Hi Friends,
I trust this note finds you enjoying the grace of God in tangible ways today. I wanted to take a moment to share a testimony that should encourage you and expose the faithfulness of the Lord once again. Over the past few months I have been pressing into the Lord, asking him to make clear his path for our family. I've been torn by many things, family, ministry, work, etc. I have been crying out to God asking him to make known to me the path he has for our family.
A couple of weeks ago, although I still didn't have a direct, clear path as to where the Lord was taking us, I felt like he was telling me to be "free from the lender" and pay off any and all remaining debt that we have. (Prepare our field for rain) He was charging me to do this through many ways, like shutting off lights that weren't being used in the house, minimizing water usage, cutting off cable and even as extreme as downsizing our housing costs. I began discussing this with Laura and she was in agreement, so we discussed and put our plan in place. We agreed that we would rent a small house for one year and reduce our housing cost significantly, so last night I sent my notice to "terminate lease" to my landlord. Although, we weren't sure where we were going to live, we felt that we both heard from the Lord in regard to this and trusted that God would provide a place for us to live.
Last night, as Laura and I laid in bed talking about our decision, Laura said, "Let's pray." I said, "Ok, what would you like to pray about?" She was open and honest and said, "I'm anxious, as I know this is the right thing to do, but I'm thinking of packing a house up with four kids and moving right when homeschooling starts." She said again, "I feel like we are doing the right thing, but I'm just a little anxious." I reminded Laura to be anxious in nothing and to join me as we make our request known to God. I prayed specifically that the Lord would work on the heart of our landlord and that our landlord would respond to my termination letter with a rent reduction. I was reminded of the scripture where God said, "You have not because you ask not." I reminded him of his promise with reverence.
Well, this morning around 10 am I received a reply from my landlord. Her reply said, "Jimmy, we hate to see you and your lovely family go, would you consider staying if I reduced your rent by $200 per month?" I literally bursted out laughing and then tears of joy began to well up in my eyes.
I was reminded of the Abraham/Issac moment. It was almost like God was saying, "will you throw off the things of this world, your personal comforts for the gospel to go forth?" (Abraham will you sacrifice your son) Will you sell everything you own for the sake of knowing me and so others may know me, regardless of if you have a nice house or material things?
When I sent that letter it was like when Abraham had the knife up in the air ready to come down and sacrifice his son to be obedient to the Lords call, but then the Lord stopped him and said, "You have showed yourself faithful and you have passed the test." He's such a kind loving father and serving him is not only a privilege, it's a blast!
That's my God and King!
"Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God." Romans 15:17
Commissioned for his service,
Jimmy
I trust this note finds you enjoying the grace of God in tangible ways today. I wanted to take a moment to share a testimony that should encourage you and expose the faithfulness of the Lord once again. Over the past few months I have been pressing into the Lord, asking him to make clear his path for our family. I've been torn by many things, family, ministry, work, etc. I have been crying out to God asking him to make known to me the path he has for our family.
A couple of weeks ago, although I still didn't have a direct, clear path as to where the Lord was taking us, I felt like he was telling me to be "free from the lender" and pay off any and all remaining debt that we have. (Prepare our field for rain) He was charging me to do this through many ways, like shutting off lights that weren't being used in the house, minimizing water usage, cutting off cable and even as extreme as downsizing our housing costs. I began discussing this with Laura and she was in agreement, so we discussed and put our plan in place. We agreed that we would rent a small house for one year and reduce our housing cost significantly, so last night I sent my notice to "terminate lease" to my landlord. Although, we weren't sure where we were going to live, we felt that we both heard from the Lord in regard to this and trusted that God would provide a place for us to live.
Last night, as Laura and I laid in bed talking about our decision, Laura said, "Let's pray." I said, "Ok, what would you like to pray about?" She was open and honest and said, "I'm anxious, as I know this is the right thing to do, but I'm thinking of packing a house up with four kids and moving right when homeschooling starts." She said again, "I feel like we are doing the right thing, but I'm just a little anxious." I reminded Laura to be anxious in nothing and to join me as we make our request known to God. I prayed specifically that the Lord would work on the heart of our landlord and that our landlord would respond to my termination letter with a rent reduction. I was reminded of the scripture where God said, "You have not because you ask not." I reminded him of his promise with reverence.
Well, this morning around 10 am I received a reply from my landlord. Her reply said, "Jimmy, we hate to see you and your lovely family go, would you consider staying if I reduced your rent by $200 per month?" I literally bursted out laughing and then tears of joy began to well up in my eyes.
I was reminded of the Abraham/Issac moment. It was almost like God was saying, "will you throw off the things of this world, your personal comforts for the gospel to go forth?" (Abraham will you sacrifice your son) Will you sell everything you own for the sake of knowing me and so others may know me, regardless of if you have a nice house or material things?
When I sent that letter it was like when Abraham had the knife up in the air ready to come down and sacrifice his son to be obedient to the Lords call, but then the Lord stopped him and said, "You have showed yourself faithful and you have passed the test." He's such a kind loving father and serving him is not only a privilege, it's a blast!
That's my God and King!
"Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God." Romans 15:17
Commissioned for his service,
Jimmy
you were obedient and He gave you the ram in the bush! Praise God!!! there IS NO God like our God!!! nothing is too difficult for Him. I am blessed & encouraged to hear of how God answers your faithfulness . love Patsy
ReplyDeleteJimmy,
ReplyDeleteIf you want to get debt free, there is a great book by a good Christian man...Dave Ramsey. The book is called the total money makeover. I don't read very much and usually don't recommend boks but this is a great one. I couldn't put it down and I wish I would have run into it when I was in my twenties. I think you may find it very helpful. Take care and God bless...Uncle Chris