I’ve really been into reading the lives of heroes of the faith. I just wanted to mention one of my favorites - Amy Carmichael. No Amy Carmichael fan could ever miss Elisabeth Elliot’s biography of Amy entitled A Chance To Die. Great book with some pictures. Includes a lot of those small details and stories of her adventure with the Lord. Amy was a rare heart, no doubt about it. She lived by faith and was serious about the Lord. I recently found some pictures online of Dohnavur Fellowship in Tamil Nadu, the southernmost part of India. You can see those pictures here. Just click on each of the four pictures in the right column. You can also read the adventure of these people as they drove five miles to see what Dohnavur Fellowship looked like. They were able to see the room where Amy was bedridden for the last 20 years of her life. During that time Amy wrote most of her books. Also, the last picture is a little birdbath with Amma engraved on it marking Amy’s gravesite. As I read about all these heroes of the faith, I’m inspired and encouraged to run my race well. In my reading, I discovered that Lilias Trotter and Amy Carmichael were friends and wrote to each other. Amy had two of Lilias’ books in her possession (Parables of the Cross and Parables of the Christ Life) and marked them up as she read through them. When I found that little tidbit of information, I thought, “How cool is that for the Lord to bring those two rare hearts together and give them a friendship.”
Amy’s life, of course, influenced thousands. One of those lives influenced was an Indian girl named Mimosa. I read her story in the book by the same name. Dohnavur Fellowship was a sanctuary for many children, saving them from temple prostitution and idolatry. Mimosa’s sister, Star, had been allowed to stay and live at Dohnavur. Mimosa, as a very young girl, met Amy at Dohnavur one brief afternoon. Amy shared the love of God through Jesus with her. Mimosa was not allowed to stay and forced to return home to a life of suffering and ultimately marriage to a Hindu man who had no land or work. Mimosa’s life was one of great suffering but in her brief encounter that one afternoon she found the Lord and lived in the light of His love all her days. What an amazing story of grace it is. Amy spent 53 years in India without furlough and stepped from time into eternity, face to face with her Lord in 1951. She was once asked by a young lady who wanted to be a missionary, “What is missionary life like?” Amy replied, “Missionary life is a chance to die.” And indeed the Lord tells us to not save our lives, but lose our lives for His sake - it’s a wholehearted surrender to the Lord.
Lord, thank You for heroes of the faith like Amy and Lilias. I pray that You will give us that wholehearted devotion and surrender to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
What a quiet time today! Somehow through my reading in Acts about the stoning of Stephen, I got to the words of Jesus in Revelation 2:10 spoken to the church in Smyrna: “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” I’ve already been thinking about what it means to be faithful. I recently wrote about living in the audience of God and how our goal is not to be famous, but to be faithful. So today when I read those words from Jesus, I thought, “The Lord wants me to focus on this word faithful. What does it mean for me to be faithful? What can I learn about being faithful?” So I launched into a study of this word. First, I looked it up in the Greek. The word is pistos and occurs 67 times in the New Testament. When you are faithful, then you are worthy of trust, you can be relied on, you are trustworthy, believing, firm in your faith, and you trust in God’s promises. Then, as I looked up other occurrences of this word in the NT, I learned the following - From Revelation 2:10, I learned that when I am faithful until death, I will receive the crown of life from Jesus, the stephanos (in the Greek). I talk a lot about the stephanos. I can’t wait until I see His face and more than anything I want to hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” and I want to have Him put that stephanos on my head. It will be a great reward in heaven. When we are faithful, we share in the joy of the Lord (Matthew 25:23). I am to be faithful in small things (Luke 16:10-14). I am to be faithful as a steward of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:2). 
What a study today. A lot to think about. I can tell that the Lord is doing something deep in me in the area of living with a constant awareness of His presence - living always in the audience of God. I was especially drawn into those 1 Cor. 4 verses and the example of Paul. He was very conscious of living for the Lord alone and kept his eyes on that day when he would step from time into eternity. Also, he had given up the ways of the world and was willing to suffer for Christ’s sake to be faithful all the way to the end of his earthly race. I am thinking a lot about that stephanos - the victory crown. I think we need to keep the stephanos in our sights as we live out our days. Today, I want to be found faithful. Tomorrow, I want to be found faithful. Next week and next year (if the Lord so wills), I want to be found faithful.
This morning I read in Daily Light, Acts 7:23-43, 1 Thessalonians 5, and Oswald Chambers (OC). All carried a similar theme - being careful in our conduct and paying attention to what we do. One verse in particular was the key, I thought. In the NIV 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” Don’t you love that translation! The NASB says “Do not quench the Spirit.” What Paul is saying is, “Don’t stifle the Spirit. Let the Spirit have complete control.” Here is where we see that we can say yes to God and no to sin because of the Spirit’s work in us - He influences, controls, and empowers us to say yes. However, we do still sin, and if we continue to sin rather than confess our sin, then we are quenching the Spirit or putting out the Spirit’s fire. That’s why Paul continues on in 1 Thessalonians 5 to say “avoid every kind of evil.” And why would we live in the filth and dirt of the world when we can live in the palace of God’s beautiful holiness and glory? We sometimes choose the supposed security of the familiar sin instead of the seeming risk of the unknown yes of doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Here is where we must cling to the Lord, abide in Christ, and draw on the strength of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit is faithful to convict us of sin and will prompt us to confess our sin. Then, He is also faithful to lead us in the ways of the Lord, that we might follow Christ. And oh, don’t forget the excitement and adventure of following Christ, for He will make us fishers of men. Paul encourages us in 1 Thessalonians 5:10 that Christ died for us so that we may “live together with Him.” And then he encourages us to be kind, be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit will set your heart on fire to do just these very things. So, as you are filled with the Spirit, and you say yes to the Lord, don’t be surprised if you see more joy, more desire to pray, more thankfulness, for God is at work in you, sanctifying you, doing in you what you could never do for yourself.
In the writing of my most recent book, I decided to include the story of Lilias Trotter. I became acquainted with her first when I read Noel Piper’s book, Faithful Women & Their Extraordinary God. Our women leaders read through this book together and had a wonderful discussion about Lilias Trotter. She is truly one of the great heroes of the faith. Here is a woman who could have been a master artist in England, but instead chose to take the gospel to Algiers and live there for forty years. I think what stands out to me the most about Lilias is that she continued to paint, draw, and sketch in her journals. Her art was first and foremost for God and done daily in the audience of God. She did illustrate and write devotionals and booklets mostly for the Arab world to reach others with the message of Christ. When I first read about Lilias and discovered that her art was filed away in some archives in the UK, I thought “Wouldn’t it be amazing just to look at her artwork!” All the women who shared in the discussion agreed that we would love to see her art. Well, guess what! Now you can. Miriam Huffman Rockness has compiled some of her watercolors and other drawings, many which were in her diaries, into a devotional book, A Blossom In The Desert. If you want to read what Noel Piper has to say about Lilias and this book, 
I like to think of life in terms of seasons. There is no question I travel through seasons of productivity and seasons of rest. Right now I’m in a season of reflection and also writing. I’ll probably write up here on my blog a bit less this week as I am wrapping up a project. I’ve been reading a lot of biographies and I’m so inspired by some of the women whose lives I’ve been studying. One in particular is Mary C. Crowley, a struggling single mother of two who was left with no income, no job, no formal training. She described Jesus as her best friend and trusted Him to lead and guide her. And so He did. She is a perfect example of how the Lord can take our impossible situations and make something of it. Mary certainly journeyed through many seasons of difficulty as she trusted God with her first job. She studied at Southern Methodist University for a business accounting degree, then became an accountant for a furniture company. One thing led to another and she acted on an idea for a small home accessories company called Home Interiors. Her idea became a multimillion dollar company. She went home to be with her Lord in 1986. But God used her in the lives of so many - she was on the board of directors for the Billy Graham Evangelical Association. I knew about Mary Crowley when I served with the Josh McDowell Ministry in Dallas, TX. But I did not really know her life story until recently. I wish I had known - I probably could have met her. I think we need to remember in our lives that “there is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). We need to trust God through the seasons of life, knowing He will carry us every step of the way.
I loved Psalm 25 today. I believe these words of David are for the times when I feel distant from God. We all experience seasons of loneliness, affliction, troubled heart, distress, or anguish. David describes these as times when his feet are caught in a snare (Psalm 25:15). But we can never allow feelings to reign supreme or dictate our actions. For we are people who walk by faith in what God says in His Word. How does a person respond by faith when he or she feels a certain distance from God because of the troubles of their heart? David shows us the way. He says, “My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare” (Psalm 25:15). There’s the answer for all of us - keep our eyes fixed on Jesus! And we need to do it “all day long” (Psalm 25:4). With our eyes fixed on the Lord, we look for his ways, his paths, and his truths (Psalm 25:4). And where are God’s ways, paths, and truths found? In the Bible. And so, we need to grab our Bibles, open them, and live there for awhile. The psalms are a great place to start. Another way is to join a Bible study - you might even think of joining A Heart That Dances led by Debbie Harris and just beginning at 
Today, I thought I would encourage everyone with a prayer I wrote after studying the names of God using the book Trusting In The Names Of God - A 30 Day Journey. Every name meant so much to me and drew me deeper into my relationship with the Lord. What a blessing!! So be encouraged and pray today, trusting that He is more than enough for whatever you face in life. 
Today I read David’s journal writing in Psalm 13. David knew what it was to experience the dark night of the soul. In the dark nights, you feel forgotten by God. His character is unseen, obscured by the clouds of a difficulty or dilemma. A wrestling occurs with a multitude of thoughts bombarding the mind. The dark night breaks the heart with sorrow. The enemy of your soul seems to be defeating you. This is, my friend, a summary of the dark night and David knew it well - see Psalm 13:1-2. But David also knew what to do in the dark night. First, he cried out to God: “Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death” (Psalm 13:3). And then, he drew near to the names of God, dwelling on God’s character and attributes. Soon God loomed larger on the landscape of his mind and he was able to trust - total reliance under stress and trial. That’s why David said, “But I trust in your unfailing love.” Finally, in the dark night, after you have prayed, and opened the pages of God’s Word to draw near to God in His names (character and attributes), then you can rejoice and sing. David said, “my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me” (Psalm 13:6). Do you see the final result - David has been given light in his dark night. For now he sees God. But it’s a new view of God. He sees the goodness of God. And when you can see God’s goodness in your bitter trial, then you are experiencing God in a new and greater way. For me, even this week, as I read about Yahweh Shalom (the Lord is my peace), Yahweh Sabaoth (the Lord is my deliverer), Yahweh Ro’i (the Lord is my Shepherd), and Abba, Father (the Lord is my Father), my heart was comforted and warmed by God’s care and concern. God is personal and He loves us. So run into His presence dear friend, and you will find light in your dark night. And find comfort in the promise of Psalm 18:28 “For You light my lamp; the LORD my God illumines my darkness.”
Today I looked at the life of Gideon in my quiet time. The Israelites were in an oppressive situation because of their own idolatry and disobedience. Finally, they cried out to the Lord (Judges 6:6). God answered by raising up Gideon to be His man for the hour. God met Gideon where he was at. And where was Gideon? In a place of misunderstanding and misinterpreting God. God knew that Gideon thought He had abandoned Gideon and His people. He interpreted the difficulty as abandonment by God. So the first thing God said to Gideon was, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). I love those words. They show me that God has a view of who He is going to make us in His strength and power. That gives me hope. And then, God encouraged Gideon with the truth that absolutely refuted his thinking - the Lord is with you. Basically He was showing with one statement that Gideon had wrongly interpreted the character of God. Gideon resisted, “If the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” God counteracted Gideon’s suppositions about the circumstance by saying “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” And in that moment, Gideon learned a new name for God, Yahweh Shalom. In Gideon I learn today that when I don’t understand God, I need to look to Him for a new view. And maybe, just maybe, He is wanting to show me something new about Who He is, What He does, and What He says. Gideon learned that God is the God of Shalom, peace. And as I wrote in my book Trusting In The Names Of God: The peace of God is like a mighty river flowing deep in the heart, strengthening men and women of God to do great and mighty things in the name of their Lord.
Today I read Galatians 6:9 from Daily Light and oh how it encouraged me. Words straight from the Lord to my heart. “In due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” My dad always says, “Cath, don’t give up. Just keep doing what God calls you to do. And He will bring about a great result in His time.” It’s not that I’m going to give up. I am so excited about all that God is doing and I love to write, speak, and lead women. God has given me such exciting assignments and I love every single one. I just love those times when the Lord gives you a verse of encouragement as you’re running on the race track of life, something where it seems He is saying “Keep going! Keep running! Follow Me! I’ll keep you strong and there is a reward at the end!”