cake.

The two main processes of baking a cake are:

Blending. After the ingredients are all in the bowl, the electric beater mixes the ingredients so much that they are completely unrecognisable. The mixture becomes all soft, runny, gloopy and sticky.

Baking. The cake is subject to intense heat. It's incredibly painful. But the heat is what bakes the cake and produces something beautiful.

We are like that cake being baked. We go through the intense, difficult hard times and that's like the blending and the baking. In the blending we're mixed so much you wouldn't be able to recognize us! It's incredibly painful and hard. Then we're shoved into the oven and the heat is turned up. All the heat in the oven is concentrated on the cake, sitting there in the pan, being roasted alive.

When  we're being blended or baked, we can’t see what is going on. We don't know that the purpose of the blending and baking is to produce a beautiful chocolate cake at the end of it all. Only the baker knows. He has the finished product in mind throughout the entire process.

The uncomfortable blending, and the painful heat of the baking may seem really pointless to us at the time. But what we don’t know is that we are being fashioned into something beautiful. 

It’s only through the pain of blending and baking that we can become the rich, moist, tasty, beautiful creation of a chocolate cake.

When you’re in a trial it doesn’t seem very pleasant, does it? It doesn’t feel like it’s good for you.

But remember that God can be trusted. He knows what’s he’s doing. He is ultimately in control and he has in mind the cake he’s going for through all this.

I think that there are several reasons we have trials.

James 1:2 (emphasis added)
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

The testing of our faith develops perseverance, and perseverance must finish its work so that we become mature and complete, lacking nothing. 

The trials are for our good.

1 Peter 1:7 (emphasis added)
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

The trials have come so that the proven genuineness of our faith may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
The trials are for God's glory.

So all the hard times we go through are for our good and for his glory.

I want you to imagine a raging storm.

There are trees, bent low under lashing wind and driving rain, and lightning zigzagging across a dark, threatening sky.

In the center of the fury imagine a bird’s nest in the crotch of a gigantic tree.

And in the nest, a mother bird sits, spreading her wings over her little brood, waiting serene and unruffled for the storm to pass.

The mother bird isn't focused on the storm. Sure, she feels it and knows it's there, alright. But she rests, peacefully, waiting, looking after her chicks, because she knows that the storm won't last and she has faith that she will be kept safe.

When we’re in a hard time it’s hard to not focus on all the lightening around us. But we can be peaceful and rest in the midst of the storm. 

The safest place in the entire world is in the nest of His hand.

We, like the bird, feel the storm, but we focus on Jesus.

Isaiah 26:3 

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts you.

John 16:33 

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, for I have overcome the world.

Blessings to you all!

God's Workmanship

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” —Ephesians 2:10 

You are so often disillusioned by the terrifying heat in your life. You feel so heated inside by struggles and hurdles that, let’s face it, make you melt. You don’t understand. All you see before you is fire, and you become intensely aware of the ripping and tearing inside yourself, and you start to lose confidence and sink. You question if your Creator is really strengthening you or even cares about you. The heat rises to excruciating temperatures as the flames devour you. You cannot see an escape. 

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 

He has turned on the furnace. As he gently places the impure gold in the burning flames. He prepares His tools to purify the precious metal. The gold begins to melt, sinking to the bottom of the pot as the impurities separate and rise to the top. He removes the sludge from the gold, purifying and strengthening it. He carefully raises the temperature until the gold reflects his face, and he lifts the now purified gold out of the fire to cool. 

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 

In the corner of a shadow, she clutches her face in her hands. She’s crying. She’s confused; she feels utterly abandoned. The things she is going through don’t make sense; her life seems to be falling apart. She cries out, “Why, God, why?” And a whisper brushes by her heart. She is calmed, for she knows that He knows the way she takes, and that when she is tried, she shall come forth as gold. 

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 

“But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” —Job 23:10 

P. S. Reread the top and bottom paragraphs, keeping the last verse in your mind. Since we are God’s workmanship, He is going to work on us. In the end, God will be able to see his reflection perfectly in us. But until that wonderful day in glory, let us strive to be moldable and trust that the Goldsmith knows what He’s doing! 

Written by Cosette, who blogs at http://dabyda.blogspot.com - This article was published in the JOJ magazine, Issue 8. 

The Bible and the Coal Basket

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible.

His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?”

 The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.” The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house.

The Grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was “impossible to carry water in a basket,” and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

 At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.

Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it’s useless!”

“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean.

“Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.”

That is the work of God in our lives.

To change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His son.

Take time to read a portion of God’s word each day. Pray that He will use it to turn your heart and mind to Him.

-Author Unknown

By Faith :: Music Video

Hello friends! I am so sorry I haven't posted recently...my life has been, well, should we say, busy? :) The Lord is so gracious...He allowed me to qualify for the Nationals in Bible Bee, so from August 29th until October 29th, I am busy memorizing 750 Bible verses and studying the book of Nahum. Hence the reason for my absence ;-) 

I thought I'd share a music video I recently saw...hope it blesses you! :) 

God bless your week! Press on! 

Rachel 

Desiring God

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby….”
—1 Peter 2:2

My mom recently weaned my youngest brother. Even though I’ve seen it done to all my siblings, it is still hard to see him wanting to eat but not being allowed to. He still begs, but he is slowly learning to eat like a “big person” at the table with everyone else.

“Nora” by Rick Bolin is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Seeing his longing to eat and remembering the verse from Peter makes me question my own life. Yes, I’m happy in the Lord and going to Him for daily nourishment, but am I longing to get to know Him like I ought to be? Do I desire to know Him as I ought to—as He wants me to? Or am I lax in my spiritual life, going to Him when it suits me or when I especially need His guidance and direction?

My dad has used the illustration a lot of a baby who is just born and doesn’t want to eat. The parents are very worried about the baby, aren’t they? And so God is about us when we don’t actively seek Him and turn to Him day by day, second by second. It isn’t just us who need this, though—its the world. Let us, each one, turn to the Lord and ask Him to guide our footsteps in the “way of righteousness” (Proverbs 12:28), so others can see His light and desire Him as well.

“We all profess that we are bound for heaven, immortality, and glory: but is it any evidence that we really desire it if all our thoughts are consumed about the trifles of the world, which we must leave behind us, and have only occasional thoughts of things above?”
—John Owen

Be the jewel He’s called you to be!

Jesus Cares

I can think of lots of examples
When things have completely gone wrong
Life has turned itself topsy-turvy
And I've prayed to God before long.

"Oh Jesus, help! I'm in despair!
I have no idea what to do.
Give me aid, rest, reassurance!"
But before I had called, He knew.

He looked down from Heaven and saw me
Before I got into my plight.
He wrapped His arms around me
And held me nice and tight.

It's wonderful to have someone like Him
Who will scatter and banish my fears.
He's my King! My Saviour! Almighty God!
And the awesome thing is that He cares.

morguefile

Blessings to you all!
~Bonnie

Here Am I, Send Me

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with

the tongs from off the altar:  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”

Isa 6:1-8 KJV

            On April 30, 2009, the above verse became alive in my life and forever changed me. That day started as any other normal day. I went to work at my secretarial job from 7:00am to 5:00pm. Little did I know the change that would take place before the sun set that day. After supper that night, I was just doing things around the house when my mother called me and announced a phone call for me. She announced the name of the caller and I knew immediately why he was calling. Answering the phone, the caller introduced himself and the mission he represented, asking me if I might know why he is calling. To which I answered the affirmative. The caller was contacting me on behalf of the Olive Branch Mennonite Mission. One of the single girls serving in Nicaragua was scheduled to leave the mission field in August and they contacted me to see if I was open to serving for two years. We closed the conversation with the caller asking me to pray about it and contact him as soon as I had an answer. I hung up the phone, relayed the message to my parents, before grabbing my cell phone and leaving on my bike.

Biking down the road, I first called my pastor’s wife to let them know of the call and to ask for prayers. Hanging up with her, I headed to the local park. I needed to sit down. At this point, many questions were running through my head. Why me? Is my dream coming true? Can I really do this? Will I be able to be separated from my family for so long? I want to go but… I called my best friend, telling her all that had happened, asking her for advice. After I hung up, I still felt overwhelmed, but I knew the God who called me on this journey, was also the God who was faithful and would be by my side, if I would only lay aside my humanness and trust on Him.

As I searched God’s Word and His will for me, I was guided to Isaiah 6. Yes, I had heard this passage many, many times; but on this particular night, the passage took on a new meaning. I felt as Moses did. Inadequate for the task that was before, but I was called. I felt the call of God on my heart. Would I shrink back from the task? As much as it was tempting, I wanted to be where God wanted me and He was calling me to serve in Nicaragua. He was asking the question: who will go for us?

As I near the 5-year anniversary of receiving that life-changing call, I look back in awe of what God has done in my life, not only as I served in Nicaragua but also as I continue to serve Him in my hometown. The call of “whom shall I send, and who will go for us” is not only  a call to the foreign field, but it is a daily call. As believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are daily called to serve Him and “stand in the gap” for those who are seeking. Let it not be said as was in Ezekiel’s day:

“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” Ezekiel 22:30 KJV

Daily accept the call that is placed upon your life. Seeing the Hand of God in my life when I am truly committed to “standing in the gap” and being willing “to be sent” has humbled me. The blessing that comes from being “available” to be used of God cannot be explained. Being used in my hometown has brought just as many blessings as serving  in foreign lands. You may or may not be called to another land. Be ready and willing to go where He wants you to go and fill in the gap where He has called you.

I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go by The Kauffman Family