Tales From Japan: Kumamoto, a story of Healing Hands

I had the pleasure of meeting Takeko, and we talked about many things including how she said God saved her life during the earthquake.

After over a month since our last effort of assisting people in Kumamoto after the devastating earthquake in April, I traveled with a team of volunteers from both Osaka and Okinawa to the epicenter of the quake in Mashiki, Kumamoto.

This photo taken from the side of the road while driving to downtown Mashiki, Kumamoto.

Most houses are uninhabitable and residents are scared to even return to get their things in case the house might collapse on them while they are inside.

The volunteer tasks consisted of clean up of the debris which has remained for months.  We had a very special opportunity to spend time with many folks who are living in shelters.  These people don`t have homes to return to and sleep on cardboard boxes with a futon mat placed on top.  They sleep in stalls only inches away from one another.  Most of them have swollen feet and aches and pains incurred from the disaster.

We first tended to their aches and pains and giving them massages and just listening to them.  Many people literally began to see the swelling disappear and some even the pain simply left their bodies and they could stand up without pain in their lower back or hip etc.  Some cried tears of hurt remembering all they had lost.  Some cried tears of joy as they felt the love from our hearts to theirs.  It was simply unforgettable.

As you can see the living space is quite crowded and after months of living like this some people are really sore and in pain. 

This group of ladies were excited to see us and can`t wait for us to come back!

Pastor Rie from God Blessings Church helping a man who had severe back pain.  When she was finished he stood up walked around without pain and gave her hug.  He was overjoyed!

The same man as picture above, was overwhelmingly grateful!

One story I will share was with a woman named Takeko (in the picture at the top). She had never met a foreigner much less had a massage from one.  She kept smiling and saying it all felt like a dream to her.   She said, "When the quake struck, it knocked me down flat on my back and I barely got out of the house alive before it came crashing down." She exclaimed, to my surprise "God have must have done something because I was done for."  Since her stroke some years back she said it was very difficult to move and get to safety even after she managed to get out from her home.  She bragged how she was the fastest runner in her class in highschool and kept saying it was a miracle that she was still here.  I agreed with her.  "It certainly is a miracle!" We started to talk about God and I prayed with her I saw the swelling go down in her legs and I continued to rub her legs until the swelling was gone.  And she told me that was the best massage she had ever had.  I said, "You are a special lady and God is looking over you." and I walked her back to the rest of the group.

We ministered to over 60 people over the two days we stayed in Kumamoto.

Group shot of the team on our last day in Kumamoto.

And we plan to return and in the meantime we want to respond to the needs of these people by providing fresh clothes; mostly consisting of socks and underwear and even shoes.

Please consider donating $50 towards supplying these people living out their days in poverty in these shelters in Kumamoto.

Click the link at the top right of the page or go to

 paypal.com and send to stevetsunami@yahoo.com

God bless you and we plan to share more stories from Kumamoto in the days ahead.

Connecting Life with Faith: Deliverance

Image from shutterstock.com

For the gospel of Christ to be revelant we all need to come to a point of desperation.  Just as the ancient Hebrews cried out to God because of the difficulties forced upon them, we too must experience hardships in order to fully know and prove our faith.

Exodus 2:23

" During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. "

And God does hear us and our cries to Him.

Psalm 56:8

" You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. "

But there is a time of waiting on Him, learning to trust Him at your lowest point that refines you, makes you more glorious, as He is.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18

" But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. "

These verses are loaded with teaching points but the point I want to emphasize is how turning to The Lord our veils are taken away and we are granted freedom in our spirits.  The freedom "to hope in Him" and contemplate His glory and this process transforms us.

His deliverance from trouble is not something we seek half heartedily. It is something that is poured out daily before Him.  

When His deliverance becomes a priority in your life, the Gospel of Christ becomes the sweetest and most blessed news you'll ever hear.

Psalm 119:103

" How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! "

Be blessed and seek Him in your times of trouble always!

Tales From Japan: Back to the Island

photo taken from View World Beauty

We find ourselves back in Japan after leaving one year ago. Almost like something out of the TV series LOST. A lot of unique and supernatural events have brought us back with a new perspective and purpose.
There have been some interesting revelations and a lot of challenges over the past year but we look forward with hope.

Right before coming to Japan I had an opportunity to share about this message of hope with a Japanese man.

God is the God of hope.

Jesus' call to believe in Him instills a new hope in us. This is hope of a new life, hope for a future beyond death even, and for everything we need to accomplish the task He has set for us.

It is the hope for the new world that God will establish in the era to come that we fix our eyes upon.  The prize of heaven as the apostle Paul called it.

And it is a prize worth seeking, it is worth the confusion and suffering that we go through.  Where God is, there is LIFE and it is never ending. 

Jesus came to save souls and give them life eternally.  His primary objective was not to die for our sins but to give us life, abundant and everlasting.  The cross of Christ and His sacrifice is the great cost.  Jesus is excited about you growing in your faith through your trials.  He is overjoyed at the idea of being with you in heaven, sharing His gift of everlasting life with you.

Just look what the Word of God says

Hebrews 12:2
...Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross...

Back to the story of the Japanese man...
I prayed with this Japanese man who desperately needed hope. He needed a God who is real and who cares. Our meeting was a supernatural event that beckoned me to share my faith and my hope, with this man who prayed a most beautiful prayer:



God help me...

神様僕を助けて、

Jesus please come and save a person like me...

イエスさまこんな僕を救い出して下さい


To see this man in such desperation of heart to pray without any coaching the simple sinner's prayer brought tears to my eyes.


I told him, "Today is a new day, you are reborn when you repent and turn to Him, the one who can save.　Today you encountered the God of Hope"

今日あなたが生まれ変わる日です。神様を求めてイエスに信じるもの必ず助けます。今日は新しい日です。希望の神に出会いました！


So it is a new day for Japan and a new day for me. Everyday we need His grace, everyday sinner and saint. Though the Japanese may not bow at the name of Jesus, God is patient and long suffering wanting for many to turn and call upon Him like that man I met did.
We are back to this island because there is work to do and because God has a plan and purpose for many. And that plan is to give them new life and new hope for the age to come.   Thank God who works in mysterious ways and redeems all things into His glorious plan.   We look forward to many more tales to come from the land of the Rising Son.

God's Divine Wind- The Kamikaze

The Kanji character for Kami Kaze

After several months of much turmoil and difficulty I have returned to Holy Fire in an attempt to share my thoughts and experiences.  Our journey from Japan to America has been arduous to say the least.  Like a typhoon or a hurricane that blows, sometimes God's way of directing us can be turmultuous, knocking us down, even injuring us.  This divine wind that blows and changes our landscapes and lifestyles is truly awesome.  After the storm is lifted there is such clarity and beauty.  The sky is clear and our minds though battered conceive new hope has come.

I am in such a season, standing on the cusp of such an event in my life.  As God redirects us back to Japan in a prophetic and profound way, I could not help but be reminded of the term Kami Kaze.  Literally in Japanese the term means "God Wind."
This term was used during the second World War to refer to a group of pilots who when damaged would sacrifice themselves and crash into enemy targets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze

However, the original meaning goes back to Japan's Fukuoka Prefecture.  The prefecture was invaded by Kublai Khan as he attempted to expand his empire.  He brought 140,000 men by fleet, the largest attempted naval invasion in history only surpassed by the D-Day invasion of WWII! The Japanese samurai were thoroughly routed by the Mongol forces. However, a great typhoon came and struck down the army as it retreated to its ships to prevent attack from the Japanese that night.  The typhoon's timing and strength caught the Mongols by surprise sinking most of their ships, over 3,000!  This "Divine Wind" saved the island of Japan from being taken over by the Mongols.

See if you can find the ships in this paiting below

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamikaze_(typhoon)

The amazing thing is that God has been leading us to Fukuoka, the birthplace of the famous term Kami Kaze, to relocate and begin a new work.  I find this history to be profound confirmation that God's divine wind is indeed taking us there.  And we will arrive in His time and for His purpose in a new season of life.  May God be our Hope and Salvation.

His mighty wind is Divine and He leads us in dramatic and powerful ways.
More posts are to come...

Remembering Japan: A Night of Prayer and Hope

A year from the exact day of the March 11th 2011 disaster in Japan we lit candles and placed them to spell out the characters for Japan as we said our prayers for the people and nation.

I was blessed to have the opportunity to hold an event in memory of March 11th 2011. There is no way I could capture in words the shock, terror, and sheer awe of the images the world saw on that day in Japan, yet we shared our story of that day with the people present.  We gathered with the purpose to remember together and pray together for those who are still hurting, still struggling, still suffering greatly from the aftermath of that tragic day.

The most powerful earthquake in Japan's recorded history has turned many to seek a new hope and to come together as a people. Our prayers for the Japanese were not silent wishes going up to some ambiguous Deity but were cries from the heart to bring hope and peace for them appealing to a loving and righteous God. It is a difficult thing to reflect on, but if all life belongs to God there is no other we can appeal to, no other we can turn to for something so grand, so profound.

There is hope for Japan despite all that has happened and that will happen. If Japan were to be humbled, let them rise ever stronger under a new banner of hope in a true God.

It truly was a night I will remember, a night that we, people with a burden for the Japanese, could share together. There is hope only when we look deep within and find our need to extend beyond ourselves.  We must see God's glorious story and purpose for humanity. That story began with our creation and was redeemed through Christ's sacrifice and continues with us into the future.

A Vision for America: An Eagle in the Wilderness

Eagle photo source http://americannewsbroadcasting.blogspot.com

The other day along with the vision I saw regarding the future leadership in Japan 

THE VISION:

I saw a bald eagle soaring over the wilderness and heard the voice of the Spirit of God say "This is what is to happen to America in the months and years to come."  I looked and saw the eagle looked very haggard and starved. It was desperately looking for food in a barren land. As it flew closer to the ground to spot food it was suddenly shot in the right wing. It was hurt bad and flew to and perched on the closest tree. It did not die, but desperately tried to stop the bleeding of its wing. After awhile it became tired and needed food so it flew down to the ground but collapsed and was eaten by the wild animals.

It doesn`t take much to see this is prophesying that something sudden and crippling is going to take down America from soaring the skies it once did as a world power. The eagle did not die suddenly from the attack but was left disabled unable to feed itself and eventually had no choice but come down from the tree and search for food and finally died.

This also goes along with what God has been saying recently.

see more here: God speaks to America

This is not the type of message I want to speak. I want to see and say good, positive, uplifting words, but I cannot. This is not the message I want to hear myself. Yet, God is on the throne and God is bigger than any country and its people. God judges the nations of the earth so that righteousness and justice would come. 

It is true that America has done great good in the world, but also has shed much blood.  It has waged many wars and continues to do so. Its leaders have become corrupted. Its people have become lost meanwhile the innocent suffer, the poor, the widows. Though the people of America cry out, they will not repent from evil.  How can God help those who refuse His ways? How can God teach and guide those who will not acknowledge His authority?

I pray for America and for the days ahead, for strength and courage for the many who will endure because they trust not in themselves but in God. God will keep them and will crown them with glory in the age to come. 

A Vision for Japan: A White Serpent will Appear

Photo from http://audrey.yaresse.com/

Yesterday I was walking and in prayer as the Holy Spirit came upon me. I began to see a vision and a voice told me this is what the LORD will reveal about the future leaders of Japan.

THE VISION:
I saw a white serpent slither up to a podium and begin to speak. It spoke and the people listened because it was clever and wise. It brought prosperity to the land and the people rejoiced. Their confidence was restored and Japan began to flourish once again among the nations. Then the snake began to speak against the people of God.  He convinced the people to mistreat the ones who believe in Jesus (イエス）.  Then the snake was suddenly lifted up and eaten by a large bear.

Asian Black Bear photo from Wikipedia

This bear was strong and aggressive.  It led the people with a strong voice and took up arms against Japan`s neighboring countries.  It sent out armies from the south across the sea. But soon the bear was overcome, it collapsed and died.

After the bear died a white rabbit came along and it wasn`t long until it was caught in a trap and was taken away by other men. This is the end of the vision I saw.

White Rabbit image taken from blogcrtitics.org

I do not know the exact intrepretation but I do know that three leaders will emerge in Japan in the years ahead.  They are represented by the three beasts and perhaps their names will even have kanji characters of these animals or their birth years may be these animals.

Word of the LORD: Behold God speaks to America

A few weeks ago the Spirit of God came to me and told me to write these words down.  It seems to me it is no coincidence that these words should come at a time close to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. These words are very serious and caused me to grieve and intercede before the LORD. A time is surely coming, people be ready!

The sovereign Lord, God of Israel ruler of the nations speaks

To America
Do not think yourself great among the nations. Do not think of yourself as powerful. Do not think yourself as special. For in a short time you were exalted and even sooner your flag shall be removed from among the great nations of the earth.

Yet do not think that you never knew Me. There was a time when many called on My name. And I blessed them and their children and their children`s children even unto 5 generations they shall be blessed.

The nations of the earth belong to the Lord God. Every country, every tribe, every knee will bow when I reveal My glory from heaven.

Do not think that I chose you as My people, a nation set apart.  For I will bless all those who call upon my name. They shall be safe.

Woe to the wicked ways you tolerate. For now you even sanction evil and protect it, along with perversion and abomination. Pride and arrogance before me I will not stand. America your cup of iniquity is almost full and it shall be poured out to the last drop.,

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Woe to those who teach evil to innocent children causing them to go astray and bring iniquity upon themselves.

Woe to those in power who hide and conceal, those who lie and pervert justice
Woe to those who corrupt the courts of law and turn the people away from righteousness

Where will you go when disaster befalls you? Who will you pray to? Who will help you? You who practice evil!

You will have nothing America your states divided and economy broken. You will be divided into three pieces and will be pitied amongst the nations declares the LORD

Yet if you were to relent and stop from doing such evil and turn away from unrighteousness, Oh how I would restore beauty to your land again. For I do not take pleasure in the death of the wicked.

Your time is short. Today you have before a choice to hear the voice of My prophets, of My people, who speak to you the message of repentance.

Let the evil in the land be purged says the LORD. Lest you repent.

Word of the LORD: God will raise up West Japan

The Word of Lord spoken to me on August 4th 2011 as I stood outside in Matsudo looking out at the sky.

The Almighty God has brought disaster upon this people. They fall by their own hands and by their own deeds they are undone.  Their greed and corruption have soiled this very land and all who dwell in it.  So I shall remove their banner and give it to another.  I shall raise up the West and raise the banner high and the East shall be in shame. They try to conceal and lie their way out and do not repent of their evil ways.

There shall be no capital to the East but it shall be barren.  It shall be left to rest from evil and corruption.  So the West shall be made strong.  The entire nation shall be changed and reborn. I shall redeem all those who turn from evil and follow My ways, and receive My salvation.

There will be great trouble in this land, but it shall come to pass. This people shall come to know My name and My ways. Their sickness and disease shall be healed.  Their sins forgiven, if they come to Me.

大いなる神は言われます。神はこの人々に災害を許し、しかし自分の手で自分の仕業で滅びる。政治家は欲望と汚職でこの土地を汚し、この住民まで汚染され、罰をあたえます。関東の旗をおろします。そして他の地域に与えるのがよい。関西の旗を高く上げよう。それを見て関東は恥を抱く。しかしまだ嘘を止めずに人をだまし続けます。悔い改めることせずに滅びます。

関東は荒野のようになり、それで悪の働きと汚職は止むだろう。その後関東は平安を抱く。そのごろ関西は神が強める。日本は強くなり、生まれ変わるだろう。よく聞くのがよい、私（神）はすべて悪から悔い改めるものを助けます、救いをあたえます。私（神）の道を歩むものにそうします。

この国にはまだ大変な災難は終わっていません。しかし、必ず、神は全部言われたものを成し遂げます。この国の人私（神）の名を知りになり、私（神）の教えも、そして彼らの病をいやし、彼らの罪もゆるします。私（神）に来るものすべてそうします。

A Word and Message for the Future of Japan

Word of the LORD spoken to me on June 14, 2011.

I have set myself against the proud and haughty. Those who love to show their skin and flaunt their garments in public. Those who have forgotten the poor and condemned the innocent. Those who exalt themselves in their own hearts. Those who say "I am what I am" and refuse to repent of their evil, those who refuse to acknowledge that I have made them in My image.

For they will soil their garments with their own feces, they will grow weak and their bones will break. In their wickedness I will leave them unsatisfied, they will be consumed with madness. They will look to the idols, fortune tellers, and spiritists. They will try to find comfort but they will lose all their possesions and money because they will not seek Me.

So I will send them messengers, a generation of forerunners shall preach to them the words of life and many shall hear them and be healed. Many shall turn from wickedness and find everlasting life. Those who turn away from their evil ways and receive the words of Truth. The Messiah`s gospel shall be preached among them and they will be delivered from their troubles. Miracles and many signs shall be seen among them.

Yet there will be trouble and division among the people. There will be violence and bloodshed in the land that once was called peaceful among the nations. My people will be hated and sent out. They shall be sent out of Japan with a calling to the nations of the earth.

翻訳
神様日本への告げ

私【神】は誇りと傲慢のものを敵対している。自分の美肌と美しみを自慢にしているもの、人前で自分のオシャレの服を誇示するもの。それながら、貧しい人を忘れている、被害を受けているものを死宣告している。これらの人たちは自分の心の中で自分自身を許し。自分の罪を認め、悔い改めずに私【神）が人類を創造した事を認めない、私の存在を拒否するものよ。

彼らは自分の服を奮で汚す、彼らを不健康にする、その骨が破損する。私（神）は彼らの心満たされていないままに、彼らが狂気に満たされます。彼らは、アイドル、占い師と、霊気師を求める。彼らは慰めを見つけようとしますが、彼らが私を求めることができないので、彼らは彼らのすべての財産と金を失うことになる。

だから私は彼らに使者を送り、先駆者の世代が彼らの前で現れます。彼らに命の言葉を耳にする、それに従って生きるでしょう。それで彼らが癒され、多くの人々に説く、罪から改めて、永遠の命を見つけるでしょう。邪悪な方法から背き人は真実の言葉を聴き受けます。救世主の`福音は、それらの間で述べ伝えられる。彼らは彼らの苦難の日々から助け出します。奇跡、多くの兆候が、彼らの間で見せられなかればならない。

しかし、苦難や争いが人々の間に現れるでしょう。信じるものが暴力にあうでしょう。かつて最も平和な国と呼ばれる土地で流血が増え、私（神）の民は嫌われる、そして送り出されるでしょう。彼らは地球の国々への呼び出され、そして日本から出っていくものが私に（神）選ばれたものとなる。

Tales from Japan: A Life Changing Dream

The mushroom cloud from the hydrogen explosion at Fukushima Nuclear plant

I am going to shock some of you reading this...well maybe I won`t. In the month of April I had a dream, it was quite strange, in fact that is why I wrote it down. At the time I had no idea what was going on with Fukushima, radiation, and cover ups. In fact I was in strong favor of the Japanese government and the information they were releasing to the public and the stance they had taken regarding the issue. Besides it had only been about a month since the 3/11 Earthquake and Tsunami

So I after returning home from my stay in the hospital and surgery, I went to sleep. That night I saw this dream...

My family and I, along with many other people, were being kept inside a tower.  We all kept trying to look for a way out, but the men in charge would find us and become angry with us.  They became angry and put blindfolds on our eyes so that we could not escape.  But somehow we were able to find a way out of the tower, and when we were able to take the blindfolds off we saw a wasteland.  There was a brownish color across the sky and the hills then I suddenly awoke! I was freaked for a few moments but that prompted me to write it down.

It wasn`t until about a week ago that I felt prompted to look at that note again in light of everything that has happened the last couple months since then.  But this time looking at the words I felt quickened to their meaning!

We had been trapped in a controlled situation, being kept from the truth that lay outside of what is happening in Fukushima.  When we would seek answers those in power would assume authority and try to confuse or blind us so that we wouldn`t come to the horrific conclusion that they have no control over the situation.  That one day the most prosperous, populated place in the world may become a barren land, desolate, a home for mutated beasts and deadly insects.

This image is very similar to what I saw in my dream.

I cannot say that I know when this might happen, but as each day and week unfolds I see that this dream may come to reality one day.  Maybe 5, 10, 20, 50 years from now.

This dream has literally grabbed me and turned my life upside down! Perhaps it will bring about good and save the lives of my children if heeded

Tales from Japan: Looking Back, Pressing Forward

We are now beginning to enter the Easter weekend in Japan.  It has been little over a month since the devastating and ultimately life changing earthquake that hit on March 11th.  Literally thousands of people are without homes, families, or jobs.  They have nothing to do but sit and wait alone and confused with no direction.  Even now hundreds of thousands and even millions live out each day still experiencing aftershocks that constantly remind them of the horror of that day. 

I often revisit it myself.  I have never experienced a day such as that in my whole life.  Over two minutes of escalating terror that led me to flee my office.  When I hurried outside, the mildly warm weather had turned into an icy cold wind and the sky became dark.  It was an eerie, awful sight to behold.  I will never forget it. I literally felt my soul move within me as I looked out upon the land.

Yet what I experienced was nothing compared to those who endured the black tsunami waves and the utter ruin of their homes and towns, further north.

So as the days and weeks went by I watched the aftermath unfold, hanging on to my wits and praying with all my heart.  Japanese are a strong people, but even they must realize that our strength is far from almighty.  Stories of tragic loss, human bravery, and brotherly love still continue to surface.

I have even heard of some who experienced supernatural things during the quake and tsunamis.  Some have heard voices from heaven, or seen angels, but do not know what to think of it.  They are like Saul, who experienced a supernatural encounter, and they need an Ananias. Japanese people are very self righteous people, who do not see much need for religion in their day to day lives, but I truly believe now is a time when many are asking questions and looking for answers. 

It is shocking to me how many Japanese have never heard of Easter.  They have never heard of Jesus, the risen Christ!  They know about Christmas and even know about Jesus on the cross.  But they have no idea that Jesus is alive, that He is a living LORD and savior. 

People often ask me about Japan.  They ask what is needed or how they can pray for Japan.  My heart tells me that there is nothing that can truly replace what many have lost.  People are so eager to help them, yet with all this generosity the Japanese soul still can never be satisfied.  I see it in their eyes.  They need a new direction, a new hope, a new path to walk. 

They need to see the power of the resurrected Christ in their lives.  The Christ who says in John 12:32 that "I will draw all people to myself."  They don`t need to exchange religions, they need to exchange their hollow lives for the true life found in Christ.

Life in Japan will go on with fear and panic consuming many while others will find a new path.  I pray that it is the path of eternal life, the path of Christ Jesus. 

There is much work to be done, but the workers are few.  Less than 1% of Japan`s population claim to be Christian, and it has been at this number for many years.  The heart of a nation is not changed in days or months, but takes generations until the time is ready.  In the past month not only has the earth and sea been shaken, but the very heart of a nation. 

I pray that it not be in vain.  That this month would usher in a new era.  That the eyes of the LORD would be on Japan and that God would send a tsunami of the Holy Spirit to wash away the hurt and works of darkness that have claimed this island nation.

I leave you with a vision I saw a few weeks ago while in the hospital.

I saw flood gates opening.  I saw clean water washing away filth and rot from the black tsunami of death.  I saw sadness turn to smiles as people embraced one another.  People began to see Christ before them, as He walked through the towns and cities.  He lifted His hands to heaven and the sky became clear and a song began to play.  The song was in Japanese.  It was a hymn to God, Japan`s own song to the LORD and the youth began to sing it and suddenly they were given swords and armor to fight. They went throughout the earth and prayed to God and were strengthened to take down many dark places.  They song and strongholds were removed and the light of God shone among them.

I truly believe and pray that this is the time for spirit of the LORD to visit these people and the youth of this nation.  Please join me in prayer and the provision for these people.  May we live to see the blessing of God come forth in the end of all this.

The fire still burns

It has been a week of eating and recovery. I cannot say that I feel stronger than before. In fact, I feel more exhausted and my body aches. However, more than these physical symptoms, I am experiencing the change in spiritual climate. It seems as though nothing has changed, yet in the midst of my fast I felt the changes of many internal things. It seems as though waking from an amazing dream to return to the usuals of life.

Intimacy was all I had to rest upon, now I am not sure of my own heart. Where am I? What do I do now? Where do I go? Where will you lead me?

These are the questions I ask in the moments of silence.

I am waiting for the hurricane to blow. Tommorrow it will come and perhaps I will have an answer. Will the floods wash away the idols? God sends His flood and rain comes and washes away the idols from the heart, but they can be remade and rebuilt by human hands again. They must be forgotten...they must be removed by the hands that made them. If God destroys them, let those who made them heed His wrath and fall upon His grace lest they face judgement!

Let me not grow tired of prayer and seeking God in my free time. Let me ask with confidence and expectation. Let my prayers be filled with faith and my words with boldness. Let not the fire cease to burn, but let my light shine. Amen.

Breakfast

Today is Monday. It is early and for some reason I found myself in the need to prayer from 3am this morning. I watched the sky change color from candlelight. This brought the thought to me that a burning candle has no real use in the daylight. Now we are in the darkness and our lights burn bright and hot, but one day it will no longer matter. One day the Son will appear and the light of eternity will shine forever.

There is a strange feeling when coming off a fast. You eat and appreciate it, but you also feel sad about it. You realize the disappointment of food. It only satisfies the appetite, not the soul. It is a mere physical act of necessity meant to strengthen the body, but it cannot bring strength to the heart. It is enjoyable at times, but it cannot compare to the joy of fellowship with God.

Now it is time again for breakfast. However, I have remembered to start with the LORD. He gives me the strength I need and the resolve to live righteously. From now on I will eat everyday and life will go on, but let me not neglect the essential spiritual diet I need. I must continue to thirst and hunger for Him, His righteousness, and His Kingdom.

7/7/7

It is finished. The task given to me is complete. My vow and my fast fulfilled.

It was a day full of surprises and a lot of work. I had to travel about 2 hours on the train early in the morning to perform MC duties for my company at a teacher seminar. The seminar went till about 4:30. After that I returned to worship at Funabashi at 6:30 and that went till about 9:00. I came home about 10:00 and had communion after midnight.

I am exhausted, but my soul has peace. I have been renewed and my heart has been restored. The LORD has done a work in me and I am only beginning to understand it. This is a year of happenings and God will open the gates and His Spirit will move upon the people. They will shine with the glory of God and their light wil bring others to praise the Father in heaven.

The LORD will shake the earth and shrines where gods and idols are worshipped will fall. The heart of Japan will shake and the name of the LORD will be honored. The gods will be forgotten and the people will turn to the one true God for their help. He will open their eyes to see and ears to hear the words of life. There will be floods that wash away idols from the land, the earthquakes will ruin the famous places of worship and people will be unable to offer prayers to false gods. God will bring it to pass and this year it shall begin.

Magnify the LORD, revere Him all you nations, woship Him in beauty of His holiness.
May His face shine on us and may He be merciful to us and forgive our sins
He is our God and we are His people.
Amen.

one more week...

O God who is faithful and God who is love,
God who is merciful and God who is just,
Remember our prayers and turn to our cry,
Humility and repentence you will not deny.
Save our nations, homes, and hearts
for this reason you came to start
a new kingdom of redemption and glory,
won`t you use me to write Your story.

All glory be to God! Let Him be praised forever!! His glory increase and mine decrease. May he receive the praises of men everyone and may my lips never cease to magnify Him.

As for me, I cannot stand before Him. My heart grows faint and I cannot speak with eloquence. What can I say to Him, He who made everything, who dwells in glorious light unseen by the eye of man? I tremble and I weep before Him in heaven...who is worthy? who is able to behold Him as He is?

Draw close to me Lord. I cannot see you anymore. I am blind and I stumble, but You are my light and my salvation. I have walked into darkness and I have grown weary, but you came and rescued me. Come O Lord and give me the Spirit of glory. Teach me O God. Let your Spirit give me understanding in all my ways. Let your Holy Spirit do a work in me. Let it be wonderful. You give life to a man by Your Spirit and bless him according to your lovingkindness.
The Spirit of God gives life to all who ask and those who seek God, find life everlasting. Amen.


One more week to go and I am poured out completely. There is not much of me, but I will give all I am to the One who gave all for me. I will finish and I will see the glory of my God before me. His glory will ever be before me and I will pursue it because as Peter said "where else can we go?" His glory consumes us. Even though we hunger, only He can satisfy.

My body aches and is tired, but my spirit will not rest until I have sought God Almighty. My prayer is to bring forth His will be done, and my petition is for His kingdom to reign on earth as it is heaven...glorious!

Prayers from the balcony

Daily I am called to my balcony to pray for many things, many people and for God`s kingdom in many facets. By candlelight and morning light, in the warm sun, and in the cool rain I kneel and sit before my precious Lord. At times I need only groan and allow time for a desire to well inside me. This welling in time producing the pouring forth of prayers offered up to Him to reigns on high, He who sees me from eternity and knows me perfectly.

I confess, it is a challenge for me to pray in Japan. Last time I fasted such as this I had the luxury of time and freedom, now I cannot fathom it. I have work 8 hours, about two hours commuting, and the rest of my time goes to caring for needs of family and other chores needed to be done around the house.

Yet I feel strong and more able to carry such a load than ever before. This is the miracle of fasting. All who fast will discover this: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by ever word proceeding the mouth of God."

Christians
We are not bound to fast, but have grace to fast according to the One who gives. Fasting can puzzle many, causing division and pride to arise, if not done with the call of His grace and passion of His kingdom. For there are times for leaders to call us to fast and pray corporately and times for a personal call to fast. The personal call is often a sign of His grace to come in our lives for various reasons. These calls can appear together and at times are separate for the disciple. To be a disciple requires discipline (hence the word) and I know of no other more rigorous and rewarding discipline greater than fasting.

Perservering through Fasting

Fasting is at times lonely and difficult. Not every moment of it is filled with blessed times of the Holy Spirit`s touch. Often my dreams are filled with not visions of God`s glory, but of very real dreams of me eating. Afterwards I awake to the reality that I am fasting and that there are more weeks ahead. Yet it is a special time, for all my life I will eat, but in this time set aside I can experience God and can say that He is my portion. Amen. And that He satisfies me. (perhaps my dreams are the confirmation of the spiritual reality, God is feeding my soul).

I desire to behold God, though I know my heart is dark. I want the light of His truth to flood my mind cascading into my soul. I want to be transformed by the renewing of mind in this way. Then I will know the will of God, His good and perfect will and be able to walk in it confidently.

This I cry to God today...
There are many who seek God and are much greater than I. I have nothing to my name and seem as a nobody. I am weary from work and raising children. What good am I to the church of God? What can I offer? What time? What money? I have little but hope.

Yet I will see the dawn. I will grasp onto this...that my eternal, majestic, wealthy, glorious Father loves me and is pleased to have me live this day and breathe this breath. I will pursue Him and know that He holds my destiny in His hands no matter how great or how small it may be. It is perfect and precious to Him. Our destiny begins when we decide to bear the image of the Christ in us today. For the world cannot see Christ with their naked eyes, but they can see us and Christ can be revealed to them. There is no greater calling than this and let God increase and decrease us in future seasons.

Fasting has brought me to a stillness that was neglected. Also it has brought a newfound regularity of prayer and daily reflection. I pray on my balcony every morning and even through the night hours. The Bible often refers to day and night prayer being effective and pentative. Though with children I can say that prayer times are not always as routine as I would like, but I thank God to have made any time at all. *smile

Now is the time

Today is another sunny day and the weather the past week has been really good. I thank God! His merices are new every morning. Though we grow dull of hearing, our eyes lose their light and even our hearts grow cold, He still hears our prayers when we turn to Him in humility and honesty.

Since last year, the Holy Spirit has been pounding the verse. "Ask and it will be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be open to you."

I have asked God and he has given a passion and calling in my life. I have sought and here I am in Japan. I now that I am here I must knock and trust that the door will be open. It is time to knock on heaven`s door and to see it open up. It is time this year to see the Lord open the gates according to the knocking of His servants. Let me not grow weary of praying and knocking! Can I cry out as the widow for justice in this land or like the desperate man who needed provision from his neighbor?!

God please open the gates! Hear the cry of my heart and knocking of my prayers. On my own I know I am not enough for a Godless country, but you are the Lord of the harvest who sends out workers and who grows up mighty ones for your service. Raise up annoited preachers, prophets, pastors, and evangelists. Give your name the glory it deserves in Japan. The NAME above all names. Give your church the spirit of revelation and of power to move in a new way this year to turn many hearts to you.

Jesus` disciples remembered what the Scripture said when they saw Jesus in the temple with the whip, "Zeal for my house has consumed me." (John 2)

Let a new found zeal take hold in churches here! Let the world marvel at your church, your annoited ones living in the glory and righteousness of God. AMEN

Learning to Worship

Often I ask God's guidance for my prayer life. It is important that our prayers not only echo our desire and needs, but are also in tune with God's heart and kingdom purpose. So this is the season to remember our Lord and His birth. The Bible records our Saviour's first days on earth and what did the people do? They worshipped Him. They brought offerings and gifts for Him.
My prayer is that this season I can once again learn to worship Him. I feel like everything has to start over again. The American Christian life was very different than what I experience here. So I ask my God, "Teach me to worship you here!" "Teach me how to worship you in this foreign and pagan land that it may be a light unto the them." For God has called us to be "a light among the gentile nations."(Isaiah 49:6)
This is my prayer and my meditation. May God grant me and teach me this that it may prove the power of His Word and the faithfulness of His promise. Amen.