Sunday, January 30, 2011

About Elodie

There's a little girl I know whose name is Elodie. I met her when I visited my penpal Lucile in France in 2004. She was only 5 months old then. She was a really adorable baby. She didn't have much hair, but she had a smile that could melt anyone's heart. She had chubby cheeks that dimpled, and when she laughed you could see her first teeth starting to peek out. She would giggle furiously whenever I shook my hair around. I never got tired of hearing her laugh. I would play with her while her mom chatted in French with Lucile's family. We had fun, Elodie and I. She was a very special baby.

Sometimes I think about how she is now. She's probably in school, learning French and arithmetic and science and art. I imagine her with her little school friends, playing on the playground. Maybe she likes making up stories like my little sister. Maybe her favorite thing to do is play with dolls or toy animals. Maybe she draws pictures and writes, "Je t'aime Maman!" (I love you Mommy!). I wonder if her hair is long and curly like her mom's was. I wonder if she has a little brother or sister now. I wonder if her family has ever heard about Jesus.

Elodie would've turned seven this year. But she won't be having a birthday party. In fact, she's never had a birthday party. She never even turned one year old. That's because her life was cut short before she was even born.

Elodie is real, but I never met her. I never heard her laugh, and her mom never heard her say, "Je t'aime, Maman!" While I was in France, Lucile just happened to tell me about a girl at her school who had gotten pregnant. The school nurse was able to give her abortion inducing drugs to "take care of it" without her parents ever knowing about it. When I heard this, I was shocked and horrified. I knew abortion existed, but this was the first time I really comprehended the godlessness of it. My heart was instantly tied to this poor girl, this prematurely young mother who never met her baby.

As far as I know, Jesus and I are the only ones who grieve for Elodie. (My apologies if it should be Elias.) Her mother and the school nurse didn't regard her as precious, her grandparents didn't even know about her, and even Lucile referred to her life with a shrug. I gave her a name since no one else did: Elodie Elàn W. I'm not sure what the W. stands for but if you listen to or watch the message that stirred all these thoughts up, maybe you'll understand.

Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy

-Proverbs 31:8-9
Deliver those who are drawn toward death,
And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.
If you say, "Surely we did not know this,"
Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?
He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?
And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?
-Proverbs 24:11-12

Open your mouth, Bride of Christ! Pray! When we pray His prayers, His Word will not return void. We are not helpless bystanders. Pray that even today that hearts of mothers and fathers would be turned toward their children, and toward their Heavenly Father. Lord Jesus, let us be doers of the Word and not hearers only.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Ellers

I was flipping through the indexes in my hymnal (The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration), when something caught my eye. In the index of tunes, there was a tune with my name on it. Cool! I'm still not sure why it has my name on it, but the song is "Jesus Is All The World To Me". I'll take it! While still looking at the tune index, I saw a name that made me look twice: there was a tune with the name "Ellers". Two different songs went with it. So I looked them up. Wow... Now I realize that hymns are usually about Jesus, and Ellerslie is about Jesus, so it makes sense for hymns to relate to Ellerslie, but I thought these two songs particularly captured what happened there, especially the first one.
439 - Cleanse Me by J. Edwin Orr
Search me, O God, and know my heart today; Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray: See if there be some wicked way in me: Cleanse me from ev'ry sin, and set me free.
I Praise Thee Lord. for cleansing me from sin: Fulfill Thy Word, and make me pure within; Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame: Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.
Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine: Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine; Take all my will, my passion, self and pride; I now surrender: Lord in me abide.
O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee: Send a revival start the work in me: Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need: For blessing now, O Lord, I humbly plead.
 

604 - Savior, Again to Thy Dear Name by John Ellerton

Savior, again to Thy dear name we raise
With one accord our parting hymn of praise;
Once more we bless Thee ere our worship cease;
With eager hearts we wait Thy word of peace.

Grant us Thy peace upon our home-ward way;
With Thee began, with Thee shall end the day;
Guard Thou the lips from sin, the hearts from shame,
That in this house have called upon Thy name.

Monday, January 10, 2011

You know you're from Ellerslie if...

In honor of the start of the Ellerslie Winter/Spring season starting, I present this lighthearted post. My apologies to everyone who hasn't been through Ellerslie; it's not my intention to make you feel excluded. It was simply a stroll down Memory Lane for me and I hope it brings a smile to somebody.


You know you're from Ellerslie if...
  • you know where Windsor, CO is without looking it up.
  • you say, "Good job, buddy!" as a quote.
  • you know more than a dozen people who pace while they pray.
  • you can't describe something as rich without adding dark chocolate rich.
  • you laugh whenever someone says something about, "There are three things".
  • you know what enunciate and efficacious mean.
  • you think Johnson and Falencia are two of the cutest kiddos in the world.
  • "God Most High" and "Jesus I My Cross Have Taken" are two of your favorite songs.
  • you know what book the Chapter 5 is in.
  • "Ono" reminds you of going out for coffee.
  • you use odd Greek-English phrases like "No ekkakeo!"
  • you're the Big Meanie's Archenemy Number 1.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

With Sword in Hand

Never have I been more aware that I am in a battle. Not with the people around me, not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this world. God is giving me specific assignments to wrestle in prayer for. I was feeling really inadequate - which is a good thing, since I certainly am - but by the Lord I received this commission and by Him will I do it. He gave me this Scripture today, and it really encouraged me that I was doing what He wanted me to do.
I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent,
And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
- Isaiah 62:6-7
If you read it in context, the rest of the chapter is about the awesome things the Lord is going to accomplish. Righteousness -the way it ought to be- will go forth. (v.1) The Lord will be praised! (v.9) Salvation is coming. (v.11). Be strong and courageous, children of God!  He is faithful and worthy to be praised at all time. You have everything you need in Him.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

The Truth About Happy New Year

I had a lot of fun this morning during my quiet time. With the help of my trusty concordance, I searched the Word for what He had to say about Happy New Year... one word at a time. I thought I'd share some of my findings. As much as I would've liked to stop on each verse and dig deeper, there's something really neat about looking at the collection as a whole. Jesus how magnificent you are from every angle!

Verses are taken from the NJKV unless noted as KJV.


.::Happy::.

Happy are you, O Israel!
Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD,
The shield of your help
And the sword of your majesty!
Your enemies shall submit to you,
And you shall tread down their high places.
Deuteronomy 33:29

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Psalm 127:3-5 KJV

Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!
Psalm 144:15b

Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God
Psalm 146:5

He who despises his neighbor sins;
But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.
Proverbs 14:21

He who heeds the word wisely will find good,
And whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he.
Proverbs 16:20

Happy is the man who is always reverent,
Proverbs 28:14a

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
John 13:17 KJV

But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
1 Peter 3:14 KJV

If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1 Peter 4:14 KJV


.::New::.
(There were so many exciting verses about new things that this is quite a long list.)

 For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you. You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new.
Leviticus 26:9-10

And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith.
Judges 15:15 KJV

Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
Psalm 33:3

He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear, 
And will trust in the LORD. 
Psalm 40:3

 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
Psalm 81:3 KJV :)

Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
Psalm 98:1

Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
And His praise in the assembly of saints.
Psalm 149:1

Honor the LORD with your possessions, 
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
Proverbs 3:9-10

That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
And there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which it may be said,
“ See, this is new”?
It has already been in ancient times before us.
Ecclesiastes 11:9-10

The mandrakes give off a fragrance,
And at our gates are pleasant fruits,
All manner, new and old,
Which I have laid up for you, my beloved.
Song of Solomon 7:13

Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Sing to the LORD a new song,
And His praise from the ends of the earth,
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!
Isaiah 42:9,10

Behold, I will do a new thing, 
Now it shall spring forth; 
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19

You shall be called by a new name,
Which the mouth of the LORD will name.
Isaiah 62:2b

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
Jeremiah 31:31

This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“ Therefore I hope in Him!”
Lamentations 3:21-24
 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel 11:19-20

Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”
Ezekiel 18:31-32

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.
Mark 2:22

Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
Luke 22:20

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:34

Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
Acts 2:13

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
1 Corinthians 5:7

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:20-24

In that He says, “A new covenant, ” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 8:13

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Hebrews 10:19-22

Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
2 Peter 3:13

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.
Revelation 2:17

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
Revelation 3:12

And they sang a new song, saying:
“ You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
Revelation 5:9-10

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”
Revelation 21:5a

.::Year::.

Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him.
Genesis 26:12

This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Exodus 12:2

I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land
Exodus 23:29-30

And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
Leviticus 25:10

Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey.
Numbers 9:22

For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.
Deuteronomy 11:10-12

Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
Joshua 5:10-12

This shall be a sign to you:
You shall eat this year such as grows of itself,
And in the second year what springs from the same;
Also in the third year sow and reap,
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
      Shall again take root downward,
      And bear fruit upward.
2 Kings 19:29-30
Now it happened after this that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the LORD. Then he gathered the priests and the Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you do it quickly.”
However the Levites did not do it quickly.
2 Chronicles 24:4-5
 And we made ordinances to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, to the house of the LORD;
Nehemiah 10:35
You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
Psalm 65:11

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me...
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God; 
Isaiah 61:1a,2a

For the day of vengeance is in My heart,
      And the year of My redeemed has come.
Isaiah 63:4

And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
Zechariah 14:16

And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have.
2 Corinthians 8:10-11

For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Hebrews 9:24-26

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
James 4:13-14

Oh that 2011 would be a year of happiness, of blessing, of newness and regeneration, because of the impartation of the Everlasting Father, the Ancient of Days, the Beginning and the End, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Come Lord Jesus, come!