Finding Your Song – Spiritual Battles

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How is one’s life song composed? What events in life comprise the lyrics you are singing at this time?  For me the “notes” that have written my song were forged through countless spiritual battles. Battles where I experienced painful defeats and yet by grace battles I have somehow overcome.

Reflecting over David’s prolific history, I’d say his life could be summed up as a numerous notes filled with countless physical and spiritual battles in major and minor keys.  As a teen, young David is anointed from obscurity to be the next King of Israel.  After that he is called into the king’s court to play “praise music” because an evil spirit tormented Saul.  Wow, that’s a heck of a lot of pressure to put on young David-to fight evil with a harp and a song!

Next, David replaced his harp for a sling and killed Goliath-leading to a rousing victory over the Philistines and a beloved hero by the people.  Soon his success soured Saul and the evil eye of envy sent David fleeing for his life for the next several years.  Our Bible would be thinner had David not gone through the spiritual battles he did.  A huge chunk of the Psalms David sang were birthed in battles. 

As you reflect back on your own spiritual and physical battles, can you recognize how your Father used various situations to form your song? As much as I dislike pain and hardship for me or anyone else; I also know that pain and hardship have been one of my greatest teachers. An article describing Snowplow Parentsstated that today many parents act as snowplows for their kids, doing everything in their power to remove any obstacles that may stand in the way of their success. I wonder what kind of song the next generation will sing?

David’s life song is a series of physical and spiritual battles that forged his life. These battles taught him a most important truth in life- to TRUST in a TRUSTWORTHY FATHER GOD.

Almost every Psalm written by David express his trust in, as the Hebrew word expresses, the heced of God – God’s forever loving kindness!  This is beautifully illustrated in the most famous of all Psalms, Psalm 23.

I estimate David waited almost 20 years before the promise prophesied over him to become king came to be.  During those years on the run he learned to surrender both his “spirit” and his “time” into the hands of the LORD (Psalm 31:5,15).  Genealogies reveal that eventually Jesus showed up and HE is an example of true surrender on an ugly cross. Our Savior Jesus displayed ultimate trust in His Father in Heaven to raise Him up from the grave and make Him King of kings and LORD of lords. His song is transforming every square inch of the universe.

David, and later Jesus, showed us that there is a Father in Heaven who can be trusted even in the severest of battles you and I may face. Your song is written in the wilderness as you learn to trust in the forever loving kindness of your Father who will never let anyone snatch you or me out of His Sovereign hand (John 10:29).

Maybe you are facing a spiritual battle at the moment. I pray the Spirit will comfort you with the truth of a trustworthy Father who is writing a song of victory that will one day shout out to the world for His glory and your good!

Finding Your Song: One Thing!

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Steak, maple bacon, homemade apple , a beautiful cabin by a river,  and studying God’s Word with a group of men,  it was an amazing weekend!  During our 3 days together we dove into the life of David and discovered why this worshiping, warrior who had been wounded by many sins was called a “man after God’s own heart,” (1 Samuel 13:14).  There is no one is Scripture given that honor and outside of Jesus there is no one who gets more press in the Bible than David.

I want to spend a few weeks with you uncovering why I believe David’s life matters for us today and why I believe our Father is looking for a new generations of David’s who will rock our world with the glory of God.

As I was pouring over David’s life for the retreat the Spirit highlighted a pattern that was used to forge David’s heart into one that glorified God and infused David with heavens joy.

God placed a Song in David heart and shaped it by Spiritual Battles that brought David face to face with His Savior.  As his Song matured over trying seasons of life it developed David into a Sanctuary of Praise that transformed a nation and would eventual bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth through the “Root and the offspring of David,” Jesus Christ (Rev. 22:16).

As I shared with the men this weekend, God has placed a song in your heart.  It is your unique story with a rhythm and chorus that is called to be sung in our world for the Father’s glory and your joy.

David and your song began in the Father’s heart before you were born (Psalm 139:13-16).  The melody takes shape many times in private seasons of loneliness and pain.  For David it was as a forgotten child watching helpless sheep on the hills of Bethlehem.  It was in these early years of David’s life that the Spirit led him to see through the physical into the spiritual and encounter a world of love that set his heart ablaze with song.

It was in these desert times of being pushed aside by family that David found His Father and his focus would be forever changed.  His passion became God’s beautiful presence as sung in Psalm 27:4;

“One thing I ask of the LORD this is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and seek him in his temple.”

This “One thing” fueled David’s song and formed his heart after His Father’s.  You have a song to sing to the world and it must flow from an encounter with the glorious goodness and love of your Father in Heaven.  Look at the song your life is singing today.  How is it being formed, has pain and sin been used to help write your song, and is it creating within you a passion for One Thing?  I challenge you to open up your Bibles to the life of David, to His songs in the Psalms, and come with me on a journey to find your song that you have been uniquely called to sing for His glory and your joy!

A Prayer for A fine!

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Blog written by Ray Haakonsen:

I was privileged to be part of  the recent visit by an Oceans team from various States to the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. We had just attended a blessed church service and lunch at Ooh La la in Maseru town and were excitedly on our way to a ground breaking ceremony at the Church of the Good Shepherd property up on the escarpment.

An enthusiastic traffic officer pulled our van over for a minor misdemeanor, gladly ignoring the numerous local vehicles which had done the same. The driver (Neels) stepped out to speak with the traffic officer but after 10 minutes, had still not returned.

Admittedly in a rather agitated state I also climbed out to see what was taking time as we were expected at the ground breaking. On approaching the 3 officers now involved, I was informed our driver had been arrested and the officer told me he would be transporting him to jail to face charges in court the next day! I felt a peace overcome me as I entered conversation with the 2 officers now present. Once identifying us as a Christian group on our way to the Church of the Good Shepherd and that we were in Lesotho to share the love of God the Father with the Basotho, the Officer who had pulled us over said to me “What about me?”, to which I responded “What about you?”.

He asked how the Father can help him and I asked in return,  if I could pray for him. He immediately agreed and I prayed a short (we were running late 😉) prayer of Father’s blessing over him. On completion of the prayer the 2nd officer walked over to me and asked if I could pray for him as well. He said he had a young son at home who was deaf. I honestly felt the Spirit urge me to pray for healing for the son and peace for the Dad, which I did. After this prayer both officers thanked me and Neels our driver witnessed this all, as did some of our group in the van.

The Spirit of God was with us as Jesus promised He would be in John 16:7 and the Father again showed, should we step out in His Name, the Spirit, who is inside of us, will indeed give us the words to say to those who crave His love. We dont need to be “Spiritual giants” (is there such a thing), but followers of Christ, with a simple faith in an All powerful God, to see His glory brought to this earth as it is in Heaven! We should wait expectantly for His Spirit to interrupt as on our daily journeys…His plan is better than ours 🙏

The end result of this Divine intervention, Neels freed from arrest, a fine traded for 2 prayers, and 2 seeking officers and a van load of us simple believers witnessing God still at work today.

Hallelujah! He is a good good Father.

A Dirty Job and the Power of the Gospel

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Once again the Oceans Team witnessed an amazing move of God. It is with incredible joy that I share this blog written by Jim Nydam. 

It was a long awaited trip to Lesotho, South Africa to spend a week volunteering at Beautiful Gate. My wife, Chris, planned to spend time assisting the child care workers and care for orphaned babies and I was scheduled to make facility improvements with a team of four. Our project for the week consisted of removing 12 old broken down toilets and replacing them with new ones. This team consisted of Mike and Denise from Kansas City, a Hollander, who had adopted a child from BG a while back, and myself. As introductions began we realized that the man from Holland came from the same place in the Netherlands as my wife’s family. It was the small town of Abcouda-what a crazy and amazing connection was established. As we all continued to converse my thoughts went back to conversations Chris and I have had about her family in Holland and how many people have fallen away from their faith in God.

Our friend from Holland, who we all just met, jumped in with exuberant excitement. The work was moving along and before we knew it was time for a well deserved break. The team left the grunt work behind and went outside where the toilets were being assembled and began sharing about our lives. I asked our friend if he had a home church and he said he said no, however he did state that he believed there was a God. As we shared I felt the Holy Spirit urging me to ask if he had accepted Christ into his life as his Savior. We went back to work on the toilets and finished by the weekend had about half the work completed.

The Oceans Team experienced a great weekend of worshiping and seeing some of the countryside while our friend from Holland went his own way. When we returned to the toilet work on Monday Mike, Denise, and I asked our friend how his weekend went. We were shocked when he said he went to church for the very first time in Lesotho. He continued to share how comfortable he felt when the worship music played and how much he enjoyed dancing with the music. The Holy Spirit had definitely planted a desire in our friend’s heart that was beginning to grow. Now I felt it was time for me to respond.

While the team continued to assemble the toilets, I went to the first of the three houses to finish up with the installation. Our friend from Holland said he would finish up there so I proceeded to the third house to prep the toilet for installation. As I entered this house I sensed a problem as strong sewage smell filled the air. Previously we had removed two of the three old toilets leaving two open drain pipes in the bathroom. My sight came to the reality of the situation, the drain pipes had backed up and spilled sewage over the bathroom floor.

     I proceeded to cover the sewage puddles with a cardboard and made a path so I could finish the job. Our new friend from Holland came into the bathroom after finishing the first house and sat on the tub-it was obvious he wanted to talk. As I worked on the sewer/toliet project in safety on the “cardboard island” I felt this was the time to ask if he had ever prayed to accept Jesus Christ.

I told him how I was worried about him and what would occur if he had not confessed his sins and confessed that Jesus Christ died to forgive him of his sins. After sharing a bit more he responded, “of course I want to do that.” He prayed right their in the midst of a stinky bathroom, while sitting on a tub, to receive the forgiveness Jesus offers on the cross and accept new life through Jesus’ glorious resurrection. Standing on the “cardboard island” we hugged each other and were filled with great joy! All heaven rejoiced with us as this new brother came home!

Later our team had a celebration for this newest member of  God’s family. Someone gave him a Bible, another gave two spiritual books, and everyone welcomed this brother into the family of God. Oceans Ministries seeks to make the Father known with the prayer that God will change lives in South Africa and around the world. Well God did change lives plus one.

My journey to South Africa also provided the opportunity to continue offering my services by returning with my wife to build a much needed play room to be called Abba’s Play Room for the 68 orphaned children. Oceans Ministries is providing the financial means for this new building. So in June my wife and I will return looking for another encounter with the Living God. We ask for you prayers, thank you!

The finished product!

A Sabbath To Remember

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Written by Mike Verkaik:

Oh Jehovah, you are my rock of ages, is the chorus we sang repeatedly at the CRC in Lesotho, Africa this past Sunday.  As we sang and swayed to the lyrics of the song I was standing next to a Basotho brother who was helping me as I struggled to sing in Sesotho.  Although I may not remember the Sesotho lyrics, the Sabbath day will be hard to forget.  In my journal the next morning I wrote, “ Abba what an amazing Sabbath – Worship, Fellowship and Celebration.

Worship

Worshiping with the Basotho people always gives me incredible joy.  Their celebration through the Holy Spirit of a Father who loves them in the midst of many difficult situations is contagious.  However, what I hope is as equally contagious is their boldness and courage to respond when the Spirit moves in them.  After the service we saw that Spirit led courage through a young Basotho woman.  Approaching us on the sidewalk she expressed her gratitude for our choice to worship with her.  Accompanying her words was a request to use her beautiful voice to sing a song of praise for us.  As Amazing Grace was sung I stood in amazement of her voice, but also her willingness to say “yes” and respond to the Father’s voice. Gives new meaning to welcoming visitors and the proclamation of Psalm 33: 1 “Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.”

Fellowship

Africa time is a phrase we use often when we are in Lesotho.  In short, in Africa we have time.  Time to dwell, to share, to listen and to pray.   God brought our group together from four different states, but has bonded us together in three days. No place better to do it than under the canopies at Ooh – Lah – Lah. Don’t believe me?  Come and join us sometime.

Celebration

Our Sabbath continued at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new church at the Good Shepherd Center.  It was our Father’s fulfillment of a prayer a group prayed over the land in 2014,  “Abba do something with this land to bring You glory.”  Our Father’s orchestration amazed us again as He had us back in Lesotho as they blessed it, and begin to build. As we listened to speaker after speaker we gazed at the crowd of the people from the villages, and were overcome with thanksgiving of what God had done through the prayers of His people.  

Isaiah 58: 13- 14 says: “… if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, …”

As I remember this African Sabbath, I praise Him for how it brought me again to a true joy in worshiping , fellowshipping and celebrating our good, good Father.