Thank you so much for all the positive comments about my post on the subject of human trafficking. I am finding that people from all over the world are responding to this horrific crime against women and children. My heart aches for them as night after night they are being exploited. Did you know that the total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion? Child trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. UNICEF values the global market of child trafficking at over 12 billion a year with over 2 million child victims. Men, women and children are all victims, but the most vulnerable groups are those with limited rights and these children have been hit the hardest. 1.2 million children are being trafficked every year; this is in addition to the millions already held captive. Every two minutes a child is being prepared for sexual exploitation (UNICEF). People are trafficked from 127 countries to be exloited in 137 countries (UN).

That is why I continue to roar for the Sarah’s of the world. I have written a song that I would like to share with you. I am asking God for the melody so that it can be sung across the world. Here it is and I pray that it will touch someone today. I see Jesus reaching down to them through you and me.

SARAH’S SONG
By Julaine Christensen
Sept. 15, 2011

I SAW YOU ON THE STREET
AND COULDN’T UNDERSTAND
WHAT MADE A GIRL LIKE YOU
GIVE IN TO THIS MAN

A CHILD IN A WOMAN’S BODY
ALL MADE UP FOR THE NIGHT
YOUR HIGH-HEELED SHOES AND BACKPACK
YOUR HAIR PULLED UP TIGHT

INTO THE STREET YOU WALK
WHO WOULD BUY YOU TONIGHT
THAT IS HOW THEY CLAIMED YOU
THEIR GIRL FOR THE NIGHT

I KNOW THIS WASN’T YOUR DREAM
THAT DAY YOU RAN AWAY
JUST WANTED A LITTLE FREEDOM
TO SEE THE WORLD A DIFFERENT WAY

BUT NOW YOU ARE TRAPPED
NO WHERE TO GO
ONLY FADED MEMORIES
OF A LONG TIME AGO

GOD SPOKE YOUR NAME TO ME
I HEARD YOUR CRIES TONIGHT
GOD TOLD ME YOUR STORY
I PROMISE WE WILL FIGHT

FOR THOSE CAUGHT IN THE BATTLE,
TRAPPED AND OUT OF SIGHT
NO MAN CAN HOLD YOU HOSTAGE
WHEN MOTHERS BEGIN THEIR FIGHT

SARAH , SARAH, THIS IS YOUR SONG
I SING IT TO YOU; IT WON’T BE LONG
WE ARE WEEPING AND WAILING
FOR WHAT HAS BEEN DONE
TO THE CHILDREN OF OUR NATION
TRAFFICKING, THE CRIME UNSONG

SARAH, PRINCESS, IT WON’T BE LONG.

Will you pass this on to the world so that their song can be heard across the ocean and here in the US. Sarah, we are hearing your voice. We are responding the only way we can…we are praying for you, my princess.
Julaine

I have been reading everything I can get my hands on lately concerning the subject of Sex Trafficking.  I stood in my living room a few months ago and began to complain about the atrocities I was hearing concerning this subject.  While complaining, I heard this still small voice say, “I am tired of your words!  YOU can do something about it! You can pray.”   I didn’t know what to do.   It was at that time, that I decided to start a prayer movement on Wednesdays explicitly to pray for this subject matter.  When I began my prayer watch – 10am – noon every Wed. – I began to hear the name Sarah.  Praying for the Sarah’s of the world became my focus.  I put her name up in our prayer center so that I could be reminded to always pray for the Sarah’s who were held captive.  I also looked up the name Sarah and it means “princess.”  As I studied further about Sarah’s life, I was reminded that she and Abraham gave birth to Isaac which means “laughter.”   I felt as though the Lord was saying  that He wants the Sarah’s who are caught  (all girls) in this unbelievable atrocity to know that they are His princess; He hasn’t forgotten about them and He is awakening people like me and you to begin to be a voice on their behalf and one day they will  give birth to laughter either here on earth or in heaven.  Pray that these girls will cry out to Jesus and feel His love.  As I continue my prayer and study, I am further aware that the problem lies in the demand.  It is here that we have to begin to focus our attention as well as pray protection for these precious little girls.  The demand creates the supply.  The age of most children being stolen today is between the ages of 11 and 14.  This is NOT OK!!!!!   I ask that you will become a voice with me.  Will you begin to pray on Wednesdays especially and all through the week that God will expose the men (and women)who continue create this demand.  Will you keep telling others over and over again?  Will you pray that the laws will become so harsh that the demand will go away.  Will you pray that the word TOLERANCE be struck from our vocabulary.  There is no tolerance when it comes to pornography and this kind of vile addiction.  We need an awakening in the hearts of the people.  We need to not sit back anymore but we have to stand together.  I am roaring on behalf of these children.  I feel like a lionness – don’t touch our children!  IT is time for action!   Let’s form such a prayer movement for these children that no enemy can penetrate.  Don’t delete this word.  For further information go to www.sharedhope.com     I have told the Lord that I will be a voice for HIM and them in anyway that He chooses.  Will you?

I want to invite you on a journey with me.  Let’s go on a “summer treasure hunt,” a journey where we will discover the beauty of an exciting, intimate relationship with an awesome Bridegroom who loves us unconditionally, likes and wants our company and adores us. 

One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 25:2 which says,“It is the Glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings to search out a thing.”  It is challenging to consider that there are treasures in God so bottomless that it will take a lifetime just to search them out.  All will be revealed in eternity, but for now, I will never exhaust the unfathomable revelation absorbed in the scriptures.  (Job 11:7 Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?)

Let’s begin by defining treasure hunt.  Webster defines a treasure as someone or something considered exceptionally precious.  The word hunt is an active verb meaning to look for something. Webster defines it this way: A hunt is to search for; seek; endeavor to obtain or find; to search (a place) thoroughly. A treasure hunt then is a thorough search in order to find something exceptionally precious. Our lifelong hunt is a search for the precious revelation into the mysteries and secrets of a loving Father and the Bridegroom Son all revealed by the Holy Spirit.

 I Cor. 2:7 says this: But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden and now revealed to us by God which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification (to lift us into the glory of His presence). (Amp)

 Luke 8:10 says, The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand’.

With the definition of a treasure hunt in place, let’s begin our quest in discovering the beauty of an exciting, intimate relationship with our Bridegroom King.  We have to understand that we are on a chase for deep revelation that is hidden in scripture. This ultimately becomes our treasure hunt – to understand the Bridegroom King and His love hidden in the depths of the scriptures.  Our quest this summer and our journey now become a slow walk into His Word that will take us a mile deep and inch wide.  In the past, our silent pursuit has been to see how much of the scriptures we can read in a year.  However, if we are to dig deep into the Word, it is not important how much we read but how thorough we go into every scripture and every word spoken through the Holy Spirit..  To do that, meditation now becomes the key to unlock these doors into the heart of a loving Father. 

I am so excited to begin.  Next week we will talk about how to meditate on the Word and receive the fresh breath of the Holy Spirit as He takes us deeper into His loving arms.

I can’t wait.  Let’s make this our summer vacation and our summer journey together.

I Cor. 4:1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.

  Let’s take summer walks with Jesus; take time to be alone with Him and get to know deeply the One Who gave His life for us.

 “Ask of the Lord rain in the time of the latter or spring rain.  It is the Lord who makes lightnings which usher in the rain and give men showers, and grass to everyone in the field.”  (Zechariah 10:1 AMP)

It has been raining for several days and it’s easy, if we are not careful, to get “under the weather,” if you know what I mean. This is definitely a time to hit the drive through and reach for a nice sweet treat that will definitely add a bit of sunshine to the day. That sweet treat for me is a praline and crème latte.  Wow! Now that definitely helps!

As I savor every sweet sip of this latte, I want to share with you a timely event that occurred recently.  I had noticed throughout the day that about the time the sun would begin to poke its joyful self out, the clouds would move in pushing its bright light out of the way to make room for more rain. As I was driving home from my daughter’s home during one of these occurrences, I looked up into the sky and I saw a beam of lightning in several different directions looking amazingly like a cross.   It was both beautiful and fearful at the same time. It was right at that moment I realized that I needed to take more time to observe everything God has created and appreciate it.  Although I definitely don’t want to be in the path of lightning, I can enjoy the beauty of it as it calls me to remember Zechariah 10:1.  “It is the Lord who makes lightnings which usher in the rain and give men showers, and grass to everyone in the field.” 

With that scripture in mind, there is nothing I desire more than for God to rain down on me with His presence.  I want the showers of His love to overwhelm me, washing away the old and making room for the new.  Do you need a fresh start?  How about a fresh day? The same wonderful Father who created the lightnings that give us rain is also the One who says that His mercy is new every morning. Did you know that every single day we can have a fresh rain of His presence to wash away all of our mistakes, and we can begin new? Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed with all of my shortcomings and just want “to call it a day!”  Have you ever felt like you just wanted to give up?  How about the thought, why try?  I think we have all been there.  The Good News is that the Father knew all of our shortcomings and that is why He sent Jesus to rain on us washing away all of our sins. The Great News is that even in my weakness, I am loved and cherished by the Father.  Lord, thank you so much for the rain as it reminds me of your love that never ceases.

“Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.” (Ps. 37:4 amp)

Early in the morning I like to take my coffee cup in hand, look out the window as the sun rises and reflect on God’s goodness. Granted it takes me awhile to get my eyes open but as I do, I am amazed at the beauty of the world around me.  Have you ever taken a moment to enjoy the orange and yellow colors of the sun as it peaks its head up to say,”‘Come on, girl, time to wake up!”? Could it be that the sunrise is the Father’s silent alarm clock?  It is here, in this moment , that I begin to delight myself in the creativity of the Father.  The word delight means “to take great pleasure or joy or to give great pleasure or joy.”  A synonym would be “to please” (Webster’s dictionary).  It also means “to enjoy enthusiastically and often excessively.”  If we are to delight ourselves in the Lord, I guess that would mean that we are to take pleasure and enthusiastic joy in Who He is and what He has created.  According to Matthew Henry’s commentary, we make God our heart’s delight.  We can enjoy the fact that there is a God and that He has chosen to reveal Himself to us; therefore, we delight ourselves in His beauty and love.  As I delight myself in Him, something inside of me changes, and His desires become my desires, and the secret petitions of my heart become an excessive, joyful longing to know Him more.  Isn’t that amazing?  Just think, as you take time to enjoy Him through the sunrise, He is revealing Himself to you in ways you have never expected.  Come on, you can do it?  Set your alarm clock earlier tomorrow morning,  grab that cup of wonderful coffee, and as the sun begins to rise, allow the colors of His beauty to light up your day.  Tell Him that you love Him and then listen, as He whispers through the sunrise, “I love you more.”

Knowing you and sharing with you today is my joy.  I love you.   Daddy’s girl,  Julaine

New to our ministry is our devotional entitled “Grounded in Him.”  Here Julaine takes a fresh look at daily life while enjoying some of her favorite lattes.  Will you join her every week for a fresh word and your choicest latte?  Julaine’s heart is to give you something to awaken your heart to love every day.