An Update

For those that read this, I am very grateful.  An update on life.  Things are very normal for now.  Class, work, class, work.  I am very ready to be done with school.  The thing with school, is that you can't leave class in class.  Your work follows you everywhere, stuff lingers, the things that need to be done, papers, presentations, quizzes, it gets old.  But I am making it through.

Many ideas have come to me, and many people have told me, wherever I decide to go, God will still be there, I can go far far away, to an island somewhere and God will still be there.  That is good to know.  I was pretty sure I was going to do YWAM for awhile, but that changed.  Mission work while it is exciting, needs to have a constant passion, and that I do not have a constant passion for, that I am so willing to pay the money to do work, it seems like a great experience but I have been struggling trying to understand if that is where I should go or not.

The sun is shinning through my window the first time today.  I see the faint shadows of the bars on my windows against the wall.  It's nice to have sun, though it is cold sun.  Life just keeps moving forward, and the seconds keep moving up, up, up to 60 then falls back to 0.

Kingdom

On Saturday I did something with a friend that I normally wouldn't do.  I felt led to be bold in my life, and confidently do some Kingdom work...  A friend and I went downtown Chicago, to Millenium Park, and had signs that read "Can I Pray For You?"  We sat at a small table, and we went global.  People from all over the world came.  One guy from Kenya, another from London, a couple from Montana, who did mission work in the Czech, it was awesome.  I noticed that everyone was a believer whom stopped by, and they were young, in their 20s and 30s.  Also, a guy stopped by, referring this generation as an "army" of believers... my view is a little different, yet it ties it all in...

I do believe our generation will be the generation that will lead this world out of much of the problems it is facing today, as well as be the leaders of tomorrow in the next 10-20-30 years.  We are being shaped right now into people of integrity, understanding, compassion, justice, mercy, ethics, and PASSION.  Soon things will be in our control, under God, and we will be making decisions.  But is our generation, particularly the generation of believers, an ARMY?  Sure, we battle many things in our lives... not necessarily all physical either.  Much of it is spiritual.  So do we fight?  Yes.  Every believer will have to fight to some extent, as Jesus is not necessarily the most treasured person on this earth right now by every human.  Many are taken by idols, and other things that take Jesus' place... we normally have to fight to keep our hearts from being captive by idols, such as relationships, material things, pride, lust, alcohol, partying, etc, etc.  BUT, are we just an army?

I believe we are like a Kingdom, WITH an army...  Not everyone is meant or gifted to fight spiritual warfare, and some have this spiritual gift called intercessory prayer, which is prayer for many things, but more of a "battle" type of prayer... Some are better at discerning the spiritual realm, others prophecy and we ALL have more than one... so an army of intercessors could also be very diverse in their other giftings, such as worship, spiritual direction, discernment, etc. Though we need all of those gifts in an army, we also need them to glorify Jesus, and unify with God...

We are a Royal family in the Kingdom of God, and God loves us and sees us just as that:royalty.  THAT alone is a reason to celebrate!

Dreams

Dreams...  today at church, they talked to us about dreams, and how God's dreams for us is so much bigger and better than our own dreams for ourselves.  Vision is important as well.  What is God's vision for our lives?  This I am still trying to figure out.  The world seems to expect us to have this down and known about ourselves, but what happens when we actually DON'T have it figured out?  I think it is safe to say that I am not the only one, unsure at age 21, however I believe, and have faith that God will soon make it clear.  What are some ways we seek clarity?  1. Prayer and fasting... 2.  An asessment of our spiritual gifts... 3.  Walking in the spirit.  4.  Working in the spirit. 

1.  Through prayer and fasting, we seek clarity and put our total reliance on God.  Instead of food for a day, replace the meal times with God time, read the word, listen to sermons, read books, utilize powerful materials, seeking out His kingdom.

2.  What are we good at?  What can we do, for the rest of our lives, and not get paid for?  List what you're good at. 

3.  This is a hard one.  Audibly say to God, I submit my entire being to you and want to be flooded with your spirit.  The spirit of God, the governor of our beings.  Take life a step at a time, and do it under the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are not our own after this.  We are exalted!

4.  Working in the spirit...  after submitting ourselves, we walk, but when we start our work days on Monday, or whenever, in class or whatever, we forget.  We must be changers of the way society works, by loving in ways nobody has seen, or ways that are rarely seen.  We influence in our workplaces, we care.  We evangelize when the time is right.  Our work ethic is improved, our strength is greater, our endurance is greater, and our attitudes are moved and shifted into attitudes of Shabach!  Glorifying God in all we do, thanking Him, counting our blessings, and sowing more!  Thus reaping more.  Amazing how this stuff works.  And I will never ever have this all figured out.  None of us will.  God is so mysterious, yet so easy to love, and so simple, everyone can connect, yet no human being will have His ways figured out. 

We have the victory, and God will not move us into victory, He will move us BECAUSE of victory!  Why?  We already are victorious. Thanks to Jesus. 

Basically we have our full potential in us, we just need to access it by prayer, and acknowledgement of our gifts.  There is more to life than what we see, people.  There is so much more.  So much mystery, newness, beginnings. 

What God is Saying...

So I have not written anything, probably because I have not been inspired.  This summer has been kind of a drought.  But I have noticed the strength that has come of it all.  What is God saying?  I am trying to listen for God, and His voice is not always audible.  He can speak in many ways, and through other people.  God has said a few things through various ways

* This year is going to be a year of blessings, as last year was difficult yet I stayed dedicated to the Lord.
*This year God wants me to know how much He loves me, and that will be through a variety of ways.
*He may want me in Chicago an extra semester...
*Never underestimate what God  can do....


That is a brief summary, more to come.

A Quick Note

We're in a time where resources are hard to come by.  We are in a time, when it is essential that we differentiate ourselves, and see and embrace the differences in our character and vision.  Imagine is everyone had a vision for something, and built upon it to manifest into their greatest potential.  If everyone did this, our world would be such a thriving place.  Especially if it was all done for the good of one another, not to harm one another.  God did not design us to follow the norm of one another.  What IS acceptable anymore?  It gets confusing.   Life is so much more and has so much more to offer, life is good ultimately, and God wants us to live good lives!  Of course we will struggle, and there will be hard times, but the good should overpower the bad.  After all, God knows our every desire and need, and will fulfill them as we ask.  This should be celebrated and acknowledged!

Faith

Introduction:  In the Kingdom of God, we do not necessarily see the spiritual realm of what is going on, as we do in the physical realm.  God strengthens our hearts and minds to be in alignment with His heart, so that the power of the Holy Spirit is manifested and the Kingdom is established into reality.  What we do not see is in fact more real than what we see.  God is so much more real than this world can be.  God is so real, we can’t wrap our minds around the glory and goodness and love of God.  What I want to talk about is faith today.  Let me speak this scripture from The Message:

              Hebrews 11:1, 3: Faith is being SURE of what I hope for and CERTAIN of what I don't see...  By faith I understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

              When I was in High School my first couple of years I struggled with making friends.  People would put on acts, as if they were my friends, so I would open up to them, just to have them turn and use that against me, and this happened more than once.  My faith in God, and humanity in general, was hindered to the point that I lost hope in people.  I had God, and I could not see beyond the circumstances I was in.  In this time, I would pray and ask God to send me some good people, kind people.  Friends, people I could hang out with.  After serving at a church camp one summer, I found that there really were good people out there, and I could be loved.  One day, I was praying and playing music in a small practice room in my school when a girl came in, asking me to join her band.  By the end of the week, I had 7 friends, soon to become my 7 very good friends.  God answered my prayer, I had the Kingdom faith that He would follow through, I proclaimed the Word, and I gave the situation up to Him, and He worked it out. 

              Romans 15:13: May God, the source of hope, fill me with ALL joy and peace by means of my faith in Him, so that my hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Big Idea:  God wants to strengthen our faith.  In the Kingdom of God, faith is the currency, and love is what we do.  God wants to pour into your hearts hope, and faith that will become stronger, the more time we spend with God. 

              Romans 10:17 Faith comes from LISTENING to this message of the good news- the Good News about Jesus Christ. 

              Romans 5:2: Through Him I have access by faith into this grace in which I safely stand.  And I rejoice and exult in my hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God. 

Point 1:  Faith is strengthened by speaking His word, the power of our words will do wonders. 

Mark 11:23: Whoever says to this mountain, "Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!" And does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him.

2 Corinthians 4:13-15: And since we have the same spirit of faith in accordance with what is written ‘I believed therefore I spoke’ we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and present us with you.  For all this is because of you, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may cause thanksgiving to overflow God’s glory.

By Speaking the word of God, we back up His promise that He made us. The promise, whatsoever we ask in His name, it shall be done.  We can say to the mountains in our lives, to be thrown into the sea, and recite the verse, which even though God knows our hearts before we speak, this will show Him that we are truly serious about what we desire.  When we ask our parents for something, they will ask us ‘Why do you need this?’  Thus, we give them an appropriate answer as to why we need it.  God is our Father, we are His children.  Our relationship with God and our intimacy with God ought to be so strong, that we can come to Him as if He were our loving parents.  Jesus spoke in the gospels.  When Jesus healed, He had faith, AND He spoke for them to be healed.  In Genesis, God said and it was. 

Point 2:  Faith is most important when we cannot see beyond our current circumstances.

Hebrews 11:1, 3: Faith is being SURE of what I hope for and CERTAIN of what I don't see...  By faith I understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.  

In times of tribulation, or our bad seasons in life, this is the test that God puts on our faith.  God will reward our faith in the end, but for the time being, we must maintain our faith, and strengthen it, and remember that what we have asked for, we have already received in Jesus’ name as He shed His precious blood for us, and ascended into Heaven, sending down the Holy Spirit into our hearts.  Our faith will strengthen the more time we spend in prayer and fasting with God. 

Luke 2:40: I am growing and becoming strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God is upon me. 

Point 3:  Faith is essential and comes to us by hearing the word of God.

Romans 10:17: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God

Matthew 13: 19, 23: As I hear the Word of the kingdom, and grasp and comprehend it, ...it will indeed bear fruit and yield a good return.

We need to cleanse ourselves with the Word of God.  The Bible has stories, and insight, wisdom and helps us gain understanding as to how our faith is lived out.  We must love one another, and follow the principles and teachings of Jesus, this will strengthen our faith. 

Close:  Faith is essential in our life with God, and in His Kingdom.  It is our currency, and it is not about us.  It is about how we can best serve the Kingdom and bless the Lord.  If we have faith for a sports car, for the sake of having another car, that is not the right kind of faith, we need selfless faith, and a strong foundation is found in His Word. 

Spiritual Governance

Sometimes I wonder what the Kingdom of God will look like when Jesus comes back to fulfill His Promise and rule over the world.  Already anointed people are rising up all over the world to proclaim, and equip people by the masses for God, and ushering in hundreds and thousands of new citizens into His Kingdom.

We are citizens.  A part of God's royal family in His Kingdom.  Our spirits, are governed by the Holy Spirit on this colony we call earth.  The Holy Spirit convicts us, and makes us go 'Ouch!'  The Holy Spirit also gives us rest, and comfort.  But we operate by our hearts, and our minds help us function at our potential.  Imagine. Dream big.  With God ALL things are possible.  He can make things happen that we would never dream or dare to hope for ourselves. Why?  We are in His ROYAL FAMILY! We are sinners, and imperfect beings, yet by the grace of Jesus Christ, we are redeemed into a spiritual realm of glory and gifts beyond our ever creative imaginations.  One day, when we all operate in the Holy Spirit, our anointing, and our ideas, will ALL be to glorify God, and one another, in a perfect world. Where good is seen and felt, and lived out. Praise God.