The Image 2019 - God Moments

C.S. Lewis did more than just write the incredible Chronicles of Narnia series. He was a respected theologian and an especially prolific writer. In his book The Problem of Pain, he wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Lewis got it right. It’s often in the darker days of our lives that He has the most to say. Too often we are bumbling along, living our lives, preoccupied with the temporal. This “age of grace” is marked by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into Heaven, the Paraclete—the Holy Spirit—was sent to us. The mystery of the Person of the Holy Spirit is hard to capture into words. But we do know that He intercedes for us. He is our Bridge. He closed the communication gap that sin caused, and now there is nothing that can hinder you from talking to Him right where you are. So come as you are… cross the bridge. If we still ourselves and listen, we will hear Him speak in whispers and shouts and His still small voice.

-Gina G. Snow, God Moments Editor

~A. E. Bodey, alumnus~

When there is a rift between two locations, engineers and architects are called in to build a bridge. For as long as humanity has existed, there have been rifts between God and us and between each other. For this reason, Christ came to bridge the great rift between humanity and God. Jesus taught that the Father loves us and desires for us to be reconciled to Him and to each other (Jn. 3:16-17). The first step in our reconciliation is accepting the forgiveness of the Father which is available because of Christ’s sacrifice (Mt. 26:28).

Yet with that bridge rebuilt, there are still numerous bridges to be built and mended by us as we follow in His footsteps. We are all called to the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19), and as a teacher, I see this every day. I have students who often talk with me about their personal issues. Many of them express how they are frustrated or upset because of what someone did to them or said about them. When I’m done listening, and they stare at me for some nugget to take away, I bring up forgiveness and the path it leads us down. After which, I usually get the response, “Yeah, I know, but it’s hard.” I feel as if this is what the Father hears from us when we fail to forgive as instructed. We then talk about what reconciliation between them and that person looks like, and ultimately, between them and God. And again, I hear, “Yeah, I know, but…” The Father hears this too when we won’t share the Good News of His reconciliation with those around us, and when we desire rifts rather than unity. After all, we are called to share and walk out this message of reconciliation and forgiveness just as Christ did for us (Jn. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Col. 1:19-22).

The important thing to remember as we walk out this message is that it is difficult, yet God’s grace is sufficient to aid us in our walk. He modeled this for us, choosing forgiveness and reconciliation rather than bitterness and separation when, from before the foundation of the world, He set forth His plan to reconcile the world through Christ (Jn. 3:16-17, 17:24). God’s desire to forgive us and reconcile us to Himself is so deep that both forgiveness and reconciliation are directly tied to the purity of our worship. In the Gospels, Christ explains how our forgiving of others is vital to our ability to connect with the Father: “But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins too” (Mk. 11:25).

We cannot connect to a forgiving God if we don't forgive others. In Matthew 5, Christ admonishes us again to fix our issues with each other before engaging in worship. He instructs us to stop short of completing our sacrifices should we remember we have issues with our neighbors and to immediately go make things right with them (Mt. 5:23-24). This reconciliation with others, even under the Law, was so important that God would even reject sacrifices should there be any unforgiveness between neighbors. In this knowledge, how can we continue in our unforgiveness and division? It is time for us to move past childishness and into maturity—past what divides us and into fresh unity. As Paul wisely encouraged the believers in Colossae, we must “[m]ake allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends [us]” (Col. 3:13a). We cannot forget that the Lord forgave us, so we must forgive others (Col. 3:13b). We must repair the broken bridges that divide us from each other and God, so that those who may yet be saved will see our love and run to the Father (Jn. 17).

As you think about this message: Ask yourself if there is anyone you have broken bridges with. Pray for forgiveness from any bitterness and unforgiveness held in your heart. Ask that God would heal the scars they caused and restore your spirit. Go and forgive those Holy Spirit showed you and be reconciled to each other.

~Dr. Adonna Otwell~

At the close of a Person and Work of the Holy Spirit class, one of my students walks into my classroom. She says she needs to talk. We walk over to the campus wellness center.

“I want to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.”

“Right now?” I ask.

“Yes.”

So right by the ping pong tables, we begin to pray, and I ask the Lord to fill her. She begins speaking in other tongues with great joy! She speaks for about 30 minutes. It’s gotten quiet in the center except for the Spirit of the Lord moving. Everyone in here knows God is moving in this place. Praise the Lord! My student looks up and asks me if I would pray for the 82-year-old lady she caregives on Sycamore Street.

“She wants to be baptized in the Spirit, too.”

“I would be happy to pray with her.”

When I make the visit, I speak with the lady for a few minutes. Another caregiver is present, listening to all that I am saying, when she says, “I want to be filled too.” The older lady seems reluctant as she doesn’t know if she is ready. Her pastor discouraged such experiences.

So I start praying with the caregiver. As the Spirit of God comes upon her, she begins to speak in tongues! I look at the 82-year-old, and she is already speaking in other tongues! The Spirit of God is falling upon her too! Praise be to God, they are BOTH being filled.

This happened because a hungry-for-more-of-God SAGU student spread the word. Flash forward to today--that former student of mine is now a member of SAGU’s faculty! What a mighty God we serve!

I’m teaching in my Fitness Walking class today. I tell my students how their prayers move mountains. They’ve been praying for a young lady whose husband tried to poison her. I tell them their intercession led to that young lady being in church Sunday morning and being baptized in the Holy Spirit. My students and I work out together, and we are very close. I always tell them that they can talk to me anytime.

Later, a student comes alongside me.

“I need to talk… I want to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I feel the fire of God in my chest, my face begins to vibrate, my jaw begins to shake…”

“You are already on the verge of being baptized!”

“My husband got filled a week ago… he’s so excited. I don’t know why I haven’t received yet.”

We talk a bit further. I tell her I would be happy to pray with her anytime.

“I want to be filled now.”

“Here in the wellness center?”

“Yes.”

We kneel in prayer. The Spirit is falling upon her. Weeping, she begins speaking in other tongues, as the Spirit gives the utterance. Students are walking by on the track, watching, observing what’s going on.

To God alone and always be the glory! As the class gathers around, she gives testimony to what happened to her. This is what SAGU is all about! This is what sets us apart from other universities. To borrow some terminology, “Pentecost has made us who we are, and Pentecost must maintain us.”

One Monday night, I receive a text from Dr. Kim Bernecker’s mother asking for prayer her daughter who is in pain. I text Dr. Bernecker.

“I’m in the ER,” she texts.

“I’m on my way.”

After I arrive, I pray for her as they start an IV—they’ve found the source of her pain. Her doctor comes in. I can see she is foreign.

“What country are you from?” I ask her.

“India.”

“I have a colleague from India who is a devout Christian… are you a Christian?”

“Hindu.”

I feel the Spirit of the Lord in boldness come upon me.

“If you ever feel like you are about to die, say these three words, ‘JESUS, SAVE ME.’”

She repeats what I said! I repeat the words for memory emphasis.

Some time passes, and she comes back in. Dr. Bernecker is talking to her Assembly of God nurse. God seems to have given me favor with the doctor. We begin conversing again.

“You have insured your home, your car, and your health, but have you insured your soul?”

“I haven’t. But I want to.”

“Do you want me to pray for you?”

“Yes.”

I begin to pray. I pray a sentence. Then I stop.

“Do you want to pray a 'let’s make sure' prayer after me?”

She says yes. And she begins to pray the sinner’s prayer after me. She is so hungry and open! Dr. Bernecker and the nurse stop talking and are beginning to pray too. The doctor accepts Christ into her heart. I am overjoyed! She doesn’t have a Bible—only a Hindu book. The Spirit quickens me to show her my Bible app. I tell her that she could get it and receive “text messages” from God daily. Instantly, she seems interested. I pull up a couple of verses and show her how to apply them to her life. I can see that she is thrilled. I tell her that I would get her a Bible and drop it by later. She and the nurse leave the room. Now Dr. Bernecker and I are shouting quietly, rejoicing! We’re blown away! A doctor from India, working in Waxahachie, Texas, became “a new name written down in glory.” All praise to Jesus!

Dr. Bernecker turns to me.

“The Lord allowed me to get sick so that doctor could get saved!”

“You have paid a high price tag for that one.”

But that wasn’t the end. Dr. Bernecker got better and was discharged!

I am here to say that whether on or off the campus, in chapel or the classroom, God moments are happening at SAGU! Expect the supernatural throughout your days. Seize the moment! God always has MORE!

~Kristene O’Dell~

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

The Bible is full of men and women who are known as heroes of the faith. It’s easy for us to forget that they were simply ordinary men and women who served an extraordinary God. The victory that each Biblical protagonist actualized didn’t come from their own innate ability to win battles – it was their faith in the one who fought their battles for them that brought about the favored results.

Joshua and Caleb can certainly be put in this category. They were the two spies that believed God could take the Israelites into the promised land in spite of the apparent giants. Caleb was from the tribe of Judah. Hoshea, who Moses later named Joshua, was from the tribe of Ephraim. The fearful report of the other ten spies gave more awareness to the giants than God’s ability to fulfill his promises. As a result, the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years until a new generation could emerge that would fully obey.

Have you ever truly studied out the extent of Joshua and Caleb’s faith? It is easy to see that their report was faith-filled in the midst of seemingly impossible odds and that they were willing to be dissenters among the clamor of discouraging voices. However, according to our reference scripture in Hebrews, that wasn’t the actualization of their faith.

Think about it. They knew that God had promised the land to Israel. But, they heard the Lord’s judgment against the unbelief of his people and also knew that they would have to turn away from Canaan’s borders and head back into the wilderness along with the other Israelites. They could have found themselves at odds with their fellow countrymen and presumed upon God’s favor in an attempt to go into the land themselves. But, instead, they chose to walk the more difficult path knowing that the promise was given to Israel, and they would have to take hold of it together. They also knew that something would have to radically change if the other ten tribes were to fully obey.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Maybe the true expression of their faith was that they were willing to wander with the others for forty years in order to return and take possession of the promises that could have been realized that very day. Why would they do that? Because they knew that God’s plan for Israel was corporate and that it was for his glory and not their own.

So how was their faith rewarded? Caleb was eighty years old when the Israelites crossed the Jordan and took the land. Upon the collective whole entering the promises, Caleb stands before Joshua and says, “…now give me this mountain.” (Joshua 14:12). The name of that mountain was Hebron, but originally it had been known as Kirjath Arba because it had been the home of one of the greatest giants among the Anakim. (Joshua 14:15)

After Joshua had distributed the allotments of land to each tribe, he too was ready to settle in his own land. Being from the tribe of Ephraim, he received the town of Timnath Serah in the hill country (Joshua 19). However, in Joshua 16, we learn that when the tribe of Ephraim went to take possession of their division of land, they felt constricted. In order to have enough room, they would have to clear the hill country of its inhabitants. Guess who resided in the hill country? Yes, the giants.

Both Joshua and Caleb received God’s promises by inheriting the places that seemed impossible to possess. And, we can certainly honor their faith as individuals. But, I find it more honorable that they were unwilling to take what God had truly given them without the rest of Israel experiencing the blessing as well. God honored their faithfulness in the eyes of all, but they honored God by staying in fellowship with God’s people and fighting for the promises to be realized by the whole.

~Gina G. Snow~

Our prideful inner selves are like unbroken young colts. We easily buck the authority and wisdom of those who advise us, especially God. We have this natural tendency to look to ourselves, to “trust our hearts” and “believe in ourselves”—trendy mantras from our culture that are full of error and ultimately in conflict with Christ and a healthy walk with Him.

It’s so incredibly easy to take our eyes off the straight and narrow and fall into complacency when you are going through the motions—work, school, 9 to 5, church on Sunday. And so it goes, week after week, month after month, year after year. I know I am not the only one who sometimes fall into ruts spiritually. But it’s in those periods that it is so easy for sin to creep in and choke you. “Nothing is going on,” so you think. Little compromises slip in, you stop going to church, you hardly pick up your Bible anymore, and you cannot remember that last time you prayed, like really prayed.

And then there’s that voice. Not the Good One. The voice of the enemy of your soul saying things like, “It’s not that big of a deal,” “You deserve a little something for yourself,” “You’re such a good person… there are people doing worse things than this and you’re not really hurting anybody.” And you nod your head “Yes” as you take a match and burn bridges.

Smaller bridges, like your ability to shine Christ’s light at work or effectively serve in ministry, are affected first. You have a nagging feeling in your heart that you are not really who you are portraying yourself to be. “I’m not a hypocrite! I’m not!” you say to yourself. And the wild colt refuses again to listen to the admonishments of God to get you to bow your head in humility and gentleness, in reverence to your God. You’re so far gone now… the bigger bridges are burnt down now, too. Bigger bridges like people’s trust in your integrity, your reputation, your relationships. Everything is starting to fall apart.

And you look up at all the wreckage and think, How did it get so bad? But that’s entropy for you, that’s compromise, that’s sin. It just edges in. And all those moments of pride flash past your mind, and you realize it all happened because you refused to keep His yoke upon yourself. You put down your cross. You went off the road you were walking with Him.

Every day, Jesus extends that offer to us. “Come to Me…take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30) But it’s not natural for us to put any yoke upon ourselves, light or otherwise! We must be taught. And our culture does little to nothing to support that countercultural lifestyle. We are called to be not of this world (John 17:16). And taking the light burden, bearing our crosses, following Jesus is not something we can do in our own strength. You cannot continue to be the master and steer your own life while being a committed Christian! We must bear fruit—the Spirit’s fruit. We must be brought low. We must be broken. We must bear the fruit of gentleness.

You know what is beautiful about God’s love for us? I know that we are familiar with the story of the lost sheep and how Jesus is our Good Shepherd. But a modified picture of that beautiful parable comes to mind these days. There are so many of us believers that still have a bit of that bucking bronco in us. We want to live wild and free, unbroken colts. We do have freedom in Christ. But it’s not freedom that we have grace and forgiveness, and now we can do whatever we want. And He sees that. He sees you running around like an aimless, vagabond mustang. You grow weary doing your own thing. Sometimes He runs right in there and starts steering you home, back to the herd. But sometimes He waits. And watches. He is the God Who sees you. He waits for you to come to Him, broken and at the end of yourself. And then, as you bow your head, He bridles you. And you take His yoke upon you. And, you realize, it is so much lighter than the burden you were carrying when you were “free” doing your own thing.

What is gentleness? One way to put it is “meekness in action.” Or “strength under control.” It’s resisting striking back when others hurt you. It’s being teachable and yielded, moldable and selfless. It’s turning the other cheek. It’s ultimate submission to the Master—humble obedience, trusting that He knows what is best. These are things that I know extremely little about. And I know I’m not alone. But we can learn, and He longs to teach us. God has a herd of beautiful horses, running amok, that he is calling out and waiting, oh so patiently, for them to return to Him so we can do His work.

So what can a wild and prone-to-wander Christ-follower do? What is the remedy? Only to fall on your knees in humility and beg forgiveness and admit fault to the only One who can wipe your slate clean, Whose blood washes whiter than snow, Who loves you more than you will ever know or understand.

Remember those bridges? He is the Master Architect of your life. He is an expert at rebuilding bridges and lives in general. Old bridges get mended to make them stronger. Some are rebuilt. Some bridges are neither restored or rebuilt. But He has good things planned for you always. Brand new bridges in places in your life that you never thought of start being built by the Master Architect. He sees time from beginning to finish and knows what is best for His children. Sometimes the bridge-building hurts. Sometimes the bridges burned are within you. The way you see and talk yourself in your head, the way you perceive others. Sometimes the bridges within were burned by someone else. And they have to be rebuilt, but it hurts like crazy, and “God, can you just leave me alone?” you think. “Why did this happen to me? It’s too painful to fix me. Just let me sit here forever. I give up, God.”

But sometimes YOU are the bridge. God can better use the broken to do His will than those wild colts that think they got it all down. Sometimes we are responsible for the brokenness. Sometimes we are reaping consequences of our sin and bad choices. Other times, the brokenness comes from actions and words of another fallen person—a parent, a friend, a significant other. Words are life and death, and actions can impact for a lifetime. And you, little bridge, afraid to be rebuilt because it hurts and it will take work, don’t you know that you can be the hands that touch another’s life so they can know Jesus or know Him better?

~Alyssa Sumner~

Recently, I have been pleading out to God about wanting to have a platform to advocate for many things that I am passionate about—like abolishing human trafficking, giving families to orphans, and establishing policies that will protect the elderly from abuse and neglect. I want to advocate for these vulnerable populations along with the redemption of Christ, but I had yet to set my foundation. One night I was attending a spirit-filled service, and the Holy Spirit said, “You can’t expect God to give you a platform when you haven’t established an altar.” The Holy Spirit was right (like always). I was praying for a platform but struggling when it came to setting aside time daily to devote to Him. My desire to have a platform did not match my desire to give God the ultimate platform in my life.

Later, in my quiet time with the Lord, the Holy Spirit began to speak about the importance of an altar. Establishing an altar is key to communicating things of heaven and not things of the flesh. When we become one with God and make the decision every day to reject our fallen nature and accept our spirituality, we are choosing to pursue the will of the Father fearlessly. Without the altar, we hinder our spiritual receptors and choose to be distracted with things that gratify the flesh but suppress our spirits. When we continually suppress our spirit, we close the door on God but open the door for spiritual complacency. We want to see God use us, and as Christians that should be the desire of our heart. But we cannot be used if we don’t place ourselves before God. Establishing an altar has everything to do with surrendering to the will and ways of the Father and choosing to deny spiritual complacency.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Matthew 6:33

"He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:10

Report abuse