Dear Friends,
As we move into the second month of 2014
and begin to prepare for the work God is calling us to do this year, we
find ourselves amazed at the growth that has taken place. Let me share
two of them with you:
CedarWood International has taken
on so many different endeavors and we are so grateful to be making a
difference in the lives of those in need, We need your support as we
move forward, but first let me tell you about the young boy whose tragic
circumstances drove us to begin our “BackPack Kids” program. For those
of you who flocked to support this work upon hearing his story the
first time, this will be a welcomed relief. For those of you reading
about it for the first time please do not lose heart. This young boy, at
around the age of six and the youngest of three upon handing his lunch
to his older sister, actually asked how many meals he could miss before
he died. This was a genuine question from a boy so young; he should not
know this type of suffering. It broke our hearts and even as I re-type
his story, tears fill my eyes because no child should ever have to have
that question cross his mind. Should I take my soccer ball or basketball
to the park today? Should I have my birthday party Friday or Saturday?
Should I have ice cream or a brownie for dessert? Those are thoughts
that should be at the forefront of the mind of a six-year-old living in a
first-world nation. His family, living in poverty, were doing all they
could despite the fact that each of them were facing hunger. He was
frail, thin, and constantly distracted in class due to his hunger. It
was painfully obvious that this child (and his siblings) were in need of
many good meals. So, with his parents’ permission, this young boy was
placed in our BackPack Kids Program. I’m happy to announce that he has
regained his strength and filled out! He is alert in class, energetic,
and while we know that the memories of his battle with hunger are still
present, he is moving beyond that and living life as a young boy should.
This young boy’s story is one of many like
it. And while we are still brought to tears at the thought of his
question, we are so thankful that we have the privilege of being part of
the solution. Hunger is one of the issues that children in
poverty-stricken areas face every day and it is one of the few things
with a very simple cure. All we need is people who are willing to
contribute through funds, supplies, or their time.
Our volunteer staff works an enormous
amount of hours to fight this battle with hunger and they do so because
of stories like the one this boy told us. We cannot do this alone, we
need your help. We need volunteers – if you are in the Seattle area –
please consider getting involved with your time. There are many
opportunities. Our BackPack Kits are assembled in bulk on a set day and
then taken to the school district for distribution. Our CedarWood
Pantry, open Mondays from 10:30am until noon,
takes several hours before and after to set up and tear down, in
addition to collecting the food each day from local grocers. Still, it
is time well spent because of the families who walk out with fresh
produce, hamburger and chicken, and supplies to help them through the
week. Even a few hours of your day once a week or once a month, will
help our crews move through the process faster. Anyone can help, young
or old… we even offer college bound kids letters of recommendation for
their faithfulness in service. As we prepare to move to our own building
and serve more families, we will need more volunteers than ever. Please
consider being a part of the cure to end hunger. We have many areas of
service available just go to our website or contact Kathy Rickey at KathyR@worldforjesus.org to see how you can get involved.
Joel’s Army: Our
Intercessors have grown so much in the last year. Our trainings and
times of corporate intercession have turned us into strong intercessors.
Much like our muscles, the more we intercede, the stronger and more
accurate our prayers get. The more we pray, the closer we come to God
and the more in accustomed we get to His will for our lives. We’ve
learned over the last year and made adjustments to fit your needs as
intercessors in order to better serve you and develop you in your prayer
life. If you would like to get involved, please contact the office or
go to the Joel’s Army page of our website to find out how to become a
member.
In our last two Gathering of the Eagles
conferences, you could feel that the maturity level of the intercessors
had increased during the months between the conferences. Not all of the
intercessors who attended the GOE were Joel’s Army Members, but almost a
fourth of them are. One of the intercessors came and told me that
despite the amount of energy poured out in the services, she felt
refreshed when she returned home. The time spent in the worship service
and prayer served to strengthen her in her own life as an intercessor.
What an encouragement it was to hear this from someone who has been an
intercessor for so many years.
As we prepare for the Washington, DC
Gathering of the Eagles’ Conference, our staff begins to seek the Lord
ever more intensely. We pray over the issues we will address in the
Gathering of the Eagles and we do extensive research on those topics
involved so that we are properly prepared to instruct you, the
intercessor, on the information presented so we can pray as effectively
as possible during our brief time together. Please seek to prepare
yourself whether you join us in DC or pray from home. It is important as
intercessors that we spend this time prior to the GOE seeking God for
direction and guidance so we come prepared.
God is developing us as a ministry.
Whether it is in the service of those who are in need, or praying for
change in our nation, each person has a different calling upon their
lives and it’s exciting to see it developed as the weeks and months pass
by. Thank you for being a part of our ministry. Together, we will
continue striving to make a difference in the nations today.
Blessings in Him,
Nita
MATTHEW 6:
WHEN UNION COMES
By
Nita Johnson
New Orleans Revival Services
He is a good and wonderful God, and He
knows exactly what He is doing. Soon enough, so will we. To stand in the
glory of His presence is worth any price. To stand in the glory of His
presence—truly, it is worth any price. As we begin to understand
individually that this life is all about being trained for the glory, we
begin to pursue it with a passion, flinging to the wind everything that
distracts. It does not matter if you are high-born or low-born in the
eyes of man. It is not about education, race, or any of the things of
which man always wants to make an issue. You do not have to be beautiful
or dashingly handsome. You do not have to be old or young. You only
need a desire to seek the Lord with all of your heart, all of your mind,
all of your soul, and all of your strength. If you will do that, He
will reveal Himself to you.
Jesus is the image. He is not only the
image of God, but He is the image of the Church. Until the Church lines
up with that image, we are far away from where we are supposed to be.
Jesus is the image of the living God. Jesus is the firstborn among many
brethren, of which you are one. In some families, no one looks alike.
There are six children and they all look like they came from different
parents. There are other families where they look so much alike that
even if you saw them at opposite ends of the town, you would still know
they were related. Jesus is the firstborn among many who are to look
just like Him. We are to look like Him, act like Him, and be like Him.
That is not easy to do because even though He took dominion over the
flesh from the beginning, we are still trying to decide if we want to
take dominion over our own flesh. I am telling you the truth.
Matthew 6:9 Amp Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.
When you pray, do you pray like you know
Him? Or do you pray like you have heard about Him? Do you pray like He
is someone that is more important to you than the very air you breathe?
If you do not, you do not pray like you know Him.
One time the Lord came to me, and
discussed something with me. Suddenly, the Father started to talk to
Him. The Lord did not even finish what He was saying to me, but
immediately turned away and entered into the Father’s presence. The
fellowship and the communion that took place between the Father and the
Son were so beautiful. I just stood there and wept. I felt so jealous; I
wanted to be there with them and share in what I was seeing. It went on
for quite some time, and it seemed like He forgot I was there. It was
so beautiful that I just stood there weeping as I watched them.
When they were finished, the Lord walked
away and got something that belonged to me. He brought it to me and
said, “You’re going to need this to finish your call.” I will not go
into detail about what that was, but the whole subject matter of the
conversation had changed. The Father had something else that He wanted
the Son to relate to me. This is what He is calling the Church to.
Someone may be talking with you, and suddenly the Father calls. Without
even a thought, hesitation, or doubt, you turn away from the
conversation. You go to have living communion with the Father, so that
you might hear what He wants to say to the one your were talking to. And
the glory—His glory—encompasses you. Then, what you give will come out
of the glory.
That is what was so beautiful about Moses.
I think it is very interesting that Moses did not take a new tent, take
it outside of the camp, and make it the tent of meeting. Instead, the
Bible says that he took his own tent and it became the
tent of meeting with the Father. (Ex 33:7) It became such a regular
experience, day by day, that when Moses would go into his own tent, all
of Israel would come out of their tents to watch the glory descend.
Whether they liked what the Father was saying or not, still, in their
heart of hearts, they knew that what this man Moses said came out of the
glory that descended upon that tent. That is what life is supposed to
be for you and me. It is not about this other stuff that the Church is
so engaged in—the world, the world, the world, and the lower life. It is
not the life, His life;it is the lower life. Jesus warned us
that if we sought to save the lower life, we would lose the higher life.
The Church fell into the trap anyway.
We have sought to save the lower life and
we continue to do it, not realizing that every day it is costing us the
higher life. The price we pay for this is too dear. The day will come
when we are going to be so sorry that we made this choice for so long.
Suddenly, we are going to awaken and realize what we have done. We will
realize that we got things confused, mixed up, and turned around, but
now our eyes are open and we are standing before the truth. Now, we are
no longer seeking to save the lower life but rather to crucify it. We
are seeking the higher life. When we look back on our path and see what
life was because we did not make that choice before, for a moment, there
will be sorrow. There will be sorrow, but then joy will come in the
morning because we have finally made the right decision.
...to be continued next week...
In Him,
Nita Johnson |
