So my dad posted a question on facebook today and it got quite a few comments and some of them started me thinking about different scriptures and God just laid this on my heart. I did not want to post it as a response to my dad's status because it began to veer off the topic. So I figured I would just post it on here. Here goes...
Above all else our call is to know God and this occurs as we daily spend time with Him. As we spend time with Him and come to know Him more, what is on His heart will be on our hearts. And His heart is for the nations. "Go therefore and Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." Matt 28:19 This is something that we can do only as we daily lay ourselves down before Christ and surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.." Romans 12:1 As we surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit He empowers us to share the love of Christ with those around us. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth..." Acts 1:8 As witnesses to those around us we are called to share the hope that we have in Christ with gentleness and respect. Understanding that God is the one who brings about conviction and reveals Himself to those we share with. "But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame." 1Peter 3:15
I think that the problem is not necessarily ignorance of God's Word, but ignorance of the God of the word. There are many people who have a great knowledge of God's Word, but do not truly know God through and intimate personal relationship. As you grow in that relationship, through spending time with Him, you come to know Him more. The more you know Him, the more you love Him. The more you love Him the more you want to know Him. The more you want to know Him, the more you spend time with Him.
Showing posts with label Big God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big God. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Overwhelmed
So Today has been insane! Last night it took me almost an hour to quiet my mind and stop thinking about jobs, bills, etc. so that I could go to sleep. Zeke and I have sent out so many resumes and filled out so many applications over the last few weeks that we cannot even count them all! And we have heard nothing back! So to say the least we have been overwhelmed.
But God totally threw us for a loop today - in a good way! And why am I saying just today - He has been throwing us for a loop since Spring (and honestly much further back than that! :) From the time we got ready to move to TN, God amazingly provided the exact amount of money we needed to get her safely and on time. Since then, He provided financially for every bill we have needed - we have not missed paying a bill yet! And we have not had jobs since May! When we were moving here we knew that the first two months here we would be ok because Zeke had camps lined up to lead for and had a job lined up for a few weeks, so we knew we would be able to pay our bills. But we also knew that when August hit, things would get tight! Really tight! But we knew that He would provide, somehow! However, over the last few weeks as we sent out resume after resume and application after application our situation became pretty discouraging! I still knew that God would provide, but it was still getting discouraging. It was hard to grasp that God would not provide a job more quickly so that we could have some source of income, but the other side of the situation is that this only means that He has another plan of providing for us.
So today God revealed Himself to Zeke and me in such an amazing way. Through friends and family God provided financially all that wee needed to pay bills for the rest of the month and some that we will have the first of next month. Amazing! It finally made sense. God could have easily given us any of the jobs that we had applied for, there is no doubt about that. But we would never experience His provision in this amazing way if that had been the case! How incredible! To sit at the feet of a the God of the universe who is faithful to provide - not necessarily how we think He should, but in His perfect way and perfect timing!
And not only that, but for our family and friends who were faithful to do what God laid on their hearts! A reminder that when God calls us to do something, we need to be faithful to obey because our obedience effects others. Think about it this way...because the disciples were obedient to follow Christ, we benefit from their obedience! They went into the world and told others about their relationship with Him, and through that many people have come to know Christ. Amazing!
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8
But God totally threw us for a loop today - in a good way! And why am I saying just today - He has been throwing us for a loop since Spring (and honestly much further back than that! :) From the time we got ready to move to TN, God amazingly provided the exact amount of money we needed to get her safely and on time. Since then, He provided financially for every bill we have needed - we have not missed paying a bill yet! And we have not had jobs since May! When we were moving here we knew that the first two months here we would be ok because Zeke had camps lined up to lead for and had a job lined up for a few weeks, so we knew we would be able to pay our bills. But we also knew that when August hit, things would get tight! Really tight! But we knew that He would provide, somehow! However, over the last few weeks as we sent out resume after resume and application after application our situation became pretty discouraging! I still knew that God would provide, but it was still getting discouraging. It was hard to grasp that God would not provide a job more quickly so that we could have some source of income, but the other side of the situation is that this only means that He has another plan of providing for us.
So today God revealed Himself to Zeke and me in such an amazing way. Through friends and family God provided financially all that wee needed to pay bills for the rest of the month and some that we will have the first of next month. Amazing! It finally made sense. God could have easily given us any of the jobs that we had applied for, there is no doubt about that. But we would never experience His provision in this amazing way if that had been the case! How incredible! To sit at the feet of a the God of the universe who is faithful to provide - not necessarily how we think He should, but in His perfect way and perfect timing!
And not only that, but for our family and friends who were faithful to do what God laid on their hearts! A reminder that when God calls us to do something, we need to be faithful to obey because our obedience effects others. Think about it this way...because the disciples were obedient to follow Christ, we benefit from their obedience! They went into the world and told others about their relationship with Him, and through that many people have come to know Christ. Amazing!
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Good
Our society has so many varying definitions for this word. It is funny though that the majority of the definitions we have for this word revolve around our benefit or our pleasure! I looked this word up on dictonary.com and there were over 40 basic definitions of this word! Holy Cow! My favorite was this one "free of distress or pain; comfortable." This made me laugh. I think back on good things in my life and they were not always comfortable! It was a good thing that my parents and I moved to Las Vegas, but it was far from comfy or free of distress! It was not what I would have considered a good thing if I had not understood that God had a plan for my family and me!
Sometimes it seems as though we expect God to do "good" things and only "good" things in our lives. the problem is that God's view of "good" and our view of "good" are two very different things! God views those things that grow us in our relationship with Him as "good." These things could be trials, difficulties, being shown grace, etc. Sometimes things that our flesh considers "good" but also sometimes things that our flesh considers "bad." God uses these things in our lives to grow us into the people He desires for us to be! He doesn't use these things to accomplish what we feel is "good." He uses these things to bring about things that He knows are "good." Our God knows "good!" Think back to creation! Each time He created something He was the one who decided whether or not it was "good." Not Adam, Not Eve, Not the animals! God!
Lord,
Help me to always remember that Your thoughts are not my thoughts, and your ways are not my ways! As high as the heavens is how far above my thoughts Your thoughts are! (Isaiah 55:8) I know that you have a plan for me! (Jeremiah 29:11) Help me to consider the trials I encounter while serving You as joys! (James 1:3) Knowing that these trials mold me into who You desire for me to be! Search my heart oh God! Help me to remember that You are GOOD! That you use everything in my life for good - not my definition of "good", but Your GOOD! Amen.
Sometimes it seems as though we expect God to do "good" things and only "good" things in our lives. the problem is that God's view of "good" and our view of "good" are two very different things! God views those things that grow us in our relationship with Him as "good." These things could be trials, difficulties, being shown grace, etc. Sometimes things that our flesh considers "good" but also sometimes things that our flesh considers "bad." God uses these things in our lives to grow us into the people He desires for us to be! He doesn't use these things to accomplish what we feel is "good." He uses these things to bring about things that He knows are "good." Our God knows "good!" Think back to creation! Each time He created something He was the one who decided whether or not it was "good." Not Adam, Not Eve, Not the animals! God!
Lord,
Help me to always remember that Your thoughts are not my thoughts, and your ways are not my ways! As high as the heavens is how far above my thoughts Your thoughts are! (Isaiah 55:8) I know that you have a plan for me! (Jeremiah 29:11) Help me to consider the trials I encounter while serving You as joys! (James 1:3) Knowing that these trials mold me into who You desire for me to be! Search my heart oh God! Help me to remember that You are GOOD! That you use everything in my life for good - not my definition of "good", but Your GOOD! Amen.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
When did we stop expecting great things from a powerful God? When did we buy into the lie that God moved in amazingly powerful ways during Old Testament times, but He simply doesn’t move like that anymore? Do we even realize that this is what we believe? Because it is definitely how we live most of the time.
I am more convinced than ever that my generation sits on the verge of a mighty work of God. Something that we can feel moving within us, burning in our bones, but we do not know the time when this mighty work of a mighty God will manifest itself to the world.
As I write this let me just explain my surroundings. I am sitting on the back porch of the house of very dear family friends. They have a small farm here in Shelbyville and have gone out of town to visit family, so Zeke and I are house sitting. The backporch faces west and it is that time of the day, sunset! Today was a pretty hot day, I have the sunburn to prove it, but right now as the sun is slowly going down, the temperature is cool and the crickets are making their presence known. There are horses to my right and my left. Only four, two on each side. Simply being what God created them to be, praising a righteous and Holy God by grazing in the pasture! But the most incredible part of my surroundings id the breeze. A cool breeze. A breeze that comes strong enough to chill but then lets up at the perfect time. A perfect picture to me of the mighty work God is doing in the lives of His people right now!
I am reading the book “The Fear Killer Generation,” by Kevin Shrum (A pastor who Zeke led with @ Super Summer in Clarksville, TN) and John Pisciotta. I feel like every conversation and thought about God’s work that I have had within the last few months is being relived through the first few chapters of this book. I really and truly do believe that we are on the edge of something great from God, not that what we already have in Him is not enough, it is far more than enough! But I believe God has even more waiting for us! I really believe that we are living in some of the greatest days to be alive and a part of the kingdom of God!
Of course the world is not perfect. I am not claiming that. But for a second, look far beyond the junk and mess of this world. (Sometimes we allow ourselves to focus on the things that are wrong with the world and forget that our God is greater! He is mightier! He is bigger and stronger!) Focus on the truth of who God is! If that means you need to read through a Psalm that declares the Glory of our Great God before you finish reading this, then do it! Maybe Psalm 105, or Psalm 118.
As I was reading this book, The Fear Killer Generation,” last night, I was introduced to the greatest analogy for this mighty work of God. The author said that this work is like a huge wave, a tsunami wave. This is not a wave that you see coming from a long way off and have time to prepare for its arrival. This wave starts underwater as the result of an underwater earthquake. You cannot see it coming. There is not time to prepare for its arrival. It strikes with strength and power and as a complete surprise!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Camp Impact
I sent this information as an email to some ladies I did a Bible Study with this Spring, but thought I should go on and post it as a blog so the rest of you can see it too!
God has been doing some amazing things here in Shelbyville! This is just a small glimpse of it!
Last week, we went to camp with Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church. We had been planning for this trip since March and we were so excited to see what God was going to do through this trip in the lives of the students and the church as a whole! Little did we know what He had planned....
The night before Satan launched a full out attack. His goal was simply to destroy the joy that I had going into that week! My mind was confused and I was becoming angry over some things and I was literally to the point where I just did not want to go! But as I prayed for the situation my mood changed. I knew that God had given me this opportunity to go and minister to these students and I could not let it pass me by. So of course I went and God showed up in ways I never dreamed! (Just to give you some background...this is the church that my family and I were attending when I gave my life to Christ and when He called us to be a part of the work in Las Vegas.)
The messages all week were focused on the armor of God(Eph 6:10-20). The first night was an overview of the armor and then each session after that focused on a specific piece of the armor. For each piece of the armor we focused on how that piece was used for the Roman soldier in battle, what that piece means to us as Christians, and how we can apply this piece of armor in our lives each day! Each message was amazing! And we learned that non of these pieces is more important than another, because if you are missing a piece then there is a part of you that is not protected from the attacks of the enemy! There was one piece that seemed to stick out to all of us more than the others though. This piece was the shield of faith. These shields used by the Roman soldiers were 2 1/2 ft wide and 4 1/2 ft tall, they were overlayed with leather that could be soaked in water to extinguish fiery arrows shot by the enemy, and on the sides they had grooves so that they could be locked in with one another to form a wall of protection. We learned that for us as Christians, our shield is our faith in God. Faith that He is who He says He is and will do what He promises! When the enemy begins to attack us, we duck down behind this faith just as a soldier ducks down behind his shield.
The coolest part of this message was getting to watch the students play a game afterward that really helped this truth to sink in to their hearts and the hearts of those of us watching! After each night session the students had night rec. They would go out onto this HUGE soccer field and play games by the light of a single generator-powered stadium light. For these activities the students were split into their color teams (a mixture of church groups and ages). This night the rec leader had them get into their color groups at various spots on the field, so that the groups were a spread out from one another. The leader then explained to the students that they were going to have to find their church group...in the dark!! They cut the light and chaos broke out! It was so dark you could not see your hand in front of your face! The students were screaming! But finally they began to calm down and work to find their group. Once some of our students found each other they began chanting "Shelbyvile!" so that all the other students could find them. Finally all the groups were together.The rec leader then had them lock arms (our symbol of locked shields for the week) and not only lock with just their group, but lock with the two other church groups. So those of us leaders that were out their are standing on this hill and we start shining the flash lights we had on the students so we could see them and it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! 100+ students standing arms locked, the length of the entire soccer field. Of course we were unable to get the lights to come back on, totally a God thing! As we stood there in the pitch black darkness the students began to sing! God spoke to my heart at that moment that this was a picture of how we look when we as the body unite with one another and stand against the enemy! The only words I can use to describe it are terrifyingly beautiful. I cannot imagine the fear that must have run through the enemy as he heard those students sing out the the living God!
So Sunday night the students shared all of this and more with the rest of the church. And God is using it in amazing ways! These students have been texting one another every morning to remind one another to get up and put on the armor of God and sharing with one another what God has spoken into their lives through their time with Him that morning! It is so amazing that a tool, like text messaging, that Satan uses so frequently to stir up trouble and worldly behavior has been the fuel that is keeping these students on fire! This fire also spread to the church! We woke up late yesterday morning and a few mins after I got up my mom called the house and said that one of the staff guys was trying to get in touch with Zeke to lead worship because we were going to have another service that night because of all that God was doing they just felt that we needed to meet again and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's moving. So Zeke lead and the pastor spoke on revival. Revival for us as soldiers in a battle. There will be times when we are victorious, but shaken, wounded and hurting. In these times we look to God and hide in his shelter. We draw close to Him so that He can refresh us and renew our spirit!
I am sorry this is so long, but I really felt like I needed to share this with you all! Please pray for our students and the whole church that we would continue to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's movement! Also please pray for me and the older girls (11th, 12th, and college girls) we are starting a Bible study tonight! Pray that God would use this study however He desires! That He would speak to the lives of all of us in the Bible study!
If there is anything I can pray for you about please let me know!
This video is of pictures from the week at camp!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Last Blog Before Camp 09
So many things are running through my head right now! I cannot even begin to explain! Tomorrow we will head down to Piscah, Alabama with a group of about 100 students for camp! We are praying that God would move in a way that only He can! But as is always the case when God gets ready to do something BIG, the enemy tries to attack! It has started already!
However, it is a total God thing that I finally got my hands on a copy of The Power of a Praying Wife today so I can read the chapters as I go through this 30 day focus of praying for my husband with a group of ladies on facebook - random I know to those of you not involved, but amazing that God is so creative and does not limit Himself in the avenues He uses to challenge and encourage His people! My copy of the book is somewhere in our storage unit, and since the whole focus is to pray for my husband not to frustrate him by having him help me dig through our storage unit in search of one book, I figured it would be better to get the book from our church library! :) Anyway, today the chapter we are reading is about the mind of our husbands, and how we as wives can pray for God to protect and bring clarity to the minds of our husbands. I so needed to read this today! Satan is trying to get any foothold he can in our minds and lives as we head out for camp. My husband is leading worship for this camp and it is no coincidence that satan would try to attack through his thoughts on the night before we head out!
Reading this chapter, the first thing that hit me was this quote "If he and I were one, then an assault on his mind was an assault on me as well," (p81). If Satan is trying to gain a foothold by attacking my husband and discouraging him in an area of life, then Satan is also attacking me! I never truly thought about it this way, but it is so true! How many times has someting happened to our husband and we take it as a personal offense to us? This is because we are one! The Bible teaches us this! "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh, " Genesis 2:24.
Because of this truth, I have a responsibility to react when I see an attack coming upon my husband! I am talking about spritual attacks, not physical- in case you didn't catch that! :) If I see an area in my life where Satan has a foothold, I would be ignorant to just leave that area of my life alone and do nothing to guard it! The same applies to me seeing these areas in the life of my husband! His life is my life. I would be ignorant to let Satan gain a foothold in the life of my husband because I decided to do nothing even though I saw it happening! How foolish! So what can I do when this happens? I can pray!
I am learning that praying God's word is so powerful and effective that words cannot even describe it! God's word is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, andof joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart," Hebrews 4:12. As I went through the study Living Free this past spring, I learned that praying God's Word shifts all the focus of my prayers to God! So many times my prayers are so focused on me and have no authority behind them because of this. When I use scripture in prayer the authority of scripture is there and the weight of my prayers is placed on God.
So here are some scriptures mentioned from this chapter that I prayed over my husband and a few more. Sorry I didn't type out the whole verse, but I really need to get to bed! :)
Here they are:
Romans 8:6
Ephesians 6:10,11,18
2 Timothy 1:7
Philippians 4:8
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Romans 12:2
There are many more, but these are just some that stuck out to me!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Can't Sleep
So it is 3am Vegas time and I cannot sleep! I have tossed and turned up until this point and finally decided to just give in and sit up for a little while! I decided that there is no better time than early on a sleepless morning to blog!
So this week is going to be a little crazy! Tomorrow, Zeke and a few of the guys from Hope are going to pack our trailer (I guess that is actually later on today!). The only furniture that has been in our apartment for the last 2wks is our bed, a desk, and a hope chest! It is so weird to look around and see everything packed up - no matter how many times you move it doesn't ever seem any less strange looking at everything you own in boxes!
As we packed this time we tried to get rid of as much as possible (5x8 trailer going cross country, we just can't take all that we want to!), and hold on to only those things that we absolutely need or are significant enough that we simply cannot part with. Through this process we ended up finding many amazing treasures! I think the best of which were photographs!
If you have been around me for 2 seconds you know that I take pictures of pretty much everything! every event (major or just the daily stuff) and I keep them for forever! (This is the reason that my computer runs so slow most of the time because I have so many photos on it! A nice digital camera is probably the gift my parents most regret giving me for Christmas!) So as we were packing Zeke and I came across so many old photos! Photos taken mainly over the last 8yrs here in Vegas. It is amazing to look back and see all that has happened, simply on a physical spectrum in these last 8 years! Kids that I once babysat every weekend when they were 1-2yrs old are now going into second grade! When I met them, they could not even speak, and now I am sure that some of their parents long for those days again! :) Others who I hung out with all the time have now, like me, grown older and hopefully wiser. Some of the people in these photos are no longer with us, but sitting in the glorious presence of God! And all of this is just the tip of the physical changes that have occurred in the last 8 years!
The spiritual changes are far too vast to even begin to describe! There is a song that says "Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on Earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love, of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky." I love that song! GOd has laid it on my heart our entire time here in Vegas! That is what I have experienced! What we all have seen on a day in and day out basis! The great thing is I don't have to leave that behind because I am leaving Vegas! That is what each day in the life of a christian should be! When we are following His unique call on our lives and finding our satisfation in Him, The only one who gives true satisfaction, we will experience this every day!
I have to take this opportunity to absolutely commend my parents! There is no way I would understand this concept without their obedience to follow the call God placed on our life as a family! I was reading in a Bible Study the other day the story of a girl and her parents who were missionaries. The main point of the story was that because of her parents' obedience to God, her faith started out on a different level. She had seen God use her family in incredible ways and because of that her realtionship with God was able to be lived out on a competely different level. This is definitely the case with my family! When we told our family and friends that we were moving to Las Vegas to help start Hope Baptist Church they all thought we were crazy! And yeah, we definitely had to sacrifice being in town for the normal family events we had always been a part of, which was hard! I love my family, but we would have missed out on God moving in some incredible ways if we had stayed behind, and would have been so miserable!
I think back on those times so much! When the definition of family changed in my heart! It was no longer just the people I was related to and spent the first 14 years of my life with. It became the church! The people that I was daily serving and serving alongside of! The people that were in the same situations I was - new community, new schools, new lifestyles, not being able to fly back for every holiday so spending a few together here in Vegas. God knit our hearts together in such a ways that it will never be undone! Only He can do that, and it can only happen when we follow Him in obedience!
Over the last 8 years, there have abslutely been tough times! Times when I remember thinking about how different things would have been if we had not moved, if we had just stayed where we were. But everytime God quickly reminded me how much I would have missed out on! The services in a million different locations, the kids I was allowed to invest in, the friends, the camps, the trips, the long conversations, the holidays, the milstones, the jokes, the cards, the views, the heat, the houses, the dinners, the Bible studies, the classes, the church.
It has been an incredible 8 years, and believe me that is putting it lightly! I am so blessed to have these exeriences with my family in Las Vegas, and I am certain it is not over! It is hard to leave, but that is part of following God where He invites us to be involved! So, Vegas friends this is in no way the last we will see of each other! Never think that! :) We are always just a phone call, text, email, or Facebook message away! We love you all and thank you so much for your part in our lives so far! We look forward expectantly to seeing all that God does in your lives and ours!
:)
So this week is going to be a little crazy! Tomorrow, Zeke and a few of the guys from Hope are going to pack our trailer (I guess that is actually later on today!). The only furniture that has been in our apartment for the last 2wks is our bed, a desk, and a hope chest! It is so weird to look around and see everything packed up - no matter how many times you move it doesn't ever seem any less strange looking at everything you own in boxes!
As we packed this time we tried to get rid of as much as possible (5x8 trailer going cross country, we just can't take all that we want to!), and hold on to only those things that we absolutely need or are significant enough that we simply cannot part with. Through this process we ended up finding many amazing treasures! I think the best of which were photographs!
If you have been around me for 2 seconds you know that I take pictures of pretty much everything! every event (major or just the daily stuff) and I keep them for forever! (This is the reason that my computer runs so slow most of the time because I have so many photos on it! A nice digital camera is probably the gift my parents most regret giving me for Christmas!) So as we were packing Zeke and I came across so many old photos! Photos taken mainly over the last 8yrs here in Vegas. It is amazing to look back and see all that has happened, simply on a physical spectrum in these last 8 years! Kids that I once babysat every weekend when they were 1-2yrs old are now going into second grade! When I met them, they could not even speak, and now I am sure that some of their parents long for those days again! :) Others who I hung out with all the time have now, like me, grown older and hopefully wiser. Some of the people in these photos are no longer with us, but sitting in the glorious presence of God! And all of this is just the tip of the physical changes that have occurred in the last 8 years!
The spiritual changes are far too vast to even begin to describe! There is a song that says "Could we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on Earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love, of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky." I love that song! GOd has laid it on my heart our entire time here in Vegas! That is what I have experienced! What we all have seen on a day in and day out basis! The great thing is I don't have to leave that behind because I am leaving Vegas! That is what each day in the life of a christian should be! When we are following His unique call on our lives and finding our satisfation in Him, The only one who gives true satisfaction, we will experience this every day!
I have to take this opportunity to absolutely commend my parents! There is no way I would understand this concept without their obedience to follow the call God placed on our life as a family! I was reading in a Bible Study the other day the story of a girl and her parents who were missionaries. The main point of the story was that because of her parents' obedience to God, her faith started out on a different level. She had seen God use her family in incredible ways and because of that her realtionship with God was able to be lived out on a competely different level. This is definitely the case with my family! When we told our family and friends that we were moving to Las Vegas to help start Hope Baptist Church they all thought we were crazy! And yeah, we definitely had to sacrifice being in town for the normal family events we had always been a part of, which was hard! I love my family, but we would have missed out on God moving in some incredible ways if we had stayed behind, and would have been so miserable!
I think back on those times so much! When the definition of family changed in my heart! It was no longer just the people I was related to and spent the first 14 years of my life with. It became the church! The people that I was daily serving and serving alongside of! The people that were in the same situations I was - new community, new schools, new lifestyles, not being able to fly back for every holiday so spending a few together here in Vegas. God knit our hearts together in such a ways that it will never be undone! Only He can do that, and it can only happen when we follow Him in obedience!
Over the last 8 years, there have abslutely been tough times! Times when I remember thinking about how different things would have been if we had not moved, if we had just stayed where we were. But everytime God quickly reminded me how much I would have missed out on! The services in a million different locations, the kids I was allowed to invest in, the friends, the camps, the trips, the long conversations, the holidays, the milstones, the jokes, the cards, the views, the heat, the houses, the dinners, the Bible studies, the classes, the church.
It has been an incredible 8 years, and believe me that is putting it lightly! I am so blessed to have these exeriences with my family in Las Vegas, and I am certain it is not over! It is hard to leave, but that is part of following God where He invites us to be involved! So, Vegas friends this is in no way the last we will see of each other! Never think that! :) We are always just a phone call, text, email, or Facebook message away! We love you all and thank you so much for your part in our lives so far! We look forward expectantly to seeing all that God does in your lives and ours!
:)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
So I have not had the chance to blog in a while, but I just had to tonight! I just got home from a Living Free Bible Study that I am in on Thursday nights and I am honestly just overwhelmed with how incredible and amazing God is!
In the study tonight we were discussing satisfaction and that we can only find satisfaction in God. Through the course of this conversation we got on the topic of how incredibly BIG our God is. One of the points that was brought up was that when situations that arise in our lives appear to be overwhelmingly big, we need to remind ourselves that God is bigger!
I thought about that through the whole study tonight and then on the way home the song "O For a Thousand Tongues To Sing" (David Crowder Version) came on the radio. I have to take a minute right here and say this is one of those songs that rings through my mind for days after I hear it! I love it! It is absolutely amazing! So as I am pulling into the apartment complex it is still on and I am thinking to myself :I have to blog about this song! If for no other reason than to simply share the lyrics with family and friends!" SO I knew I would have to look up the lyrics when I got inside.
So I finally got to a point where I could sit at the computer and look up the lyrics. And once I looked up the lyrics, I wanted to know the history of the song. So I looked that up to! :) And the story just blessed me! Charles Wesley wrote this hymn/poem one year after coming to know Christ. He and his brother were sick and a group of Christians began to care for them. Charles began to read the Bible and God began revealing Himself to Charles. This is when he says he came to know Christ. God began to heal his body and his brother also and the two were so grateful for the healing that they wrote a hymn. Then one year after this event they wrote the song "O, For a Thousand Tongues To Sing," (not its original name) to celebrate their healing and life-change! The song that we know now is only a portion of the original poem. Here it is:
O, for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise
The glories of my God and King
The triumphs of His grace
My gracious Master and my God
Assist me to proclaim
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name
So come on and sing out
Let our anthem grow loud
There is one great love Jesus
Jesus, the name that charms our fears
That bids our sorrows cease
‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears
‘Tis life and health and peace
He breaks the power of cancelled sin
He sets the prisoners free
His blood can make the foulest clean
His blood availed for me
He speaks and listening to His voice
New life the dead receive
The mournful broken hearts rejoice
The humble poor believe
Glory to God and praise and love
Be ever, ever giv’n
By saints below and saints above
The church in earth and Heav’n
There are so few words
That never grow old
There are so few words
That never grow old
Jesus
The italicized portions are add-ins done by David Crowder.
This song is incredible! I love the words! It is such a reminder of how BIG and GREAT God is in our lives each day! I especially love the chorus added in at the end of the song. How true that there are so few words that we never tire of using! So many words come in and out with fads, but Jesus is not one of those words! The sound of His name never gets old!
I hope this encourages those who read to remember how BIG our God is! No matter what the situation we face, He is bigger!
In the study tonight we were discussing satisfaction and that we can only find satisfaction in God. Through the course of this conversation we got on the topic of how incredibly BIG our God is. One of the points that was brought up was that when situations that arise in our lives appear to be overwhelmingly big, we need to remind ourselves that God is bigger!
I thought about that through the whole study tonight and then on the way home the song "O For a Thousand Tongues To Sing" (David Crowder Version) came on the radio. I have to take a minute right here and say this is one of those songs that rings through my mind for days after I hear it! I love it! It is absolutely amazing! So as I am pulling into the apartment complex it is still on and I am thinking to myself :I have to blog about this song! If for no other reason than to simply share the lyrics with family and friends!" SO I knew I would have to look up the lyrics when I got inside.
So I finally got to a point where I could sit at the computer and look up the lyrics. And once I looked up the lyrics, I wanted to know the history of the song. So I looked that up to! :) And the story just blessed me! Charles Wesley wrote this hymn/poem one year after coming to know Christ. He and his brother were sick and a group of Christians began to care for them. Charles began to read the Bible and God began revealing Himself to Charles. This is when he says he came to know Christ. God began to heal his body and his brother also and the two were so grateful for the healing that they wrote a hymn. Then one year after this event they wrote the song "O, For a Thousand Tongues To Sing," (not its original name) to celebrate their healing and life-change! The song that we know now is only a portion of the original poem. Here it is:
O, for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise
The glories of my God and King
The triumphs of His grace
My gracious Master and my God
Assist me to proclaim
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name
So come on and sing out
Let our anthem grow loud
There is one great love Jesus
Jesus, the name that charms our fears
That bids our sorrows cease
‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears
‘Tis life and health and peace
He breaks the power of cancelled sin
He sets the prisoners free
His blood can make the foulest clean
His blood availed for me
He speaks and listening to His voice
New life the dead receive
The mournful broken hearts rejoice
The humble poor believe
Glory to God and praise and love
Be ever, ever giv’n
By saints below and saints above
The church in earth and Heav’n
There are so few words
That never grow old
There are so few words
That never grow old
Jesus
The italicized portions are add-ins done by David Crowder.
This song is incredible! I love the words! It is such a reminder of how BIG and GREAT God is in our lives each day! I especially love the chorus added in at the end of the song. How true that there are so few words that we never tire of using! So many words come in and out with fads, but Jesus is not one of those words! The sound of His name never gets old!
I hope this encourages those who read to remember how BIG our God is! No matter what the situation we face, He is bigger!
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