How long are you going to be here? What's your plan? These are probably the two questions I get asked most frequently here at Pleasant Valley.
My plan? Do I have to have a plan?
I learned a few years back that when I make plans God often changes them. I had planned on moving to Honduras after college and God showed me very clearly that His plan and my plan were not the same. That was an extremely humbling lesson to learn. Since then I have tried to stop planning. My only plan is to try to follow Him. My plan is to go where He calls me. I don't know what that is going to look like tomorrow, and I for sure don't know what that is going to look like 10, 20, or 30 years from now. I LOVE my job at PV and I would feel blessed by God to be able to stay here for 20 years, but if He calls me to leave here tomorrow and follow Him somewhere else I must go. I must trust that He holds tomorrow and that He will lead me where He wants me to be. There is no greater joy than knowing God and knowing that you are living in His perfect will.
I know that He will make it clear to me when He has completed through me at PV what He has desired to do through me here. I also believe that when that happens He will open up another door for me to serve Him somewhere else. I have no clue where that is going to be, but that's okay because I know that He will provide and that He will go with me there. He has given me a peace that I can't even begin to explain.
So my plan is to trust in Him with each breath that I take. My plan is to seek Him with ALL of my heart. My plan is to allow His Spirit to control my life. My plan is to wait on the Lord! My plan is to pray for His guidance and understanding. My plan is to allow Him complete control. He is my plan!
I'm sure there will be moments when I forget who is truly in charge or when I fight for control. I am thankful for the patience and grace of my Shepherd who brings me back to the flock when I stray off and think I can do it all on my own. He knows what is best for me and I know that He will not withhold good from me. I pray that I will learn to fall humbly before His throne and say, "not my will but yours be done."
So to answer the questions...I will be here till my Savior leads me somewhere else. I don't know where or when that will be. I have no plan, I just have faith in my God. For me that is more than enough!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Private Life
Tonight as we sang praises to The Most High God, He revealed something to me that in my head I already knew, but I'm not sure my heart had been totally convinced of. Even though it was something I was aware of, it wasn't something that I had truly embraced.
As we were standing there singing I paused to pray and I heard His sweet voice say to me..."What you do with me in private affects what I do through you in public."
I am so worthless without Him. Only through Him, and Him alone, do I have any ability. I am so weak, but He is my strength. Am I truly depending on His power to do something GREAT, or am I depending on my weakness to do something average?
Am I soaking in His presence? Am I fully embracing all that my God is giving me, or am I telling Him, "well, I don't need all of that God. I don't need all of that time with you. I can handle this on my own." How prideful can I be? I should be longing to be in His presence and in His Word constantly. I don't mean in His presence like O I'm alive and living in His presence and that's good enough. I mean truly taking the time to silent everything and be FULLY PRESENT in His presence. I desire that. I desire that private life with my God. I desire to spend hours on my face and knees listening to Him and pouring my heart out to Him daily. I desire to engrave His words on my heart for eternity. I desire to be FULLY PRESENT in His presence.
He invites me to come to Him! The KING of this universe invites me to come before Him. How many of us would ever decline an invitation from an earthly prince or king? I'm pretty sure if prince Harry invited us to a personal dinner we would clear our schedules and do whatever we had to to get there. Well the KING of the entire universe has invited us into His presence shouldn't we clear our schedules and do whatever we can to get there? It's a personal invitation to talk with the KING!
Today Francis Chan spoke from John 15. This chapter has been following me around recently, and I LOVE it!
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
Apart from Him I can do NOTHING. Apart from Him I produce NO fruit. I will never produce anything real if I do not abide in Him. I don't want to produce fake fruit. I want it to be real! My private life with my savior matters. People in scripture who spent time alone with God did amazing things for God. He is key. My private relationship with my savior affects EVERYTHING!
If I'm truly being honest with myself I have a long way to go with this. I desire my Jesus. I desire my God, but so often my actions say I desire this world. Actions truly do speak louder than words. If I want to produce His fruit then I must run to Him above all and before all. I must turn off the noise of the world and dwell in the Shelter of The Most High God. I must clear my schedule and do whatever it takes to meet and be FULLY PRESENT in the presence of my King.
I desire to bear His fruit, but I can't do that apart from Him. Verse one of John 15 says, The Father cuts off every branch that bears no fruit. In verse 6 it says those branches get thrown into the fire. I know with all of my heart that I do not want to get thrown in the fire. My God has so much more planned for me, but I must abide in Him or I will produce no fruit and be of no use.
So I am challenged to be FULLY PRESENT in His presence at every chance I get. May I learn to abide in Him so that He may produce fruit in me; apart from Him I will produce NOTHING!
My private life with God Almighty affects what He does through me in public!
God I pray that our private life will be intimate. That I will learn to abide fully in you. That I will be FULLY PRESENT in your presence. That I will do whatever I can to clear my schedule and be with you!
As we were standing there singing I paused to pray and I heard His sweet voice say to me..."What you do with me in private affects what I do through you in public."
I am so worthless without Him. Only through Him, and Him alone, do I have any ability. I am so weak, but He is my strength. Am I truly depending on His power to do something GREAT, or am I depending on my weakness to do something average?
Am I soaking in His presence? Am I fully embracing all that my God is giving me, or am I telling Him, "well, I don't need all of that God. I don't need all of that time with you. I can handle this on my own." How prideful can I be? I should be longing to be in His presence and in His Word constantly. I don't mean in His presence like O I'm alive and living in His presence and that's good enough. I mean truly taking the time to silent everything and be FULLY PRESENT in His presence. I desire that. I desire that private life with my God. I desire to spend hours on my face and knees listening to Him and pouring my heart out to Him daily. I desire to engrave His words on my heart for eternity. I desire to be FULLY PRESENT in His presence.
He invites me to come to Him! The KING of this universe invites me to come before Him. How many of us would ever decline an invitation from an earthly prince or king? I'm pretty sure if prince Harry invited us to a personal dinner we would clear our schedules and do whatever we had to to get there. Well the KING of the entire universe has invited us into His presence shouldn't we clear our schedules and do whatever we can to get there? It's a personal invitation to talk with the KING!
Today Francis Chan spoke from John 15. This chapter has been following me around recently, and I LOVE it!
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
Apart from Him I can do NOTHING. Apart from Him I produce NO fruit. I will never produce anything real if I do not abide in Him. I don't want to produce fake fruit. I want it to be real! My private life with my savior matters. People in scripture who spent time alone with God did amazing things for God. He is key. My private relationship with my savior affects EVERYTHING!
If I'm truly being honest with myself I have a long way to go with this. I desire my Jesus. I desire my God, but so often my actions say I desire this world. Actions truly do speak louder than words. If I want to produce His fruit then I must run to Him above all and before all. I must turn off the noise of the world and dwell in the Shelter of The Most High God. I must clear my schedule and do whatever it takes to meet and be FULLY PRESENT in the presence of my King.
I desire to bear His fruit, but I can't do that apart from Him. Verse one of John 15 says, The Father cuts off every branch that bears no fruit. In verse 6 it says those branches get thrown into the fire. I know with all of my heart that I do not want to get thrown in the fire. My God has so much more planned for me, but I must abide in Him or I will produce no fruit and be of no use.
So I am challenged to be FULLY PRESENT in His presence at every chance I get. May I learn to abide in Him so that He may produce fruit in me; apart from Him I will produce NOTHING!
My private life with God Almighty affects what He does through me in public!
God I pray that our private life will be intimate. That I will learn to abide fully in you. That I will be FULLY PRESENT in your presence. That I will do whatever I can to clear my schedule and be with you!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Golden Calves
Tonight I heard one of the most convicting talks of my life. I'm so thankful for the way David Platt opened my eyes to God's words tonight in a bold and beautiful way. He started us out in Exodus 32 where Moses went up on Mt. Sinai and Aaron and the Israelites built a golden calf to worship. He connects this to Paul's warning to the church in Corinthians 10:6-13. His question to us was what are our golden calves?
Aaron was the leader of the Israelites while Moses was up on Mt. Sinai and he built a golden calf for the Israelites to worship. As a youth minister and leader to the teens at Pleasant Valley what golden calves am I building for them to worship? My goal above all else should be to connect them with the father and open their eyes to the cost of discipleship.
David Platt suggested 4 golden calves that we must be cautious of.
1. We have become leaders without conviction!
-Aaron as their leader gave the people exactly what they wanted. They wanted a God to worship and so he built them one. So often I fall into the temptation to please the youth group instead of pleasing my God. I want to give my kids what they want because that results in them being happy, which results in their parents being happy, which ultimately results in me having a job. But is that truly what is pleasing the Lord? Christianity if truly lived out is costly! It should cost us our luxury cars, our huge houses, our comfortable circle of friends, and in some cases even our lives. So often we PERFORM crowd pleasing Christianity that cost our people nothing. Our people come to church to consume not to give. This is so backwards from what we see in the Bible. I am lying to my teens if I only tell them what they want to hear. I can't let everything revolve around them, when everything is suppose to revolve around HIM. I pray that God will fill me with boldness and a deeper understanding of His word so that I will speak His truth and never water down the message. It's not comfortable, it's not easy, and it's not free. Christianity is costly!
2. We have devised salvation without dedication.
-Salvation and dedication go together. So many times we think now that we are saved we can do whatever we want because we have God's grace. When truly now that you have given your life to Christ you can do whatever He wants. Christ is worth COMPLETE and TOTAL abandonment. When we give our lives to Him we are saying I'm ALL in. There is nothing I want more than to magnify and praise your name. Most people go through life without truly finding something that is worth losing everything for, but as Christ's disciples we should praise Him that we have something that is truly worth losing everything for. Nothing could ever compare to the riches of intimately knowing our savior and the hope of seeing Him face to face someday SOON!
3. We have manufactured worship without humiliation.
-As the Israelites stood around and worshiped the golden calf they worshipped it in the same ways that they had been called to worship God. They were worshipping. The only thing that they forgot was God. Platt challenged us to think about how we do this same thing today. We mold and make our image of God to look like us. We fashion Him in our image. When we take God and fashion Him into our image and come to sing and praise his name are we truly worshipping God or are we worshipping ourselves? All throughout the Old Testament there are examples of men and women falling face down before the Lord. Where is our humility and brokenness in worship? Tonight as we praised God we fell on our knees before His throne. As I set their on my knees with my head bowed and my hands opened the image of a servant falling before her master kept running through my head. It was almost as if I was on my knees begging Him to save me. I was just so thankful that the King of the universe allowed me to come into His presence. Dear God, please forgive me when I become prideful in my worship.
4. We fail to speak of the wrath of God.
-When we downplay the wrath of God we downplay the cross. If hell doesn't really exist and isn't really that bad then why did Jesus die to save us from it? When we doubt the wrath of God we downplay the gift of God's mercy. So often I fail to remember and remind myself and my teens of what God truly did save us from. Without His mercy where would I be? If my sweet Savior didn't come and take the cup and drink every drop of God's wrath I wouldn't stand a chance. His wrath is real, but Praise God so is His mercy. When we doubt God's wrath we minimize the mission of the church. If hell isn't real then we shouldn't be too worried about telling people about Jesus. If hell isn't real then people don't really need saving. But if I believe that the Bible is completely true and is God's Holy word then I believe that hell is real and that it is far more terrible than my mind could ever imagine. If I believe the only way to escape hell is through Jesus then I should be sharing His story with great urgency. I should care far more about peoples' eternal suffering! Sweet Jesus thank you for taking the cup for me and drinking every drop of God's wrath. When I think of all you have done for me I am overwhelmed with joy and am humbled because I know I could never repay you.
I am thankful to serve a patient and merciful God, but I pray that I will never water down His message. His message is perfect! His Word is powerful. May I come to KNOW it better and engrave His Words on my heart. May I never build golden calves for me or for anyone else to worship. May I live boldly with no fear of this world.
Aaron was the leader of the Israelites while Moses was up on Mt. Sinai and he built a golden calf for the Israelites to worship. As a youth minister and leader to the teens at Pleasant Valley what golden calves am I building for them to worship? My goal above all else should be to connect them with the father and open their eyes to the cost of discipleship.
David Platt suggested 4 golden calves that we must be cautious of.
1. We have become leaders without conviction!
-Aaron as their leader gave the people exactly what they wanted. They wanted a God to worship and so he built them one. So often I fall into the temptation to please the youth group instead of pleasing my God. I want to give my kids what they want because that results in them being happy, which results in their parents being happy, which ultimately results in me having a job. But is that truly what is pleasing the Lord? Christianity if truly lived out is costly! It should cost us our luxury cars, our huge houses, our comfortable circle of friends, and in some cases even our lives. So often we PERFORM crowd pleasing Christianity that cost our people nothing. Our people come to church to consume not to give. This is so backwards from what we see in the Bible. I am lying to my teens if I only tell them what they want to hear. I can't let everything revolve around them, when everything is suppose to revolve around HIM. I pray that God will fill me with boldness and a deeper understanding of His word so that I will speak His truth and never water down the message. It's not comfortable, it's not easy, and it's not free. Christianity is costly!
2. We have devised salvation without dedication.
-Salvation and dedication go together. So many times we think now that we are saved we can do whatever we want because we have God's grace. When truly now that you have given your life to Christ you can do whatever He wants. Christ is worth COMPLETE and TOTAL abandonment. When we give our lives to Him we are saying I'm ALL in. There is nothing I want more than to magnify and praise your name. Most people go through life without truly finding something that is worth losing everything for, but as Christ's disciples we should praise Him that we have something that is truly worth losing everything for. Nothing could ever compare to the riches of intimately knowing our savior and the hope of seeing Him face to face someday SOON!
3. We have manufactured worship without humiliation.
-As the Israelites stood around and worshiped the golden calf they worshipped it in the same ways that they had been called to worship God. They were worshipping. The only thing that they forgot was God. Platt challenged us to think about how we do this same thing today. We mold and make our image of God to look like us. We fashion Him in our image. When we take God and fashion Him into our image and come to sing and praise his name are we truly worshipping God or are we worshipping ourselves? All throughout the Old Testament there are examples of men and women falling face down before the Lord. Where is our humility and brokenness in worship? Tonight as we praised God we fell on our knees before His throne. As I set their on my knees with my head bowed and my hands opened the image of a servant falling before her master kept running through my head. It was almost as if I was on my knees begging Him to save me. I was just so thankful that the King of the universe allowed me to come into His presence. Dear God, please forgive me when I become prideful in my worship.
4. We fail to speak of the wrath of God.
-When we downplay the wrath of God we downplay the cross. If hell doesn't really exist and isn't really that bad then why did Jesus die to save us from it? When we doubt the wrath of God we downplay the gift of God's mercy. So often I fail to remember and remind myself and my teens of what God truly did save us from. Without His mercy where would I be? If my sweet Savior didn't come and take the cup and drink every drop of God's wrath I wouldn't stand a chance. His wrath is real, but Praise God so is His mercy. When we doubt God's wrath we minimize the mission of the church. If hell isn't real then we shouldn't be too worried about telling people about Jesus. If hell isn't real then people don't really need saving. But if I believe that the Bible is completely true and is God's Holy word then I believe that hell is real and that it is far more terrible than my mind could ever imagine. If I believe the only way to escape hell is through Jesus then I should be sharing His story with great urgency. I should care far more about peoples' eternal suffering! Sweet Jesus thank you for taking the cup for me and drinking every drop of God's wrath. When I think of all you have done for me I am overwhelmed with joy and am humbled because I know I could never repay you.
I am thankful to serve a patient and merciful God, but I pray that I will never water down His message. His message is perfect! His Word is powerful. May I come to KNOW it better and engrave His Words on my heart. May I never build golden calves for me or for anyone else to worship. May I live boldly with no fear of this world.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Honduras
I LOVED these sweet girls!
These two sisters are a mess but tons of fun!
Nothing says fun like a mile run in the pouring rain!
These kids are my babies that I used to work with when I studied in Honduras for a semester. It's crazy how much they have grown over the past 2 1/2 years!
O rosie!
I wanted to sneak her home with me!
Little Enma has always been one of my favorites!
These kids are so very very special to me. I have loved getting to laugh and play with all of them! My God has taught me so much through all the different trips to Honduras that I have been blessed to be able to take. During my last trip I got to hold little baby Allison almost every day. She was the sweetest little baby ever. Each day as I held her I just sat there and prayed over and over...God may she grow up to know your power, love, and grace. May she grow up to know your name. I pray that not only for her but for all of my other little Honduran kids as well. I pray that same thing daily for my teens here too. May they come to KNOW the awesome power, love, and grace of our amazing God!
God may I come to KNOW and understand more clearly your power, love, and grace each and every day!
Talk about Him
My God has done so many incredible things in my life. I don't deserve all that He gives me, but I am so incredibly thankful. He brings me life to the full! His love has changed me. There is absolutely nothing better in this world than knowing and experiencing all that Christ has done in us and for us.
But sometimes, I fail. I fail to share this amazing gift with others. If I truly believe in His word and all that He has given me, then why so often do I lack the courage to share with others the gifts that He gives. I love giving people gifts, but for some reason I often fail to share the best gift that I have ever been given, the good news about what my Savior has done in my life.
Dear Lord, help me to be bold and filled with love in sharing all that you have done in my life with others!
So often I talk about my church and how awesome I think PV is, but I fail to talk about my Jesus. I talk about my imperfect church in place of talking about my perfect God and Savior. Somehow that's just not right. Don't get me wrong I am so so so thankful for the Church and for the family of believers that God has blessed me with, but I can't hide behind the Church. That can never be a substitute for talking about my awesome God and Savior and all that They have done for me.
My Jesus has redeemed me. He has taken on my punishment. He has filled me with His Spirit. He has brought me peace. He has brought me joy. He has given me purpose. He has overflowed my heart with love. He has called me by name. He has connected me to the Father. He has saved me. He has a place for me in Heaven. He has given me so many reasons to sing.
May each breath that I take sing praises to His name. May I be like his disciples in Acts 4:20 when they said, "we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." May the name of my sweet Savior be constantly on my lips.
My God has been so good to me. Let me tell you about all that He has done! Let me tell you about my awesome Lord!
But sometimes, I fail. I fail to share this amazing gift with others. If I truly believe in His word and all that He has given me, then why so often do I lack the courage to share with others the gifts that He gives. I love giving people gifts, but for some reason I often fail to share the best gift that I have ever been given, the good news about what my Savior has done in my life.
Dear Lord, help me to be bold and filled with love in sharing all that you have done in my life with others!
So often I talk about my church and how awesome I think PV is, but I fail to talk about my Jesus. I talk about my imperfect church in place of talking about my perfect God and Savior. Somehow that's just not right. Don't get me wrong I am so so so thankful for the Church and for the family of believers that God has blessed me with, but I can't hide behind the Church. That can never be a substitute for talking about my awesome God and Savior and all that They have done for me.
My Jesus has redeemed me. He has taken on my punishment. He has filled me with His Spirit. He has brought me peace. He has brought me joy. He has given me purpose. He has overflowed my heart with love. He has called me by name. He has connected me to the Father. He has saved me. He has a place for me in Heaven. He has given me so many reasons to sing.
May each breath that I take sing praises to His name. May I be like his disciples in Acts 4:20 when they said, "we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." May the name of my sweet Savior be constantly on my lips.
My God has been so good to me. Let me tell you about all that He has done! Let me tell you about my awesome Lord!
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