Bellas’ Journey – Jan 2012

Dear Partners and Friends, 

One night, in the beginning of January, I woke up around midnight and could not go back to sleep. I lay there for a while – hoping that eventually my eyes would feel heavy and I would be able to drift back off, but it wasn’t happening. I began praying and asking the Lord if there was someone or something I was supposed to be praying for and immediately the word “CHANGE” came to my mind. From that moment on my mind was flooded with thoughts about that word and the many times we use it. I felt the Lord begin to download more and felt the prompting to stick with it and meditate on “CHANGE”. I thought of the many times and ways I have used that word: “Change is in the air”, “seasons of change”, “do you have any spare change”, “keep the change”, “loose change”, “time to change”, “time to change” …. I’m sure you can think of many more. Then there are things we change: change a tire, change a diaper, make change, change our minds, change our clothes, change the sheets, change our world, change in circumstances, etc. However you look at it, it is about getting rid of the old and bringing in something new. God created change as a good thing, a part of nature itself. Our seasons change, our circumstances change, our bodies change, times change, WE change – or at least we are supposed to. The funny thing is that so many of us spend a lot of time fighting change and trying to prevent it. By nature we seem to like things just how they were, creatures of habit, quite happy to keep things just the way they are, the same. We feel safe, secure, comfortable, content. BUT this goes against life itself and the way God created us. God has called us to change. What if a baby always stayed a baby, or winter always stayed winter? What if when we had a flat tire we just never changed it? Or when a baby’s diaper needed changing but we just didn’t feel like changing it? Not only would these things make life extremely difficult but pretty stinky and uncomfortable for even those around us. Change is inevitable, it is definite, it is necessary!

So God kept me awake all night long thinking about all of this and then he began to speak to me about the things He is changing this year. I know 2012 is a year of change for many. A time to truly embrace change. To prepare for change and then give into it fully. I love this quote by Prince Phillip, “Change is a challenge and an opportunity, not a threat.” This is how the Lord is asking us to look at change this year – as an opportunity, not a threat. Change is GOOD! He is asking us to wait on Him and ask Holy Spirit what are the changes coming? What are the areas that I need to change in? What are the things that I need to change around me? In Corinthians 2:9-12 God tells us that He has given us Holy Spirit and that He will teach us and show us things that are on God’s heart. v9 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. BUT God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” & v12 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” He promises to teach us and guide us and to reveal to us what is on the Father’s heart for us: Matthew 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you in to all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” As God showed me these scriptures I felt so liberated, so free, so full of faith! I believe that God is already preparing our hearts for the changes that are to come. He is giving us little glimpses and little nudges as we call on Him and listen to Him. When you are leaning against God’s heart you ARE going to hear His heart! Take a moment even now and ask the Lord what is in store for you this 2012. Ask Him what changes He is bringing for you and to help prepare you for them.

The very next weekend at our Forerunner Christian Fellowship service we were listening to Allen Hood speak on “Responding Well During Seasons of Pruning”. I will not be able share what he said in one newsletter so WE TOTALLY RECOMMEND EVERYONE LISTENING TO THIS SERVICE (www.ihop.org “Teachings and Notes” Allen Hood – January 15^th ) It was amazing that so much of what he was saying was what the Lord had been speaking to me. God is calling us to respond well in seasons of change – and yes seasons of change are coming! When change comes there are a few things we need to remember:

• “Pruning” is for those that are already bearing fruit and it is in order for us to bear MORE fruit!
• “Discipline” is for those whom God LOVES! He calls us His sons and daughters.
• God’s plans for us are for GOOD!

When change comes, usually we feel confusion, hesitation, & are overwhelmed. Our first response is possibly to retreat, or go into isolation, or freeze and become paralyzed, or start to grab hold of anything familiar, sometimes that very thing that God is trying to change in our lives and break us free from. We think that security and safety is in these things but they only bring a false sense of security. Our security needs to be solely in the Lord. As we lean on the Lord and go to Him, He offers peace, answers, and the strength to deal with the change. This is a time to fast and pray and be in the Word of God daily. One word that really stuck out to me was the word “persevere”. We are called to persevere in our trials, in tough times, in times of change. It is the very thing that trials and tribulations produce (Romans 5:3) and the very thing that character is produced from – perseverance. When I wrote that word into my journal I noticed the word “sever” in the middle. Instantly God spoke to me that this is why so often it is difficult for us to persevere, because we are not willing to allow the Lord to sever ties to things that hold us back. It is like running a race while dragging an elephant behind us. Or trying to move forward or go somewhere while we are still chained to a pole. We can only move if we are free, unattached, unbound, untied, unchained …. and that is the very thing that Christ’s blood did for us. He has set us free! Broken our chains! Loosed our bonds! And everyday He is showing us one more thing that He wants to free us from, sever us from, to CHANGE and we have the choice to allow Him and to break away and to persevere or to keep holding onto it and grow weary in our struggles for new life and the new things He is trying to bring.

It’s funny as I write this I am thinking of that little kid that is running around and you know he has a dirty diaper. He doesn’t belong to you and you wonder how in the world the parents can either not smell it or be ignoring it. I have seen it many times, and possibly done it myself, a parent can grow accustomed to that stench and not even notice it. Then once they do notice it, they have this ability to ignore it – much to the dissatisfaction of all those around. Finally someone gets enough nerve to tell the parent that their child has a dirty diaper. By this time it has filled the air all around with a very foul smell and changed the atmosphere completely and possibly left a very bad rash on the kid’s bottom. Well …. in the spiritual we can be the same. There is a stench to sin, a foul odor yet we can be so accustomed to it, so numb to it, that we don’t notice it and can be very good at just ignoring it. But to the Lord it remains a stench. So may this message be one that reminds us all that it is time to CHANGE that dirty diaper. To get free from the stench of sin that hurts not only those around us but ourselves! We are called to be a sweet fragrance to the Lord, an incense and that is exactly what His love in our lives is doing – when we allow it. That is exactly what change does, it makes us new, it brings blessing & new life, it brings beauty & freedom. Embrace change today. Ask the Lord to reveal the changes that He desires to see in your life and through your life. Allow Him to sever those things of old from your life and prune you so that you are ready to bear more fruit. We want to respond well in this season of change. Benjamin Franklin once said, “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” I can tell you that we are not finished and God is certainly not finished with us! May God’s grace abound to all of us in this season and may God be glorified! May we come through as even better representatives for Him and may our lives be an even sweeter incense!

Bless you,

The Bellas

Rod and Kim Bella PO Box 1015, Grandview, MO 64030 thebellafamily.com and Ihop.org

Some of the Bella family’s changes & things to pray about:

• Rod is now on staff with International House of Prayer in the Evangelism Dept!! He is loving it! He will be working with the training of Forerunner Evangelism Intensive Students as well as any others wanting to learn more about evangelism here at IHOP. He is also helping plan and run outreaches, serving on the ministry teams for services and conferences when needed, and he continues to do 24 hours of intercession in the IHOP prayer room each week.
• Kim is still working in our missionary school, The Daniel Academy as the 4^th grade teacher. This school services our local families and staff member’s children on a work scholarship basis. She also helps one day a week at Manna4U which is our IHOP food bank. She has also been asked to join the staff of Prisoners of Hope ministry that ministers to women who have been in the sex trade, sexually abused, or have been sexually trafficked.
• Joshua has moved here permanently with us and is fitting right in. He recently rededicated his life to the Lord and the changes are absolutely BEAUTIFUL! He is currently taking a course at IHOP University called The Excellencies of Christ and also serves at The Daniel Academy as a substitute assistant when needed. The kids LOVE him!
• Kaylin is in her 2^nd semester of her 2^nd year at International House of Prayer University and also does 24 hours of intercession each week in the Global Prayer Room. She was blessed with a trip to Belgium with her boyfriend Lorejas Renard in the beginning of January and loved being in another country once again – quite a few New Zealand memories came flooding back while she was there. She is waiting on the Lord for her next step in ministry after this May.
• Jessica is finishing up her sophmore year at The Daniel Academy and is doing very well. She is enjoying having friends who have a love for the Lord and for music. She has been singing on a team for the Justice Prayer Room and has been growing in not only her gifts but also in her confidence and her heart for the Lord. She is beautiful inside and out!
• Jordan Randolph is still very much a part of our family … from afar. He is in last year at University California Santa Cruz and has made the tennis team there again this year. He is figuring out what comes next after he graduates and we are still praying that he will come out here for more visits and seek the Lord for direction for his life. He has some really great offers after school but finances, tennis, life …. all still needs to be sorted out. We are very proud of him and love him very much. 
• Gramma is now working full time (32 hrs only) at Homestead Assisted Living and is always the best activities director in town! Her love for the residents is so deep and it always shows in all that she does. She has had the opportunity to share the Lord with many of the residents and has such an incredible voice there …. some times the last one that some of the residents will ever hear. What a privilege to see many accept Jesus as their Savior just before they pass away!

Possibly Related Posts:

• The Bella’s Journey
• One Thing
• Preparation Time
• Reach For the Keys
• Reflecting Beauty