By tonight I will have packed up everything I need for my 3 month trip to China. I'm only taking like 5 shirts and 2 pairs of pants, underwear, toiletries and some books. The rest i'm mailing home, or storing here in Salem until I get back. I don't think I've ever lived on this little in my life.
I'm overwhelmed, but I'm also really excited because I'm finally living out what I've been wanting to live out for quite sometime. I'm going to live minimally with my incredible God, unbelievable friends, and the beautiful people of China and Thailand. Great things are going to happen.
Me and my friends are living out God's promise. An abundant life. and we're going across the globe to meet others who are doing the same thing. World changers who combine trust in God with a passion for social justice to stand up and do something about the hurt in the world. In 6 days my friends and I will be joining them. It's surreal. I'm so incredibly thankful.
so yeah. i just wanted to say that.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!! I hope everyone is blessed by their families and good eatin'.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
God Is A Man Of His Word
I've learned something huge recently about God--
He is a man of his word.
He keeps his promises.
He gives us the desires of our heart.
"For I am confident that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus"-Philipians 1:6
When we ask God to show us his heart--the deepest corners of his heart, his true feelings for the suffering, for the oppressed--and when we seek The Lord for who he is, God opens up a wellspring of love, joy, peace, and willingness to serve Him for eternity. I think my whole life I've always been striving for these things, trying to obtain them by study and perfectionism and complaining--but the answer has been staring me right in the face. And the answer is God's heart. As Mute Math says..."You are reaching something that is beating. I can't believe I never noticed my heart before. At least it was never until I noticed You." Isn't it a blessing and a privilege to serve The Most High? In simply seeing God's face, we are transformed. He shares his heart with us and grants us love, joy, peace and righteousness. We no longer have to condemn ourselves for feeling resentful, bitter, judgmental, self righteous, negative, or whatever, because it is no longer something that comes naturally since we are IN the Lord. Christianity is not striving for perfection. It is the privilege of being able to call Perfect your best friend, lover, protecter and King. How can we say no to that?
Read the incentives of intimacy with God (and share in the poetic beauty of The Bible, which is something I've never noticed until recently)--
Isaiah 60:1-5
"Arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you: all assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come."
18-22:
"No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a might nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly."
How can we call Christianity a burden any longer? Christianity is anything but a burden. It's a privilege and an honor of being able to be intimate with the Creator of the Universe. He loves us and knows our names! He is fond of us. He weeps when we weep, he rejoices when we rejoice. He is the Wellspring of Life, and in him we can be confident that we shall be fully alive.
"It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."-Galations 2:20
"The glory of God is man fully alive."-St. Iraneus
Go seek his heart! and have fun.
He is a man of his word.
He keeps his promises.
He gives us the desires of our heart.
"For I am confident that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus"-Philipians 1:6
When we ask God to show us his heart--the deepest corners of his heart, his true feelings for the suffering, for the oppressed--and when we seek The Lord for who he is, God opens up a wellspring of love, joy, peace, and willingness to serve Him for eternity. I think my whole life I've always been striving for these things, trying to obtain them by study and perfectionism and complaining--but the answer has been staring me right in the face. And the answer is God's heart. As Mute Math says..."You are reaching something that is beating. I can't believe I never noticed my heart before. At least it was never until I noticed You." Isn't it a blessing and a privilege to serve The Most High? In simply seeing God's face, we are transformed. He shares his heart with us and grants us love, joy, peace and righteousness. We no longer have to condemn ourselves for feeling resentful, bitter, judgmental, self righteous, negative, or whatever, because it is no longer something that comes naturally since we are IN the Lord. Christianity is not striving for perfection. It is the privilege of being able to call Perfect your best friend, lover, protecter and King. How can we say no to that?
Read the incentives of intimacy with God (and share in the poetic beauty of The Bible, which is something I've never noticed until recently)--
Isaiah 60:1-5
"Arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you: all assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come."
18-22:
"No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a might nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly."
How can we call Christianity a burden any longer? Christianity is anything but a burden. It's a privilege and an honor of being able to be intimate with the Creator of the Universe. He loves us and knows our names! He is fond of us. He weeps when we weep, he rejoices when we rejoice. He is the Wellspring of Life, and in him we can be confident that we shall be fully alive.
"It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."-Galations 2:20
"The glory of God is man fully alive."-St. Iraneus
Go seek his heart! and have fun.
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