Credited to our Account

Last week we received a phone bill in our mailbox – first piece of real mail we’d received! Not understanding the words, we saw only the numbers – one very big number, actually – about 7000 rubles (somewhere around $300). Our jaws dropped and we wondered if we’d misunderstood the price for dialup internet we’ve been using – is it really 25 rubles a minute instead of 25 rubles an hour? Yikes! The following day we asked a friend about the bill. Turns out, the total was printed in bold type, indicating that the amount wasn’t how much we owed, but instead was CREDITED to our account! Our landlady apparently wanted to pay a sizeable amount ahead of time, probably to save herself the trouble of visiting the payments office each month (that’s how all bills are paid here – a real hassle considering the traffic, which is as bad if not worse than Atlanta’s). Whew – what a huge relief! Now imagine how we would have lived if we hadn’t realized it was a credit. For that one day when the bill arrived, we fasted internet, believing falsely that every minute of connect time was another dollar in the hole. Sure, one day is no big deal, but if we hadn’t understood the truth behind the statement, we would have gone on living that way every day. Same thing with the Word of God. We have to know the truth, we have to understand what God has said, in order to be able to receive all of His blessings! Otherwise we go on living with far less than what God has already given us, as though He hadn’t given those blessings to us at all. Our generous God has already “blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3) and “seated us with Christ in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 2:6). Genesis 15:6 says that Abraham (Abram) believed the Lord, and God “credited it to him as righteousness.” God has given us His Word, and it’s our job to believe what He has said! Then whenever we look at our accounts, every time, we will see a huge credit, a credit of righteousness, much bigger than we ever expect, because God can and always does do “far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (Ephesians 3:20, The Message). “So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.” (Hebrews 4:16, The Message)

Walking in Russia

One of my favorite lines from an early Vineyard worship song (“God is so good”) is, “for the natural things . . . speak of the invisible.” God talks to me a lot through ordinary everyday experiences. Here are a few “lessons from walking in Russia” – I’m talking about actual walking, nothing super-spiritual here, just getting from place to place on foot.
· Pay attention to light and shadows. We have to walk a lot on one-lane side roads, and with a hat and hood on, it’s honestly really hard to hear or see cars coming up behind you. But there are clues, especially at night when their headlights are on. I’m learning to pay more attention to the light and the shadows. The Lord really spoke to me through this – we can easily get sideswiped or rear-ended if we’re not paying attention. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) “For we are not unaware of his schemes.” (2 Corinthians 10:11)
· Don’t stand too close to murky water. While waiting to cross a street, some of us stood too close to the gutter, and a zooming car splattered mud all over our jeans. There’s no way we can allow even a tiny bit of sin in our lives and expect good results. As Keith Green said, “no compromise!” “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?” (Proverbs 6:27 – 28) “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8) “I will set before my eyes no vile thing.” (Psalm 101:3)
· It’s good to walk on paths that those who have gone before you have trod. Coming back from the grocery store, C stepped off to the side of a small road, thinking she was standing on solid ground. By the grace of God, she didn’t fall into the huge hole that appeared beneath one of her feet (thank You, Jesus, for Your divine protection)! Those who have gone before us in Christ have made pathways for us to follow, and we can learn from them and avoid hidden pitfalls by walking as they walked. I love to learn from others and stir faith by frequently reading stories of “heroes of the faith” (in the Bible, biographies, devotionals, etc). We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before – what a blessing! “Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.” (Proverbs 1:8 – 9) “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” (2 Timothy 1:5 – 6)

God’s Glorious Grace

The agent who checked us in at the Lufthansa counter in Atlanta waived *many* overweight baggage fees (at $50 a pop), even though the adjacent agent was being very strict and charging the fee. As much as we tried to pack each bag to the exact limit, bathroom scales aren’t precision weighing instruments. Thank you, Jesus, for giving us favor!

A nice German stranger handed us 2 blankets and a pillow at the exact moment we decided to set up “camp” for our 11 hour layover in Frankfurt airport. Thanks to those plus the 2 Pooh bears our twins brought, we all caught some great naps on the floor!

Paul’s Russian reading skills ramped up when he inadvertently bought six 1-liter bottles of Kafir instead of milk (Kafir falls somewhere between buttermilk and runny yogurt). I’ve discovered it’s a great ingredient for muffins, popovers, and tuna pot pie.

The two Russian repairmen who came to our apartment to fix some leaking radiators apparently didn’t require any privacy when changing their clothes in the middle of our living room – a bit of a surprise for the Sculley females! A walk around the neighborhood at night also reveals that closing curtains is optional, too . . .

Paul figured out how to adjust the heat in our apartment, thanks to new radiator technology, so now we can sleep with the windows closed. Too much snow was blowing in, anyway!
What would be considered very minor medical issues in the U.S. translate here to phone calls to other believers for urgent prayer. We received one such call this week from some friends. Imagine having even a minor complication with no readily accessible drug store or trustworthy clinic. Living here is giving us a greater appreciation that our dependence is totally on God, because as wonderful as great medical care is, it can lure us into thinking of that as our first line of defense and only really praying about the “biggies”.

My morning quiet times have been so lovely – in our bright, cheerful little kitchen on the 3rd floor, I sit at the table facing the window. I see the city lights, then as dawn breaks through, I see many of our neighbors come out to de-ice / snow their cars or make their way to the bus stop for work or school. The sun casts a beautiful glow on the side of the adjacent building, and beyond that is the beautiful Volga River, a sash of ice at this time of year. It’s a lovely way to start the day, and I’m enjoying the arsenal of devotionals we brought (those and itunes worship music are essentials!). There really is something to “praying in high places” . . . it helps me to have much more of a heavenly perspective in praying God’s Kingdom down on a neighborhood, a city, a nation!