Whispers from the Lord by Jeff Barker

Author:Jeff Barker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: stories of faith;sexual abuse;serve like jesus;stories about faith;sexual abuse book;serving like jesus;faith testimonies;counseling sexual abuse;serve with a heart like jesus;nurse missions;sexual abuse counseling;serving jesus;missionary nurse;victim sexual abuse;how to serve others;missionary biographies;serve one another in love;best christian biographies;what does it mean to serve others;best missionary biographies;heart of a servant;missionary biography books;be like jesus;how to live like jesus
ISBN: 9781496476210
Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers
Published: 2023-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

Questions for Reflection/Discussion

Which biblical persons besides Isaiah saw angels?

When have you experienced a miracle involving the natural world?

When was a time you said to the Lord, “Here am I, send me”?

Message 40

We despised him and rejected him—a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we didn’t care.

Yet it was our grief he bore, our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, for his own sins! But he was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace; he was lashed—and we were healed!

Isaiah 53:3–5 (TLB)

Two and a half months passed by without Arlene recording a message from the Lord in her journal. During this interlude, she was attending to her new students, continuing to work as a midwife in the O.B. ward, celebrating the American Christmas (December 25) and her fifty-second birthday (January 3) along with the Ethiopian Christmas (January 7), and struggling with her cough (wondering if it was pneumonia but not having a way to be certain).

Also during this time, Arlene’s spiritual commitment continued to deepen. The sidet (persecution) at her church strengthened the passion of the worshipers. The services were electric, and she joined with fellow believers for prayer several nights a week. This Ethiopian band of Pentecostal Christians was becoming more and more like those early Christians in the book of Acts.

Among Arlene’s greatest influences during this season of life were the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary and their leader Mother Basilea Schlink. In December, Arlene traveled to Addis Ababa for Ministry of Public Health meetings. Her trip coincided with a visit to Ethiopia by two of the Sisters of Mary, who were staying in the same guest house. She was able to meet with them on eight occasions and even attend a retreat they led. These meetings along with Mother Basilea’s books had an impact on Arlene for years to come.

At the dawn of each new year, Arlene always dedicated the first few pages of her journal to writing a summary of the year gone by. In this year’s summary, she examined multiple facets of her personal, professional, social, church, family, and spiritual life. Arlene wrote, I must not only accept my cross but value it, along with this quote from Mother Basilea:

Your cross may oppress you today, but it will transfigure you tomorrow and lift you up to heaven. Value it highly.

On that first day of 1976, Arlene remembered in her journal how Jesus was disgraced and tortured. That month, the theme of suffering—Christ’s suffering as well as each Christian’s—wove throughout her journal entries, culminating in the following message.

January 27, 1976, Tuesday

In your present suffering, My child, you have not yet been bruised as I was for your sake. I was wounded for your disobedience and took punishment so that you might not have to bear the brunt of your sins. I

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