THIS WEEK was one of those wonderful weeks we wait for all year long, the week of a special holiday called Thanksgiving. I love that in America we have a whole day set aside for gratitude, just in case we've forgotten to be thankful for the rest of the year. I looked up "thanksgiving," as in 'gratitude toward God', in my Bible and I found a powerful little 5-verse Psalm. Psalm 100 is all about praising God and showing Him how grateful we are toward Him for everything.
"[1]Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! [2] Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. [3] Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. [4] Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. [5] For the Lord in good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations."
It's a lovely little psalm. It reminds me how much I have to be thankful for: my parents and my sister and my brother, my aunt who is about to have a baby any day now, the cold and the warm weather, my house and clothes, more than enough to eat and drink, a Spirit-filled church family, and many more things than I could ever go about naming. I love Thanksgiving. I'm praying that we could have a spirit of thanksgiving all year long, because God is always good.
I'm thankful for answered prayers, and for the peace that God speaks into my heart. Today, and for the past few days, even while I have been joyful over Thanksgiving and over my cousin's birthday party, I have been feeling a little frustrated. Maybe it's partially because I visited another college, UF, on Wednesday, and my mind is on my future. All I want is to know what God wants me to do, because I've learned very well that I don't know what I'm doing nearly as well as I think I do. I just want to please Him. I have no idea how to make the decisions I have to make. So I've been praying harder and harder to hear what God says about all this. I've been begging to hear His Spirit talking to me, telling me how to serve him in the present day in the actions I take now, and showing me what steps to take in my future.
God has responded to my prayers, but not how I expected Him to. Surprising us with the way He answers prayer is something that God does pretty often. But He does answer. He answered me by giving me assurance, for which I'm truly grateful.
It came when I was reading John 8, the chapter when Jesus shows mercy to the adulteress and then deals with the arguments of those Jews who did not believe in Him. Jesus challenges the woman's accusers, the scribes and Pharisees, to let the one who is without sin throw the first stone at her. None of them, the religious leaders of the Jews, can bring himself to throw the stone. After they have all turned and gone, Jesus Himself, who alone is without sin, forgives her.
Then Jesus speaks to the people who had come to hear Him. v.12 "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'"
Then after He has dealt with some of the arguments of the unbelieving Jews, Jesus speaks some more words of encouragement for believers. v. 31-32 "[31] Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. [32] And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'"
What these words of the Lord say to me is that all we need to do is keep following Jesus, and it will be clear what we need to do. He will light our paths. I still don't know where He'd like me to go to college, or what career path to take, or even who to talk to and what to say when I'm at school. But He will show me what to do in His wonderful timing. If we continue to actively seek Him in prayer and in the Word I know that we'll be able to hear when He calls. And if we serve Him by obedience and praise and show His love continually, He will guide our hands and feet and help us as we try to stay safe within His will.
I think that by these words the Lord wanted to remind me that I don't need to be frustrated. I think that's something I struggle with. I want to do His will and I'm afraid to miss it, so I tend to get frustrated while I wait to know something that maybe I'm not supposed to know until later. It's good to pray to be within His will, and for His will to be done. But it's not good to get frustrated when it seems there are things I just don't know.
After all, I'm not walking a road with no street lights here. He guides all of His people, and He lights our paths. He makes us free with His truth so that we do not have to struggle and stumble, chained in bondage to sin. He stays with us and shows us what He wants us to do. And I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful that we are justified by His grace, and by nothing else. Not by works and not by traditions. We are justified by the blood of God Himself, God-in-Man, Jesus, God's gift of Himself to us. And He will not now proceed to forget us. He is our light and our life, forever. That is something to be truly thankful for.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
As God's Children
THIS WEEK I had a bonfire with my Youth Group, where we sang worship songs and listened to powerful testamonies. The fire slowly melted the blackening wood, and little motes of red ember were carried weightless into the night air with our songs of praise. It was a beautiful evening, and it made me want to listen more carefully to what God is really saying. Since that evening there has been one particular passage on my mind. The beginning verses of John chapter 1 has been appearing all over the place. First, when I returned home from the bonfire there was a fun new idea for my next art piece buzzing around in my head. I don't really know why - maybe somebody referenced this passage at the meeting. The piece is based on verses 1-5.
The funny thing is that the very next morning Reverend Dan Elkins, who visited my school to speak at the FISH meeting, referenced the very same place. And today when I attended a church service at the USF campus where I was visiting, the pastor referenced John chapter 1, a few verses after the place I've been looking. So I'll write them out for you really quickly and then tell you what I've been learning from these things. It helps me to write out the verses because I start to notice things I didn't see before.
John 1:1-5
"[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. [4] In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
And John 1:9-14
"[9] That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. [11] He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. [12] But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in Him name: [13] who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. [14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
This always reminds me of the very beginning of the Bible, when God commands things to come into existence, beginning with light. What I think it means is that Jesus, as the embodiment of God in the flesh as the Son of God, existed even before He was born into the world. Of course He did - I mean, He's God. He is the Word of God by means of which He commanded the universe to exist.
And now God comes to the world in the form of a Man, to people who refuse to hear Him. Can you imagine what that must be like? Like if you made a little clay figurine and it came to life, and it suddenly started asking "Who are you?" and denying your authority and kicking you in the shins. That was what the Jews were like to whom God first came in the form of the Man Jesus. He died, having done nothing wrong, in the place of us humans who are without exception covered in sins, so that we could be with Him. And then HE rose again to demonstrate the validity of our faith. He covers us with His blood. He made it so that anyone who believes in Him could be His own. His own!
What I'm learning this week is that it really is something quite amazing to be God's adopted child. It means He listens when we talk to Him, and that He wants us to listen to Him. It means there is nothing that will stop Him from loving us, like the father in Luke 15 who showers welcome on his repentant son. It means He would die for us, and He did, and now He lives. It means He disiplines us expects us to obey, just because He loves us so much and knows what's good for us. Hebrews 12:5-6 says "[5] And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons: 'My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; [6] For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.'"
As children of God, who are we supposed to be? My understanding is that we are supposed to imitate Christ and keep His commandments. John 13:34-35 "[34] A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. [35] By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Could somebody please explain to me the cause for a disturbing sight I saw on Saturday? I was just leaving the historic district of Tampa called Ybor, when on a street corner I observed a man and a woman armed with a bullhorn and a red-lettered sign. The man was making announcements of anger and condemnation, something about "getting the hell you deserve." As I passed by these people my mom said to me, "And that's why people think Christians are crazy." It really impacted me.
Where's the love? Didn't Jesus command love? A Christian is a child of God, a child of love, not a proclaimer of doom. Fear does not make converts. We're drawn to God by His astounding love and grace, by His willingness to save us from "the hell we deserve." People with bullhorns and hate aren't making it any easier for those of us who'd like to reach the world with love.
God invites us to be His children! The beauty of such a thought is too much to wrap our minds around. His own children, to be loved and protected and disciplined and taught. To be rescued from certain destruction and led in the ways of righteousness.
As I kept walking down the street, I saw a homeless man whom I had seen several hours before in exactly the same place. He's a man who needs some love, whatever his problems may be, exactly like the rest of us do. But he's not getting it from any man with a bullhorn.
I thank God that I can be His, and that the Body of Christ, which reaches over much of the world, can celebrate together the fact that He Himself will love us forever. It's something to stay amazed about all the time. And I'm hoping and praying that we never get used to this: that the same God who created everything by means of His Word, and who came to the world to fish us out of our own self-destruction, has poured out His grace over the whole face of the earth. He has poured it over anyone at all who will receive Him, and who will give himself to Him who gave Himself for us.
The funny thing is that the very next morning Reverend Dan Elkins, who visited my school to speak at the FISH meeting, referenced the very same place. And today when I attended a church service at the USF campus where I was visiting, the pastor referenced John chapter 1, a few verses after the place I've been looking. So I'll write them out for you really quickly and then tell you what I've been learning from these things. It helps me to write out the verses because I start to notice things I didn't see before.
John 1:1-5
"[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. [4] In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
And John 1:9-14
"[9] That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. [11] He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. [12] But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in Him name: [13] who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. [14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
This always reminds me of the very beginning of the Bible, when God commands things to come into existence, beginning with light. What I think it means is that Jesus, as the embodiment of God in the flesh as the Son of God, existed even before He was born into the world. Of course He did - I mean, He's God. He is the Word of God by means of which He commanded the universe to exist.
And now God comes to the world in the form of a Man, to people who refuse to hear Him. Can you imagine what that must be like? Like if you made a little clay figurine and it came to life, and it suddenly started asking "Who are you?" and denying your authority and kicking you in the shins. That was what the Jews were like to whom God first came in the form of the Man Jesus. He died, having done nothing wrong, in the place of us humans who are without exception covered in sins, so that we could be with Him. And then HE rose again to demonstrate the validity of our faith. He covers us with His blood. He made it so that anyone who believes in Him could be His own. His own!
What I'm learning this week is that it really is something quite amazing to be God's adopted child. It means He listens when we talk to Him, and that He wants us to listen to Him. It means there is nothing that will stop Him from loving us, like the father in Luke 15 who showers welcome on his repentant son. It means He would die for us, and He did, and now He lives. It means He disiplines us expects us to obey, just because He loves us so much and knows what's good for us. Hebrews 12:5-6 says "[5] And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons: 'My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; [6] For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.'"
As children of God, who are we supposed to be? My understanding is that we are supposed to imitate Christ and keep His commandments. John 13:34-35 "[34] A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. [35] By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Could somebody please explain to me the cause for a disturbing sight I saw on Saturday? I was just leaving the historic district of Tampa called Ybor, when on a street corner I observed a man and a woman armed with a bullhorn and a red-lettered sign. The man was making announcements of anger and condemnation, something about "getting the hell you deserve." As I passed by these people my mom said to me, "And that's why people think Christians are crazy." It really impacted me.
Where's the love? Didn't Jesus command love? A Christian is a child of God, a child of love, not a proclaimer of doom. Fear does not make converts. We're drawn to God by His astounding love and grace, by His willingness to save us from "the hell we deserve." People with bullhorns and hate aren't making it any easier for those of us who'd like to reach the world with love.
God invites us to be His children! The beauty of such a thought is too much to wrap our minds around. His own children, to be loved and protected and disciplined and taught. To be rescued from certain destruction and led in the ways of righteousness.
As I kept walking down the street, I saw a homeless man whom I had seen several hours before in exactly the same place. He's a man who needs some love, whatever his problems may be, exactly like the rest of us do. But he's not getting it from any man with a bullhorn.
I thank God that I can be His, and that the Body of Christ, which reaches over much of the world, can celebrate together the fact that He Himself will love us forever. It's something to stay amazed about all the time. And I'm hoping and praying that we never get used to this: that the same God who created everything by means of His Word, and who came to the world to fish us out of our own self-destruction, has poured out His grace over the whole face of the earth. He has poured it over anyone at all who will receive Him, and who will give himself to Him who gave Himself for us.
Friday, November 19, 2010
A Special Story
THIS WEEK I'm posting a Bonus Post like I said I would, because I just didn't have time on Sunday to tell you this amazing story I heard last week. Today is Friday, and I'm going to blog again this Sunday of course. But I just couldn't neglect to tell you what I heard from my friend Arun (uh - ROON) at Bible Study. It's a story that won't take long to tell, but which will likely stay with you for a while. It's a testimony of the amazing way the Holy Spirit can work.
Arun heard this story from a pastor who had come from India to visit his church. It occurred in India. It was about 1:00 AM, and suddenly the pastor heard the Holy Spirit tell him to wake up. Because it was very late and he was very sleepy, he was hesitant to obey. but the Spirit insisted. When the pastor had sat up in bed he heard Him say to go look out his window. So he did.
When he looked out his window he saw someone practicing witchcraft there, trying to curse him. So upon the command of the Holy Spirit the pastor proceeded to pray for four hours, from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM.
Not long after this occurred, the Holy Spirit did something that truly amazed me. He gave the pastor the address of the man who had been outside his window! When the pastor went to this address, he found out that the evil man had died. I don't know how he died, or when exactly, but he died.
What amazed me about this story was how present the Holy Spirit is in the life of that pastor, how clearly he hears Him. He is not shy about guiding His followers and telling us where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do. I think the reason some people, like the pastor, hear Him more clearly than others do is not because they have "more Jesus" than others people, but because of the degree to which they have committed themselves to serving Him, and the extent of their submission to His will.
This story reminds me of the Bible, especially the book of Acts, when we see the Holy Spirit doing so many unexpected things and guiding the servants of God. It's the same amazing Spirit of God working in the lives of Christians. He is present both in big events and small tasks, no matter who we are, because we are His people whom He chose.
I'm just so glad God gave us Christians His Spirit to keep Him close to our lives and to keep us within His will. I pray that we will all hear Him and that our hearts will be willing to obey, not insisting on our own agendas and 'putting words in His mouth,' so to speak, but obeying what He really says. I hope and pray that our hearts' greater desire would be for His kingdom and His righteousness. Astounding things can happen when we obey.
John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." -Jesus Christ.
Arun heard this story from a pastor who had come from India to visit his church. It occurred in India. It was about 1:00 AM, and suddenly the pastor heard the Holy Spirit tell him to wake up. Because it was very late and he was very sleepy, he was hesitant to obey. but the Spirit insisted. When the pastor had sat up in bed he heard Him say to go look out his window. So he did.
When he looked out his window he saw someone practicing witchcraft there, trying to curse him. So upon the command of the Holy Spirit the pastor proceeded to pray for four hours, from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM.
Not long after this occurred, the Holy Spirit did something that truly amazed me. He gave the pastor the address of the man who had been outside his window! When the pastor went to this address, he found out that the evil man had died. I don't know how he died, or when exactly, but he died.
What amazed me about this story was how present the Holy Spirit is in the life of that pastor, how clearly he hears Him. He is not shy about guiding His followers and telling us where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do. I think the reason some people, like the pastor, hear Him more clearly than others do is not because they have "more Jesus" than others people, but because of the degree to which they have committed themselves to serving Him, and the extent of their submission to His will.
This story reminds me of the Bible, especially the book of Acts, when we see the Holy Spirit doing so many unexpected things and guiding the servants of God. It's the same amazing Spirit of God working in the lives of Christians. He is present both in big events and small tasks, no matter who we are, because we are His people whom He chose.
I'm just so glad God gave us Christians His Spirit to keep Him close to our lives and to keep us within His will. I pray that we will all hear Him and that our hearts will be willing to obey, not insisting on our own agendas and 'putting words in His mouth,' so to speak, but obeying what He really says. I hope and pray that our hearts' greater desire would be for His kingdom and His righteousness. Astounding things can happen when we obey.
John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." -Jesus Christ.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
I Want to Tell You All About It
THIS WEEK I'm posting really late at night because I just got back home from Universal Studios. I had a lot of fun with my family and the Champagnes, and now I'm blessed to be safe back at my house in my blue jacket. I just have so much to share this week that it's going to be hard to cover it all so late at night, but here I go.
You remember last week I was praying SO hard that I would see somebody saved, or at least that I would have the chance to share the gospel with somebody. All that prayer my heart in the right place for something delightfully unexpected that happened on Monday. I was at Calculus tutoring sitting at my desk, singing a song that I love to sing at church, while I waited for my instructor to come in. I began to feel an urging to introduce myself to a group of people around me: a girl in front of me and two guys to my left. I don't think they were used to strangers introducing themselves just because. But then, I'm not accustomed to doing that kind of thing myself. So they were under the impression that I'm some kind of nice person, and what happened next went much better than it could have if I had not already introduced myself to them.
I heard the name 'Jesus' come up in their conversation a few minutes after, and I was immediately interested. I asked what they were talking about, and I learned that they were trying to figure out whether Jesus works like a measure of volume: can one person have 'more' of Him than another person does? I told them what I understand - that Jesus is either there or He's not and that what makes the difference is how much a person is submitted to His will. The more I talked to them, the more I realized that there were a lot of things that the fellow right next to me didn't really get about God. It's true, God is marvelously complex and far above our heads, and at the same time He makes many things clear to us because He wants us to be near Him. I was very interested in talking to that fellow some more, so I invited him to come to Bible study the next morning because there were so many things I wanted to tell him. I reiterated my invitation right before I left the tutoring session a while later, because I wanted him to know that I wanted him to come.
So I prayed many times that afternoon and the next morning that he would come. And he did. When I got to sit with him he let me tell him many things, and he didn't fight with me. That was nice. But the questions he asked carried me to such a wide range of subjects that I fear I didn't answer them all satisfactorily. I learned that my new friend is an atheist. If you've been reading for long you know how I feel about that topic - I really love to talk about all the reasons I just know there is a God, and I told him a lot of those reasons.
When the bell rang for everybody to go to class, my new friend seemed really eager to get away from me. I don't think I was unpleasant. It is a really profound topic. I mean, think about what a difference it makes to perceive the universe as a grand coincidence as opposed to a Creation. I found that the hardest thing was trying to explain what I knew to be true from the Bible to someone who is not familiar with it and doesn't really consider it reliable. It was also hard to talk about spiritual things when I believe that the spiritual and the material both exist, and he believes that only the material exists. I'm praying I can learn to more effectively share the truths that I have learned. I'm also praying I can talk to my new friend again, because my heart aches more than ever lately for others to know about God's life-saving grace and His true love.
I have been praying God would give me a greater love for my neighbors, a greater desire to share His love with others. I've also been praying for chances to pour out love on the people around me. And God has been answering my prayers.
One of the biggest questions that my friend asked me that morning was "How do you know Jesus?" I think about it, and I don't even remember what I said. I think I remember pausing with a smile and a happy breathe, because the reasons are so many that it was actually hard for me to think of how I should answer. Whatever my answer was then, I have so many more now. So many more. My heart longs to tell him everything.
I want to tell him how Jesus touches my spirit with His Holy Spirit and gives me strength, and how He moves to make things possible for me. I want to say how He turns my mountains into mole hills when I hold His hand and breathes peace into my soul when I call on His name.
I want to tell him how Jesus remains constant at all times when nothing else will, and how He actually comes and comforts me when He sees that my heart is broken or that I'm confused and feeling hopeless. He reminds me that I'm safe in His hands and that if I trust in Him He will light my way no matter how dark it gets.
I want to show him the amazing peace and joy I feel when I'm worshipping God, how I love to dance when I sing to Him, how He makes the world go round in every literal and figurative way. I want to bring him into the way all the believers feel at Engage the Spirit, when there is holy fear and godly peace all at once, astonishment at God's greatness and joy over His nearness.
I want to tell him about the times God has answered my prayers and moved in my life and in other people's lives.
I want to tell him about how the Holy Spirit makes it so He lives in me, how the Son fills the gap between us and the Father, and how God can play all His roles at once and still be one God - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I pray it's easy to see that all this could never be in my head. That assumes way too much on the part of humanity. We could never invent somebody like God. In fact, He invented us!
I want to tell my intelligent and reasonable friend all these things. And I pray for another chance to talk to him, and anyone else. I just want people to feel the security I feel in my soul when I think about what Jesus Christ means to me, and I keep praying for the chance.
There's so much more that I want to tell you about that I just might have to post again in the middle of the week. I heard an amazing story and I planned to write about it, but it's 11:03 and I have no more time. I anticipate another very exciting week, full of wonderful things, because God is so amazing, just so amazing. I want to tell you all about it.
You remember last week I was praying SO hard that I would see somebody saved, or at least that I would have the chance to share the gospel with somebody. All that prayer my heart in the right place for something delightfully unexpected that happened on Monday. I was at Calculus tutoring sitting at my desk, singing a song that I love to sing at church, while I waited for my instructor to come in. I began to feel an urging to introduce myself to a group of people around me: a girl in front of me and two guys to my left. I don't think they were used to strangers introducing themselves just because. But then, I'm not accustomed to doing that kind of thing myself. So they were under the impression that I'm some kind of nice person, and what happened next went much better than it could have if I had not already introduced myself to them.
I heard the name 'Jesus' come up in their conversation a few minutes after, and I was immediately interested. I asked what they were talking about, and I learned that they were trying to figure out whether Jesus works like a measure of volume: can one person have 'more' of Him than another person does? I told them what I understand - that Jesus is either there or He's not and that what makes the difference is how much a person is submitted to His will. The more I talked to them, the more I realized that there were a lot of things that the fellow right next to me didn't really get about God. It's true, God is marvelously complex and far above our heads, and at the same time He makes many things clear to us because He wants us to be near Him. I was very interested in talking to that fellow some more, so I invited him to come to Bible study the next morning because there were so many things I wanted to tell him. I reiterated my invitation right before I left the tutoring session a while later, because I wanted him to know that I wanted him to come.
So I prayed many times that afternoon and the next morning that he would come. And he did. When I got to sit with him he let me tell him many things, and he didn't fight with me. That was nice. But the questions he asked carried me to such a wide range of subjects that I fear I didn't answer them all satisfactorily. I learned that my new friend is an atheist. If you've been reading for long you know how I feel about that topic - I really love to talk about all the reasons I just know there is a God, and I told him a lot of those reasons.
When the bell rang for everybody to go to class, my new friend seemed really eager to get away from me. I don't think I was unpleasant. It is a really profound topic. I mean, think about what a difference it makes to perceive the universe as a grand coincidence as opposed to a Creation. I found that the hardest thing was trying to explain what I knew to be true from the Bible to someone who is not familiar with it and doesn't really consider it reliable. It was also hard to talk about spiritual things when I believe that the spiritual and the material both exist, and he believes that only the material exists. I'm praying I can learn to more effectively share the truths that I have learned. I'm also praying I can talk to my new friend again, because my heart aches more than ever lately for others to know about God's life-saving grace and His true love.
I have been praying God would give me a greater love for my neighbors, a greater desire to share His love with others. I've also been praying for chances to pour out love on the people around me. And God has been answering my prayers.
One of the biggest questions that my friend asked me that morning was "How do you know Jesus?" I think about it, and I don't even remember what I said. I think I remember pausing with a smile and a happy breathe, because the reasons are so many that it was actually hard for me to think of how I should answer. Whatever my answer was then, I have so many more now. So many more. My heart longs to tell him everything.
I want to tell him how Jesus touches my spirit with His Holy Spirit and gives me strength, and how He moves to make things possible for me. I want to say how He turns my mountains into mole hills when I hold His hand and breathes peace into my soul when I call on His name.
I want to tell him how Jesus remains constant at all times when nothing else will, and how He actually comes and comforts me when He sees that my heart is broken or that I'm confused and feeling hopeless. He reminds me that I'm safe in His hands and that if I trust in Him He will light my way no matter how dark it gets.
I want to show him the amazing peace and joy I feel when I'm worshipping God, how I love to dance when I sing to Him, how He makes the world go round in every literal and figurative way. I want to bring him into the way all the believers feel at Engage the Spirit, when there is holy fear and godly peace all at once, astonishment at God's greatness and joy over His nearness.
I want to tell him about the times God has answered my prayers and moved in my life and in other people's lives.
I want to tell him about how the Holy Spirit makes it so He lives in me, how the Son fills the gap between us and the Father, and how God can play all His roles at once and still be one God - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I pray it's easy to see that all this could never be in my head. That assumes way too much on the part of humanity. We could never invent somebody like God. In fact, He invented us!
I want to tell my intelligent and reasonable friend all these things. And I pray for another chance to talk to him, and anyone else. I just want people to feel the security I feel in my soul when I think about what Jesus Christ means to me, and I keep praying for the chance.
There's so much more that I want to tell you about that I just might have to post again in the middle of the week. I heard an amazing story and I planned to write about it, but it's 11:03 and I have no more time. I anticipate another very exciting week, full of wonderful things, because God is so amazing, just so amazing. I want to tell you all about it.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Hoping in God
THIS WEEK I have been going to Southpoint Community Church for one year! I can tell because last year I first came the week when Youth Quake Live was held at Southpoint, and this week it was held there again. I had a wonderful time at Youth Quake with Rina, Kenny, Margaret, Joey, Izzy, and Billy. The theme involved international missions and the struggles that Christians face in other countries. I have decided to pray for Christians who are suffering more than I am, and about whether I belong in a mission trip of any kind.
This week has been really unusual and exciting because something has changed in my heart. On Monday I began to pray really hard that I would see someone saved this week. I prayed every day with seriousness and hope. This is because there is a new, big desire in my heart to start seeing people saved and show this life-changing love to other people. I'm praying this desire only increases. I haven't done much witnessing at all (whether or not this blog counts, I don't know) but this week more than ever I just want to do what Jesus said to do right before He went up into heaven(Matthew 28:19-20): "[19] 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen."
Christianity is by nature evangelical, because Jesus Christ is evangelical.
As it turns out, despite my hard prayer and determination, I did not see anyone saved this week. But God did show me that He heard my prayer. I can tell because some strange and beautiful things started happening, and working. Although I didn't see anyone saved this week, I will continue to pray that I will. And even though it hasn't happened yet, who knows, the things that happened this week might lead to it happening in a little while. That would be awesome. I have faith that God does answer prayer, and He also has a plan that's way above our heads. That's enough for me.
A few different really cool things happened this week. First, someone I've been praying for left a message on my phone asking out of curiosity about a Biblical allusion she had read. She had decided to ask me to see if I knew anything about a man who had sat in chains cutting himself with stones, and when I talked to her I was able to tell her about the man whose many demons Jesus cast into a herd of swine, which immediately ran off the edge of a cliff. What I loved was that she used the word "curious" when she explained why she wanted to know. I had been praying for exactly that, that she would be curious about Jesus, and I continue to pray it. That was amazing. I'm still happy whenever I think about it.
That same day I felt a pull to call another friend of mine to ask if she would like to come to my Youth Group with me. I am not accustomed to calling people very often, especially if they are not expecting it. When I called it turned out she couldn't go, but she said she would like to come with me Sunday! I was astounded. So she went with me today, and we had fun. I love the things God does. I just want to be part of what He is doing.
The Bible encourages me to keep hoping in God, even though I didn't get to see anybody saved this week. At Bible study one morning this week, my friend Arun (ah-ROON) arrived wanting to share Romans 5:5. "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
I got so excited when I read this because it was exactly what I needed to hear. It tells me that because the Holy Spirit has poured the love of God, which never fails, into my heart, I can be sure that if I hope in Him I will not be disappointed. I find that He is the only thing we can ever be totally sure of. Anything else could fail, or disappear, or fall out from under us. But He stands strong forever, more constant than gravity and more powerful than all the suns in the universe He created.
I saw another wonderful thing while I was just flipping through the pages of my Bible to somewhere else, and it stayed with me so well that I went back on another day to look at the whole chapter. Acts 8:26-40 tells the story of an evangelist named Philip who heard the Holy Spirit tell him to stop a certain chariot. So he did, and he found the man inside reading a passage from Isaiah, a prophesy about Jesus. He was having trouble understanding it, so Philip explained it and preached the gospel to him, and the man was saved. He was baptized in water right then and there.
What struck me was that the Holy Spirit gave Philip those clear instructions: (v.29) "Then the Spirit said to Philip, 'Go near and overtake this chariot.'" Philip was an evangelist, so undoubtedly he was living in a state of readiness to share the gospel, having a good understanding of the necessity and urgency of the task. So when the Spirit gave this command he did not waste any time. Philip must have been really amazed at God when he saw the result of his obedience to God's command: here was this man in the perfect position to hear the gospel! God made it come together so beautifully - Philip and the chariot were at the same place at the same time, and that fellow earnestly wanted to understand what he was reading.
What this story told me was that God already knows when and where the chance will come for me to share the gospel, and when that time comes His Spirit will command me what to do. I say this for all of us. If we continue to hope in Him and strive to obey His will, of course He will show us what to do and when. So I'm going to keep praying for the chance to see people saved, having hope in God that I won't be disappointed, and trusting that He has a plan for what He's going to do with me, as He has for you and for each one of us. I'm also going to keep praying that my desire to see others saved increases. Nobody is going to stop Him from doing exactly as He has determined to do, just as nobody can stop the ocean behind a dam or pin the sky down to the earth. What's required of you and me is faith, and a willingness to trust and obey God regardless of the circumstances. He loves us unconditionally, and we should serve Him unconditionally in return.
This week has been really unusual and exciting because something has changed in my heart. On Monday I began to pray really hard that I would see someone saved this week. I prayed every day with seriousness and hope. This is because there is a new, big desire in my heart to start seeing people saved and show this life-changing love to other people. I'm praying this desire only increases. I haven't done much witnessing at all (whether or not this blog counts, I don't know) but this week more than ever I just want to do what Jesus said to do right before He went up into heaven(Matthew 28:19-20): "[19] 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen."
Christianity is by nature evangelical, because Jesus Christ is evangelical.
As it turns out, despite my hard prayer and determination, I did not see anyone saved this week. But God did show me that He heard my prayer. I can tell because some strange and beautiful things started happening, and working. Although I didn't see anyone saved this week, I will continue to pray that I will. And even though it hasn't happened yet, who knows, the things that happened this week might lead to it happening in a little while. That would be awesome. I have faith that God does answer prayer, and He also has a plan that's way above our heads. That's enough for me.
A few different really cool things happened this week. First, someone I've been praying for left a message on my phone asking out of curiosity about a Biblical allusion she had read. She had decided to ask me to see if I knew anything about a man who had sat in chains cutting himself with stones, and when I talked to her I was able to tell her about the man whose many demons Jesus cast into a herd of swine, which immediately ran off the edge of a cliff. What I loved was that she used the word "curious" when she explained why she wanted to know. I had been praying for exactly that, that she would be curious about Jesus, and I continue to pray it. That was amazing. I'm still happy whenever I think about it.
That same day I felt a pull to call another friend of mine to ask if she would like to come to my Youth Group with me. I am not accustomed to calling people very often, especially if they are not expecting it. When I called it turned out she couldn't go, but she said she would like to come with me Sunday! I was astounded. So she went with me today, and we had fun. I love the things God does. I just want to be part of what He is doing.
The Bible encourages me to keep hoping in God, even though I didn't get to see anybody saved this week. At Bible study one morning this week, my friend Arun (ah-ROON) arrived wanting to share Romans 5:5. "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
I got so excited when I read this because it was exactly what I needed to hear. It tells me that because the Holy Spirit has poured the love of God, which never fails, into my heart, I can be sure that if I hope in Him I will not be disappointed. I find that He is the only thing we can ever be totally sure of. Anything else could fail, or disappear, or fall out from under us. But He stands strong forever, more constant than gravity and more powerful than all the suns in the universe He created.
I saw another wonderful thing while I was just flipping through the pages of my Bible to somewhere else, and it stayed with me so well that I went back on another day to look at the whole chapter. Acts 8:26-40 tells the story of an evangelist named Philip who heard the Holy Spirit tell him to stop a certain chariot. So he did, and he found the man inside reading a passage from Isaiah, a prophesy about Jesus. He was having trouble understanding it, so Philip explained it and preached the gospel to him, and the man was saved. He was baptized in water right then and there.
What struck me was that the Holy Spirit gave Philip those clear instructions: (v.29) "Then the Spirit said to Philip, 'Go near and overtake this chariot.'" Philip was an evangelist, so undoubtedly he was living in a state of readiness to share the gospel, having a good understanding of the necessity and urgency of the task. So when the Spirit gave this command he did not waste any time. Philip must have been really amazed at God when he saw the result of his obedience to God's command: here was this man in the perfect position to hear the gospel! God made it come together so beautifully - Philip and the chariot were at the same place at the same time, and that fellow earnestly wanted to understand what he was reading.
What this story told me was that God already knows when and where the chance will come for me to share the gospel, and when that time comes His Spirit will command me what to do. I say this for all of us. If we continue to hope in Him and strive to obey His will, of course He will show us what to do and when. So I'm going to keep praying for the chance to see people saved, having hope in God that I won't be disappointed, and trusting that He has a plan for what He's going to do with me, as He has for you and for each one of us. I'm also going to keep praying that my desire to see others saved increases. Nobody is going to stop Him from doing exactly as He has determined to do, just as nobody can stop the ocean behind a dam or pin the sky down to the earth. What's required of you and me is faith, and a willingness to trust and obey God regardless of the circumstances. He loves us unconditionally, and we should serve Him unconditionally in return.
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