God is like unto a Rock...

Hey y'all, I just realized yesterday or the day before that I forgot to post the rest of this article...in April! oops. Sorry! And, I just looked at my other post and somehow it got messed up. :( I really don't know how, but, here's the whole article!

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God is like unto a Rock

A huge boulder

An immovable stone

Multiple times in the Old Testament, God is referred to as a "Rock". In the book of 2 Samuel it says: "Who is a rock, save our God?" and "...neither is there any rock like our God." and in Deuteronomy: "He is the Rock." Our God is the one and only Rock! Who else can we stand upon other than God? No one and no thing. He is the only rock.

And in Psalms it says: "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer: my God, my strength, in whom I will trust: my buckler, and my horn of my salvation, and my high tower." God is not only our rock, but as it says in that verse, He is so much more than that! He protects us, delivers us, and is our strength.

In Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about two men, one built his house on the rock; the other built his house on the sand. What do you think happens? Read this story to find out!

Matthew 7:24-27 (King James Version)

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mind, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these saying of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

And when David was running from King Saul, the man who wanted to kill him, he trusted God. In Psalm 94:22, he calls God "my refuge" and "my defense". God protected David when Saul was seeking to kill him. And David knew it was God's doing and not his. So he wrote psalms of praise to God, such as this one: "I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies." (Psalm 18:3) And, "Be thou exalted, LORD in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power." (Psalm 21:13) And, "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped:therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him." (Psalm 28:7)

We need to stand on the Rock. We need to build our foundation, not on the sand, but on the solid Rock. In a hymn that I have known since I was little it says: "On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand."

What are you standing on? What kind of foundation are you building your house on? Will your house survive the storm? Will it collapse at the first wind? Or stand for a little while then fall? Or will it be able to withstand all of the storms that hit it?

In Christ alone,

Buttercup

*Note: I originally wrote this as an article for Go Ye Therefore magazine, and edited by a good friend.*

Story of Salvation, GFA

Hi y'all!

I get emails from Gospel For Asia. Today, I received a email with a link to a story on their site, here it is: (I'm so happy!!! It copied the pics!!! LOL)

Ministering to a Militant

October 20, 2009

Bharti Holam was a militant before he met GFA-supported missionary Kuman Mahindra. Now, just like this young student, Bharti is preparing to be a missionary.

Gospel for Asia-supported missionary Kuman Mahindra reached out to Bharti Holam even though everyone else was afraid of him.

Bharti had been a high-ranking member of a volatile militant group in Assam, India. Bharti's group was just one of dozens of armed rebel organizations in this region. Each one has a different agenda, but most use the same tactics of intimidation and brutal violence.

When Bharti joined the militants, he thought he'd finally found a place to belong. As a young man Bharti had been an exceptional student—until he got heavily involved in sports. As he spent more time on the soccer field and less time on his academic work, his grades slipped and he failed his last year of school. Bharti found himself very discouraged and worried about the future.

It was at this time that he met some men from the militant group. The men convinced Bharti that he could make a good life for himself in the group, so he joined them. Bharti was very focused, and pushed himself during the training. Upon graduation, he was awarded a coveted spot in the highest cadre of the group. He became fearless and followed orders to the letter, which pleased his leaders.

During training, Bharti was taught that the group only killed people for a good cause, so it was justified. He never questioned this practice until the day it hit very close to home. Bharti learned that his close friend had been killed upon orders from their boss. Bharti suddenly realized that the same thing could happen to him if he ever made one mistake that displeased his leaders.

GFA-supported missionaries take time to reach out to individuals, meeting them at their point of greatest need. That's what happened when Kuman Mahindra ministered to Bharti Holam, a former militant.

Gripped with fear, Bharti sneaked out of the insurgent camp one night. Although Bharti was not a Christian he had learned enough about Jesus to know He would answer prayer. So Bharti fervently prayed, asking God to spare his life. He promised to serve Him wholeheartedly in return.

Bharti returned to his home village, but his reputation had preceded him and everyone was afraid, except Kuman, who allowed Bharti to come and live in his house. During the first week he was there, Kuman told Bharti more about Jesus and how much He loved him. He told him about the Savior who would forgive even his greatest sins. Bharti spent three days fasting and praying. During this time, the Lord spoke to Bharti's heart and he chose to follow Christ.

Kuman discipled the former rebel and eventually helped him enroll in a Bible college. Bharti is now a second year student in the college and, just like before, he is one of the most sincere and hard-working students in the school.

Kuman shared the following prayer requests for Bharti:

• Pray that the Lord would protect Bharti's life and keep his enemies far away from him.
• Pray for Bharti's mother and siblings. His father died, and his mother is working hard to care for the family all by herself.
• Pray that Bharti would be an effective minister of the Gospel when he graduates. His practical ministry internship will start next summer.

So, there you have it. To read the story on their site, click here. GFA is a really cool ministry, I encourage you to look into it. God bless!

Love in Christ,

Btw, I will be starting the study as soon as possible. I've been a bit busy. :)

Project

Hi Y'all! I am going to undertake a big project! I think that God wants me to raise the money for a fully-equipped missionary vehicle for the native missionaries of Asia through Gospel For Asia (GFA). Here is what the site says on what it is,

A fully equipped vehicle—complete with an Indian-made film on the life of Christ, an LCD projector, generator, mobile public address system, Gospel tracts, Bibles and flip charts—is $21,000.

Yeah I know, $21,000. But, if God said do it, I can! So, do you want to help me??? You don't have to. :P Please get the word out! Direct people to my blog, where I will update! I think I will put this button on the sidebar, so you don't have to find the specific post. Since it is so much money, I am going to donate each month, whatever I recieve; so, it will probably not all go to one vehicle, but my goal still is $21,000!

Last night...

Last night I had a weird thing happen. I was lying down in bed, half trying to go to sleep, half thinking and praying about what project He wants me to do, when a verse came into my mind. I have never read it before, but for some reason, it just came to my mind. So I grabbed my Bible and turned to it. It is Isaiah 52:3. It says, "For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money."

After I got to thinking about it I know why God led me to this verse. I was praying about what I should raise money for, I've always known that you can't save people with money, but I still wanted to help them with money, so God just stepped in to make me stop for a minute, and make me think about what I was doing, and what Jesus did to save us.

In this verse God says that we have sold ourselves for nothing, and we will be saved without money. Jesus saved us, not with money, but with His life. He gave his life for us, He died in our place. We should always look to Him, and bow down to Him, and worship Him. Nothing that we can do will get us into heaven, God saved us, Jesus paid the price, not with money but with His precious life.

I thank God that He showed me this verse, I just needed to stop, and listen.

Gospel For Asia, sponsorship

Hey Y'all! Last night I started sponsoring a native missionary through Gospel For Asia! Her name is Rajwinder, she is eighteen. I might put her testimony on here sometime if y'all like. Please assist me in praying for her. I think this is a great way to help with missions.

It is only thirty dollars a month that you pay to support a native missionary, because four to six people support each. To fully support a missionary is over a hundred dollars a month, so they break it down so that you can support for a long period of time.

If you would like to support a native missionary or a child, click here. If you would just like to give to Gospel for Asia, click here. :D

Also, I am thinking about doing a different project for GFA...so stay tuned! LOL. Thanks y'all!

In Him,
Buttercup :)