Winter 2008
Dearly Beloved of Our Lord:
May this coming New Year be a very special year for you – a year of new beginnings and mighty victory in all you put your hand to. May our Lord’s mighty power and wonderful grace and peace be upon you in all that you do and wherever you go. May the great joy of His presence in your heart shine out to all those around you. May you know Him… … and make Him known.
Listening… …That We May Know Him… … And To Make Him Known
The
Christmas tree was up, the bell ringers were ringing for donations, and the
shoppers were rushing by with armloads of packages. And there he stood, in the
cold with his sign, at the corner of SW Broadway & Morrison across from Pioneer
Courthouse Square, Portland’s Living Room. And
the sign read:
Ten-year Army Veteran; Father; Grandfather; Construction & Framing; Recovering;
Homeless. Anything Helps. Thank You.
So I stopped to ask about the sign and then I listened to his story. We use a signboard sometimes in downtown Portland and people ask us about our sign so I wanted to hear him tell me about his sign.
We spent about twenty minutes together during which he told me about his life, his family, and his hopes for the future. He told me that he was estranged from one of his daughters and had not seen her or the grandchildren in about five years. I shared briefly about my family and then he asked me to pray for his relationship with the Lord and with his daughter.
Then he told me that the Lord had been speaking to him through various situations, including some dreams. He expressed the desire to fully yield his life to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We concluded our time together in prayer and I was blessed to leave him with a hug and a small gift for food.
Many times we get the opportunity to talk with people and to listen to their journey. Often I will be listening to the person on many levels, the meaning of the words, the tone of voice, the body language, and facial expressions. But I am also listening to the Holy Spirit to see what He is doing in the person’s life. The Holy Spirit had prepared both of our hearts and then sent me to listen and pray. Listening to know Him and then make Him known. ~ A testimony from Ron.
The Son of Man
The incarnation of the Messiah as a baby boy born in a stable speaks to us deeply of our Lord’s humility. Jesus came into the world allowing Himself to be dependant on those men and women around Him. Joseph and Mary had to learn to be dependant on those around them when they had to flee to protect His life. When they were warned to leave Bethlehem and go to Egypt they had to completely trust the Holy Spirit to keep them safe as they carried the small boy child with them to a strange land during troubled times.
Jesus called Himself the Son of Man even though He is also the Son of God. Even though He is fully God He limited Himself and walked as a man. After He was baptized by John and came out of the forty days of temptation in the wilderness, He walked as a man in the power of the Holy Spirit. He walked among us as man demonstrating what a man can do who is completely yielded to God.
Jesus said that He could do nothing on His own but He could only do what He saw the Father doing and say what He heard the Father saying. He did not act on His own initiative but on the initiative of the Father’s perfect will. We could sum it up this way. Jesus did not come to show what God could do. Jesus showed us what a man can do who is rightly related to God. Jesus walked as a man without sin who is in obedience to the Father through the Holy Spirit. This is important because Jesus tells us: As the Father sent Him He now sends us. (John 17:18; 20:21)
To Know Him… … And To Make Him Known
The birth of Jesus, the incarnation of God among us, has a very special meaning to us. Our desire is to abide in Him so that we can walk just as He walked. (1 John 2:6) We desire to dwell in the secret place of the Most High, to abide under the shadow of His wing. We desire to know Him and then to make Him known. We know that this may sound a little too elementary but we are in a season where we want the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 2 Corinthians 11:3)
Winter can be a wonderful time of the year since so many are looking forward to springtime as each day contains a little more daylight than the one before. Many people still remember Christmas and some of the Carols which contain so many encouraging words of the Gospel.
May you be greatly blessed throughout this year and may it be a most prosperous, joyful, and fruitful. And we especially give thanksgiving to God for you. Thank you for your love, your friendship, your support, your prayers, and your encouragement as we bring the good news to our city and the Northwest. We send you our love and prayers with our letter.
~ Ron & Karen
E-mail: awakening1s@comcast.net
Home Page: awakening1s.net
church @ 24/7
Ron & Karen Rohman
PO Box 14292
PORTLAND OR 97293