7th Trip To Bogota, January 2011 Day 4

Before our devotion this morning I shared an amazing little providence that happened to me this morning. First, I need to lay a little groundwork. 7 years ago I went to a Tres Dias men’s retreat weekend a discouraged Christian and God radically transformed my life. I have been walking in that grace every day since. The prayer warrior assigned to me that weekend was Coy Reese. He has since become a dear friend and mentor. Coy has sent me a scripture verse every single day since that weekend 7 years ago. He has never repeated a verse in 7 years. I told you in my last post that God laid the verse Proverbs 14:12 on my heart very strongly yesterday during the gospel presentation at Amparo De Ninos and that I was compelled to speak up about it. Well, I wasn’t able to check my email yesterday to see which verse Coy sent for the day but when I checked my email this morning, the verse he sent me yesterday was Proverbs 14:12. Thank you Lord for confirming your word to me in the chapel yesterday. Amazing.

Our P from the ministry of Jesus this morning was Pleasure. We not only need Christ’s Presence, Passion, and Power. We need His Pleasure. We need His joy or our works will not bring the glory to God that He deserves and we will become weary and tire of the work if we are not bathing in the joy that Jesus has and wishes to share with us. Hebrews tells us that, “For the JOY that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God.” He also tells us that His goal is to share that joy with us on this earth and forever in heaven.

John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

John 16:24 “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

John 17:13 “these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

Matt. 25:23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

Remember the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism? “What is the chief end of man?” and the answer, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” I used to wonder, “What does enjoying Him have to do with bringing Him glory? Then I saw these verses and realized that genuine praise (glorifying God) always erupts from joy in Him.

Psa. 9:2 I will be glad and delight in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

Psa. 33:1 Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright.

Psa. 43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.

Psa. 98:4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

1Chr. 16:10 Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.

Psa. 149:5 Let the godly ones delight in glory; Let them sing for joy on their beds.

Joni Eareckson Tada says it so well…“God happily shares His gladness, His joy comes flooding over heaven’s walls filling my heart in a waterfall of delight, which then in turn always streams out to others in a flood of encouragement, and then erupts back to God in an ecstatic fountain of praise. He gets your heart pumping for heaven. He injects His peace, power, and perspective into your spiritual being. He puts a song in your heart. I want to know God like this! Shove me under the waterfall of the Trinity’s joy, which splashes and spills over heaven’s walls. If He’s always in a good mood, I want to catch it”

Today we went to our home orphanage Amparo De Ninas in Bogota. I have written many blogs in the past about this place and the impact it has had on my life and my family. My precious Goddaughters Ginary and Heidy live here and though they were with us for three weeks last month I still couldn’t wait for them to jump into my arms and kiss my cheeks and call me Papi and I was not disappointed. We had a beautfiful day here. We ate and sang and played for hours. Another thing happened to me that I totally did not expect. A darling 14 year old named Marianna insisted on reading me a little book in Spanish. The cutest thing was after every paragraph she would stop and explain the story to me in “little kid” Spanish so I could understand what was going on. She has a smile that could melt cobalt. I asked her how long she had been at the orphanage and she said two months. I asked her where she was before that and she looked away and said quietly, “A place with lots of bad things.” I told her that the past is past and the future is what matters. We talked alot about Jesus. Another neat thing today was the fact that Ginary and Heidy have become so confident in my love that it doesn’t bother them any more when I spend time and share with other girls. They know that Papi is about his business of ministering and helping other girls like them. They just stop by once in awhile and kiss me on the cheek and give me a squeeze and an I love you and a knowing look and then they are off playing with the rest of the girls. The rest of the day I was in business meetings with different elements of the child welfare in Bogota. We are aggressively exploring different options and opportunities to help the children of Latin America. Toda gloria a Dios.