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Greetings!
Last night we had a great Care Group held at MMC (Mercy Maternity Center) for ALL of the Filipina staff as well as the foreign staff (that means US!) It was such a blessing to spend some time together to put aside our daily work and praise the Lord through song and a little lesson on fruit.
Manny (one of the staff, who also 'happens' to be married to one of the midwives) gave a great illustration last night that is just too good to keep here in one little corner of Davao City.
We started off by talking about surrender. Ultimately, we must surrender to God. You can go ahead and think of some things keeping you from surrenduring to God. We came up with a few including fear, wanting to be in control, feeling that He will take away "my" Rights...and so the list continues.
After reading some verses and talking about Jesus' attitude towards the Father and how He completely surrendered to God everything! You might think this is trivial or easy because Jesus and God are one in the same. Let me share a verse with you:
Philippians 2:6-7
"who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men."
Did you catch it? Jesus does indeed know what it is like to be us and He didn't regard or consider equality with God something to be grasped. He fully obeyed and fully trusted without fearing what God might do in all of His awesome power.
What was the illustration? Glad you asked. Simple...simply profound. He had three fruits: an orange, a banana, and an apple. First, he took the orange and gave us a chance to identify it. We all recognized it and agreed that it is a wonderful fruit. He began to describe some of the finer points of the fruit. It has a protective coating, which we can easily peel off and, wala, there is a yummy fruit inside. That's not all.
This fruit is not only delicious, but it's already pre-sliced! The orange is already packaged, ready for you to enjoy one slice at a time without having to pull out a knife and cut it. That's not all. Each slice consist of tiny sacs that are bursting with savory, refreshing, nutritious juice!
Next, the banana. This fruit also has a protective coating. It needs to be peeled. If you hold your so that the fingers and thumb make an "o", guess what is shaped to fit perfectly inside? A banana. It's gets better. Not only does it fit perfectly inside, but it also fits so that the banana is pointing your mouth and not away from your mouth. Try it, the groves in your hand will fit the angles in the banana skin.
Finally, the apple. This too has a protective skin, but it is edible. It's delicous, juicey and ready to eat. Oh, and all of this (the banana is a little harder) have seeds that we could replant to have more!
The orange...it was made with YOU in mind. The banana...it was made with YOU in mind. The apple...it was made with YOU in mind. Ponder it. God made all of creation (Romans 1:20) and we can see that clearly. His handy work is obvious. In all of it, He had us in mind!
If this God who had us in mind when He was making an orange (pre-sliced and ready to eat) calls us to surrender to Him. Can we? This is just the surface of His goodness to us. We can surrender all to Him and know that He has our best in store.
May His shalom meet you and cover you as you seek His face.
Last night we had a great Care Group held at MMC (Mercy Maternity Center) for ALL of the Filipina staff as well as the foreign staff (that means US!) It was such a blessing to spend some time together to put aside our daily work and praise the Lord through song and a little lesson on fruit.
Manny (one of the staff, who also 'happens' to be married to one of the midwives) gave a great illustration last night that is just too good to keep here in one little corner of Davao City.
We started off by talking about surrender. Ultimately, we must surrender to God. You can go ahead and think of some things keeping you from surrenduring to God. We came up with a few including fear, wanting to be in control, feeling that He will take away "my" Rights...and so the list continues.
After reading some verses and talking about Jesus' attitude towards the Father and how He completely surrendered to God everything! You might think this is trivial or easy because Jesus and God are one in the same. Let me share a verse with you:
Philippians 2:6-7
"who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men."
Did you catch it? Jesus does indeed know what it is like to be us and He didn't regard or consider equality with God something to be grasped. He fully obeyed and fully trusted without fearing what God might do in all of His awesome power.
What was the illustration? Glad you asked. Simple...simply profound. He had three fruits: an orange, a banana, and an apple. First, he took the orange and gave us a chance to identify it. We all recognized it and agreed that it is a wonderful fruit. He began to describe some of the finer points of the fruit. It has a protective coating, which we can easily peel off and, wala, there is a yummy fruit inside. That's not all.
This fruit is not only delicious, but it's already pre-sliced! The orange is already packaged, ready for you to enjoy one slice at a time without having to pull out a knife and cut it. That's not all. Each slice consist of tiny sacs that are bursting with savory, refreshing, nutritious juice!
Next, the banana. This fruit also has a protective coating. It needs to be peeled. If you hold your so that the fingers and thumb make an "o", guess what is shaped to fit perfectly inside? A banana. It's gets better. Not only does it fit perfectly inside, but it also fits so that the banana is pointing your mouth and not away from your mouth. Try it, the groves in your hand will fit the angles in the banana skin.
Finally, the apple. This too has a protective skin, but it is edible. It's delicous, juicey and ready to eat. Oh, and all of this (the banana is a little harder) have seeds that we could replant to have more!
The orange...it was made with YOU in mind. The banana...it was made with YOU in mind. The apple...it was made with YOU in mind. Ponder it. God made all of creation (Romans 1:20) and we can see that clearly. His handy work is obvious. In all of it, He had us in mind!
If this God who had us in mind when He was making an orange (pre-sliced and ready to eat) calls us to surrender to Him. Can we? This is just the surface of His goodness to us. We can surrender all to Him and know that He has our best in store.
May His shalom meet you and cover you as you seek His face.
Thanks for taking the time to write about God having US in mind when He created those yummy fruits! I have surrendered my life, but sometimes I take back the ground, somewhat unintentionally. Thanks for the reminder to re-surrender! He is trustworthy with my life! Love you, girlie! xox Mom
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