Thank You For Your Love . . .

Over the past couple of weeks we've touched on love, most importantly, God's love.  We've learned that in order to operate effectively as Christians we need the love of God in our lives.  We need to allow His love to shine through us as we attempt to reach the lost. 

The greatest love is God's love . . . and God's love is free!!!!  Many of our struggles will be resolved when we connect into God's commandment of practicing love in our lives.  We can try over and over to do it on our own but we will never see success like we will if we allow God's love in our lives.  Anger, resentment and bitterness will get us no where . . .

For example . . . we've seen other missionaries go before us . . . we are about to see more friends leave for Africa . . . yet we still wait.  We have a choice in this; we can sit around whinning and moaning because we don't seem to be progressing, or we can walk in God's love keeping our focus on what He has called us to do.  If we stay in His love and follow His lead, we will get to where He wants us to be.  If we sit around moaning and groaning about our journey, we will continue to sit and continue to moan and groan about our journey.  It's that simple . . . trusting in God will get you somewhere!!!!  His love is free . . . take it . . . accept it . . . live it.

Love . . . the greatest commandment

Tap into His love . . . truly seek the face of God.

Don't Be Ashamed To Love . . .

"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."  Romans 5:5

Are we as Christians ashamed to love?  I mean loving is hard at times, especially loving those who have offended or hurt you in some way.  Maybe we are ashamed to love because our friends and family will think we've gone off the deep end!!!!  Regardless, as humans its easier to hate and hold a grudge than it is to love and forgive others.

Our witness to the lost is lost, if not done in love.  We need God's love in our lives so we can pour His love into the lives of people around us.  I heard this saying once, "God's love is magnified whenever we share it with others.  God never intended for us to hoard it or cover it up." 

Have you ever tried to share God's word with someone while in a state of anger?  It doesn't work . . . to have an affect on someone we need to act in love.  We need to be true followers of Christ, imitators of Him.  He has given us the gift of salvation yet we so often live lives of anger, bitterness and resentment towards others.  We forget who our Father is and what He has done for us . . . we may not know it but we act as though we are ashamed of loving God.

We need to reach the world . . . we need to reach the lost.  This starts with love . . . asking God to fill us with His love so our ministry on earth can be effective.  I may not be the deepest thinker or even the scholar type, but I do know one thing . . . nothing is more powerful than God's love.  Nothing is better than the blessing which comes as a result of God's love.  If we receive His love and act in it, our voices will be heard across the nations.  God's love will be effectively shared and like wildfire, will spread to the ends of the earth. 

God is love . . . and His love endures forever

God . . . Please Fill Me With Your Love

The key to walking in love is having God's love in us.  Do you ever have one of those days when there's no love in you what so ever?  Days where you feel you'd be better off left alone? 

It is key that we keep our focus on God . . . it is key that we continue to renew our minds with His word.  For myself I've begun to ask God on a daily basis these two things:

1.  Renew my mind Father with the truth and promise of your word.
2.  Fill me with your love Father . . . I desire to see others as You do.

If you're not in the word and talking with God on a daily basis, you will begin to become very negative, to the point where you do nothing but feel sorry for yourself.  Only God's love can bring us peace, only God's love in us will help us to be effective in ministering to others.  I once heard a speaker say, "What good is a miserable Christian?"  If I'm miserable all the time, is God's love shining through me?  How will I have an effective ministry if my words and actions are not those of the Fathers?  We need to be filled by His love, so His love can radiate out from us. 

Whether here or in the mission field, we need to walk in God's love.  He has commanded us to go and He has commanded us to love.  You can't have one without the other . . .

Allow God to fill you with His love . . . allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life as you walk the walk of faith.  Ask Him, there's nothing to be ashamed of . . . ask Him to fill you up so that you can fill up the lives of others.

Merry Christmas . . .

We just wanted to say Merry Christmas . . . God bless you and your family as we celebrate the birth of His son.  May He provide you with peace and safety in your travels, wherever you may go during this festive season.

I will continue with my series on love after Christmas . . . Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blessings

Forgetting The Past . . .

Creflo Dollar writes in his book, "Paul said that we must forget the past-not only those things we are most ashamed of, but also those things that we are proud of.  Why?  Because dwelling on either one can hinder our spiritual progress and prevent us from pushing ourselves to do better."

As Christians we all to often forget this one important thing . . . when we ask forgiveness, God remembers it no more . . . He casts it into the depts of the sea.  It is wrong for us to dwell on the sins we've been forgiven for.  Its like we really don't believe that God actually forgave us . . . we act in doubt of God's forgiving power. 

In my walk with the Lord I've had to forget my past . . .

I've had no problem letting go of past addiction, that's actually been a breeze.  Where I've really had to work in my life is towards past bitterness and resentment.  Letting go of those who have hurt me emotionally, knowing that God has dealt with or will deal with them at some point.  From personal experience, if we do not let these things go, they will eat at us and drag us into a pit of despair.  I've been in that pit . . . its not a fun place to be. 

I think of Jesus ministry and the persecution He went through as He spread the love of God.  If He would have got hung up on what people said and what people did, His ministry would have been ineffective.  Even during His ministry Jesus probabley struggled with staying positive, but He had to.  Jesus had to stay positive to have an effective ministry plus He had to teach His disciples how to keep positive in order to have a successful ministry . . . He had to teach them how to walk in love. 

Jesus is our example . . . He is our example when it comes time to letting go.  He is our example as we walk in love, yet still today the church is filled with people who hold bitterness and resentment towards their brothers and sisters.  We are to be imitators of Him . . . what a world this would be if we all let go of our pasts and walk in the love of Jesus. 

As we progress in God's will, things will become easier, our walk with be easier.  There will still be times of trial and temptation, but God's love and faithfullness will carry us through. 

This Christmas season let things go . . . begin walking in the love of Jesus.

God's Calling . . . Will You Answer?

This morning the Holy Spirit laid it upon my heart to do a series on God's call, using our situation as an example.  For two years we have felt God strengthening us as we journey towards serving Him in Africa.  As our faith has become stronger, our desire to serve Him has increased as well.  The journey has been wonderful and He has taught us so much and I my hope is that as you read our blog, you would allow God to develop the call in you as well.

First things first . . . "The Great Commission".  Found in Matthew 28:18-20, the great commission is a commandment to us, to take the Word of God to all the nations until everyone has had the opportunity to hear of God's love.  What does God mean by the world?  Does this mean we all have to be missionaries and go overseas?  No . . . we are to go to the ends of the earth . . . right here at home is part of the earth.  We are all missionaries, we have the authority to do this if we choose so.  Whether its going to the end of the earth or to the end of the street, God has called His children to spread His word. 

God calls us . . . that is so important.  You see we don't "call" us, our friends and neighbors don't "call" us, only God "calls" us into His service.  I truly believe if we act on our own will and not His, things won't go the way we've planned!!!!  One thing we've learn't about the Call of God is the Harder's are not going into the field because we feel sorry for people, we are going into the field because God has called us, He has commanded us to go.  He has given us a heart for Africa . . . our heart has broken for these people yet we go not on our own will, but in His will.  Guess what?  I took us nearly a year and a half to figure this out!!!!! 

As we prepare ourselves for what lies ahead, God continues to do a powerful work in our lives.  While thinking about missions this past week, the Holy Spirit laid it upon my heart to pick up a book I read a couple of years back.  The book called, " Lord, Teach Me How To Love" by Creflo Dollar connects the importance of walking in love and serving God.  This book has been a great tool for me over the last few years as I've had to learn to walk in love. 

Over the next couple of posts I would like to touch on three areas of successfully walking in love.  I believe we need to develop these areas in order to be successful as we reach out to the lost in this world.  These areas are "Forgeting The Past", "Asking God To Fill You With Love", and "Don't Be Ashamed To Love." 

In order to be successful in sharing God's word we need to be filled with His love, we need to be walking in His love.  Jesus wasn't a bitter old man, He was a man of love and that's what drew people to Him.  Seriously, what good is an angry Christian?  Who wants what an angry Christian has?  Jesus is love, His ministry was based on love, shouldn't we love?

Harder Family Christmas Newsletter . . . By Laura Harder

2009 has been another busy year for the Harder family. So here is our yearly update for you . . .




Maddy - This past spring Maddy was once again involved in baseball. She really enjoyed it this year. Their team won silver in the league tournament which was held in Boissevain. She’s definitely grown up a lot this year. She’s becoming more and more like a teenager!! We hear about the Jonas Brothers daily. In fact we went to see them in concert over the summer in Winnipeg. I think Joel had the most fun . . . There’s nothing like thousands of screaming girls. In November Maddy turned 10. She is busy taking piano and art class this winter. She is our resident drama queen and we love her.



Olivia - Olivia turned 7 in July. She is loving grade 2 this year. Her teacher was sick for nearly two weeks, so they had a substitute filling in. Most kids would perhaps take advantage of the change of pace!!! But Olivia made sure they kept up the pace!!!!

Olivia loves to learn and has always wanted to be a teacher. Her teacher shared with us that Olivia should be drawing a wage as a Teacher’s Aid since she loves to help others when her work is done.

Olivia played baseball in the spring and did swimming lessons with the school over the winter. She’s busy with piano lessons and kid’s club this winter.



Judah - Wow where do we start . . . Jude turned 2 on October 5. He keeps our lives very busy. Judah lives life on the edge and so do we!!!! There is never a dull moment when Judah is around. His favorite activities are eating and tormenting his sister Olivia. He has become a little parrot, repeating absolutely everything that people say. Of course his sisters think this is great!!!! He has a favorite song and whenever we are in the car we turn on the song “Oh Happy Day”. As soon as the song begins playing his ears perk up and begins to shout “HAPPY DAY” over and over until the song ends. It suits him well since every day seems to be a happy day for Judah.

He is all about trucks and wood, especially big trucks which are carrying wood!!! Joel has had a lot of fun Christmas shopping for Jude this year.