Jesus IN the way.

Ever feel like Jesus is hindering your "progress"? If you were not so burdened down with all these restrictions, moral codes, and limitations you could really get ahead in life.

A couple of nights ago we were returning from a Bible study in Llano Grande and, not unusually, I was attempting to return via a different, and unfamiliar, route. Of course, I missed the turn and we didn't get on the new route. Mitzi asked, "Are we lost?" Of course we weren't "lost", but we weren't where I wanted to be, so I was a little impatient with the whole situation. (Funny how that works.)

To make matters worse, there was some sort of traffic bog down that was impeding our progress. At first we couldn't see what the problem was. There seemed to be a lot of people on foot, milling around. Then Erika, our 20 year old granddaughter, exclaimed, "It's Jesus with the cross!"

The traffic cleared a little and we could see what was going on. Sure enough. It WAS Jesus and the cross...well, of course, not the real Jesus, but a statue of him. There was a processional of some sort with a hundred or so people slowly moving along the street and blocking traffic.

It reminded me of how often we think that believing in Jesus and his teachings will only serve to limit us in life. They only slow us down and hamper us from doing all the things the world says is important.

In this case, it was Jesus (or an imitation of him) carrying the cross. But we are told in Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"

Oh, that more of the people of Costa Rica (and us) would take up the cross of Jesus and follow him.

Under Attack?

I began this blog several days ago, but decided to not write it. I didn't want to alarm anyone. But then, the more the thoughts swirled around in my head, the more I realized that we need extra prayer warriors doing battle.

Here's the deal. After some reflection, we have come to the conclusion that the enemy is launching an attack upon the work here in Costa Rica. Good things are happening, and he's not happy about it. People are coming to the Lord, new groups are being started, and the Spirit is working in lives. When this happens, satan goes to work too.

In the last few weeks one missionary family has had it's house robbed; another missionary was driving home with her teenage son when they were forcibly stopped and the car taken, leaving them on the side of the road. Some of the families in language school are having difficulties; there has been instances of equipment being broken, and plans have either fallen through or had to be altered.

A couple of days ago I was riding my motorcycle down from the village where we work with a family. There is one particularly bad stretch of road...no pavement, really rough, deep erosions. This is the dry season so the road has kind of powdery dust on it. I was going around a car, very slowly, when it veered toward me. I quickly backed off, but hit some loose dirt on a slope and fell over. No injury, but bent a bracket on the moto, which I didn't notice until I had gone a ways, heard the sound of something rubbing, and saw that a bolt was digging into the tire. No big deal, but another in what seems to be a series of events of varying degrees of seriousness.

Praise the Lord, no one has been hurt and most of the "happenings" have been fixable or of little consequence, but it just seems that an inordinate number of these things are occurring.

So....please pray for God to surround His work here with strong protection and ask that the enemy not be able to thwart the growth of the kingdom, to the glory of our Lord.