Acts 26:12-20
"In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,(1 )'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' 15 And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles - to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' 19 "Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance."
"the lesson we should learn from what was fulfilled in the life of Paul is that God has gospel purposes in all the set backs of our lives.........
Is any of you in the midst of a two year set back today? Anybody on a two year detour that you had not planned? Don't fret as though God has no gospel purpose in it. Trust his wisdom to allow what has happened. And put on those shoes of readiness to move with the gospel ON THE DETOUR. Don't take off the shoes of readiness thinking that detours don't have any gospel purpose. Jesus said, "This will be a time for testimony!"
I see so much encouragement here for an exciting way to live your life expectantly under the providence of a sovereign God. You get up in the morning and you pray and make your plan for the day. But then you pray again and say, "Lord, I know that I do not control this day—what will happen to my car, who will call me at work, whom I will see at lunch, and a hundred other unexpected details. Would you govern my day so that all its unplanned detours are spiritually valuable? Help me to see divine appointments where Satan may only want me to see interruptions and irritations."--John Piper
**********************
My LORD!!!!! And what a providentually hindered day it has been.. I would have never thought when I awoke this morning that Delta and I would be sitting in the hall way of her home waiting for an ambulance to pick up an 16 yr old who we believe had a miscarriage in her bathroom.
Earlier today, D and I were hanging out at a neighbors house who lives a couple of doors down from me. We said our goodbyes and decied to return to her house to see the guys off. As we approached her home her husband tells her that there are two girls inside from across the street. We go in and meet girl #1. Girl #2 is in D's bathroom. As we sat there, we are engaged into some fun conversation with the young girl about who she is, what school she attends, and were they live. We found out that the girl in the bathroom has an uncle who lives across the street from the Kellys. The two girls arrived at the uncle house to find themselves locked out. Girl#1 stomach begins to cramp so they decided to walk over to the kellys to use their bathroom. After 20 min or so..the girl is still in the bath room so Delta( WHOM I MUST SAY HANDLED THIS SITUATION LIKE....A PRO..SHE DID ALOT OF COMMUNICATING WITH THIS GIRL) begins to talk to her from outside of the door. We found out that she was bleeding heavily and that there was a possibility that she might be pregnant. We do all we can to keep her calm and relaxed..we began to pray over her, give her towels to bathe with and just offer a little bit of humor to take the edge off of the "what if" situation. As we help the young lady to get into the shower we hear a knock at the door. She tells us from inside the bathroom that the pain is getting worst and that something is wrong... All I hear next is a loud fall and I look up into Delta face to hear her say..." um, ok, sweetie you may want to dial 911"..... the girl had fallen out due to the amount of blood she had lost
The night ends with Delta and I at the hospital with her mom, grandmother, sister and two friends. We sat in that emergency room for about 5 hours. Still no word on whether or not she was pregnant, still pregnant, or suffered a miscarriage. We return to the Kellys to Joyfully before the LORD clean up the blood that was left from earlier that day
All I can think about in my heart right now is "why LORD"? like..."why Delta house"? ...."Why were we involved"? "what are your plans with this family and us"????? "What is there to do after all of this"???
And then it is clear to me, it's all for the sake of the GOSPEL..this is what it is all about..This is why we(Kelly's and King's) were called to this neighborhood for such a time as this.. We are to ...just as Piper stated above look at every circumstance, and take everyday as an opportunity to preach the GOSPEL through WORD AND DEED to those around us.
Before we left the hospital, we found out that this sweet girl's grandmother and sister will be moving in RIGHT across the street from the Kellys this month~~ This journey with them has just begun..what an introduction...
would you please keep this young girl and her family in your prayers..While in the hospital as well as back at Delta house this younger girl made it clear that she didn want her mom to know that she might be pregnant( it seems that the sister who is 18 now went through the SAME EXACT situation a while back and the mom did not take it well) We will keeep you posted
thanks so much for loving on us with your prayers~
Job 421-5
Then Job answered the LORD and said,
2"I know that (A)You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
3'Who is this that (B)hides counsel without knowledge?'
"Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things (C)too wonderful for me, which I did not know."
4'Hear, now, and I will speak;
I will (D)ask You, and You instruct me.'
5"I have (E)heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my (F)eye sees You
FATHER, I just simply ask that you may show them your glory.. I pray that at the end of the day, LORD it comes to them knowing you as LORD and SAVIOR..Because of your providence, no day is ever a mistake or coincidence. Lord, please help this family to know you through this trial
In Jesus name, Amen
"In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,(1 )'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' 15 And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles - to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' 19 "Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance."
"the lesson we should learn from what was fulfilled in the life of Paul is that God has gospel purposes in all the set backs of our lives.........
Is any of you in the midst of a two year set back today? Anybody on a two year detour that you had not planned? Don't fret as though God has no gospel purpose in it. Trust his wisdom to allow what has happened. And put on those shoes of readiness to move with the gospel ON THE DETOUR. Don't take off the shoes of readiness thinking that detours don't have any gospel purpose. Jesus said, "This will be a time for testimony!"
I see so much encouragement here for an exciting way to live your life expectantly under the providence of a sovereign God. You get up in the morning and you pray and make your plan for the day. But then you pray again and say, "Lord, I know that I do not control this day—what will happen to my car, who will call me at work, whom I will see at lunch, and a hundred other unexpected details. Would you govern my day so that all its unplanned detours are spiritually valuable? Help me to see divine appointments where Satan may only want me to see interruptions and irritations."--John Piper
**********************
My LORD!!!!! And what a providentually hindered day it has been.. I would have never thought when I awoke this morning that Delta and I would be sitting in the hall way of her home waiting for an ambulance to pick up an 16 yr old who we believe had a miscarriage in her bathroom.
Earlier today, D and I were hanging out at a neighbors house who lives a couple of doors down from me. We said our goodbyes and decied to return to her house to see the guys off. As we approached her home her husband tells her that there are two girls inside from across the street. We go in and meet girl #1. Girl #2 is in D's bathroom. As we sat there, we are engaged into some fun conversation with the young girl about who she is, what school she attends, and were they live. We found out that the girl in the bathroom has an uncle who lives across the street from the Kellys. The two girls arrived at the uncle house to find themselves locked out. Girl#1 stomach begins to cramp so they decided to walk over to the kellys to use their bathroom. After 20 min or so..the girl is still in the bath room so Delta( WHOM I MUST SAY HANDLED THIS SITUATION LIKE....A PRO..SHE DID ALOT OF COMMUNICATING WITH THIS GIRL) begins to talk to her from outside of the door. We found out that she was bleeding heavily and that there was a possibility that she might be pregnant. We do all we can to keep her calm and relaxed..we began to pray over her, give her towels to bathe with and just offer a little bit of humor to take the edge off of the "what if" situation. As we help the young lady to get into the shower we hear a knock at the door. She tells us from inside the bathroom that the pain is getting worst and that something is wrong... All I hear next is a loud fall and I look up into Delta face to hear her say..." um, ok, sweetie you may want to dial 911"..... the girl had fallen out due to the amount of blood she had lost
The night ends with Delta and I at the hospital with her mom, grandmother, sister and two friends. We sat in that emergency room for about 5 hours. Still no word on whether or not she was pregnant, still pregnant, or suffered a miscarriage. We return to the Kellys to Joyfully before the LORD clean up the blood that was left from earlier that day
All I can think about in my heart right now is "why LORD"? like..."why Delta house"? ...."Why were we involved"? "what are your plans with this family and us"????? "What is there to do after all of this"???
And then it is clear to me, it's all for the sake of the GOSPEL..this is what it is all about..This is why we(Kelly's and King's) were called to this neighborhood for such a time as this.. We are to ...just as Piper stated above look at every circumstance, and take everyday as an opportunity to preach the GOSPEL through WORD AND DEED to those around us.
Before we left the hospital, we found out that this sweet girl's grandmother and sister will be moving in RIGHT across the street from the Kellys this month~~ This journey with them has just begun..what an introduction...
would you please keep this young girl and her family in your prayers..While in the hospital as well as back at Delta house this younger girl made it clear that she didn want her mom to know that she might be pregnant( it seems that the sister who is 18 now went through the SAME EXACT situation a while back and the mom did not take it well) We will keeep you posted
thanks so much for loving on us with your prayers~
Job 421-5
Then Job answered the LORD and said,
2"I know that (A)You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
3'Who is this that (B)hides counsel without knowledge?'
"Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things (C)too wonderful for me, which I did not know."
4'Hear, now, and I will speak;
I will (D)ask You, and You instruct me.'
5"I have (E)heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my (F)eye sees You
FATHER, I just simply ask that you may show them your glory.. I pray that at the end of the day, LORD it comes to them knowing you as LORD and SAVIOR..Because of your providence, no day is ever a mistake or coincidence. Lord, please help this family to know you through this trial
In Jesus name, Amen