Heart Puzzles... Praise Him!

"Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same heart."

(1 Cor 1:10)

"I love how the Lord puzzles people together to accomplish His purposes!" This is a statement that regularly flows from my heart and out of my mouth. I am not kidding, I am continually amazed at how God brings His people together to be His hands and feet here on this earth. Can you recall moments like this?

My heart is pounding with excitement as I write this entry this morning. I must share a fresh experience with you! As most of you know, my 10 week Bible study Reflecting Him recently released to the public. One of the main questions I am asked is, "Are you going to have a video?" I never felt the call to make a video until one day God poured into me a fresh and innovative thought. God impressed on me to ask Robin Murray, the RLM playwright, if she would write a ten episode drama to go with the Bible study. After much prayer she said, "Yes!" By the hand of God puzzling people together to accomplish His purposes He hand picked the actresses and actors to be in our "Reflecting Him Mini Series." I began asking the Lord to show us who would produce this video. God continued to direct me to a young man named Jake Allen. Not because He had created any major productions I just knew He like to have a camera in his hands. Little did I know after visiting with him, he had been praying for over a year for an opportunity like this. His heart is to get the message of the gospel out to the world through video and movies. Another perfect piece to the puzzle!

Next, we needed a theme song so I asked my sister, singer/song writer Cindy Vinson, if she would write a song for us. She said, "Well, ten years ago I wrote nine songs, one of those might work." With tears I listened to the songs. You would have thought she did the Bible study and then wrote the songs! At that point, we felt the Lord calling us to make a whole CD with all nine songs. The puzzle pieces were falling effortlessly into place by God's tender hand.

At that point, she said if only she could find her jazz guitar teacher she took lessons from ten years ago. It was always her desire to create a demo with him, but he and his wife moved away from Houston six years before. In the meantime, this past Christmas our parents purchased a home in Ruidoso, NM. They went to a nice restaurant to eat with some friends. They couldn't help but notice the jazz guitarist playing so beautifully in the background. After hearing his name they recognized it as Cindy's teacher from ten years ago. Again the pieces started falling into place. In April of this year, she called him and asked if he would be willing to produce a CD for her of these nine songs for this Bible study. Little did Cindy know her teacher had prayed two days prior for the Lord to use Him to serve others! God puzzled His children together to accomplish His purposes in both of their lives for His glory!

Now, please take a moment to look at the Heart Puzzle. Think of the big red piece as the Reflecting Him Bible study. The purple piece connected to the red represents the many prayer warriors and supporters over the two years of the producing the study. The blue piece is the video production of "Behind the Veil" which includes Robin, Jake, actresses and actors, production team. The yellow piece represents Cindy and the songs she wrote ten years prior to the Bible study. The green puzzle piece is the jazz teacher producing the music and CD of Cindy's songs called "An Invitation." As individual pieces you can't see whole picture, but when connected together a beautiful picture abounds.

Challenge for the Week... Oh, God calls us to work together! Nothing is too small for Him. The more we focus on Jesus, the more we are aware of the hand of God in our lives. "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same heart." (1 Cor 1:10) Are you allowing God to use you to accomplish His purposes? Do you recognize the Heart Puzzles in your life? Thank the Lord for connecting His children together. What a beautiful picture He is painting!

Have you tried to fit a piece in a puzzle that doesn't quite fit? At first glance it looks as if it works perfectly. But, as you connect the other pieces you notice a mismatch which has affected the whole puzzle. Does this represent you? Stay focused on the Lord. Let Him be the connector. Oh, the joy of allowing Him to puzzle you together for His purposes to be accomplished! AMEN!

RLM NEWS Update...

• The Reflecting Him Blog Tour is stilling on a roll. Please check out our website for the schedule... http://www.reflectivelifeministries.org/. We want to thank all those who are taking time to be part of this tour. Again, another example of Hearts Puzzled together for the Lord!
• Visit http://www.reflectivelifeministries.org/ to hear one of Cindy's featured songs from "An Invitation." The CD will be available sometime in August!
• I will be teaching Reflecting Him live in the fall at Faith Bible Church in The Woodlands. Please join us as we kickoff this study... Starts Sept. 7, Tues. mornings at 9:30am and evenings 7:00pm.

From My Heart to Yours,

Carla
carla@reflectivelifeministries.org