The Secret Place

John Knox used to pray “God give me Scotland or I die”

The meetings started this past Sunday and have been held every night. They have been going great, the Lord has really been moving!

Check out Christopher’s website for a nightly (sometimes hourly) recap of the meetings!

www.christopherhopper.com

Jenniferlee

We landed in the beautiful country of Scotland on Friday, May 16th. We are staying with the wonderful Meldrum family (David, Helen and Philip) and ministering at their church The Full Gospel Church of Dalkeith.

We visited this beautiful castle on the left the first evening we arrived.

Saturday we spent the day in St Andrews, which is where David and Helen went to University and where they met and fell in love. It is also the “birth place” of Golf!

Here is a photo of me on the Pier at St Andrews!

Here in this photo on the right are our hosts David & Helen Meldrum, with son Philip (in the back) and son Steven with his wife Rachel and daughters Lois & Naomi! (Christopher & I on the left)  This photo was taken just after we enjoyed a meal at The Doll House at St Andrews!

More to come!

Jenniferlee

Being A Friend of God
In the same kingdom, are some of the Kings companions, they laugh together, and do business for him, and play chess on rainy days, they play golf, and tell jokes. But they only know of this King’s character and have only scratched the surface of His heart.

I was in Florida for a big conference in May of 2003. I went outside to sit under the stars with Jesus, and the Lord said this to me.

“Jennifer, I have so many pastors, teachers, evangelists, and missionaries, but
I have very few friends.”

My heart broke before the Lord, and I repented for striving to be someone in His kingdom rather than striving to meet His need as a friend.

I realized that the more I became His friend the more I was concerned about His personal needs rather than just listing off my own. (How many of you have friends that just list off everything to you and never ask how you are?) They are only concerned about themselves. In most cases, this kind of person wouldn’t be considered a dear friend. But how often do we do that to the Lord? Just list off our requests and problems?

I began to ask him, how was your day? What was hard for you to watch today? What broke your heart today? How can I be a blessing to you?

One day I was asking the Lord how he was doing, and he hesitated, and said
“I lost a lot of people today.”

I wept when the Lord said this to me. It broke my heart to hear his heart break.

If hearing the Lord say something like that to you doesn’t give you a passion for souls, I don’t know what will. It made me realize in a new way, how much he loves each individual and how much he desires a relationship with them.

Exodus 33:11 “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”

Genesis 5:24 “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

John 13:23,25 “One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.” Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord who is it?”

John the Beloved had his name for a reason, he was close to Jesus, and he wanted to sit near him, to sit back against him, to love him. All of the disciples had the opportunity to be just as close with Jesus, but John was the one who took the time to be closer; to sit back against Jesus’ chest, perhaps he was listening to his heart beating.

John 15:15
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends…”

Perhaps you feel you have served the Lord well, and now he is calling you friend, but don’t be content, there is more! Keep Reading!

JH

Servant hood

I want you to picture a kingdom. In the kingdom there is a beautiful castle, with a gracious and kind King. In the castle are many servants, they clean the castle, and make meals, do the dishes, the laundry, mop and sweep, and do what the King commands. These servants however, do not get an audience with the King, because they feel their good works are what please the King and that is the basis of their relationship.

As a Christian, being a servant is where we begin our relationship with Christ. But when we are servants in His Kingdom, we know we are beholding to him, and that we owe him our life. But if we stay at this level, we tend to get so caught up in the everyday, tasks, and good works, and bettering ourselves to be a good servant that we forget that the Lord himself desires companionship.

Do you feel this way sometimes? Like you always doing things for the Lord rather than with Him? I know I have felt this way, and it is a very tiring place to be.

Because we were never meant to be human doings but rather human beings.

JH