"Fort this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them"


Isaiah warned of it, Jesus brought it to light. Many of God's children's hearts had grown dull. As I read that this morning, an urgency came to mind. Has my heart grown dull? Have I closed my eyes and deafened my ears to God's heart? I immediately asked God to forgive my pride that gets in the way of following Him. I do not want to become part of a generation who stops looking, listening and loving like Him.


The jewel of this passage is  of course "lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them"


When we understand, hear and see and oh ya, TURN, He will heal us. It's not too late to stop living for ourselves. To stop putting our needs first. To seek God first, and put other's needs above our own. 

Thank you Jesus for yet another chance to get it right. You alone deserve to be the center of my life. Thank you for healing me!

The Sky's the Limit!

VBS at LifePoint is no doubt one of my very favorite weeks of the year! This year I had the privilege of being part of the drama. It was so much fun to get a view from the stage of all the happy kids learning to trust God. As usual I learned a little something about trusting Him too. Couldn't have come at a better time. I thought I would share the daily verses in hopes that it will encourage you as well.

Monday - People judge by outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart 1Samuel 16:7

Tuesday - Don't let your hearts be troubled.Trust in God  John 14:1

Wednesday - But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.They will soar high on wings like eagles Isaiah 40:31

Thursday - And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love Romans 8:38

Friday - Be strong and courageous.Do not be afraid for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go Joshua 1:9 

The Bottom Line for the week was:

No Matter What Trust God

What a blessing to be a part of, and it has built my trust in our awesome faithful God!

The Sky is the Limit!

Cynthi

Tonight Rob and I met with some of the church leadership to discuss a meeting with a Brussels attorney regarding opening a pre-school in Brussels. As it turns out there is a huge need for English speaking pre-schools, however the schools must be run completely through the government. This makes the feasibility of outsiders coming in an opening one next to impossible. We learned of two other organizations who tried to go around the government to open schools only to be shut down days before opening. In one case 4 missionaries lost their visa privileges. Of course this is discouraging news,  we were excited about the opportunities that could arise from the school. It seems for now that this is a no so we are re-grouping and seeking God’s will.

Because I believe that God IS doing a mighty work in our lives and I trust His plan completely I am taking today’s news with a thankful, praising heart. That said we certainly appreciate your prayers, encouragement and support. You remain our partners and lifeline in this journey.

For His Glory,

Cynthi Rob and the R’s

Mother's Day Three Year Journey Cont....

Three years ago today…we entered into the wildest adventure of our lives. On Mother’s Day of 2009 we sat in our driveway and put our yes on the table to follow God’s plan for our lives. It has been a rocky road filled with encouragement and painful goodbyes. We’ve sold three vehicles, found a new home for a big dog, moved out of a house we loved and purged of many “things”. We’ve met new neighbors, volunteered at Wherry Housing, served as small group leaders, Wednesday night teachers and on the encouragers team at church. The changes that God has brought in us and our family have been invaluable!

We finally have some news, we are going this fall! Rob and I will be opening a LifePoint Creative Learning Center in Brussels. God laid on Rob’s heart a few months ago that the Brussels Church needs an English language preschool as an outreach. With a little research and a lot of prayer we’ve been encouraged by church leadership to continue the research and begin the visa process.

I can’t tell you how excited we are about this development. We never questioned that God would get us to Belgium, we did however long for the moment that things would be made clear. So thankful for His constant leading and encouragement. We also continue to be thankful for your encouragement support and prayers. So please keep them up, you are our partners in this adventure and we wouldn’t be here without you!

For His Glory!

Cynthi, Rob and the R’s

Do you have labels you'd like to escape from? Think about this, Rahab was a prostitute. Her body used by men, unmarried, unloved and unappreciated. Then she met God. He redeemed her, she married a Godly man and became the great(5x) grandmother to...Jesus!

One more great week in the Who Are You? series at LifePoint Church.

God gives us two specific things to remind us of who we are in Christ.

1. A brand new name Abram and Sarai(sp) became Abraham and Sarah, parents.

Saul the murderer became Paul the giver of life saving news.

Simon the fisherman became Peter (the rock) and fisher of men.

2. He gives a new purpose. Seen in the story of Rahab and countless others in the bible. God is great at taking our biggest weakness and turning it into our biggest strength.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope"

In Christ we are overcomers! Revelation 12:11 ESV

"And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony"

Know who you are and who He created you to be...

Who Are You?

For the past two weeks, Pat Hood has been exploring the question "Who Are You?". It has been a fantastic message and I wanted to highlight some of it here. If you would like to hear the sermon in its entirety go to http://lifepointchurch.org/media .

Sunday January 7

Who Are You?

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come...","Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us."

We are ambassadors for Christ. Our real home is the Kingdom of God, we are here as His ambassadors.

John 15:16-19 "I chose you and appointed you..."

Look at the examples of God's chosen:

Moses couldn't speak well, God used him to lead His people out of Egypt

David committed adultery and murder, he was king to God's people

Paul was Saul, the Christian slayer. God used him to spread His Word to the world!

Acts 9:15 "he is a chosen instrument of mine..."

God called me to represent Him. I am a chosen instrument of God!

John 6:38 "I have come not to do my will but the will of Him who sent me".

We represent God.

Sunday January 15

Identity

Ephesians 2:1-3 "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of the world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

Ephesians 2:4-9 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him...","for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God not a result of works, so that no one may boast"

God redeemed you, saved you, gave you life!

Ephesians 2:10"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them"

We do good works so that people will look to God and praise Him!

The greek word for workmanship is poeima it means beautiful workmanship.

Psalm 139:13-16 You formed my inmost parts, you knit me together in my mothers womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. In your book are written the days formed for me

With His hands God created me. I have significance. I am here by the purpose and plan of God.

2 Peter 1:3"He has given us all we need to do everything He has called us to do"

-Thank you God, for creating, saving, redeeming and giving me purpose! - Cynthi