The Lord's Favor

Being the procrastinator that I am, I was avoiding reading for my classes this afternoon and decided instead to spend a little time with the Lord. As I was reading Isaiah 61 I just was in absolute awe of God's favor for His people. It landed on me hard and the only response I knew was to worship. Here is the result...now maybe the Lord will show some favor on me for these afternoon classes I should've been reading for...

The Lord's Favor

The Spirit of God has fell upon me,
To bind the broken hearted,
Bring good news to those in need.
So open the prison gates,
Set the captives free.
Show us your favor,
Proclaim liberty.

You , oh God, you comfort those who mourn.
Anoint our heads with oil, the veil has torn.

Out of the ashes, giver of Life.
You clothe us with salvation,
And open our eyes.

So open the Heavens,
Pour down Your Spirit.
Open the Heavens,
Pour down your grace
...on me.

Give us hands to receive, 
Give us hearts to believe,
Give us eyes to see.
Lord, give us hands to receive,
Give us hearts to believe,
Give us eyes to see...
Our need, our need,
Need for you.

Yes, You, oh God, you comfort those who mourn.
Anoint our heads with oil, the veil has torn.

And out of the ashes, giver of Life.
You clothe us with salvation,
And open our eyes.

So open the Heavens,
Pour down Your Spirit.
Open the Heavens,
Pour down your grace...
...on me... 

The Cost of Discipleship

"The ordinary idea which we all have before we become Christians is this. We take as a starting point our ordinary self with its various desires and interests. We then admit that something else...call it "morality" or "decent behavior" or "the good of society"...has claims on this self; claims which interfere with its own desires...We are hoping all the time that when all the demands have been met, the poor natural self will still have some chance, and some time, to get on with its own life and do what it likes. In fact, we are very like an honest man paying his taxes. He pays them all right, but he does hope that there will be enough left over for him to live on. Because we are still taking our natural self as the starting point...Make no mistake: if you are really going to try to meet all the demands made on the natural self, it will not have enough to live on. The more you obey your conscience, the more your conscience will demand of you. And your natural self, which is thus being starved and hammered and worried at every turn, will get angrier and angrier..." -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Thank you C.S. Lewis for wrecking me with the Truth stick this morning...

Faith: choosing to believe.

"[Wait] with Me for a while. I have much to tell you. You are walking along the path I have [chosen for you]. It is both a privileged and perilous way: experiencing My glorious Presence and heralding that reality to others. Sometimes you feel presumptuous to be carrying out such an assignment. Do no worry about what other people think of you. The work I am doing in you is hidden at first. But eventually blossoms will burst forth, and [abundant] fruit will be borne. Stay on the path of Life with Me. Trust Me [wholeheartedly], letting my spirit fill you with Joy and Peace."

I feel as if I will find myself clinging to this time and time again over the next year.

Senior year? What?? It is day two and I am already being forced to make decisions that will significantly influence the next season of my life...and I am not so sure how I feel about that yet.

My flesh wants to have all of my ducks in a row. To make sure everything is going to work out according to my plan. The Spirit, however, demands faith.

"Now faith is the [assurance] of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen..."         -Hebrews 11:1

So, according to Hebrews 11, we are called to believe God's promises and to allow that belief to be evident in our actions. By faith Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sara lived their lives in such a way that  reflected their belief that God is who He says He is and that He blesses His children.
I want to live my life like that too. To engage with a God that [overflows]. A God that has my best interest in mind and seeks to bless me. A God that is proud to proclaim Himself as my God simply because I am engaging with Him and [drawing near].

"...And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks..."    -Hebrews 11:4

Just like Abel, my life and ministry won't be perfect, but thankfully, our God [chooses] to use broken people...and just as He chooses to use us, I am choosing to believe that He will use me to accomplish His purposes. If I am trusting my God [wholeheartedly] with my life, my labor will not be in vain.

...eventually blossoms will burst forth, and abundant fruit will be borne...

My Creator is Creative

cre·a·tive/krēˈātiv/

  1. having the ability or power to create.

  2. designed to or tending to stimulate the imagination.

  3. characterized by sophisticated bending of the rules or conventions

My God is a creative God.

The Lord showed me time and time again this summer just how creative He was...whether it was through the way He painted the sky with rays of sunshine stretching across and through a blanket of purples and pinks, the way spiritual application could be made with any and every activity, or simply through day to day interactions and conversations with people. The latter being the one that hits the closest to home because I had the opportunity to share my story, the great work that God has done in and through me, every Sunday night with my entire cluster of girls...4 counselors, 32 campers. I also had the privelage of hearing my counselor's stories each week. Every day presented itself with another opportunity to hear about the great work that the Lord was doing in someone's life. Everyone's story different. Very different. Hearing so many stories and seeing just how different each was made me realize the creativity of our God. He works miracles in our lives. Daily. He showers us with blessings. Daily. He enables us to endure trials. Daily. He refreshes us with the joy of who He is. Daily. But. As if that wasn't awesome enough, the coolest part is that all of those things look different for different people. Daily.

"It is a merciful Father who strips us when we need to be stripped, as the tree needs to be stripped of its blossoms. He is not finished with us yet, whatever the loss we suffer, for as we loose hold on visible things, the invisible become more precious...He deals with us according to His intimate knowledge of who we are and what we need to bring us to conformity with the image of His son."         -Elisabeth Elliot

 My God knows me so well that he knows exactly what I need to look more like Him. He won't allow me to endure any more or less than necessary to conform me to the image of His son. He knows exactly how much I can endure. He knows what will draw me closer. He knows me intimately. 

^{Psalm 139}

¹O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 

²Youknow when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
³You search out my path and my lying down
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴Even before a word is on my tongue,
   behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
⁵You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is high; I cannot attain it.

I have seen His perfect provision in my life and the more stories I hear, the more I see His perfect provision lived out in so many different ways in others. How sweet it is to be known by the God of the universe. The God that has overcome the world, conquered death, and rose from the grave. That is the God that knows me. And you. Every new person you meet is a chance to learn more about the character of God and the creative ways that He works. As He reveals Himself in different ways to each of us He leads us on our own unique journey. No two are the same. No two callings are the same. He calls people to serve Him any and everywhere so that they can use their gifting to best serve Him. All because He knows us. There is no doubt about it...my God is a creative God.

God is good. ALL the time.

Find joy in the simple things.

Romans 8:28.  "Discipline" can actually be a blessing in disguise.

community.

Our God is a creative God. He paints the sky differently every day.

bittersweet

bit·ter·sweet 
adj.

1. bitter and sweet at the same time.
2. producing or expressing a mixture or pain and pleasure

that's the first word that comes to mind when i try to put into words how i feel after saying goodbye to people and places that have been my community the past thirteen weeks. Shaunu Niequist sums it up pretty well too...

"There are times when the actual experience of leaving something makes you wish desperately that you could stay, and then there are times when the leaving reminds you a hundred times over why exactly you had to leave in the first place."

After spending thirteen weeks at Pine Cove and being refined, stretched, challenged, blessed, encouraged, and empowered daily I know that it is time to start a new season. To say goodbye to people that I may never see again...or see you later to those I will never forget, and to start living. Living out the simple truths that the Lord revealed to me so faithfully this summer. In order to do that I have to process. Attempt to at least. To remember. So that's what this blog is for. To process, remember, and proclaim the great work that God has done and is currently doing in my life. So...here we go...