Pondering Bravery: Allana

April 29, 2014 by Sam

So, here I sit, pondering bravery. What does it truly mean to be brave? I have greatly enjoyed reading every devotional from those who have shared. As I read them, I say all too often, “yep, me too.” There always seems to be a little nugget I take away. Morning after morning, I sit here, listening to my children clicking away on their computers while they work on school. I listen to my mom busily cleaning. I listen to the giggles of Nisa Faith and her daddy playing, and I ask myself once again, “What does it mean to be brave? Who are my heroes of faith?” Each day has been a different answer, and a different way their actions were brave. But when I look at each one, one thing I see they have in common. They are human. Yep, that’s it. They are imperfect humans. [Well, I can do that, correctly? :)]

Today, I think of Beth Moore. If you have never heard or read her story about the hairbrush, it truly is one you should Google. (I will also post it in the FB BGB group). It is an amazing act of bravery. But what I love the most about the story is how incredibly human she was in it. I think so often, we raise people up much higher than they should be. Many times, I have felt people do that to me. We look up to them and he/she seems to have it all together. Wanna know something? No one truly has it all together. We are all walking a road. No one walks their roads perfectly. None, but Jesus.

I shared in my last blog about my struggle with fear. Paralyzing fear at times that robbed me of peace. As I read my own words, something hit me… flashes of brave moments throughout my life came pouring through. Girls, I think it is time to stop getting hung up by our human moments. We need to start looking through God glasses and start accepting what He says we are. So many of us can go through this long list of how we are not brave, but being brave doesn’t mean we don’t have fear. We are brave while being afraid and doing “it” anyway.

Last February, I had gone through one of my most difficult rounds of chemo. I was extremely sick, truly wondering if I would live to see another day. Would my husband ever kiss my forehead? Would I have another deep talk with my teenagers? Would I be here to kiss the hurt away for my preteen? Would my newborn baby have me as her mother? I remember lying in bed, crying out in my heart for God to help me. I thought about Jesus calming the sea in Mark: “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” Mark 4:37-39

I begged God to calm my sea… then I remembered another story… much like this one only with a twist: “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them:“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.” Matthew 14:22-32

Did you see it? Jesus called Peter out of the boat with the waves crashing around him. Jesus did not calm the sea first. When they climbed back into the boat; that is when the wind died down. Jesus touched my heart saying I am the God who will calm your sea, but I am also the God who will have you step out in your storm. This was a moment that Jesus encouraged my heart to be brave. He may calm your storm or He may call you out of the boat with the waves crashing around you, but regardless, He is always there to catch you.

Allana Guidry: Urban Missionary at The Lewis House in Toledo, Ohio. Attends Compelled Church. Three Passions: Teaching children praise dance, Teen Outreach and sharing the Truth about God’s love for us with all who will listen. (Facebook)

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry | Tagged Allana Guidry, Bible, Brave Girl Boots, Bravery, CG Girls, Christian Ethic, Common Ground, God, Ministry, prayer, The Lewis House | Leave a Comment »

Strong Enough to be Blind

April 26, 2014 by Sam

Leadership strengths are often found in close proximity to blindspots. An overpowering strength, in particular, usually has an associated blindspot.” Robert Bruce Shaw Leadership Blindspots

I got this quote in one of the secular leadership blogs that come in my email. Honestly most of them I don’t even look at closely anymore. However this one caught my eye. I am always intrigued when a secular article espouses a biblical truth. I am certain that if you read Mr. Shaw in depth he differs considerably from Paul’s view on this subject.

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

In Philippians 3 he talks about what was becoming a huge blind spot for many of the Jewish believers. They had a strong belief in the overpowering strength of their religious heritage. Paul’s reply to this blind spot was that if anyone had reason to rest in the strength of religious heritage, it was Paul. He goes on to say:

7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death ;

These apparent strengths can even be gifts from God. Unfortunately as the author notes, the more overpowering the strength, the closer the blind spot. Consider Samson, called to save his people even before he was conceived and dedicated to God as a Nazirite from conception.

“Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. 4 “Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5 “For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb ; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” Judges 13:3-5

He had two great strengths. The most obvious one was his physical strength. The second was his godly discipline as a Nazirite. As the story unfolds we see the blind spots that develop as he grows to be comfortable in his strengths. He achieves victory after victory and as happens all too often, the blind spot involves a growing sense of powerful self eclipsing the very God that is the source and sustenance of that power. He ignores the godly counsel of his parents and after that does not even seek wise counsel, after all he is the Nazirite, he is the chosen one of God, who would counsel him. Even when 3000 men of Israel come to hand him over to the Philistines he does not see the selfishness of his actions. He uses the strengths given him by God out of anger, out of hurt yet he continues his disciplines and as promised God sets him as Judge over Israel. We so often attribute success with righteousness. We see the Spirit of the Lord come upon Samson time after time so he must be in a right relationship with God, right? This is a misconception that leads to great disappointment and injury. When men and women of God exercise their gifts in blind spots, God’s will still moves through those strengths but when we measure their fruit by Galatians 5 we see the disconnect.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control ; against such things there is no law.

Samson’s disregard for his parents; his failure to seek godly and wise counsel ( as his mother did cf. Judges 13:8, 8 Then Manoah entreated the LORD and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.”); his lack of concern for the consequences of his actions on the very people he was sent to save all point to the blind spots that Samson fostered and ignored. While Scripture does not record it as a parent I can only imagine their continuing and more desperate attempts to reach their son. Wise counsel whether it is from parents, mentors or just from people that God places in our lives is key in illuminating the blind spots that the Enemy will manipulate to our harm and harm to those around us. Samson is an apropos example of blind spots because in the end it brought physical blindness. The will of God for his life was ultimately achieved as he brought the house down on Philistine power in the region but how much more of a story if his blind spots had not interspersed such tragedy into God’s call on his life.

Posted in Bible Study | Tagged Bible, blind spot, Christian Ethic, faith, God, Judges, Manoah, Nazirite, Paul, plans, Samson, strength | Leave a Comment »

Turning The World Upside Down!

April 24, 2014 by Sam

This is our first Newsletter since the closing of The Lewis House. Below is a link to the PDF version with live links for donations and contacts.

GuidryOH4-14

Posted in Life and Ministry | Tagged Allana Guidry, faith, family, leukemia, love, Ministry, miracles, missions, Pray, prayer, Sam Guidry, service, summer, support, The Lewis House, Toledo, transformation | Leave a Comment »

Perseverance in Love

April 21, 2014 by Sam

And He said to him, ” ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:37-40

The title of this post might indicate that it is a discussion of our need to continue in love even when those around us make it exceedingly difficult. There could perhaps be an enumeration of all the ways those both near and distant make it hard for me to love them. However this is not the case. We are looking at love as a prime characteristic of perseverance. It was established in the last post that biblical perseverance is a gift from God, not something that we work at, struggle at and achieve on our own or through our own efforts. This does not relieve us of the responsibility of opening and exercising this gift, we just need to understand its source. Remaining under Jesus regardless of our circumstances (good and bad ) is something that Paul understood. Consider his statement to the Philippians

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. Philippians 4:11

He also understood the centrality of love to the very existence of God’s children expressing it wonderfully in 1 Corinthians 13. It should be no surprise that we find love at the center of biblical perseverance and that we have perseverance at the heart of biblical love. The salvation story extending from Adam to Jesus to the first century church and beyond is a wonderful statement of this idea. It expresses love without regard to circumstances, appearances or reciprocation.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Paul directly links the nature of God’s love and perseverance in Thessalonians 3:5

5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. (Here Hupomone is translated steadfastness)

The love of God is supremely expressed in the steadfastness of Christ and the course of action that He undertook to be our salvation. ” 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:8

So we have seen that hupomone is not something that we slog through on our own. It is not “super-moaning” as we hold the course through difficult times. It is a gift from God. Biblical perseverance is at its core God allowing to to partake in His divine nature and all that this means. As such it brings with it all of the fruit of the Spirit so that with Paul we can be “content in whatever circumstances” (Philippians 4:11) we find ourselves. It is the overwhelming Love of God that is at the heart of the transformation process that conforms to the nature of Christ and separates us from the nature of the world.

Posted in Life and Ministry | Tagged Allana Guidry, biblical, Christian Ethic, God, guidry, Jesus, love, miraculous, Paul, perseverance, Sam | Leave a Comment »

Ministry of Love

April 16, 2014 by Sam

Change is a part of the Christian walk. Some change is sudden and some change comes slowly. Last Friday our whole world changed but our hearts did not. As The Lewis House website is no more I wanted to post this here. The Lewis House is gone, a sudden death, and our lives have been turned upside down since this was recorded but our heart of ministry continues unchanged, building the Kingdom of God one relationship at a time…

Posted in Life and Ministry | Tagged Allana Guidry, Bible, Christian Ethic, Compelled Church, faith, family, guidry, kingdom, love, Ministry, missions, Sam, The Lewis House, Toledo | Leave a Comment »

Perseverance- Change

April 14, 2014 by Sam

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”

Hebrews 13:8

The fancy word for today’s topic is “Immutability”. That is the last time you will see it in this post. However the bible tells us that in a world of change biblical perseverance calls for a unique constancy from Christ Followers. God declares his own character when he tells Moses that “I am that I am”. This Hebrew word, which became the very name of God to Israel, declares His eternal constancy. It is here that we find one of the prime qualities of biblical perseverance for the believer.

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren ; Romans 8:29

It is only by this miraculous transformation process and the submission of our will to His will that we begin our journey to biblical perseverance. So then do we live in the same place, do the same things, never change what we eat or do for the rest of our live? Clearly not. We do not even have that kind of control on the circumstances of our lives. Change is introduced to our existence every day, every hour and every minute of our lives here on earth. This is where we see that biblical perseverance is a spiritual gift not a physical effort. It cannot be faked or practiced by human effort. It is manifested in the lives of those who serve and have a personal relationship with God.

Consider Daniel.

3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles,…6 Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 Then the commander of the officials assigned new names to them; and to Daniel he assigned the name Belteshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael Meshach and to Azariah Abed-nego. Daniel 1:3,6

Talk about change. As a young man Daniel was ripped from his home, dragged half way across the known world and even had his name taken away. This Babylonian tactic was specifically designed to destroy perseverance. Do not be deceived the Enemy is out to destroy your perseverance. He wants you to come out from under the covering of Christ where he can have a clear and open shot at you. The Babylonians did everything they could to shake Daniel’s identity as a child of God. But what happened.

8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank ; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. Daniel 1:8

In the midst of all of this change Daniel did not change. It is important to note that Daniel remained under Jesus Christ in every aspect of his behavior. This brings us to another important aspect of biblical perseverance. It expresses at all times the character of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control ; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:22-26

Biblical perseverance is never rude or arrogant. Perseverance that does not fall in line with His Word is not biblical and is not godly. When we truly walk in biblical perseverance we are like a lighthouse in the storm. We go on to read:

9 Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials,…17 As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom ; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams Daniel 1:9, 17

But let there be no mistake. Satan HATES biblical perseverance and he believes that he can destroy it. Daniel continued to face opposition throughout his lifetime. Many other saints both biblical and historical persevered to martyrdom. Regardless of the physical outcome the Spiritual truth remains the same and the lighthouse of faithfulness shines in the darkness.

Posted in Bible Study | Tagged Bible, change, Daniel, God, guidry, immutability, Jesus, Ministry, miracles, perseverance, plans, prayer, protection, Sam, support, Toledo | Leave a Comment »

Perseverance-Walking in the Miraculous

March 31, 2014 by Sam

I have been looking over my posts over the past couple of years and a couple of them stand out so I thought that I would throw them out there again. This post has become so much more meaningful over the past year as Allana and I have walked through the storm of Leukemia and a bone marrow transplant. It also connects nicely with my series on perseverance because at its core persevering as a Christian IS walking in the miraculous. When we truly “remain under” Christ Jesus as the covering for our lives the miraculous is bound to show its face. “Open the eyes of my heart Lord” the popular song refrains. Open my eyes to see Your miraculous hand in and around my life everyday!

Walking in the Miraculous

“So then does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” Galatians 3:5

Perhaps one of the most amazing aspects of this new life that God has called me to at The Lewis House is one that I should have had in my Christian life regardless of my profession. It is one that I am still learning to embrace because (unlike my beautiful wife) I am a bit too logical in my make up and a big part of me want to live on the basis of logical observation instead of spiritual expectation. God is teaching me to walk in the miraculous.

When we truly hear the Gospel with faith there should be an expectation of the miraculous. It is part of the package. This is not a mystical toy store or the ability to bend God’s power to our will for our happiness. It is simply expecting God to act in my life and then walking out my faith and getting to watch Him moving and working in an around me. The cool thing is that the miraculous looks a little different every time. I think that one of the mistake that we often make is when something miraculous happens in our lives we run around expecting that very same thing to happen over and over or even just one more time. This may be in part to our desire to control the miraculous. Humanity has always had an inherent fear of the things that we cannot control. Better to have a god who responds to our requests exactly the same way all of the time, speaking into our lives in the ways that we want Him too (as opposed to in ways that sanctify us, ever conforming us closer and closer to the mind of Christ).

The author of Hebrews reveals the purpose of the miraculous. “…how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” Hebrews 2:3-4 It confirms to us our salvation. This approximates Paul’s statement in Galatians that we already looked.

The other amazing thing is that God will not be put in a box. Sometimes we mistake the fact that he is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow for the fact that we will be able to manipulate and predict his actions in our lives. This error is revealed in Isaiah, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways, My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways And my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 Does this mean that we just drift along being pushed here and there by a capricious God? Not at all! We cry out our needs, concerns, suffering and desires to God and the open our spiritual eyes wide and watch Him work. It will be amazing, and often in ways that we least expect.

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry | Tagged blessing, Christian Ethic, expectation, faith, focus, Galatians, guidry, Hebrews, Jesus, kingdom, listening, love, miracles, prayer, protection, Sam, spiritual, surrender, The Lewis House, transformation, trust | Leave a Comment »

Perseverance

March 27, 2014 by Sam

What a wonderful week! It started off a little rough, Nisa was not feeling well but she came around just in time for us to make the trip to the Assembly of God Fine Arts Festival for the Michigan District held in Lansing. While it was great to be able to watch so many teens on fire for God and sharing their talents, it was even more wonderful to see Allana blossom this week. It was really about two weeks ago that she seemed to make a real breakthrough but she really shined this weekend. Even after the busy two days of Fine Arts she was up and ready to go to hear Dustin Reed bring a great word at Compelled Church and then share a wonderful evening of fellowship and vision with CityLight Church! I am so thankful for God’s miraculous hand in all the events of the past year and a half. I am so thankful for God’s gift of Perseverance during this difficult time in our lives. However as we look at this Biblical concept a little more closely it becomes clear that God does not just provide Perseverance for the tough times. This gift needs to be a core characteristic of every Christian.

Peter in his second recorded epistle links this quality to our participation in the divine nature of God! Everyone appreciates getting gifts but how special it is when one receives a gift that extends from the very nature of the giver. So many gifts are gifts of obligation but when the gift proceeds from the heart and represents the very being of the giver it becomes that much more special.

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord ; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:2-7, the bold is mine)

Even more important this gift is one that is critical to the transformation process that Life in Christ Jesus brings.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of theLord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18

It is only when we persevere, remaining “under” Jesus Christ that the wonderful transformation into His Spiritual image can take place. While it is a gift from God perseverance also requires intentionality from the recipient. It is a gift that only functions when the recipient is fully focused on the giver. Kyle Idleman tells us that idols are created when gifts from God become more important than the giver (gods at war). This is what happens when perseverance becomes completely focused on the events of our life (usually the negative ones) and not on Jesus Christ.

For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. Psalm 63:7

Don’t wait for disaster to strike to rest in the shadow of His wings. The more we remain there, the more we will experience the joy of true perseverance.

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry | Tagged blessing, Christian Ethic, God, gods at war, guidry, hupomone, joy, perseverance, protection, remain under, Sam, The Lewis House, Toledo, transformation, trust | Leave a Comment »

Introduction to Perseverance

March 10, 2014 by Sam

“Now may the God who gives Perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus”

Romans 15:5

I have been thinking a lot about perseverance lately. I had the privilege of being a guest of YESFM and Tommy Briggs to share a week of devotionals called The Morning Munch. This word perseverance kept rolling through my mind as I looked to prepare for this time of sharing. After this year of walking with Allana through the treatment protocols for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia it seemed like an appropriate topic. After all the keynote verses about perseverance that we all know are found in Romans 5.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

Unfortunately it seems that too often an exploration of perseverance stops with this idea of suffering and that they are forever linked as cause and effect. This important quality of Life in Christ deserves a closer look. The Bible has a lot to say about perseverance. The word most often translated as perseverance, endurance or steadfastness is the Greek word Hupomone. As with so many Greek words (and English too I might add) it is a combination of two roots, Upo and Meno.

UPO- about, under

MENO- abide, remain, stay, continue to be, survive, held or kept continually

Breaking it down and putting it back together again brings us to this idea of remaining under or about something. Often it seems that this idea is taken to mean remaining under the problems and trials that life brings. When asked about a trial going on in one’s life “We are persevering!” seems the easy answer. We may not use that word anymore but when we distill down all the answers we give and all the advice that is coming in it comes down to abiding under the trial until its end. The problem with this view of perseverance is that it is focused on the trial, the trouble, the problem, not on our amazing God who is the ultimate solution. Hupomone is not about “super-moaning” through life as we bounce from trial to trial. Biblical perseverance encompasses Romans 8:37 “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us.”

The source of perseverance tells us a lot about it’s characteristics. Our title verse makes it clear where perseverance come’s from.

“Now may the God who gives perseverance…”

Biblical perseverance is first and foremost a gift from God. This is one of those gifts that Jesus was talking about in Matthew 7:11

“If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him.”

Posted in Bible Study | Tagged Allana Guidry, Bible, blessing, Christ Jesus, Christian Ethic, faith, focus, God, Jesus Christ, love, obedience, perseverance, prayer, Sam, The Lewis House, Toledo, transformation | 3 Comments »