“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:14-15

We often don’t think of the consequences that our sin will have, especially when it comes to the “small sins” (as excused in our own human understanding). We resist the Spirit’s promptings and harden our consciences towards the still small voice. This comes from a lack of hatred towards sin. We think the sin isn’t THAT bad (after all, it’s so small) and we won’t ever let it go too far. Right?! We excuse ourselves by walking the line of compromise.

How many times have we allowed a somewhat small compromise in our life and it turned into a dreadful monster – a fearless giant that controls our actions, thoughts, and attitudes? Not only does our spiritual growth become hindered but we start to reap the consequences of our sin. At first it may be in small ways as God tries to get our attention; but the more we resist, the more He needs to prune.

We’ve been given many good and perfect gifts from the hand of God. However, we can bring death to these gifts by our willful compromises. We end up destroying the good that God was going to bring from His blessing because we start to use it for our own self-gratification and pleasure, we become unthankful, or we mix the blessing with the “dirt and grime” of this world.

Consequences come in many different forms: strained relationships, unrest and turmoil in our soul, a lack of joy and contentment, even a closed door of opportunity. God uses these consequences in our lives to bring us back into right standing with Him. He uses them to show us our miserable state and how much we desperately need Him. But most of all, he uses them in our lives to show us again how very much He loves and cares for us. He doesn’t want us to experience pain or disappointment or hurt, but because of our stubbornness these are often the things that brings us to our knees crying out to God for mercy.

Next time we are tempted to compromise or give in – think of the consequence. How will this affect me spiritually and emotionally? What will I reap because of it even if it is down the road of life? How will this affect those around me?

Let’s stop right at the enticement of sin so we won’t be tempted, we won’t sin, and we won’t experience “death”. A life of obedience to the Saviour is the most blessed of all. I need to daily surrender my will to Him and pay attention to His promptings so I can continue to enjoy His good and perfect gifts and be a light in this dark world! What about you?

My time at home was so wonderful. My visits are relaxing in some respects just to be able to kick back and enjoy home life but at the same time they are always so very busy. I have a great time catching up with relatives and friends, shopping with my mom, going out to eat, nursing home ministry, taking walks, and lots of other fun stuff!

I was happy to be able to celebrate my dad’s birthday while I was visiting as well. It was a special evening with a wonderful dinner and a good time of fun and games!

the world’s most awesome parents!!!

my grandparents

Thomas and his adorable wife (and my bestest sister-in-law!)

everyone hungry and ready to eat

I’ve certainly been blessed with a dad who has given his life for Jesus Christ and has poured his everything into his family! My life has been blessed just because of who he is!

We played a very INTENSE game of Jenga. Take note of the concentration.

…and Jenga came tumbling down

there she is – my little baby!

Each evening, we all went out for dinner. Here we are at a Spanish restaurant.

a hamburger stand where I most definitely had to get some french fries!

in the MetroBus going to town. This was a pic at the beginning of the ride. We were packed in there like a can of sardines! It was hysterical – quite the experience!

a new friend along with Alisa, Johanna, and me

Most of the guys

Tacos on the street are the BEST!

Fried Cow Skin – and yes, I am proud to say that I ate it even after I knew what it was!

I most certainly didn’t want to leave beautiful Mexico!

All geared-up, excited, and ready for Mexico!

It was a full day of preparation and traveling. After a layover in Houston, we made it to the long-awaited Mexico City!

Hungry travelers getting a little bite

Opening session at the ExpoChristiana Conference

dear, sweet, beautiful friends!

TV interview with Mr. Gothard

…I think everyone was full of smiles but these guys were having a goodtime

More to come soon!

Please keep us all in your prayers!

Left to Right: Alisa, Chad, Tabitha, James, Sara, Clayton, Leslie, Nathan, Johanna, Natalie

Not pictured: Mr. Gothard, Mr. Mattix, Robert, and David

If you would like to keep updated with our current happenings and ministry opportunities while we are in Mexico, check out Nathan’s blog: Mexico Team ‘09!

Psalm 86 is a special and spectacular psalm. The truth of each verse, some more than others, can meet the needs of my heart and speak peace and comfort to my emotions during difficult times.

I’ll readily confess that I love the psalms. Not only is David one of my favorite characters and authors of the Bible but he is to me a great example of a spiritual hero. He experienced struggle, pain, and rejection in his life yet he found the grace and strength to press on and live for the Saviour. He readily opened his heart and emotions to the Lord and would cry out his complaint. Yes – he looked for revenge for his enemies; he would feel overwhelmed; he expressed his every thought; and he would confess every emotion. Yet, he found the power to leave all of his situations and circumstances in the Lord’s hands.

Have you ever noticed that many of his psalms would start out with his fleshly reactions towards a situation but by the end of the chapter he had a change of heart? He cried to the Lord and found His fulfillment in Him alone. We can too! We are given the promise that if we draw near to the Lord, He will draw near to us.

David knew God was loving and kind from experience. He had sinned in great ways and had paid the consequences of his actions. He saw the mercy of God demonstrated in his life in amazing ways.  He put his faith in a God that He knew would carry him through. He chose to trust God in the midst of confusion and weariness. He believed to see the goodness of God. Is it not a wonder that Jehovah described him as a “man after his own heart”?

In a brief summary of Psalm 86, we see that David was quick to admit that he was “poor and needy”. Those who recognize their unworthiness are the ones who are the most blessed. Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” He knew that God would preserve his soul from wickedness and evil for he was holy in the sight of God. Even though he could not comprehend the magnitude of God’s goodness, forgiveness, and mercy, David knew it was always available to him. In days of trouble, he chose to call upon God knowing that his Lord and Saviour would answer him. He praised and extolled the name of Jehovah and knew there was none in comparison; he was great and capable of wondrous things. David wanted to be instructed in the ways of God and he promised to walk in His truth as his heart became united with his Lord. He was steadfast in giving praise and honor and glory to the King of Kings no matter what. Why? He had experienced the great mercy of God when he was saved from the “lowest hell”. Sure, his heart was in turmoil seeing his enemies rise against him but he was at peace. God was full of compassion. How could he not trust him completely? David longed for God to be pleased with him and desired a special token of good to be granted to him so that

his enemies would see the blessing and be ashamed before God because of the state of their heart and evil intentions. Ultimately, he wanted others to see how much God had helped him, comforted him, and loved him in his distress and pain.

When we are caught in an “ocean of emotion” (especially us girls! ) or we are working through strenuous, trying times in our life, can we cry aloud our complaint to God but at the same time be surrendered to Him and leave it in His hands? Can we trust the Lord to work ALL things together for good? Can we remain faithful and true and continue to press on showing the world that “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world”? If David can we can because we serve the same God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Let’s live to be women after God’s own heart!

The Romanian delegation has left. We took them to the O’Hare airport Wednesday evening and said our goodbyes. It’s amazing to realize that in just a short amount of time, God can knit hearts together and our lives can be impacted by others in such an amazing way!

It was a wonderful blessing to have them here and it was spectacular to see how they want to incorporate Biblical principles into their different fields of medicine. They had many hours of teaching with Mr. Gothard, a visit to downtown Chicago, shopping trips, a banquet at HeadQuarters, and an in-depth tour of the local Hinsdale hospital that included visiting the OR. (Some of us girls were really hoping to don the scrubs and see the OR for ourselves too – but unfortunately there were too many of us.)

All in all, it was a fantastic week.

The Romanians along with Judge Doyle and his wife.

Presentation of the certificates

Waiting at the Hinsdale Hospital. Here are the two directors of our International Dept.

Posted in Blogging, Daily Happenings, IBLP, Ministry ]]> http://simplysanctified.wordpress.com/2009/10/11/romanian-delegation/feed/ 0 Sara Nicole DSC_0005 DSC_0013 DSC_0016 DSC_0017 DSC_0018 DSC_0019 DSC_0020 7323_180959494391_691104391_3853031_7641657_n 7323_180959029391_691104391_3853022_2525583_n http://simplysanctified.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/gods-working/ http://simplysanctified.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/gods-working/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:17:08 +0000 Sara Nicole http://simplysanctified.wordpress.com/?p=1620 ]]>

A hearty warm autumn “hello” from Chicago! I feel so badly that I haven’t written anything in such a long time. I’ve been trying to keep the blog updated with pictures of events and such but I’ve slacked off in my personal posts.

I’ve been back home for over two weeks. I so badly miss my family. I think coming back after spending a complete four weeks with everyone was harder on me than it ever has been comparing my previous visits. However, it helps that it has been a whirlwind of activity. Mr. Gothard has been studying and writing and is very eager to share what he has been working on. Tuesday and Thursday evenings, we now have a special time of teaching. We come and try to take notes as fast as our little hand can move – haha! This past summer, Mr. Gothard wrote three new books (“Seven Courtship Secrets for a Successful Marriage,” “49 Secrets of Power for Living,” and “Lies We Believe that Cause Stress and Disease”) and he is currently working on a brand new book focused on overcoming the addictions of pornography. Every book he is working on tends to be what we discuss and learn about in our staff meetings. So, needless to say, we’ve been learning ALOT!

Sweet Janny

A few weeks ago, I had a young girl move into my apartment for a few weeks. She just left to visit home and today another sweet gal moved in. I’m very excited as I have gotten to know Janny over the last Journey that we both led. She is such a sweet example of a young woman devoted to Jesus Christ and entirely in love with Him. I’m anticipating some wonderful and special times together.

After work days, I’ve been keeping busy in the evenings with various things but I must admit that I really enjoy keeping my little place up to par. It gives me a special satisfaction and fulfillment when my home is organized and clean with potpourri simmering and candles burning- esp. in the autumn! I just rearranged and put out some fall decorations. So it looks as cute and as cozy as ever! I still bake quite a bit and I was delighted to have Mr. and Mrs. Heiniger over for dinner this past week. It was so special. I have been wanting to have them for quite some time as they are the sweetest couple  - I feel like they’re my surrogate grandparents!

Here’s a few pics of the house

This coming weekend will be a hub-bub of activity here at HQ. A Romanian delegation of doctors will be coming and spending a few days with us. I’m happy to be part of the “driving” staff and will be involved with the hospital tour they will be taking, shopping trips, a banquet, and meetings that are scheduled.

After the delegation, I think we’ll need to catch our breath and rest up just a bit because we need to be rejuvenated for our upcoming conference! This is the exciting news: I’m heading to Mexico the end of this month! Eleven of us, including Mr. Gothard, will be flying and ministering there. I have been looking forward to this trip for several months and now it’s just a few weeks away! I’m sure it will be quite the experience!

Well, I guess that’s the latest scoop! I trust you all are rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord and resting in His love! Please keep me in your prayers if the Lord brings me to your mind. I so desire to walk in His spirit and fulfill His special purpose for my life! God is good ALL the time!