Easter Pt. 2: The Relationship—Jesus and Me

I believe that God calls us to more than just to “know” the story. I believe that He calls us to be the story. To be like Jesus.

The greatest way Jesus was united with His Father was through relationship.

re·la·tion·ship: the state of being connected or related.

Jesus was/is connected. Jesus was/is related. And now His personal call for us is to connect to Him. We are related to Him. John 1:12-13, for we are called His children and we are born of Him! He has called us out, He has marked us, all we have to do is receive His gift of freedom and salvation and pursue Him in righteousness. God makes it easy. He opens the door and gives us the option to either deny or accept the invitation. No force, no bribe. Choice. Two feet in past the door we are His. We are now experiencing Him instead of just knowing of Him. We are persevering because we are not quitters. We are accepted because we no longer reject Him. We are in a relationship with Him. We are linked to His heart and now beat the same heartbeat. What He desires, I desire. What I desire, He gives because He is working for my good and His desire is to satisfy me more each day (Psalm 103:5)!

A different kind of relationship. A friendship with a radical bond. This is intimacy with Love Himself.

"Oh to be like You.

To give all I have just to know You.

Jesus there’s no one besides You.

Forever the Hope in my heart."

Easter Pt. 1: The Story- Jesus.

“…not my will, but Yours be done.” -Matthew 26:39

This short passage says a lot about the character of Christ. Selfless. Simple. Giving. Devoted. Strong, etc. The verse sums up the life of Christ on earth. Fulfilling God’s purpose and completely removing himself out of the way for the plan: God’s gracious yet critical story of the cross. We all know the story. We hear it every Easter and are reminded throughout the rest of the year of what Jesus did for us on the cross. But I feel God is reminding us the significance of His purpose through Jesus. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are all substantial, but it’s not enough to just know the story. God is calling us to see and live the way Jesus did.

We can see Jesus accomplish His purpose throughout the entire Gospel. Healing (Matthew 4:23). Calming the storm (Mark 4:39). Raising the dead (John 11:43-44). Feeding the hungry (Luke 9:16-17). Walking on water (Matthew 14:25). And essentially, conquering death!
“Death has been swallowed up in victory!” (1 Corinthians 15:54)

Christ died for our sins, once and for all, to bring us to God (1Peter 3:18). What an obedient and humble move on Christ’s part. In the most perfect way our Father shows us the greatest example of obedience, sacrifice, humility, and most importantly, love. The cross—where humility now rests through the blood shedding event on Calvary. All for sin.

Coming back to the creation of this perfect man we find God Himself in humility. Sending His one Son to be crucified. So that in me and in you He would see Jesus, and pursue us for life.

God forms His son in the womb of a plain woman. Plain to us, but to Him, Mary held a special part of His heart. She was favored in the eyes of God because she was His devoted servant. In the appearance of one angel, Mary believed. And as if believing such news was not enough, she glorified the Lord in song.

From the creation of baby Jesus to the death on the cross, we see God’s plan unfold, not just for Jesus, but for us as well.

To be continued.

Committed Cause.

Jeremiah 11:1-10-- persistance in disobedience before the Lord from the house of Israel and Judah. Their focus was on the promises and privileges of God, however, they were lacking in evidence of responsibility and duty as followers of God.

"But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously
  and test the heart and mind,
  let me see your vengeance on them,
  for to you I have committed my cause."
                                             -Jeremiah 11:20

Earlier on in Jeremiah 11, the people of Judah and Jerusalem are criticized for choosing to form God into their own liking. As a son/daughter of the King we have many privileges here on earth and eternally in the Kingdom. But all privileges come with responsibility, a duty. Unfortunately, the house of Israel and the house of Judah broke the promise between God and their forefathers. So God says:

"...although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them." (Jeremiah 11:11)

It doesn't make sense to only take in and dwell on the blessings, promises and privileges of God and completely ignore the duty of a true disciple behind each blessing, promise and privilege.
We can't expect God to lavish us with blessings if we don't keep up our part of being responsible in the privileges of knowing and experiencing God through His gifts. Even the simplest gift-- the gift of life. We live because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). We owe our whole life to Jesus because of His love.

I want to live my life completely focused and centered around Christ. So that even when people accuse me, hurt me, come against me (going back to Jeremiah 11:20), I can fully depend and commit the cause to Him. And that is my duty in every God-given privilege as a daughter of the King. To give all my worries to Him because He cares for me (1 Peter 5:7, NLV).

Whatever God is promising you or blessing you with-- it's for His glory. Our commission (duty!) is to let Him be known in every area of our lives!

3 Things Satan Knows.

The three things satan knows:

You're on the frontline.
Soaring higher and higher.
Your vision.

And the one thing he is doing is destroying. Excuse me, trying to destroy.
The frontline of ministry. The frontline of God's army. If he takes you down, the rest will be easy.
As I grow in my relationship with Christ I rise higher into my calling and higher into His presence. For satan this is an advantage. When he battles with you and if he takes you down, the higher you are the easier it will be to take down everything you have built as the foundation and stepping stone in your relationship.
And the most important: your vision. He is aware of your vision. My vision.
Keep up in perseverance (James 1:2-4, Hebrews 10:36). The vision will always be there because the heart behind it is the Lord's. Your vision, life's purpose, your mission, goal, your hope is in Christ alone.
When satan comes to knock you down off your feet, use the power of the Word in James 1:2-4. Consider it pure joy! This testing of your faith produces that perseverance. And after perseverance is produced you are made more complete in Him who knows your trials and sees your hardship in every season.

I Surrender.

Realizing how much I need to surrender before you God. You deserve all of me!
God, I am desperate for you and long to know you more.

My Grace is in Place.

My grace is in place.
Comforting words for this season of my life. Just now am I starting to feel like things are getting back to normal in my life. Which surprisingly, I have come to strongly dislike!
Before Africa I couldn't imagine a single thing changing in my daily schedule. I loved every part of what I did and couldn't get enough. Still do, just trying to adjust to it.
I can't seem to find my place. I know what to do and where to go, but doing, going and checking it off the list is not enough. Which is basically how I've been operating these past 2 weeks.
I've realized how dependent I've become on my job, church ministry and friends/family through this change. And I know that God used Africa to flip it around for me. I see that now.
The feeling of disconnection between these 3 important things in my life has caused me to depend fully on God. And in many prayers, begging Him to keep moving me from glory to glory.
At our youth prayer this last Wednesday, God spoke into my life through Pastor Tim. He said, "Your grace is in place." So I thank God for grace. I thank God that I can grow to resemble Him and that even though sin is always present, through His blood nothing stands in my way. I'm thankful, yet again, that He has chosen me to be the one He moves from glory to glory, and place to place-- literally. I know I won't be in one place permanently in this season of my life. He is going to take me places. And He will give me grace everyday to live through the day. He will place His grace in the area and situation to abound and take control, so that I feel and know His presence is present.
I am reconnected to someone I never would have thought to be disconnected from, Jesus.
I'm watching out for my dependency to fall on Him and not on His blessings (job, ministry, family/friends). I've learned that God takes away certain blessings and brings in the new. I won't always have the spiritual support in a good work environment, I won't always have the same ministry experience, and even though I will always hold close my friends and family at heart, they won't always satisfy my needs and my wants. But my Jesus satisfies. And He is the same everyday, ready to pour more into my life and to move where I move and feel what I feel. In Him is where I find my place.

Deeper Love.

Deep love! That's what I have seen of God here. On October 1st, just before my trip, I asked God what He wanted to speak to me about this next season of my life. And I wrote down in my journal what I heard.
"My love is deeper."
That's it! When I wrote that I remember thinking it was very odd for God to say something like that about my upcoming trip. I thought I already knew what His love looked like.
Boy was I wrong!
As I was journaling my thoughts tonight, I found myself in adoration of Him. And when I looked back at what I wrote on Oct. 1st I found, "My love is deeper".
I have experienced His deep love, and I don't even know if this is the deepest!
But it's crazy! It's crazy that I can't see God physically but I know that He is wrapping His arms around every single one of these abandoned, hurt, sick, poor, and tired kids. I see His love for this side of the world and it is so different from what I experience everyday at home.
I am personally experiencing His love and goodness through every step I take in the slum. Even though there is so much brokenness surrounding me, He brings healing through me! Through all of us that ask to be His hands and feet.
One prayer of mine, since I've been serving in ministry, was that God would show me how He uses me to bring His healing, joy, peace, love and everything else to His people. And I have seen and felt it here! Nothing is a coincidence. God brings certain people and situations in this moment of your life to benefit whatever He has planned next for you! That's what I've seen God do from the moment I told Him that "I am yours God. Send me and use me wherever the need is." From that point in my life He has planned everything specifically for this day. And now He is using this time to prepare me for more! Wow, what a busy God.
Another thing that I'm learning is that God has been pruning me here. Meaning, trimming me and shaping me.
John 15:1-2: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."
I feel like God has blessed me greatly and every blessing is His for me to enjoy. So what I'm realizing is.. when He knows it's time to "prune" me, in other words, take something away, He is doing it for my own good. He wants me to be more fruitful. What good would it be for me if I refused to be shaped by Him? It's a hard thing to allow God to do because it means we need to be open to be changed and to go places and talk to people we don't want to. Or are afraid to. But our Father knows what's best for us, so when He is changing your circumstance or surrounding, let Him be God! We won't see any results until we allow His hand to transform us.
I've found it to be a rewarding process. God is noticing the fruit in my life and He is responding by growing me more in Him. Oh He is SO good!