three phone calls that saved me today - 1 picture + 1 experience with the Lord today

The phonecalls themselves did not literally saved me, but they were means through which I got saved from myself, from my situation, and from my tiredness. It's Saturday again and after work I managed to get some rest, right after I paid a visit to the vegetables market in Archway [called, Archway Market] on my way home. I can't believe the sun was shining so bright but outside it was so cold! The days when "you can see your breath" are back, and it looks like they are here to stay for a while! Well... bring it on, fall and then winter! :)

1 Picture Today - London is full of contrasts, check out these cars!

I finally managed to take such a picture of the contrasts existing in the UK and in London in particular. There are all kinds of cars on the street, some more fancy and others more old-style. In this picture, if you look hard enough, you can see a 3-wheel old-style yellow small car, and on the other side a nice black convertible new style car. Sometimes you can see them one after another, or one by the other - one worth £500 and the other £15000. I would say that the driver in the yellow car is happier and more restful than the other guy ;) But the contrast is indeed striking many times... [I finally managed to capture it

One Experience with the Lord Today - Three Phone Calls that Saved me today

This kind of phone calls don't usually happen, but neither are they too special - I would say, they are normal, and they are a nice expression of the saints in the church life which happen to take place today. A few articles back I was sharing that it is so good to be in this lovely place, in the church life - here we can enjoy God in all His riches in the house of God. And the saints are here - Christ is in the saints! We are not just men - we are God-men, those who have the divine life within the human life and who learn to live by the divine life in the human life. As such, we have both a human history (birth, family, school, high school, university, FTT, etc) and also we have a divine and mystical history (God sanctifying us, setting us apart, sweeping in us, our regeneration, our daily growing, being renewed, experiencing Christ daily, being transformed, being conformed, etc).

The First Call - a fellow Romanian brother calls me today (just as I was resting a bit after work). He asked me for some advice regarding some practical situations, and I tried to give him some advice. Eventually, due to my lack of experience in that particular field, I had to direct him to another brother who may help him. But this was not it: as we were talking, we "slipped into" having some fellowship, and there was some dispensing of God and some ministering of Christ! It's so good to hear that God is working in other people's lives, and that He puts the ones around us on our heart that we may pray for them and serve them with Christ! Yes, even the ones at school or at work, wherever the Lord put you, are the best candidates for your prayer and your speaking of Christ!

The Second Call - a brother called me for some fellowship concerning taking care of the young people. In the church life we are not passive; rather, the Lord shows us the existing needs and, according to the burden from the Lord, we cooperate with Him to take care of the need in a coordinated way. How do we take care of the young people? Is it organization? Is it a special group of people who does this? Or iIs it by having young people's meetings? Or is it by learning to take a personal care and a personal interest in one or two young ones? The conclusion of the call was that we are learning what's the best way to both take personal care of the young ones and how to have the meetings with the young people. Amen, we're learning!

The Third Call - is a call I got from a child, who eventually turns out to be the son of a brother in the church life who wanted to call his daddy (who is called Stephen, incidentally) and he misspelled his name on the phone - so he called me! I was startled at first to hear a child's voice on the other and, but I quickly realized it must be one of the kids of the saints... - eventually, I talked to the mom, and it was a pleasant conversation. You know what, even when you take a call that is not for you, that is, when the other person may have made a mistake in dialling, you can still minister life and receive life! I was so much enlivened and encouraged when I got this third call :) A simple call, the wrong person called, yet some flowing of God's life taking place! How about that!

The moral of the story - is not to point out how interesting life can be, but to thank the Lord in appreciation for the church life. Sometimes you're tired; other times you don't have time; still, other times, you can't be bothered to call the saints, or you forget to call the saints. In these times you need the supply of the Body, and you can be saved by the other members simply contacting you... Guess what, if you cultivate a relationship with the Lord and you pursue Him with the saints, the Lord Himself will call you through different members of His Body just to remind you about Himself, and there's some life ministered into you in these calls.... It is so good to "sow unto life" by enjoying the Lord and endeavouring to be in the church life.... - the Lord will then visit you just when you need it, when the time comes...

Today I realized again that I need the Body of Christ - I need the function of the other members of the Body. It's so good to be connected and be dependent o the other members. It's really "to me - for you", and "my going on is for you - your going on is for me". As members in the Body of Christ, we are NOT separate entities - we are an organic Body for Christ to move, be expressed, and be glorified through! I am so grateful to the Lord for the saints - all ages, all languages, all nationalities, from any country, in each one's measure, with their portion in the Body.... Lord, keep us here, connected and built up together as Your Body!

One Meaningful Thing Today: Redeeming the Time at Lunch (30-day challenge)

Coming back after a lovely home meeting where we enjoyed songs of love to the Lord like, Jesus Lord I'm captured by Thy Beauty, Jesus Lord You're our first love - You're the One we love the Best!, The day approaches - Jesus soon is coming... - I love the Lord so much! I have to agree with David when he says that after he gets into the sanctuary of God and is in God's presence in His house, his whole perspective of the world is changed! Even the way we view the world and the people around us is changed - turned the right side up - when we are enjoying God in the house of God, in the church life!

But coming back to today's challenge - as you can see from the previous paragraph, the home meeting was delightful and eye-opening, but .... there's another matter I want to appreciate the Lord for today, which is,

One Meaningful Thing Today:
Redeeming the Time at Lunch

Believe it or not, I have a lunch break - only 30mins, but it's still a lunch break. As the day goes on and things pile up, to-do lists are being made, post-it notes on the PC, calendar reminders, emails with stars and "priority inbox", phone calls and orders, etc... the first thing I want to do on my lunch break - before even eating something - is to TAKE A BREAK! Just take a breather, man!

But I have already discovered a secret - the real rest I need and the real break for me is not just to stop from working and eat something in peace, but to give this lunch break to the Lord and enjoy Him in this time. Particularly, according to what I see right now as being the need, I am calling a brother and we're fellowshipping and praying together - for less than 11-13mins. This is it: redeeming the time in the lunch break - no matter how short is - to really get some rest, really get some spiritual food, and be encouraged!

The best meals I had for lunch were after such a phonecall and prayer time to touch the Lord with my dear vital companion... It is such a mercy from the Lord that we can TURN away - in the middle of the day, in the middle of the work time - to the Lord! We can turn to our spirit within, where the Lord dwells! It's a fight, it is a struggle, and not all the time you break through - but I practice, I give my best, to touch the Lord and kiss Him again, pray again for what's on His heart! After such a call the food tastes nicer, the time is more than enough, and there's life and peace within!

No matter how the situation was when I left the office, no matter how many things are awaiting my attention and response, I can take a break and enjoy the Lord - and I am filled with Him! He is the real lunch - and I'm learning a bit of what the Lord told His disciples in John 4(when He was waiting for them to get something to eat from the city, and He gave the Samaritan woman to drink of the living water) - My food is to do the will of the Father(John 4:32-34)... it is the Father's will that we keep a constant contact with the Lord Jesus and enjoy Him! This is what I enjoy the most, and this is what God also loves - and both us and God are satisfied!

To Redeem - is to purchase back something that was yours initially, and the price you pay for it is greater than the price you initially paid. TIME is ours - or so we think - but when it comes to enjoying the Lord, there's a greater price we all need to pay for even 10-15 minutes to spend with the Lord! Yes, we have time - but somehow, in some way, and for some reason - we need to redeem this time, pay a higher price to get it back, so that we may spend time with the Lord! But every such time is a memorial between you and Him, and it counts all the way into the New Jerusalem!

Amen, Lord, I want to learn to REDEEM MY TIME! Save me from wasting any more time.... I realize it all starts when you see the value of things - you see the Lord, His value and worth, and then you pay any price to gain Him. And we gain Him here a little, there a little, at lunch time a bit, in the evening with the saints a bit, in the morning a little... bit by bit, spending time with Him, the price increases but the willingness to pay the price is there - because we have tasted and we can testify that He is GOOD, and we see His infinite worth and preciousness! .... [and this was my lunch break today. And yesterday, and all my working days. Lord, recover my lunch breaks - to matter in Your eyes! Start with the lunch break, Lord, and take over many other times and areas...]

One Meaningful Thing Today: Fellowship and .... Walk! (30-day challenge)

I never thought it would be THAT hard to find ONE thing that is meaningful today, as part of the 30-day challenge.... I've been doing lots of things, as usual, and also thinking, Lord, which one of these things are "the most meaningful?" But I realized, this challenge is not "the MOST meaningful thing I did today", but simply, "ONE meaningful thing I did today). So the thing for today is actually two things, one spiritual and another human / natural.

One meaningful thing I did today - Spiritually -
Fellowship with the brothers!

Throughout the week tiredness is accumulated and towards the end of the week.... you get tired! As much as I would like to even attend some meetings, my body says, GET SOME REST! So today, after work(yes, I work on Saturdays at SparksDirect until 2pm), even though we had the brothers' meeting, I decided I need to get some rest... But I kept the door open, if the brothers would allow me, I can join them via skype and fellowship / pray! Even though I was so tired - I was literally laying in bed.... as soon as I got the "let's do this" response, I joined the fellowship. From here on my experience is similar to most of our experiences once we simply say, Amen, Lord! to His leading to go to the meeting - I got vitalized, refreshed, renewed, and even rested! We fellowshipped, we prayed, we fellowshipped again, we read some portions and shared some more... for almost 1.5h I felt so energized, so renewed.... There's something about the divine life, once you turn to your spirit and touch the Lord, the entire being is filled with life! The mind is life(Rom. 8:6), and even the body is filled with life! .... after that fellowship with the brothers, though I wasn't physically present at the meeting but in spirit I was there, I couldn't be in bed anymore, so I ....

One Meaningful Thing I did today - Human / Natural -
I took a nice walk!

I have to admit, I'm still learning how to have some refreshing and not-too-tiring activities, so today after the Skype call with the brothers I just went out for a walk! What a lovely evening! The sun was going down, the light was dimming, the birds were singing, the trees were green, there were so many parks, the people were smiling, the traffic was light.... and everything was so good! I love walking around and looking at the trees, the houses, the flowers, the gardens, the parks, the streets, the ups-and-downs of a street, the buildings, the bus stops, etc. I just took a walk for almost 1.5hrs in the fresh cool evening air, and I was refreshed not just spiritually but also physically! I did my best to not listen to any music or message, no podcast or any other thing... just listen to London, listen to Archway and Highgate, and observe... :) I loved it. I never knew -even though I worked and partly lived around this area - that there are so many other interesting places, buildings, parks, green spaces, streets with nice houses, etc.... And for some reason, as I was walking around, there was a song that came to me, something like, "Don't give me a second-hand Savior / Let me taste Him first time!" - I love the Lord and I want to know Him and experience Him personally, first hand!

.... Conclusion... Thank You Lord! I give this "30-day challenge" to You! Lord, a normal believer in Christ, a God-man, even Jesusly human... I want to learn and be open to this!

Some pics from the walk I took today - coming soon :)