Week Eight: Jesus, the Chief Cornerstone

"Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, 'Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.'"

1 Peter 2:6

"For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

1 Cor. 3:11

"The amount of power you experience to live a victorious, triumphant Chrisitian life is directly proportional to the freedom you give the Spirit to be Lord of your life!" __Anne Graham Lotz

Praises:

For the committed believers that the Lord is calling to serve as Bible Study facilitators
For the 54 women who have signed up for the training sessions for the Follow-up Bible Studies
For the many volunteers who want to serve on the resource sales and ushering committees
For all those who stand in the gap by praying morning, noon, and night
For the additional Church Relations co-chair, Jan Olinick

Requests:

For the women who have committed to be facilitators to sign up for a specific training time
For God to draw more women whose hearts have heard His call to step out and facilitate a Bible Study Group
For the right timing for the Outreach Committee to contact organizations and businesses and that they would be receptive to the message of Just Give Me Jesus
For more women to hear God's call to volunteer in counseling, outreach, church relations, and fundraising
For a prayer zone leader for the Killeen/ Ft. Hood area
For wisdom and guidance regarding fundraising
For God to bless the fundraising letters that are sent out so that they will be well received and for the recipients to respond generously
For God to lead the way in arranging appointments with possible donors and for God to touch their hearts to respond very generously
For the churches that have received their packets to get excited about Just Give Me Jesus, promote it in their churches, start prayer cells, and pray for revival that will transform their churches
For God to increase our spiritual hunger to see Him bless our churches with a great spiritual renewal

Week Seven: Jesus, the Good Shepherd

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."

John 10:11-16

"Now the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus form the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."
Hebrews 13:20-21

"Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us Your salvation. I will listen to what God the LORD will say; He promises peace to His people, His saints - but let them not return to folly. Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land." __Psalm 85:6-9

2 by 2

"Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life came to Noah and entered the Ark." Genesis 7:15

I want to share with you a tidbit of how Good our God is. Without going into great detail (it would be entirely too long, but I assure you, the details are great--and by that I mean wonderful) I want to tell you about a friend of mine and what God has done in her life.
When I was a working woman I was a social worker. My last job was in a Christian pregnancy center. My dream job. I was able to actively share the gospel with my clients and disciple them amidst their chaotic lives. What. An . Honor. Can I just tell you most of them were pregnant outside of marriage and it would be an understatement to say that was the LEAST of their problems! Are you following me? Lost, hurting people.
I had the blessing of meeting a sweet girl (I'll not say her name since I have not asked for permission--although I know she would not mind) who was not pregnant, but struggling with the loss of her children to CPS due to her boyfriend's abuse towards her and them. She was desperate. She was a past user. I am talking hard core. Used to use with her parents. We talked for hours and I shared the Gospel with her. She excitedly accepted. Oh friends, the story gets to be so so so good. I wish I could write it all down, but this woman's life was forever changed. Eventually, she got her kids back, got an awesome job, joined a FABULOUS church and get this...is getting married to a wonderful, Christian man!! We still keep in touch and I can attest that she is a totally different person. I mean, it was truly the old person was dead and a new woman began. She seemed to be the ultimate "damaged goods", even though she was born again, no man would ever marry her with her baggage. Did God not see differently?

I write all of this because she was on my heart this morning. She now lives in a different town, so I texted her and said, "thinking of you...are you getting excited about the wedding?" She responded with this, which I loved, "Yes, God is so good." Simply put. I can just hear her sweet voice saying it as she wrote it. Wow. I am still amazed at this story. And I want to add that I take ZERO credit or glory. It was totally something that could only be from the Lord, trust me, I am only a tee-niny vessel.

So, I was furthering meditating in the enormity of our Father after we shared several text messages. He gently spoke the above verse to me. I was forced to ask myself why I have not shared the Gospel more- knowing the outcome could be as it was with my dear friend I mention to you today. Is it not the ultimate glory to God? How many others are missing the mark because of my inability to share His word? So, this morning, God has said to me, "2" over and over. Thinking about this revival makes me want to extend the challenge to you to invite 2 women. 2 women you know are not believers. Simply put. Guess what, ya'll? These women are not only the ex-users in turmoil. These non-believers are our friends. They are the ones who are in church with us, but do not know Him. They are in our supper clubs. Our playgroups. And we are ignoring them...

...until now. Here is what I feel prompted to do. It is a challenge I want to extend to you that I feel has been a word from the Lord. Think of 2 women you know who are non-believers. Think about it. I do not think they cannot be home-less hurting women, they are important too, all I am saying is that sometimes it is closer to home than you think. Let's take the next several mo already have my 2 and I am ashamed that I am so close to them and have not shared my faith with them. Please think on and pray for these women. I tell you this now so you can prepare yourself. Pray for them outloud by name. Get in your prayer groups and pray for them by name! Then, come September, I want them to be at the "Just Give Me Jesus" revival. Let's stop being scared, ya'll. Look what people are missing out on. These women are hurting. They need a light in their life. They need a legacy for their children. And we are passing them over because we are either scared to share, or are too consumed in our own lives to notice. We are needing a touch of His light in our own lives. So, let's think on the 2 women you know (OF COURSE it can be more than 2!), pray for them, prepare to invite them, and become an example in their lives....
ARE YOU WITH ME??

Thirty Weeks of Prayer
For Just Give Me Jesus

Week Five: Jesus, the Messiah

"One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which is translated the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus."
John 1:40-42

"He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.'"
Matt. 16:15-17

"And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. . . . 'Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people of Israel.'"

Luke 2:25-26; 29-32


"Prayer to the Father cannot be in vain. He will reward you openly." ¡V Andrew Murray

Praising God :

For wonderful progress in the preparation and refinement of volunteer lists, contact lists and church lists

For the steady flow of financial contributions

For insight in dividing the greater Waco area and satellite areas into 7 prayer zones

For faithfully walking step by step with the Para-Church Outreach co-chairs and for providing 25 committee members¡K exactly what is needed

For hardworking, committed Team Leaders and for the growing bonds between them

For a good response of people from the kickoff signing up to facilitate Bible studies and for completed forms from people arriving in the mail daily.

Asking God:

For time and energy to get everything done before Varyn leaves town, for her safe travel to Atlanta, and for successful back surgery for her mom - no complications, relief from pain

For God to raise up a third Co-Chair to help our Church Relations team

For the 4 Church Relations team training sessions on Monday and Tuesday : a good turn-out, concise and simple instruction, good division of labor and for the volunteers to perform to the best of their God-given talent
For direction for the Para-Church Outreach committee as they organize the volunteers and perfectly match each one with specific organizations to reach

For individuals who have received packets in the mail from the Follow-up Bible Studies team to return the forms and for wisdom in finding the best time to schedule the training sessions to facilitate those who respond

For God's appointment for prayer zone leaders and that a wealth of prayer cells will spring up in each zone

For God to multiply time for committee co-chairs with their expanded work load since the kick-off and to guard communication and relationships within the leadership team