Helen Roseveare

I wrote this last year and had been keeping it so that I might post it one day. Here goes..

Last Monday afternoon I finally finished reading “Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God” by Noel Piper. Now granted it has taken me since the beginning of the school year to finish it was God’s timing that I picked up the book when I did. The last chapter was on Helen Roseveare. It began with:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish , in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness from God that depends on faith-that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:7-11

I knew right away that this was going to be some good stuff! I reread this chapter Friday (April 2008) on the way to Nashville just trying to soak it all in again. I wanted to share some excerpts.

“Helen knew she was called to missions. She felt this call so strongly that it was difficult for her to understand why every Christian wasn’t preparing for missions.”

As she went on in life she “was suffering from overwork and strain…I thought this exhaustion meant spiritual failure”.

“Years later, she wrote that she had misunderstood in those early years what it meant to grow in the Christian life. She had thought it should be a constant climb, achieving ever greater heights until one finally reached the mountain’s peak. At that later time, with the perspective of years and maturity, she knew that life is not just one peak, but a range, with valleys between the mountains.”

“Life became a living nightmare, but we had to go on living. Whenever we could, we met together…to pray and read the Word of God and sing his praises, and so we kept sane, and God graciously replaced fear with peace.” (Secret Church)

She said, "If we understood the Scriptural teaching on the need of Holiness in the life of every believer, we should not need to plead for missionaries."

"It doesn't matter whether we travel 6,000 miles or just twenty minutes from home...What matters is whether the people we meet matter to us as much as they matter to God."

Helen is a sold out believer who, still today, is sharing the gospel. She was born in 1925 in Haileybury, England. She knew at a very young age that she was being called to the mission field. When she had to be away from the mission field, her assigned territory, she continued to support missionaries monetarily. Lord, may we be used as vessels to bring you glory while sharing the gospel with ALL nations.

Missions

The following question was asked of me: If given the opportunity to go on a mission trip, all expenses paid, to a war torn country and there was a possibility that I might not survive, would I go and risk my life in order to spread the gospel?

Do we sacrifice/risk ourselves for others, for what God says is their good? Are we willing to pay any price-even to the point of death-that others might know His love?

Psalm Sixteen

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”


I have discovered my inheritance! As a believer in Jesus Christ, my LORD and Savior has guaranteed me an inheritance. I only have the earnest of the inheritance now but await the fullness of my full inheritance.



My Inheritance from God involves 3 elements:

1) Presence - "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

2) People - "But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day." Deut. 4:20

3) Property - "The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Among these the land shall be divided for inheritance according to the number of names. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance in proportion to its list. But the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller." Numbers 26:52-56



"I AM AN HEIR OF GOD"...

1. my life is NOT left to chance.

2. I am inheriting a Kingdom. – Matthew 25:34

3. he is my portion, and I am His. Psalm 16:5, Deut. 10:8-9

4. the down payment has been made.- Eph. 1:14

5. my boundary lines form a pleasing place. – Psalm 16:6

6. the will has been activated. – Heb. 9:15-17

7. I can be secure. – Col. 3:23-24

8. I have a beautiful inheritance. – 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Eph. 3:6