March 30^th, 2018

2 Corinthians 12: 9-10

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’… For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

This being the last of my IBS’ I find it very fitting that these are the verses that I chose to write about.  There are two big themes in these verses that I find are over arching to what I have learned over the course of Ignite and they are two concepts that I really have been thinking about over this last week. They are; that grace is sufficient and enough for me, and that God’s power is made perfect in my weakness. A lot of my life I have tried to be some strong shell of a persona that wouldn’t let people get too close. I hate having to explain why I am upset because a lot of times I feel that I am not understood, as if regardless of how hard I try to explain what is going on in my head I cannot. So, it just becomes easier to not say anything, to not let anyone know what is going on. But that is not what God wants for us, he wants to use our broken testimonies for His glory. He uses people in so many ways that we will never understand, we don’t know the why and I don’t think we will ever get the insight we desire. Yet still he says, “My power is made perfect in your weakness”. If I had read this at the beginning of Ignite is surely would have gone right over my head not meaning anything. Now however, it holds so much more weight, in this weakness it means you must be vulnerable, you must share. There is no avoiding it. I think it is the fact re-entry is so soon that this weighs so heavy on me. I still don’t want to have to share. I don’t want to have to let people in. I just want it to be me and God no one else. Obviously though, that is not what God wants for me. He wouldn’t have created this community and partnership with people if it hadn’t had been what he intended. So, this is my challenge, if His power is made perfect in weakness then shouldn’t I want to be the weakest? If I really love the God I claim to, I should want everyone to hear of Him and see Him. Remember, remain weak in Christ so that His strength will cover you and protect you. Always humble yourself before the Lord and recognize the grace that is brought with Him.

March 21^st, 2018

2 Thessalonians 1:4

“Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring”

When I read this passage, it was at a time where things seemed hopeless for the churches at home. I had just found out the government was taking away summer internships from companies that did not agree with or sign a checklist of rights that the government had put out. On the list was the belief that abortion should be legal. Of course, the churches of Canada could not agree with that statement therefore funding was taken from churches, day camps and other humanitarian aid networks for summer internships.

This of course would be concerning to anyone of Christian faith, but it especially hit home for me because I know how important those internships are for people who want to grow their leadership skills, and for them to see if ministry in the literal church is the call God has on their life.

When I read this I thought to myself, “would my church at home have people boasting about the steadfastness and faith in any persecution?” even in this trial that I think is so big will I remain faithful to God, will I believe that He is still bigger than what is going on and will I let what is out of my control hinder my ministry? The answers to all these questions should be yes, yes and no. At that moment when I first read this I realized that I had taken a lot of the afflictions as my own. I wasn’t giving these things to God in faith. It was a major wake up call. I should want to have faith that is boasted about, not in a prideful way but in one that pushes you to crave more. Learning from those who are strong in faith around you. So how do you get to that point? How do you become some one who has that kind of faith? 

March 14^th, 2018

2 Corinthians 5: 18-21

^“18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. ²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” ²¹ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

I read these at a time of heartbreak. There had been a couple recent instances in my life where people close to me were not following the will of God on there life. The night before I read this I remember thinking that I wasn’t sure if I should talk to one of these people and confront them on what I thought God was pressing on my heart to tell them. The issue was that I was afraid though. I didn’t want to lose a relationship with this person or seem as if I was coming off self righteous. I was wagering back and forth on what to do. I finally decided that yes, I probably should say something. Then the next morning I read these verses. They take about how as Christians it is our duty to keep each other on the path of righteousness, that we are to reconcile others back to God. We are the ambassadors for Christ. This concept was new to me. I never thought that it was necessarily my job to call others back to God, couldn’t he do that himself? It says in verse twenty that God makes His appeal through us, we speak for Him when we plea come back to God. He uses us and our testimonies to glorify himself more. God loves to use what was intended for bad to be used for good, He exposes our worst and darkest places and fills them with light so that others may see that light and turn to Him. With this fresh perspective I realized this was the answer I was looking for, it is my duty to Christ to bring others to Him.  No more fear of losing those close, for without God they are already lost.

March 8^th, 2018

John 5: 1-8

“Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. ² Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. ³ Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. ⁵ One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”  ⁷“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” ⁸ Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

(Some manuscripts add an expanded conclusion to verse 3 and all of verse 4: waiting for a certain movement of the water, 4 for an angel of the Lord came from time to time and stirred up the water. And the first person to step in after the water was stirred was healed of whatever disease he had.)

In verse 2 and 3 of this section it really sets the scene for the reader. There is a crowd surrounding this pool of water that is said to have an angel come down to stir the waters so that they may be healed on at a time.  The thing is, this pool was near the sheep Gate. Now the sheep gate was the place that lead to the markets in which you could buy sacrificial lambs. With that in mind you can only imagine the smell. Not only was with gate where the sheep would enter but it is said that this pool of Bethsaida was used for washing for the lamb as well. This water that these diseased people were crowded around was not some crystal clear shimmery blue water, it was dirty, probably had dead bugs floating around in it, maybe even had blood and feces from when the sheep were scared.  So over all, just disgusting conditions.

But there was this man, and the man had been there for thirty-eight years. He undoubtedly had come to the end of himself, he was pessimistic about his future, had no hope. Yet, he still believed, he was after all still at the pool. But why? That is the question I kept asking.  Why is he still there after so many years and why didn’t he just except it as his life and give up?

The next question I had was, why was Jesus there?  Obviously, he didn’t have anything wrong with him, and this place was now a popular crowd pleasing “hang out spot”. So why was Jesus there? Was it because he knew that is where the desperate people would be? Was it because he often chose to be with the outcast and rejects?

This point got me to think, when am I called to love the outcasts, when am I called to be with people who would be see as unclean? How can God use me to help other become clean and healed in Him?

February 28^th, 2018

“Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.” Psalms 22:11

Over this last week some troubles have arose in my life. Everything that had been going on was a repercussion of other people’s decisions. I had no say in the matter but it still all affect me. My prayer to God in that time was be not far from me. There was trouble all around me and I felt overwhelmed but everything that was happening in my life, there was no one around me to help me either. The thing was sometimes you can’t change circumstances, you have no power to do anything because it wasn’t your decision that altered the course of what would happen next. God is not far from me, I know He is here. God is still good, that I also know and repeat to myself everyday.  Trouble maybe be near, so near that I feel it pressing on me on ever side. But, I can still look up. I can look up and see the saviors hand still guiding my path and I can see His loving eyes cast on me. The trick is to remember to look up. I often think that it is in the hard times it is a lot easier to remember to lean on Jesus for everything. That it is in the every day living that it is hard. But in this time in the searching for answers, in the healing and in the challenge, we are faced with a much different challenge than just being with God and talking with Him daily. We are instead filled with emotions that we don’t want to feel, having to face things we never have before, to remind ourselves daily of what Jesus did for us and how we should act as a reflection of that in response.  Learning to let things go, to hold them with empty hands. God be not far from me, there is trouble near, and there is none left to help me except you.

February 21^st, 2018

2 Corinthians 4:8

“we are afflicted in everyway, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;”

This past week I have felt afflicted. In a lot of ways, but probably not everyway. I have felt crushed, whether it was my heart, my strength or my spirit there have been endless times of feelings of pain and suffering. I keep feeling like I will be driven into despair, that there is no hope for the hopeless. I couldn’t and still can’t necessarily see the light at the end of this tunnel. Every corner I keep on turning ends up as a dead end. I keep praying God show me the way. You say that you will guide me and lead me to where you want me to be, but I have no direction and no clue on where to put my feet.

What do you do when you feel this way? When you feel pressed on all sides and suffocated like there are so many things piled on you. So many responsibilities, emotions, situations you must deal with. You call out “God I am just finding it hard to remember that you are good, or that you are with me.” So how are we supposed to cling to this promise that God will be with us through it all? How do we find the words to praise God when we don’t even want to speak with Him? How do we become “unstuck” from the current place we are in to be closer to God? How do we learn to just see Jesus?

There isn’t just some kind of formula, at least not one that I am aware of. But regardless of how pessimistic I feel right now I know that when the church in Corinth read this letter there were heads nodding along and people weeping because just moments before entering the church they had felt like finally giving up. They some how concluded though that the suffering was worth it. They counted the cost and everything else was all counted as lost.

 In verse 17 and 18 it says “for this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ¹⁸  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” This verse reminded me of what I thought maybe the Corinthians were encouraged by. They had reminded themselves of the things unseen and not by the things that were seen. They knew what was instore for them in heaven was worth so much more than the petty earthly issues that I’m drowning in. Even though there is no remedy of how to fix my inner despair, I have this encouragement, that God is near and He is placing me through trials to prepare me for my eternal glory.

February 16th, 2018

1 Corinthians 2: 2,4

“For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified... ⁴ And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.”

People often think that you need to have an insane amount of knowledge of the bible and be good at public speaking to share the gospel. But this obviously not true. It isn’t true for a couple reason, one being that the Holy spirit is living in those who believe that Jesus Christ died for them and rose again. They forget that the Holy Spirit fill us and gives us the right words to say. He shows us the way of God and the path that He wants us to take. Sharing the gospel isn’t about how it sounds when you share. It isn’t about using fancy words to draw people in or about saying the right things that will entice people as if they are getting a reward. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:17b that he would not use “clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.” He, a brilliant public speaker and that could persuade just about anyone that listened said that he ought to not use clever speech. He saw the importance of highlighting only Jesus. He did not want any of the credit and he knew that the crowds to be distracted by what he was saying and not on what God was trying to say to them. Paul knew that a lot of the preaching he could do on his own strength. He had, after all been doing just that for a large portion of his life. But when he got saved he always made it a point to humble himself. He did not want to be considered great. He so often called himself a slave of Christ Jesus. This would put him as lower than God and most of the society on earth. He never wanted people to be following him and not God.

This passage has reminded me to fully rely on God in all that I do. Even things that seem simpler like children’s ministry and with photography. Never loose sight of the fact that God is God and you are no more than a mere servant.