Saturday, November 13, 2010
the beauty of love as it was made to be
We spent the past fourteen hours in an intense ministry time. We spent the day praising, worshiping, confessing and praying. It was incredible. I experienced healing and an encounter with the Holy Spirit. Oh my goodness, surrendering everything to God gives such freedom! After I gave God everything that controlled me, I have never felt more happy or free. This day changed my life. Running on very little sleep, my bed is calling. :) God is good!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
I'm wrapping up week six here on the Gold Coast. I can't believe how fast time is going. God is doing so much in my life. He always wanted to, it's just that now I am letting him. I find myself waking up, wanting to spend time with God. This journey has been incredible. Although situations come up as they would in normal life, I have this grace to handle them like I didn't used to. I am getting reallllllllly excited for the outreach trip to Alice Springs. I know God put our team together for a reason. Each of us brings something unique and I know God will use each one of us. God is so good. We are all anticipating the arrival of YWAM Byron Bay this week. They are going to be staying with us so they can hear the speaker as well. It will be nice to make some new friends. :) I think a few girls are staying at our house, so that should be fun!
Service not serve us
The topic this week was poor and needy. Our speaker was Sue Strachan, who was from YWAM Byron Bay. She talked about it in a way that didn't make us feel bad, but rather motivated to go out and make a difference. It is important not to underestimate the power of making a difference in one persons life, because it creates a ripple effect that can impact eternity.
Sometimes it's easy to be overwhelmed with the problems of the world, there are so many. The good news is we serve a big God. If we're willing, He can use us for big things. Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish (Mark 6:30). The boy sacrificed his lunch for Jesus. With the seed of faith he planted, Jesus used it to feed a whole village. Everyone was satisfied. It doesn't matter to Jesus how much money we have. What He cares about is our hearts. Think about the widow who only gave two coins. Jesus said she gave more then those who gave ten times more than her. I learned this week that it is our heart that trumps the amount of money we have.
The Invisible Children were on our hearts this week. A group of us got together after evening lectures to watch the documentary filmed by three guys out of high school. As sad as it was, it was inspiring to see how God used these young guys to bring light to the subject. We were all pretty emotionally burdened after the movie. It was quiet on the way home, then we just held hands and prayed. As we cried and prayed, I knew that God heard our prayers. These children have been on my heart a lot this week. Every time I think about them I lift them up in prayer.
Among the Invisible Children we learned more about different people groups and issues in desperate need around the world. We spent time learning about Human trafficking and the Railway Children of India. The statistics on these issues broke my heart. We spent Saturday morning praying for all everything we learned about in the week. The websites out there are good for raising awareness and giving information on ways to become involved.
Ephesians 3:2o (msg version) "God can do anything far more than you could ever imagine, guess or request in your wildest dreams!" 1 John 4:4..".because the one who is in you is greater than he that is in the world." Romans 15:20 "It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ is not yet known."
Websites:
www.invisiblechildren.com
www.humantrafficking.org
www.railwaychildren.org
www.worldvision.com
www.timeanddate.com/worldclock
Sometimes it's easy to be overwhelmed with the problems of the world, there are so many. The good news is we serve a big God. If we're willing, He can use us for big things. Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish (Mark 6:30). The boy sacrificed his lunch for Jesus. With the seed of faith he planted, Jesus used it to feed a whole village. Everyone was satisfied. It doesn't matter to Jesus how much money we have. What He cares about is our hearts. Think about the widow who only gave two coins. Jesus said she gave more then those who gave ten times more than her. I learned this week that it is our heart that trumps the amount of money we have.
The Invisible Children were on our hearts this week. A group of us got together after evening lectures to watch the documentary filmed by three guys out of high school. As sad as it was, it was inspiring to see how God used these young guys to bring light to the subject. We were all pretty emotionally burdened after the movie. It was quiet on the way home, then we just held hands and prayed. As we cried and prayed, I knew that God heard our prayers. These children have been on my heart a lot this week. Every time I think about them I lift them up in prayer.
Among the Invisible Children we learned more about different people groups and issues in desperate need around the world. We spent time learning about Human trafficking and the Railway Children of India. The statistics on these issues broke my heart. We spent Saturday morning praying for all everything we learned about in the week. The websites out there are good for raising awareness and giving information on ways to become involved.
Ephesians 3:2o (msg version) "God can do anything far more than you could ever imagine, guess or request in your wildest dreams!" 1 John 4:4..".because the one who is in you is greater than he that is in the world." Romans 15:20 "It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ is not yet known."
Websites:
www.invisiblechildren.com
www.humantrafficking.org
www.railwaychildren.org
www.worldvision.com
www.timeanddate.com/worldclock
Monday, November 1, 2010
"Everyone has worth and value"
This week our speaker was Annette McClasscen and the topic was on relationships . I enjoyed the lectures and got a lot out of them. I thought that they would be focused more on the dating aspect, because that is on the minds of many young people. Instead she spent majority of time talking about how God created them and his ultimate desire. In a society where the relationship concept is often distorted, it was refreshing to break down how God designed the way relationships with Him and others to be.
Relationships all began with the Trinity. The ultimate love poured out to humans was Jesus dying on the cross so we can have a relationship with Him. The cross demonstrates a perfect love. Christ came to earth and died for our sins to show us perfect love in action.
What does the cross signify?
1. death to self. John 13:34-35
2. service Matthew 20:28
3.humble oneself. Romans 12:3
A relationship with Christ is the ultimate relationship. All others should align with that. I had a gym teacher that once said "everyone has worth and value." and it is so true. Relationships are necessary because everyone has value. Although it's easier said then done; we give the people we don't like the love they don't deserve. We didn't deserve to have our sins forgiven. Christ is the perfect example of giving us the love we don't deserve so we can have a relationship and someday spend eternity with Him!
Relationships all began with the Trinity. The ultimate love poured out to humans was Jesus dying on the cross so we can have a relationship with Him. The cross demonstrates a perfect love. Christ came to earth and died for our sins to show us perfect love in action.
What does the cross signify?
1. death to self. John 13:34-35
2. service Matthew 20:28
3.humble oneself. Romans 12:3
A relationship with Christ is the ultimate relationship. All others should align with that. I had a gym teacher that once said "everyone has worth and value." and it is so true. Relationships are necessary because everyone has value. Although it's easier said then done; we give the people we don't like the love they don't deserve. We didn't deserve to have our sins forgiven. Christ is the perfect example of giving us the love we don't deserve so we can have a relationship and someday spend eternity with Him!
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