How do you look different?

How do you look different?  Are you shining?


We as Christ followers are to look nothing like the world. This means in all aspects(speech, action, thought, etc.).  I am blessed to say that in my life I have countless pure examples of what is means to be in the world, but not of it... I am not saying I am surrounded by perfect people, but I am saying people who have submitted their lives to a daily walk with Jesus, allowing Him to change their human flesh into the likeness of Himself.  Their desire is to reflect God's love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, peace and presence, ultimately being God's hands, feet and heart in this earth.
   
Just as I quickly as I can see genuine relationships with Jesus, I see countless brothers and sisters who are selling their inheritance and spirit-changing journey for the temporary satisfaction of their flesh.  They claim to be identified with Jesus, having received His sacrifice, only to live the life-changing journey when it fits into their timeframe, or when broken moments open their eyes to see they have strayed from a righteous path. There are only moments instead of a lifetime, where they reflect the light that was designed to shine forth within them into eternity.


How will this world know the difference?  Will they know through your life or not?


2 Corinthians 5:20 says... We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 


WOW, what an incredible honor and responsibility... God actually desires to use US and TRUSTS  US to carry Him to this world...  If God were to show up in your life would He be able to identify you as set apart or would you just blend into the mix of this world?  Even better if God were to take over your body for a day, would your friends and the people you associate with even recognize you? 


1 John 1:5  This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 


Ephesians 5:8  For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light...
 
Acts 13:47 states, For this is what the Lord has commanded us:  "I have made you a light for the Gentiles or (to those who do not know me), that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth." 






Finally I will leave you with this thought..




Proverbs 27:19  As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.


If you identify your life with the life of Jesus Christ, I pray that you take is seriously and portray a true, genuine reflection of who He is and who He would be if he were walking in this earth today.  Your life must look different, than those who do not know Jesus.  

The Flu, Kawangware Slum and Hollywood...

What a title...

About 2 weeks ago I was sick with the flu for 10 days, and literally thought I was never going to get better... I know I was a bit dramatic, but being pregnant, not being able to take any medicine but Tylenol and having your baby take every good thing inside of you leaves you totally spent... Anyways...

On day three of fighting my 101 degree temperature, I found my heart being broken in a different way for the people living in Kawangware Slum, Kenya... here I was able to take a hot bath to alleviate the chills all over my body, lay in a cozy clean bed, have anything that I needed brought to me and be able to be taken to the hospital for medical attention.  As I lay in my bed I quickly found tears running down my face as I saw visions of men, women and children fighting the same sickness or worse, some laying on a mattress made of blankets stacked on the dirt floor, some on old couches with nothing but the clothes they wear to keep them warm, and some on nothing but the dirt floor.  Needless to say God is continuing to answer my prayer in breaking my heart for the things that break His.

On day five, I found myself passed out on my bed still fighting the 101 degree temperature and in a dream that left me smiling and shaking my head at the same time as I woke up... God was sharing His heart with me for Hollywood.  It was, to be honest... really weird.  There were flashes of magazine covers, famous faces and deep sorrow.  Next I found myself praying for the Kardashian family... This was my first experience feeling any type of burden for any Hollywood celebrity. 

To sum it all up God quickly showed me His heart is the same for all people, rich or poor.  As Christians we need to have a heart and mind that places no condition above another.  He longs to bring healing, comfort, hope, peace, restoration and freedom to all, there is no social status with God... Lets continue to ask God to break our hearts for the things that His, and pray for Hollywood and the poor.

My biggest fear...

Matthew 7:21-23  ²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’  

This scripture has continually been in my heart for years, however the reality of this passage has settled into my soul since the beginning of Redeeming Africa's Hope. I am truly understanding the depth of what this scripture means. To be honest its hard to find the balance between projects, meetings, volunteers, interns, up-dating supporters, leading mission teams, all the legal paperwork, and making time to spend with the creator of it all.  This doesn't just apply to people running non-profits or other ministries, but to all of us! The stay at home mom can be just as busy!  

Matthew was showing us that out relationship with Christ is not in what we are doing, but in the intimate times we spend with Him.  Believe me I can fill my whole day up "doing things" for Christ and "furthering" His kingdom, but if I am not intimate with my savior and creator it is all in vain.  

My challenge to you and myself today is to search ourselves and be honest. Are you investing into your relationship through intimate communication or deeds?  Your Father longs to meet with you... do you long to meet with Him, or are you satisfied with what you are "doing for Him"?  

In Revelation 2:2-7 John writes to the Church in Ephesus

  ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

   ⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

   ⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

It is my prayer that we hear and go back to our first love...JESUS!   Our soul longs to be fed through an intimate relationship with Him. You will never honestly be satisfied through anything else.  Don't allow the enemy to deceive you into believing that your "works" for Christ are your "relationship" with your Him.  Spend time with Him daily, if it means getting up before the sun or the kids, then do it! I believe you can, and I believe your soul needs it! 

Love you all, Laura 

Lets be Quiet...and Listen to Jesus Breath.

The more life I get to walk through, the more I understand the depth of my relationship with my Creator and Savior Jesus Christ is up to me.

For many of us we fall into the "typical" comfortable, "christian" relationship that we see all around.  Going to church every Sunday, maybe popping in on a bible study throughout the week, reading our bible for 30 minutes at least twice a week, praying for 5 minutes a day and of course being a "witness" wherever we go.  Is this all we were made for?  Really... what kind of a relationship is that?  WE WERE MADE FOR MORE...
 
I have found I have to go deeper.  I can't just pray for my alloted time, read for my alloted time or listen to a message and expect God to reveal the deep things of His heart and soul to me.  This only will come in the quiet places I make, for just the two of us.  You see when we stick to the "normal" we will only see the normal, think the normal and do the normal... But when we shift to the places where God operates(the spiritual-Romans 6:12, John 6:63, Rom. 8:26, 2 Cor. 3:3) we can see what He sees, hear what He hears, feel what He feels and speak with the same power and authority that He spoke with and still speaks with today.

Choose to make quiet places in your life.  Just be quiet and you will hear Jesus breath, be still and you will hear Him speak, sit a little longer and you will see what He sees and never be the same again.  He needs us to break the normal, so that He can do the abnormal in us and through us. My prayer for you today is that your heart and soul may be taken on an ariel view of who Jesus desires to be in your life and how He want to use you!

Who Are You Becoming in 2011?

Its the begging of a New Year and for many of us it feels like a new begging.  We can take all the good from 2010 and leave behind all the in between.  We get a clean slate.  Its time to set new goals, make positive changes in our lives and get excited about what the New Year will bring.  Its a new hope for many, and a continuation of joy for others.
Although this is good, I have been thinking allot about what all of this means or doesn't mean in the reality of what matters.  I found myself in the same routine as years past, setting my personal 2011 goals and 2011 goals for Redeeming Africa's Hope, when all of the sudden I stopped...
How many times have you actually sat down at the end of a year and asked God the goals He want's you to set for the next year?  Or even better how many times have you actually sat in silence at the begging of your day and asked God what He wants you to accomplish that day? Or lets take it even further... Is it about what we accomplish or who we are becoming?
The challenge I am giving to myself and to you is simply this... Take some time to quiet yourself and ask God where He wants to take you this year.  Don't shove aside 2010 and miss the growth you were intended to have and just leap into 2011 the same person.  I pray that you realize your mission on this earth is not necessarily what your hands are doing, but what your heart and soul are shaping into.

Learning to live in slow motion, instead of fast forward.

I know for many of us, life has turned into the rush of getting things done, longing for the next phase of life, and for me specifically running in and out of airports all over the world.  Is this really how we were created to live? I don't believe so... 
I have had several moments over the years, where this reality of life has hit me and helped me to adjust my priorities... but only for a season.  I recently had another one of those moments... this one I hope will not allow me to go back into living life in fast forward.  
The morning of Thanksgiving at my parents house in Blissfield, something happened.  It was a typical "vacation" mode morning, everyone slow to wake up and very relaxing. In the midst of that morning, I looked outside the front window and saw my dad working on the van. This was not anything new, however this time it was different.  Everything stopped around me.  All I could see is my dad, down on his knees working. I took in the moment at deeper lever than I usually would have. Instead of a glance, it was a moment that turned into a memory.  Later that week it happened again. I was at New Life Church, the church I was born and raised in.  It was praise and worship time and all the sudden time stopped again. I looked and all around me were faces of people who have helped make me who I am today, but they were aged. They weren't the youthful faces I had remembered them to be.  It was as if God was saying time is passing and life will change.  Some people will be here today and others will not.  
I thank God for this reminder.  The only thing that matters in this world are people and the way we share our lives together.  I guess what I am trying to say is, don't rush through life and turn your potential memories into glances.  Feel it, breath deep and see it all.  No matter where you are in life or what you are doing, live it all in slow motion and stop pressing the fast forward button. 

Your Invited...

After having several of those moments where I have stopped and thought... "WHOA! There is so much happening in life and I don't want to forget any of it" and after having countless people tell me "you better be keeping a good journal",  I have decided to start a blog. This is the spot where I am going to capture those moments, save them for myself and share them with you! 

I have invited you to join my hand and heart in this blog.  This is a space where I will share my craziest of adventures, my most inspiring moments, express the deep things in my heart, ask for prayer and give you the chance to know Laura "Wambui" Mitchell in a deeper way.

 

As many of you know I started a non-profit in June 2008 called Redeeming Africa's Hope.  This adventure has helped shape me into the person I am today and continues to shape me on a daily basis. There have already been so many crazy adventures, miraculous stories and unbelievable prayers answered.  I look forward to sharing my life with you! Hope you enjoy the pages that will unfold through this blog... Who knows maybe a book will come of it!