alright yall. i’ve spent my entire life growing up in church, christian school, and a christian family. i spent 7 months on a discipleship training school, and have read the bible front and back. but never have i truly realized what i believe until i a few months ago. i’ve connected everything in my life, and i think it’s very important for me to share the knowledge i have/what i PERSONALLY believe.
i believe in matthew 7:21-23. you can tell me i’m taking this out of context, not fully understanding it, or whatever you want to tell me, but i think God gives us the free will to decide what and how we want to believe. it says this “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
i believe that God looks directly at our heart. where are intentions our, what our desires are vs. the actions we take. the bible tells out flat out and plainly, time after time that God loves us SO MUCH. that He IS THE DEFINITION of love. so lets dissect this word: love. what does God interpret love as? 1 Corinthians says “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” IT KEEPS NO RECORDS OF WRONG. If God truly keeps no records of wrong, if God truly has this kind of love for us, then where have we come up with this picture of an “angry” god that is up in the clouds, all angry at us for sinning, and just looking down at us pointing his finger telling us what to do. THAT IS NOT LOVE, AND GOD IS THE DEFINITION OF LOVE. we’re all so turned off to Christianity, afraid of it, thinking if we are a Christian, we’re never going to truly be “happy” or experience the “world.” I honestly don’t know where this idea has come from, but this is NOT the God that created you and loves you dearly. God loves each of us SO UNBELIEVABLY much that he gave us the freedom of CHOICE. why the heck wouldn’t he just force us to love him, serve him, do everything for him? he can do anything he wants. but yet he loves each of you so much that he decided you know what, i’m going to let them choose. God cares about the things you love! if you love to rave and dance to electronic music, there’s nothing to feel guilty about! God GAVE you those desires and i definitely plan to shuffle with Jesus when i get to heaven. not only this, but GUILT DOES NOT COME FROM GOD. GUILT COMES FROM SATAN. satan puts guilt in your life to scare you away from christianity!
so now that we know what love means. we know that God is going to look at the heart inside of the person, whether than the actions the person has taken in his or her life. someone can go to church every sunday, never gossip, never drink. but if they’re thinking bad thoughts, wishing they could sleep in instead of spend time with God, or not drinking only because you don’t want to go to hell, then your heart is not in the right place! the “sin” happens as soon as it’s in your head. even if you don’t commit it. what is your reason behind WHY you aren’t sinning? if your heart has no love in it, the dirt is covering up all your “good deeds.” 1 Corinthians 13:1 says “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” So are you not “sinning” because you love God? or because you want to be safe and make sure you don’t go to hell. how are you treating the people around you? I wholeheartedly believe that the most important thing to God is to have a pure heart and to love one another to the best of your ability. i don’t understand why so many people run away from God thinking that he’s going to be angry at you and make you cut “too much out” of your life. that’s not who he is, nor who he wants. He wants you to enjoy the things you enjoy, if you have the right intentions in how you’re doing them. i believe that ANY action can be a sin if the intentions are there, and that any “sin” might not actually be a sin if the heart is in the right place as to why you are doing something.
i just know that christianity is just so unappealing, especially to our generation, and so i wanted to give a different perspective on it. a perspective that makes sense to me. i’ve never been happier or more content or felt like i really knew God until i made this discovery. i’ve tried so hard to be happy by not “drinking” or not “going to clubs” but only focusing on God, and it just want me. even though i was making all the “right” choices, my heart still wanted to be on that dancefloor, at 2 o’clock in the morning. i wasn’t truly satisfied. then God revealed his definition of love to me. he wants me to be happy, as long as i’m being safe and my heart is truly in the right place as to why i’m doing the things i’m doing. God doesn’t tell us not to get drunk because he doesnt want us to get drunk. he does it because of the foolish decisions that tend to happen when one warps his mind. he doesn’t tell us not to have sex before marriage just because he doesn’t want us to. he tells us not to have sex before marriage because he knows of the attachment and heartbreak that comes when having sex with someone and then splitting up with them. he tells us to turn the other cheek in arguments, not so that we get hurt, but because he knows the swallowing your pride will ALWAYS result in a better conflict resolution.
i dont know guys, yall could agree with me, disagree with me, agree somewhat, or whatever you want. but throughout my 19 years of discovering myself and discovering who God is to me, i’ve never felt more content about something that i believe.
also just something quick to prove why i believe God is real. okay so where does happiness come from? happiness comes from satisfaction, and satisfaction comes from learning, spending time on something, KNOWLEDGE. i truly believe knowledge is the key to the feeling we experience called “happiness.” so where does this emotion really come from? if this is the case, then couldnt religion be absolutely false? i mean people spend so much time learning about ANYTHING, they will become obsessed with it and believe in it fully because when you learn about something and become passionate about it, you are fulfilling a need, and in return are being happy. so shouldn’t religion be false?
yes, i believe “religions” are false. which is why there are SO MANY DIFFERENT ONES ALL BELIEVING THEY ARE THE ONLY ONE, THE CORRECT ONE. they are putting all their time and effort trying to “reach up to” and “please” their God by doing the right thing. that yeah, in turn they may feel a “supernatural” feeling of happiness. of course all these words and different sacrifices and rituals will bring an overwhelming joy.
so why is christianity any different than any other religion? this is why. it is the ONE RELIGION in the world out there that is TRULY BASED ON A SELFLESS LOVE. we dont have to do anything at all in order to receive the love God has for us. nothing. all we have to do, is confess with our mouth that we believe in him, and accept that he has ALREADY wiped out every single sin we have or will ever committed. we don’t have to “reach up” to God or do this action or this performance in order to receive any love from him. He already loves you and me so much, that absolutely NOTHING can separate you from the love of God. absolutely NOTHING. Romans 8: 38-39 “ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Alright yall, this is the end of my little “rant.” But i truly care about people more than i ever have in my entire life, and it would be selfish of me to not share this revelation with you guys. i truly wish that each person could feel the kind of relief and happiness that i have because of realizing how much God truly loves me. this may not be the answer everyone is looking for, nor do i believe it’s absolute. but this is what i believe, and i really just wanted to share a different “look” on christianity vs. what we hear everyday.
i truly hope that i don’t offend anyone, nor do i care to have ANY religious/ atheist argument. please don’t respond with any of that. i wholeheartedly believe “to each his own”, and to coexist. i will never force my opinion down anyone’s throat. i just know that this has been the answer to me and my happiness, and if it impacts just ONE person in letting them feel like the kind of eternal joy i feel, then it’s completely worth it to me.
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Monday, 10 December 2012
DECEMBER 11
so wow, these last 3 weeks have been CRAZY. we did 3 weeks of the Go Pass It On tour (gopassiton.org). To be honest, going into it, I wasn’t excited at all. 3 weeks in country towns sleeping on the floor and playing with kids did not sound very fun. however, I knew God would build my character, and he certainly did.
WEEK 1
the tour kicked off in beaudesert. all the girls were sleeping in a room about 4 times the size of my bedroom at home. i’m talking about 35 girls, all basically spooning because of how crowded we were. not to mention there was one shower-15 minutes of a walk away, and we weren’t allowed to go after it got dark...i think i showered 2 times that week. my team went into schools and did a lot of “R.E.” classes (religious education). we also had an after school program where we set up a huge inflatable soccer field and painted faces and had coloring played with kids. putting up/taking down the soccer field was super exhausting. we also had different meals to prep/clean up throughout the week. thankfully, we got 1 day off that week and my team all went swimming together and it was just a good day to be able to relax.
WEEK 2
on to boonah. we got there about 1 am saturday night, and we were all sleeping in the floor of a church. we did have more space, but there were also more ants... we had to wake up at about 5 am to get dressed to go to different churches in the morning and to pack up all our stuff and get out of the church we were sleeping in for their own service. oh, and this is where i started to get sick. by this morning, i lost my voice. me and 3 other people went to a church together. on our way, one of the guys we were with jokingly prayed that someone from the church would invite us over to lunch. after that church ended, this family invited us over for lunch! :) they fed us an amazing meal and it was truly SUCH a blessing to be in a home. they also set mattresses out in their living room and just let us lay down and relax for a bit! God not only answers prayers, but answers them in abundance :) we got back to the church and i definitely needed a nap. i was feeling so sick. i definitely caught a cold. i ended up sleeping about 22 hours and even missed monday’s day activities. monday night, we got together to pray for the town. my group was praying for the high schoolers. there was this skatepark not too far from the tent, so we went and prayed in it, and then to the high school. it was really good, we got to declare God over that area and just pray for love and peace for the kids who skate there.
on tuesday, during our after school activities, one of the leaders asked a couple of us to pray for something else that we could do for the activities. God gave me this really great idea to have a “princess” table- a table for little girls to go and have their hair braided and nails painted. also, he gave me the idea to make bracelets with letter beads- and have each kid choose a fruit of the spirit and put that on the bracelet. such a good idea from God and we made it happen!
also, on tuesday, i felt like God was telling me to go over to the skatepark. so i did. i sat there for about 20 minutes, super awkwardly. then i went over and started talking to the kids there and just kind of introduced myself and started building relationships with the kids. they were super friendly and it was awesome to get to know them. throughout the week, different YWAM-ers went over to the skatepark to talk to them and invite them to the tent each night...they were nice, but hardly any of them came.
friday was my birthday! :) in the morning, i woke up, showered, and had a quiet time. during that, i told God that this day is his. my life is not my own, but his. it didnt matter if anyone acknowledged my birthday or not, because i know how much i mean to Him. i went to the kitchen and started cutting some fruit for breakfast. after i had done that, i looked up and Paige Motz (fellow Texan) made me some breakfast tacos and wrote me a letter for my birthday! they were SO GOOD. after breakfast, i went to where my sleeping bag was at and there were so many letters! i started opening them but i couldnt read them without crying...this is why. ever since i was little, i always expected my birthday to be a big deal. i always wanted friends to do things for me, but they never did. i always ended up disappointed on my birthday. on this day, however, i set no expectations but just gave it completely up to God. yet God loves me so freaking much that he did this for me. it’s really cool that in YWAM, none of us have money, so all the presents are letters and things we make and our favorite foods. It’s truly incredible the friends he has blessed me with. It took me so much time to read all the letters because of all the happy tears coming down! SO OVERWHELMING. i’ve seriously never had better friends, EVER. and these are girls i know i can trust my entire life with. SO BLESSED.
on friday night, during worship, i was outside of the tent. these kids from the skate park came up to me and asked what i was doing. i kind of got to share why i worship God and a bit of my testimony, and that was awesome in itself! i’m not too sure how it happened, but me and Jonny (fellow ywam-er) ended up in the skatepark talking to these two guys. it was amazing that God placed Jonny and I together in this situation. me and him were both able to share our testimonies and bounce off one another. we got to share the difference between religion and having a relationship with Christ, and how Christ has worked so evidently in both of our lives. i could definitely tell that these kids were hungry to know more. one started talking about christians healing people and how it was bogus. he then told us about how he had gotten surgery in his knee a little while back and that there are metal pieces in it. his name was casey. he said that with every step, there is cricking and pain. Jonny and I asked if we could pray for it, and he actually let us. we warned him it might be weird, but he let us. we prayed for it, and asked him to get up and walk. no pain, no cricking! we had to go, but HOW FREAKING CRAZY COOL!!!!
The best part was that this was all on my birthday! that i didnt expect anything great for my birthday, but just told God that my life is his and he can do whatever he wants with it. yet he loves me enough to bless me in the morning and make me feel so loved, yet also at night he let me be a light to share the love of Jesus as well as heal casey!
on saturday night, i went over to the skatepark and invited everyone over to the tent again. i saw casey there and asked him how his knee was. he said there was no pain at all, and no cricking! PRAISE JESUS! Jonny asked him to come hang out at the tent, but he said he was about to be going to a party so he couldnt.
later that night, i was so frustrated. i wanted to talk to more people from the skatepark, but i didnt want to be annoying and go over there AGAIN. so i prayed that God would send them over to the tent. that they would come and have questions and that God would give me all the answers, and that my words would not be my own but would come directly from Him. not even 30 seconds after praying, i look over and 2 of the skater kids were standing a couple feet away. i went up and started talking to them. they said that casey told them about his knee and wanted to know more about it. i sat down with them two and started answering all their questions! just then, casey walks up!!! he wasn’t even supposed to be there, he was supposed to be at a party yet God sent him over! i asked him if he wanted to know more about the God who healed his knee and he said no. he didn’t care about God at all but was just happy he was healed and didnt have pain anymore. he sat down next to the two boys and listened. i also got to share my testimony and how God has worked in my life! it was so cool because i didnt know a lot of answers to all their different questions, but the holy spirit just spoke through me and answered them all! i got to share about God’s crazy amounts of love and the difference between religion and christianity. it was almost time to go, so i asked them if they wanted to receive Christ and experience the joy i have in my heart that comes from God and accept the forgiveness that Jesus offers us through the cross. they all 3 said yes and became saved, even casey! cool thing is, right when we prayed with them to receive Christ, a Christian girl from the community walked up. i was able to connect them so that they would have a church to go to and other Christians to lean on. they were so excited and we got to give them Bibles and contact details and they want to hang out in Brisbane with us and skype and have so many more questions to ask! praise Jesus that he used that one healing to bring people to the kingdom! and if just those 3 stay on fire for God, they will impact all their friends and it will be a revolution!
WEEK 3 we physically ran from Boonah to Warwick (80 km). we would drop off a runner, drive 4 km and then wait for them to get to the bus...this took about 8 hours but it’s all part of what the pass it on tour stands for. those 8 hours were filled with heat, and flies. we had a lot of R.E. classes again, and no free time at all. we also had after school care everyday. I actually got to meet this girl. she is about 7 months pregnant, and stuck in a really terrible situation with a man who treats her terribly and no family to run to. i met her monday night, and on tuesday morning i felt like God was telling me to write her a letter. so i did, and finally saw her on wednesday evening. she said she had been looking for me and wanting to hang out. that night she told me about her situation she was in, and i gave her the letter. it was crazy because the letter was about how valuable and beautiful she is and how much worth she has in God. we hung out the next day, and i got to buy her lunch and just share so much more about who God is and the love he has for her and that she can find strength in Him even if theres nothing else to hold on to. it was a really great opportunity to speak truth to her and plant a seed in her life. Warwick was really hard in the living areas, and the fact that the shower was again, about a 15 minute walk away. the flies there would also swarm you. they were super co-dependent, and were obsessed with trying to get in your mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. it was terrible.
these 3 weeks were the roughest of my entire life, but it was definitely worth it. God did some absolutely amazing things, and these are only MY stories. there were about 50 of us, so imagine all the other crazy things he did! it was amazing to see that God is actually using ME, to bring HIM glory. i never thought i was a good enough person to do any of this for God, but he doesn’t care. he loves me just as i am and it’s amazing to see what he’s going to do with me in the future in order to bring others to his kingdom!
WEEK 1
the tour kicked off in beaudesert. all the girls were sleeping in a room about 4 times the size of my bedroom at home. i’m talking about 35 girls, all basically spooning because of how crowded we were. not to mention there was one shower-15 minutes of a walk away, and we weren’t allowed to go after it got dark...i think i showered 2 times that week. my team went into schools and did a lot of “R.E.” classes (religious education). we also had an after school program where we set up a huge inflatable soccer field and painted faces and had coloring played with kids. putting up/taking down the soccer field was super exhausting. we also had different meals to prep/clean up throughout the week. thankfully, we got 1 day off that week and my team all went swimming together and it was just a good day to be able to relax.
WEEK 2
on to boonah. we got there about 1 am saturday night, and we were all sleeping in the floor of a church. we did have more space, but there were also more ants... we had to wake up at about 5 am to get dressed to go to different churches in the morning and to pack up all our stuff and get out of the church we were sleeping in for their own service. oh, and this is where i started to get sick. by this morning, i lost my voice. me and 3 other people went to a church together. on our way, one of the guys we were with jokingly prayed that someone from the church would invite us over to lunch. after that church ended, this family invited us over for lunch! :) they fed us an amazing meal and it was truly SUCH a blessing to be in a home. they also set mattresses out in their living room and just let us lay down and relax for a bit! God not only answers prayers, but answers them in abundance :) we got back to the church and i definitely needed a nap. i was feeling so sick. i definitely caught a cold. i ended up sleeping about 22 hours and even missed monday’s day activities. monday night, we got together to pray for the town. my group was praying for the high schoolers. there was this skatepark not too far from the tent, so we went and prayed in it, and then to the high school. it was really good, we got to declare God over that area and just pray for love and peace for the kids who skate there.
on tuesday, during our after school activities, one of the leaders asked a couple of us to pray for something else that we could do for the activities. God gave me this really great idea to have a “princess” table- a table for little girls to go and have their hair braided and nails painted. also, he gave me the idea to make bracelets with letter beads- and have each kid choose a fruit of the spirit and put that on the bracelet. such a good idea from God and we made it happen!
also, on tuesday, i felt like God was telling me to go over to the skatepark. so i did. i sat there for about 20 minutes, super awkwardly. then i went over and started talking to the kids there and just kind of introduced myself and started building relationships with the kids. they were super friendly and it was awesome to get to know them. throughout the week, different YWAM-ers went over to the skatepark to talk to them and invite them to the tent each night...they were nice, but hardly any of them came.
friday was my birthday! :) in the morning, i woke up, showered, and had a quiet time. during that, i told God that this day is his. my life is not my own, but his. it didnt matter if anyone acknowledged my birthday or not, because i know how much i mean to Him. i went to the kitchen and started cutting some fruit for breakfast. after i had done that, i looked up and Paige Motz (fellow Texan) made me some breakfast tacos and wrote me a letter for my birthday! they were SO GOOD. after breakfast, i went to where my sleeping bag was at and there were so many letters! i started opening them but i couldnt read them without crying...this is why. ever since i was little, i always expected my birthday to be a big deal. i always wanted friends to do things for me, but they never did. i always ended up disappointed on my birthday. on this day, however, i set no expectations but just gave it completely up to God. yet God loves me so freaking much that he did this for me. it’s really cool that in YWAM, none of us have money, so all the presents are letters and things we make and our favorite foods. It’s truly incredible the friends he has blessed me with. It took me so much time to read all the letters because of all the happy tears coming down! SO OVERWHELMING. i’ve seriously never had better friends, EVER. and these are girls i know i can trust my entire life with. SO BLESSED.
on friday night, during worship, i was outside of the tent. these kids from the skate park came up to me and asked what i was doing. i kind of got to share why i worship God and a bit of my testimony, and that was awesome in itself! i’m not too sure how it happened, but me and Jonny (fellow ywam-er) ended up in the skatepark talking to these two guys. it was amazing that God placed Jonny and I together in this situation. me and him were both able to share our testimonies and bounce off one another. we got to share the difference between religion and having a relationship with Christ, and how Christ has worked so evidently in both of our lives. i could definitely tell that these kids were hungry to know more. one started talking about christians healing people and how it was bogus. he then told us about how he had gotten surgery in his knee a little while back and that there are metal pieces in it. his name was casey. he said that with every step, there is cricking and pain. Jonny and I asked if we could pray for it, and he actually let us. we warned him it might be weird, but he let us. we prayed for it, and asked him to get up and walk. no pain, no cricking! we had to go, but HOW FREAKING CRAZY COOL!!!!
The best part was that this was all on my birthday! that i didnt expect anything great for my birthday, but just told God that my life is his and he can do whatever he wants with it. yet he loves me enough to bless me in the morning and make me feel so loved, yet also at night he let me be a light to share the love of Jesus as well as heal casey!
on saturday night, i went over to the skatepark and invited everyone over to the tent again. i saw casey there and asked him how his knee was. he said there was no pain at all, and no cricking! PRAISE JESUS! Jonny asked him to come hang out at the tent, but he said he was about to be going to a party so he couldnt.
later that night, i was so frustrated. i wanted to talk to more people from the skatepark, but i didnt want to be annoying and go over there AGAIN. so i prayed that God would send them over to the tent. that they would come and have questions and that God would give me all the answers, and that my words would not be my own but would come directly from Him. not even 30 seconds after praying, i look over and 2 of the skater kids were standing a couple feet away. i went up and started talking to them. they said that casey told them about his knee and wanted to know more about it. i sat down with them two and started answering all their questions! just then, casey walks up!!! he wasn’t even supposed to be there, he was supposed to be at a party yet God sent him over! i asked him if he wanted to know more about the God who healed his knee and he said no. he didn’t care about God at all but was just happy he was healed and didnt have pain anymore. he sat down next to the two boys and listened. i also got to share my testimony and how God has worked in my life! it was so cool because i didnt know a lot of answers to all their different questions, but the holy spirit just spoke through me and answered them all! i got to share about God’s crazy amounts of love and the difference between religion and christianity. it was almost time to go, so i asked them if they wanted to receive Christ and experience the joy i have in my heart that comes from God and accept the forgiveness that Jesus offers us through the cross. they all 3 said yes and became saved, even casey! cool thing is, right when we prayed with them to receive Christ, a Christian girl from the community walked up. i was able to connect them so that they would have a church to go to and other Christians to lean on. they were so excited and we got to give them Bibles and contact details and they want to hang out in Brisbane with us and skype and have so many more questions to ask! praise Jesus that he used that one healing to bring people to the kingdom! and if just those 3 stay on fire for God, they will impact all their friends and it will be a revolution!
WEEK 3 we physically ran from Boonah to Warwick (80 km). we would drop off a runner, drive 4 km and then wait for them to get to the bus...this took about 8 hours but it’s all part of what the pass it on tour stands for. those 8 hours were filled with heat, and flies. we had a lot of R.E. classes again, and no free time at all. we also had after school care everyday. I actually got to meet this girl. she is about 7 months pregnant, and stuck in a really terrible situation with a man who treats her terribly and no family to run to. i met her monday night, and on tuesday morning i felt like God was telling me to write her a letter. so i did, and finally saw her on wednesday evening. she said she had been looking for me and wanting to hang out. that night she told me about her situation she was in, and i gave her the letter. it was crazy because the letter was about how valuable and beautiful she is and how much worth she has in God. we hung out the next day, and i got to buy her lunch and just share so much more about who God is and the love he has for her and that she can find strength in Him even if theres nothing else to hold on to. it was a really great opportunity to speak truth to her and plant a seed in her life. Warwick was really hard in the living areas, and the fact that the shower was again, about a 15 minute walk away. the flies there would also swarm you. they were super co-dependent, and were obsessed with trying to get in your mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. it was terrible.
these 3 weeks were the roughest of my entire life, but it was definitely worth it. God did some absolutely amazing things, and these are only MY stories. there were about 50 of us, so imagine all the other crazy things he did! it was amazing to see that God is actually using ME, to bring HIM glory. i never thought i was a good enough person to do any of this for God, but he doesn’t care. he loves me just as i am and it’s amazing to see what he’s going to do with me in the future in order to bring others to his kingdom!
Saturday, 10 November 2012
November 11
This week was awesome. Seriously becoming family with everyone on base. In lectures, we studied the heart of worship.
Some main things I learned this week!
-Even when I have nothing, I should choose to praise God
-In the hardest circumstances, DONT GIVE UP
-Even when the circumstances change, God stays the same
-True worship is out of the response of your love for God
-I WILL worship, because God is worth it
-Worship should never be about what I feel or what I’m going to get out of it, it is SOLELY to bring him praise
Another really cool thing that I learned this week is this: I don’t even have to go through intense pain, yet I always let the little things bring me down and take me away/distract me from my relationship with God. Do these issues give me an excuse to be discontent with God and my life? Absolutely not. no mater what I’m feeling, I must CHOOSE to be content and carry on praising God. It can be SO DIFFICULT, but HE IS SO WORTHY.
Also, we are so lead by our emotions, and it never turns out well. So many things we do are based on the “feelings” we get. We become enslaved to our emotions. Romans 6:16 says, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
This is interesting because whatever we let influence us, is what we are enslaved to. We should be enslaved to God. Not necessarily servants to him, because that is not what Christianity is- Christianity is a relationship WITH God. So if we let God influence every part of us, we will become more righteous, and more like Him.
ANOTHER cool thing, is that yes...God will take us through trials and hardships, and that is fine. Without a crisis, there can be no breakthrough. God brings a breakthrough and you will grow, get so much stronger. It can be painful, but once you heal, you become even better than before. So no matter how much God puts you through, if you just persevere, it will be totally worth it!
The last thing that I really loved figuring out this week is this: We live in SO MUCH bondage of our past and what we’ve done. We are not sinners striving for holiness, we are saints who sometimes struggle with sin. Thanks to the gift of the cross, God forgave you as soon as you repent. It’s us and our worry-some minds that are the problem- not forgiving ourselves.
SO YEAH. This week was so cool. We also had a 24-hour worship session, which was AWESOME. I’ve been making some new friends here as well as becoming a little TOO COMFORTABLE around the ones I’ve had this whole time...(S/O to Dan Moreira). I’ve really started feeling like I’m at home here, and I’m just realizing how absolutely blessed I am to have the ability to take a portion of my life aside, live in AUSTRALIA, and have weeks like this... where I get to learn about my creator and build some extraordinary, life-long relationships.
Another really cool thing that I learned this week is this: I don’t even have to go through intense pain, yet I always let the little things bring me down and take me away/distract me from my relationship with God. Do these issues give me an excuse to be discontent with God and my life? Absolutely not. no mater what I’m feeling, I must CHOOSE to be content and carry on praising God. It can be SO DIFFICULT, but HE IS SO WORTHY.
Also, we are so lead by our emotions, and it never turns out well. So many things we do are based on the “feelings” we get. We become enslaved to our emotions. Romans 6:16 says, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
This is interesting because whatever we let influence us, is what we are enslaved to. We should be enslaved to God. Not necessarily servants to him, because that is not what Christianity is- Christianity is a relationship WITH God. So if we let God influence every part of us, we will become more righteous, and more like Him.
ANOTHER cool thing, is that yes...God will take us through trials and hardships, and that is fine. Without a crisis, there can be no breakthrough. God brings a breakthrough and you will grow, get so much stronger. It can be painful, but once you heal, you become even better than before. So no matter how much God puts you through, if you just persevere, it will be totally worth it!
The last thing that I really loved figuring out this week is this: We live in SO MUCH bondage of our past and what we’ve done. We are not sinners striving for holiness, we are saints who sometimes struggle with sin. Thanks to the gift of the cross, God forgave you as soon as you repent. It’s us and our worry-some minds that are the problem- not forgiving ourselves.
SO YEAH. This week was so cool. We also had a 24-hour worship session, which was AWESOME. I’ve been making some new friends here as well as becoming a little TOO COMFORTABLE around the ones I’ve had this whole time...(S/O to Dan Moreira). I’ve really started feeling like I’m at home here, and I’m just realizing how absolutely blessed I am to have the ability to take a portion of my life aside, live in AUSTRALIA, and have weeks like this... where I get to learn about my creator and build some extraordinary, life-long relationships.
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
November 4th!
OKAY WOW. OH MY GOSH. so we are learning about our spiritual gifts, and I’M SO OVERWHELMED. i had no idea about the spiritual gifts at all. we’ve been going through them to an intense level, and even practicing them in class to figure out how to use them and what not. i’ve realized especially that i have the gift of discernment of spirits. i’ve always been able to read people to an extent that most people couldn’t. this means like, to be able to tell if someone is genuine or not...or if they are hurt or feeling a certain emotion, or even possessed. i always wondered why no one was able to see things in people that i could, and now i know why! it’s amazing to know that God cares enough about me to bless me with an actual GIFT. i’ve never been good at anything. no sport, no musical talent, not artsy either. i always felt discouraged when people would ask me what i “do for fun.” because usually it would just be hanging out with friends and watching movies and whatnot.
as we were going through the gifts, we got to “words of knowledge” which can be used to show people God’s realness. what it basically is, is the Holy Spirit downloading information to you about someone’s past. this is so that you can prove God’s realness, as well as to discern why someone may act the way they do. so in class the guy teaching us, asked us if we could come up with any “words of knowledge” for him. i got a picture of an elephant...and him and his wife riding it. i had no idea why, and i definitely was not going to speak up about it because it seemed so absurd. finally, i spoke up and said what i saw, and as soon as i said “elephant” someone else in the class said “i got that too!” it was insane! and then i told him exactly what i saw and he said that him and his wife have been talking about going and riding an elephant together for quite a while now. HOW INSANE. WHAT THE HECK. OH MY GOODNESS. WHAT!? DID THIS SERIOUSLY JUST HAPPEN TO MEEE!!!?????? wow. i had no idea that God had placed these things on my life.
Also, when i was telling my one-on-one leader about this, she asked me to do the same for her. i got so uncomfortable, because i figured the one earlier in the afternoon was just coincidence. she was like “i’ll wait for you.” so i just relaxed and asked God to speak something to me. immediately i got a red dress. i asked her if she had one, and she agreed, and asked the age she wore it. i said about 14-15. then described the fit and length of the dress, and she nodded that i was right. then i could see her wearing it at a party... it wasn’t a bad party. there was a purpose for this party. like the celebration of something. there were all ages of people there. astonished, she told me that she wore that same type of red dress, at age 15 or 16, to this party that was celebrating the end of the production of a play. i mean yeah, what i got for her was pretty vague, but STILL. GOD IS FREAKIN’ TALKING TO ME. HOW INSANE IS THIS!? HE IS GIVING ME REAL WORDS OF KNOWLEDGE. also, we are learning that if you want to strengthen a certain spiritual gift, you can easily do that by just making the decision that that is what you want to do! keep practicing, and ask God to help you see what you can do to develop it. And of course, the main key, is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Oh yeah we also learned about the spiritual gift of healing. I watched my friends with bad backs, bad knees, bad necks, etc. be healed by the Holy Spirit through MY FRIENDS. US. THE STUDENTS, HEALING STUDENTS. HOW INSANE!? Just like that, miraculously healed. wow. God is definitely working in the lives of all the students here, and it’s amazing to see that God truly does have a supernatural side and is willing to share it with those who want to use it.
Sunday, 28 October 2012
OCTOBER 28
SO IT’S OFFICIAL YALL.
I’M GOING TO GERMANY AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC FOR 7 WEEKS ON OUTREACH! wooohooooo!!! SO STOKED. seriously couldn’t be happier with my team/location. ITS SO PERFECT. God placed every single person in the right place. No doubt about it. For example there are 6 people in my team, which is perfect for traveling in Europe..however, 14 people were called to go to India. I would absolutely hate having a team that big, but everyone that on the India team LOVES the large size! Just little things like that proves his guidance here.
So this week we just learned about a lot of foundational things. Such as devotionals, mediation, and what it means to be a disciple. Did you know that being saved and being a disciple are two totally different things? God calls us all to be disciples but it’s amazing how few Christians actually go do that. To be a disciple we must walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we must enhance the earth. To be fully devoted to Him is to basically “hate” yourself. This is because the true commitment to God is so strong that our own pride absolutely ruins what God calls us to do. The only thing worse than dying is a wasted life. To be a disciple is to be disciplined. Salvation costs you nothing, but discipleship costs you everything.
Anyways, this week absolutely flew by. On Friday night we had a graduation for the school of digital filmmaking here. After it was over, some friends and I went into the city and just walked around and got coffee. On the way back to the train, these two guys were asking people walking by if anyone had a lighter. I had one, so I stopped and let them use it. As I said “you’re welcome.” They noticed I was American. Then came the inquisition of where I’m from and what I’m doing. As I explained I was from Texas, they kept going on about how “f-----d up” they were. I just listened as they went on and we started talking about music and what not (they love steve aoki too! :D). Then we realized we were taking the same train home so we sat next to each other and talked some more. We actually had a lot in common, so they were really easy to talk to. I was able to just love on them like Jesus would, and eventually the subject of YWAM came up. I got to share my testimony and tell them what being a Christian really is and how God has been working in my life. THEY ACTUALLY LISTENED AND ASKED QUESTIONS! It was so awesome! One said “Dude Jesus like washed peoples feet and stuff? THATS SO COOL.” hahahaha. I added one of them on facebook and I’m gonna try and keep in touch. I freaking LOVE opportunities like this. I’ve only been here a month and God is already giving me chances to make a difference! Well, I really have a lot of homework to do. So I must be off to get all that done. HOWEVER, being called to Germany is a VERY pricey outreach, so if you feel led, PLEASE donate. It’s really hard to be a missionary if the funds aren’t provided. So even if you can’t give anything, if you could just pray for me and that God will provide, that would be awesome! Cheerio!
<<<<<<< TEAM GERMANY!!! :D
So this week we just learned about a lot of foundational things. Such as devotionals, mediation, and what it means to be a disciple. Did you know that being saved and being a disciple are two totally different things? God calls us all to be disciples but it’s amazing how few Christians actually go do that. To be a disciple we must walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we must enhance the earth. To be fully devoted to Him is to basically “hate” yourself. This is because the true commitment to God is so strong that our own pride absolutely ruins what God calls us to do. The only thing worse than dying is a wasted life. To be a disciple is to be disciplined. Salvation costs you nothing, but discipleship costs you everything.
Anyways, this week absolutely flew by. On Friday night we had a graduation for the school of digital filmmaking here. After it was over, some friends and I went into the city and just walked around and got coffee. On the way back to the train, these two guys were asking people walking by if anyone had a lighter. I had one, so I stopped and let them use it. As I said “you’re welcome.” They noticed I was American. Then came the inquisition of where I’m from and what I’m doing. As I explained I was from Texas, they kept going on about how “f-----d up” they were. I just listened as they went on and we started talking about music and what not (they love steve aoki too! :D). Then we realized we were taking the same train home so we sat next to each other and talked some more. We actually had a lot in common, so they were really easy to talk to. I was able to just love on them like Jesus would, and eventually the subject of YWAM came up. I got to share my testimony and tell them what being a Christian really is and how God has been working in my life. THEY ACTUALLY LISTENED AND ASKED QUESTIONS! It was so awesome! One said “Dude Jesus like washed peoples feet and stuff? THATS SO COOL.” hahahaha. I added one of them on facebook and I’m gonna try and keep in touch. I freaking LOVE opportunities like this. I’ve only been here a month and God is already giving me chances to make a difference! Well, I really have a lot of homework to do. So I must be off to get all that done. HOWEVER, being called to Germany is a VERY pricey outreach, so if you feel led, PLEASE donate. It’s really hard to be a missionary if the funds aren’t provided. So even if you can’t give anything, if you could just pray for me and that God will provide, that would be awesome! Cheerio!
<<<<<<< TEAM GERMANY!!! :D
Friday, 19 October 2012
OCTOBER 20
So this week we learned about hearing God’s voice. We had this amazing speaker, Jason Solari. It honestly didn’t even feel like we were in class because he just told stories that applied for all the lectures. He really made me think about how selfish I really am. This week I think I’ve probably changed the most. God gave me TWO visions this week! HOW CRAZY IS THAT!? Also, we found out our possible outreach locations: Peru, Germany/Czech Republic, Malaysia/Indonesia, Russia, or India. I’m not allowed to say yet where I have decided on....but I know God is definitely going to use me in this place!
I’ve grown SOOOO much closer to all the girl’s I’m living with.. It’s amazing how real and deep we can all be with eachother. Like I’ve really never had such close friends, and I have about 15 of them! They are already like sisters to me! Our friendship’s aren’t fake or superficial either. We’re all really there for eachother and encourage one-another. I’ve never had friends like these before.
On Friday night, we had a birthday party celebrating all the September and October birthdays. We all dressed up as “when we were little, what we wanted to be when we grew up.” It was hilarious seeing all the different costumes. I wanted to be a pop-star, so naturally i dressed up as a (modest) Britney Spears. It was fun to just be goofy and dance around with my new family <3.
ANYWAYS CAN I SAY I AM SO EXCITED TO GO TO MY OUTREACH LOCATION! I wish I was allowed to share it, but no one here knows where anyone else is going yet, so I can’t. :/ But we are all sooooo antsy to find out our outreach groups and where everyone is going!
RANDOM PARAGRAPH SOWEY. I really miss my cats....so if you want to mail me a cat, you should do it. It’s getting realllly hot here also, so that is getting annoying. I spent a lot of money of food this week since I’m getting tired of chicken and rice everyday lol. Bought some yogurt, cream cheese, oatmeal and brown sugar, some apple-mango juice, some cheesecake, chips&salsa, and some coca-cola. Well, I have heaps of homework to do and I also have to finish this book we’re supposed to read, so I’ll write when we’re allowed to release our outreach locations!
P.S. could really just some donations :/ (link is at the bottom of this page)
OH AND ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT BASED ON PROMISES! (this one is God's promise of forgiveness!)
I’ve grown SOOOO much closer to all the girl’s I’m living with.. It’s amazing how real and deep we can all be with eachother. Like I’ve really never had such close friends, and I have about 15 of them! They are already like sisters to me! Our friendship’s aren’t fake or superficial either. We’re all really there for eachother and encourage one-another. I’ve never had friends like these before.
On Friday night, we had a birthday party celebrating all the September and October birthdays. We all dressed up as “when we were little, what we wanted to be when we grew up.” It was hilarious seeing all the different costumes. I wanted to be a pop-star, so naturally i dressed up as a (modest) Britney Spears. It was fun to just be goofy and dance around with my new family <3.
ANYWAYS CAN I SAY I AM SO EXCITED TO GO TO MY OUTREACH LOCATION! I wish I was allowed to share it, but no one here knows where anyone else is going yet, so I can’t. :/ But we are all sooooo antsy to find out our outreach groups and where everyone is going!
RANDOM PARAGRAPH SOWEY. I really miss my cats....so if you want to mail me a cat, you should do it. It’s getting realllly hot here also, so that is getting annoying. I spent a lot of money of food this week since I’m getting tired of chicken and rice everyday lol. Bought some yogurt, cream cheese, oatmeal and brown sugar, some apple-mango juice, some cheesecake, chips&salsa, and some coca-cola. Well, I have heaps of homework to do and I also have to finish this book we’re supposed to read, so I’ll write when we’re allowed to release our outreach locations!
P.S. could really just some donations :/ (link is at the bottom of this page)
OH AND ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT BASED ON PROMISES! (this one is God's promise of forgiveness!)
Saturday, 13 October 2012
OCTOBER 14
THIS WEEK WAS SO AMAZING.
We had this speaker, Michelle Skorski come in and speak to us all week. She is from Florida, and is on a Christian radio station there. She was sooooo insightful. Seriously this woman has an amazing relationship with God and his love was definitely shown through her this week. She spoke on the “Father heart of God.” We learned a lot about forgiveness and just the attributes and lovingkindness God has.
This week was actually a little rough though. Almost all my friends from home are guys, so it’s pretty difficult living in a room with 11 other girls. Especially since we all have such different personalities, it gets a little frustrating when I just want to be alone or with all my “bros.” I miss my friends from home a lot, but it’s fine. It’s really good to learn to adapt to all different sorts of personalities.
Got to talk to a couple friends from home this week for a few hours each! Was great to share how my life is changing with them, and how accepting and open they were to listen to me. I am so blessed with such amazing people in my life :)
This week I’ve really just been working a lot on letting go of all anger and bitterness, and focusing on humility and selflessness.
Friday night the whole YWAM base here went into the city of Brisbane to evangelize. Some pretty traumatic things happened, and quite a few of us witnessed a tragic death, so if you could all pray for that man’s family, and those of us that were affected by what happened, that would be great!
Saturday I went into the city again with a couple of friends to go to this man-made beach and pool. It was SUCHHHH a beautiful day! It was also nice to just lay out in the sun and just relax after a long week of lectures. We also went and saw the movie “Taken 2.” It was really fun! There was about 20 of us, all speaking in different accents so we got quite a bit of funny looks from those around us at the cinema.
Alsooooo, since there are so many musicians here, I am learning how to play guitar! It hurts a looooot because I don't have calluses on my fingers yet, but I'm getting there! It's really something I've wanted to learn for a long long time so I'm glad I finally get to! Maybe eventually I will buy my own guitar (if the finances are provided!) Because it's something I'm realllly enjoying and I know I can use it in so many good ways! :)
Anyways, it was a great week and I am very thankful for just being here in Australia! Oh and some of the food was a lot better this week, (lots of mexican food!) the main cook here is from Arizona so he likes to make a lot of mexican food. This week was his birthday and I wrote on his birthday card thanking him for bringing some home food to australia, and the next day he gave me a jar of his home-made salsa! WHAT A GEM :)
We had this speaker, Michelle Skorski come in and speak to us all week. She is from Florida, and is on a Christian radio station there. She was sooooo insightful. Seriously this woman has an amazing relationship with God and his love was definitely shown through her this week. She spoke on the “Father heart of God.” We learned a lot about forgiveness and just the attributes and lovingkindness God has.
This week was actually a little rough though. Almost all my friends from home are guys, so it’s pretty difficult living in a room with 11 other girls. Especially since we all have such different personalities, it gets a little frustrating when I just want to be alone or with all my “bros.” I miss my friends from home a lot, but it’s fine. It’s really good to learn to adapt to all different sorts of personalities.
Got to talk to a couple friends from home this week for a few hours each! Was great to share how my life is changing with them, and how accepting and open they were to listen to me. I am so blessed with such amazing people in my life :)
This week I’ve really just been working a lot on letting go of all anger and bitterness, and focusing on humility and selflessness.
Friday night the whole YWAM base here went into the city of Brisbane to evangelize. Some pretty traumatic things happened, and quite a few of us witnessed a tragic death, so if you could all pray for that man’s family, and those of us that were affected by what happened, that would be great!
Saturday I went into the city again with a couple of friends to go to this man-made beach and pool. It was SUCHHHH a beautiful day! It was also nice to just lay out in the sun and just relax after a long week of lectures. We also went and saw the movie “Taken 2.” It was really fun! There was about 20 of us, all speaking in different accents so we got quite a bit of funny looks from those around us at the cinema.
Alsooooo, since there are so many musicians here, I am learning how to play guitar! It hurts a looooot because I don't have calluses on my fingers yet, but I'm getting there! It's really something I've wanted to learn for a long long time so I'm glad I finally get to! Maybe eventually I will buy my own guitar (if the finances are provided!) Because it's something I'm realllly enjoying and I know I can use it in so many good ways! :)
Anyways, it was a great week and I am very thankful for just being here in Australia! Oh and some of the food was a lot better this week, (lots of mexican food!) the main cook here is from Arizona so he likes to make a lot of mexican food. This week was his birthday and I wrote on his birthday card thanking him for bringing some home food to australia, and the next day he gave me a jar of his home-made salsa! WHAT A GEM :)
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