Reflections

Last night we shared with our church family some details of our trip to Africa. It's very hard to put the details of such an amazing week into a few photos and 6 minutes of sharing, but as I am thinking about the week of ministry in Africa this morning I find myself thinking about one person- my amazing wife, Joye. She was a great part of our team in Africa and a wonderful blessing to me.

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When I try to talk about her it's hard, because I am thinking about more than 35 years of life with this wonderful woman and the results of God's work in her life. God's work in her life was evident on our Africa trip. She did a great job ministering to pastors, their wives and to our team. Her input in the small group times was a real blessing and I know many of the wives and pastors were greatly helped by her words.

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What can God do in a life? Find someone who wants to follow God and watch them. It takes time, but you will see them molded into the image of Christ and they will begin to look like him in how they live and care for others. It's the molding process Paul talks about in Romans 12....it takes a lifetime, but if you watch a person over time, you will see the molding taking place. You will see Jesus begin to shine through a life given to him. You will see God glorified in that life.

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I'm very blessed to be able to see that in the life of my sweet wife. I'm grateful to see what God can do with someone who is available for his use, because I must tell you that even 10 years ago a mission trip to Africa would not have been on Joye's list of things to do. So, I'm watching as God works in the life of my sweet wife. It's exciting to see what he's doing. And I'm watching other lives too. I'm watching many who are walking with God and the transformation is obvious, but I also see others who are missing a wonderful transformation because they want to do it their way. They want to set the guidelines for how God will work in their lives. And so they miss God's plan because they have their own. This morning I'm most grateful to be able to watch God work in the life of another person and see them become like Christ. What an exciting adventure!

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Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.