Isaiah 55

Invitation to the Thirsty

1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

3 Give ear and come to me;

hear me, that your soul may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.

4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

a leader and commander of the peoples.

5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,

and nations that do not know you will hasten to you,

because of the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendor."

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way

and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,"

declares the LORD.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the LORD's renown,

for an everlasting sign,

which will not be destroyed."

ONE WEEK until GOD is using us in Mozambique!! AMAZING!

I love you all sooo much!

-Ava

Less than one week...

Thanks everyone for rolling out last night to pray, even though you were all trying to study for finals!

At this time next week we will be in New York waiting to get on a plane to South Africa! Can you believe it's almost time to leave? Even in the midst of studying this week, make sure that your priority is seeking the Lord and allowing him to prepare you for the trip. Be in constant prayer throughout the week for what is to come and pray for efficiency in your work so you can have more time with God in between studying for finals.

A few announcements...

1. Everyone pray for Blair to be healed. She is really sick!
2. If anyone will be in Dallas on Friday, or wants to go to Dallas on Friday, Blake and I will be there talking and praying with my friends and family about the trip. We would love for you to come if you want to!
3. Meeting on Wednesday at 9:30 at Blake's. If you have a test the next day or you'll be out of town, then we understand if you can't make it. We really want as many people there as possible though. We are leaving in less than a week and this will be our last meeting...!
4. Prayer cards coming soon!

Love you guys! Call if you need anything.

-Madison

Wednesday Meeting: 4.30.08

I've already talked to just about all of you, but just to remind you, and to clarify on a couple things that were wrong:

The Mozambique Team of 2007 will NOT be praying over us Wednesday night... that will actually be Sunday night. Sorry!

But we WILL be shooting a group photo Wednesday night, so MAKE SURE YOU'RE HERE ON TIME and wear a plain colored shirt that shows your personality. Erik, you do have to wear SOMETHING, though.. I know, I'm tempted to show off my sweet tan lines too.

I love you all. See you Wednesday night.

Sunday Night

We have a meeting this Sunday (tomorrow) at 9:30 PM at the Loft. 

There is a possibility that Aradhna will still be playing, and if that is the case we will move the meeting over to Blake's. It is SO important that all of you are there tomorrow. If you have a meeting, school work, social things- they can all wait. We leave in two weeks, so this is the most important place for you to be. Leave your meetings early, do your work throughout the day and after the meeting (it won't be too long), and hang out with your friends later.

Wednesday will also be important because my team from last year will be coming for the first 30 minutes to pray over us and share some Mozambique experiences with you, so PLEASE be on time! 

To recap: 9:30 Sunday at the Loft and 9:30 Wednesday at Blake's. 

Love you guys and praying for each one of you!

-Madison 

We are grinded down and broken to be healed and restored.

So, with the busyness this week with school and just… distress/ life, it’s been so amazing to see the fruit of the seeds that the Lord has been scattering. He's been showing me just how active he is in working and changing us- making us light, changing our hearts, blessing our faith- not just because he loves us or because we are his, but to gain for himself a glorious name; for his own renown. All that we have accomplished, God has done for us (Isaiah 26:12). He has allowed us to behold the glory of Christ with unveiled faces, but not just for our own eyes. We are to reflect his glory. That’s why he has made his light shine in us. To give him the ever-increasing glory.
Personally, I feel like I’ve been a gear this week- working and just being… grinded down that He could show himself to me that much more brightly. I read Isaiah 35:10:

the ransomed of the Lord will return.
they will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

He has promised us everlasting joy in his presence! The joy and light that comes from knowing him should radiate off of me to all! For his glory. He is revealing himself to His people for His glory. The Light of the World has not only shined on us, but given us light to be light to those in darkness.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. – 2 Cor. 4:6

-emily

Ashley is our favorite

At least for now!

And everyone who comes to the meeting tonight will automatically be our new favorites! 

Blake's House tonight at 8:30. Be there.

Love, Mom

"Only A Shadow"

that was lovely, Erik. but guess what?? IT'S A NEW DAY!! which means NEW FAVORITE TEAM MEMBER---ASHLEY.

so anyway, cool story. It happens to relate to Isaiah 43 (go figure).

So the Misty Edwards song that we listened to at the Mozambique meeting just a mere 2 (now 3, since it's technically Wednesday) days ago--the same one that Blake heard that one time while he was reading Isaiah 43, ya know?

yeah, well I get out of the shower this afternoon, around 1:09pm, and my roommate is printing off the lyrics to it!! (apparently it's called "Only A Shadow," if you were wondering) I didn't recognize it until she started singing it and was like, "Ashley, i want you to hear this song! It's amazing!" and then I realized what it was and pretty much freaked out, because it was another crazy timing thing from the Lord.

OH and even CRAZIER part of the story.... She, Lauren, (my roomie) heard about the song from this other awesome Christian girl on our floor, Megan. Apparently Megan asked Lauren if she or I had been playing the song in our room, because she heard it on our hallway. But us 2 and the girl across the hall (Laura) are the only Misty Edwards fans, so when none of us admitted to being the source of the song, I was totally convinced (and not at all surprised, with how crazy and evident the Holy Spirit has been lately) that the Lord had put that song in Megan's head, then Megan told Lauren, who told me, who realized (once again) the Lord is sooo involved in our lives!

He really does make connections and "coincidences" (for lack of a better word) among His people to reveal His love, create strong community, and make His Presence (and the Holy Spirit) known!

Awesome.