Hope in the midst of sorrow

A good friend of mine recently got back from Piedras Negras, Mexico. Joe has been going there once a month for the past 2 years. He has been building relationships with locals, working with a children's home and doing service projects. His last update really inspired and encouraged me, so i thought I would share it with you. Blessings

JN


"Wow what an amazing gift to have a home in Piedras Negras. This past weekend renewed my mind and humbled my heart. This is the common trend among those who are willing to admit that the power unto all life is within the hands of God. His hands are like that of a mighty warrior, strong to uphold those who are faltering and powerful to defeat the enemies coming to take away the joy of the destitute. Five of us had the oppertunity to follow and learn from a small group of prison ministers this weekend. Somthing amazing happens when you leave your comfort zone and personal agenda behind for the call of Christ, suddenly you become part of the human race. Within the prison walls you find ripe ground for deception, cold stone floors to rest upon, flys to walk upon your skin, cold steel to encamp your spirit, and faces in an ocean of ambiguity wondering why on this planet they exist and wander. Their names are traded for new ones describing their sadness, prostitute, criminal, dog, scoundral, son or daughter of shame. Yet Gods plan is to change those names to ones that represent the sons and daughters of a king. However stern walls and razor wire fences ensure that hope is out of reach, the sky becomes their only means of of escape, yet often that is stolen with their detention to a rigid cell. Yet there on the unforgiving chilled stone floor you find the stark truth of the human condition. We are all beggers, our souls are bare before the Lord who sees our deception, dishonesty, and disgrace. His understanding and insight of who we are as ones fighting against his Lordship brings us into awe of his grace. This weekend the power of the gospel washed my life all over again.
The word contrite, used to describe those with whom God dwells in Isaiah, is not just a mere brokeness. Contrite means ground into a powder, not just undone and sad, not just fractioned into a few pieces, not self pitying and low but crushed and ground into a dust. This is what I experienced in the prison among the the cells. The word gospel, used to describe the message and life of Jesus, is not mere good news. Not simply ask God into your heart and he'll help you do what you can not do, but surrender your life to his Lordship and follow him unto life. It is unparralleled possesion of the entirity of the eternal power of God by gift in Jesus Christ. This is also what I experienced in the prison. The contrite powder of those womens souls was mixed with the water of life, which produces a solid foundation as powdered cement mixed with water produces a solid foundation for a home. Four women in the prison asked to recieve this water of life. After listening to the witness of a restored heart they all were found wanting. Every one had been known as a prostitute, had given their bodies away in hopes to find a lasting relationship of love. Yet none had found it. Anna, the lady who shared her life story, was molested at the age of 5 by her uncle. Everytime she saw her uncle until she was 12yrs old he took advantage of her, forcing her to perform sexual pleasure for him. She made a promise in her heart to kill any man who ever touched her again. She eventually heard how Jesus came to earth, a gift from God, and lived on earth. How he taught and claimed to be the representation of the almighty God that created this very earth. How all people have choosen to reject God and sought to find pleasure in inferior things. How he promised to take away the barrier between herself and this pure God. So she surrenderd her life to him. He changed her name, that now she is a princess, the daughter of the most high king. She still harbored anger and pain in her heart from geing molested from such a young age. She could not believe that she could ever be restored. She was pursued in college by a man, whom she told to go away many times. Eventually she went on a date with him. But she would not allow him to touch her. After some months he asked her to spend the rest of her life with him. She decided she would tell him her story. She told him that if he touched her she would kill him, he told her that she would have to kill him then. She was amazed he wanted her after finding out she wasn't a virgin,a big deal in Mexican culture. The honeymoon night came and she knew what was expected. The next morning her husband said "You're a liar, you told me you were not a virgin". She realized that through her walk with Jesus the former shame had been taken away and Christ had restored her 100% percent. Now she has 3 children, a loving husband, and a satisfied soul. She gives her life to the women in the prison to show them that there is no situation or condition of the heart that cannot be washed clean in a response to the call of Christ.
Now my heart and mind burn. What is it going to take to wake us from our slumber? How many more hours will we waste infront of the television. How many dollars will we throw away on emptieness? What will it take to shake our souls into life and quit living in fear? How could any one witness this and not be changed? And guess what your story is just like Annas. You have been scared, you have been taken advantage of, you have lived in unforgivness, you have hated your fellow man based on your pain. You are the child who throws your life into empty things that don't satisfy, rejecting his ways of love, honesty and purity. We are the children of shame selling our lives out to idols and things. What will it take for us to see that we no longer are under this curse? How long will we refuse to accept Gods way and look for our own glory in every situation? Wake up oh sleepers for tomorrow we die, who then will get all the things we have reserved for ourselvs? What are we living for that will truly be used and sustained when we're gone? The giving away of our lives every day in shareing and bearing the burden of the broken is our call. For out of the salvation of God we discover that the meaning of life is vast and deep finding its root in God, Jehovah. How can we complain about our jobs, or our school work, complain about our rich food not being good enough. Who are we? We are but nothing in sight of the almighty. When will we awaken, when will we throw our lives away for the love of him? When will we live in faith and say "Today is the day, the Lord is my rock eternal I will lean on his power and trust only in is insight and strength."
WAKE UP, ARISE, PULL MY CHILDREN FROM THE PIT, STEWARD YOUR BLESSINGS WELL, DEPEND ON ME, I AM FAITHFUL declares the Lord and we turn our deaf ears to him time and time again.
This is what sitting in prison does. This is what following Christ produces in your soul, to pleasure most and find your joy in doing his will. I hope you have found some encouragement in this. I pray you find some conviction in it to examine your heart, to be honest with your heart. I pray you discover the treasure and Joy Christ truly is, for in it is life. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"

In humility and power,

Joseph Courage"