September 25^th, 2017

Mark 4:10-11

“Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parable meant. He replied, ‘You are permitted to understand the secret (mystery) of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders,’”

The disciples already knew the secret of eternal life so they were already knowing what they needed to do in order to be saved and continue in on that path of righteousness. But those who did not know that secret to eternal life was, were tested through the use of parables because those who couldn’t understand but continued to listen to try to gain knowledge would be blessed and they knew that. They knew that Jesus had something special about him and when that happens, when you know some one has wisdom and something different about them you tend to hang around them and follow. How many times have I just been following around with the crowd because I liked the people be not actually cared what they were saying? I went through a stage in life I was about grade 8 &9 when I was just with the people I was with because of my status. I didn’t want to be by myself but I also really didn’t like the things that were talked about in my group of friends. But even still I would hang out with the crowd because that is what you would do. I was the same as those in the parables, when I didn’t understand I would want to leave and not continue to listen I would see it as a waste of time.

September 22^nd, 2017

1 Peter 4:7

“The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.”

I often find myself living for tomorrow. Thinking as if I have plenty other days. When really we should treat each day as if it is our last. A reminder of this for me is when one of my friends past away suddenly from a heart attack. She was only nineteen but she had heart issues for a long time. But no one thought she would die. I didn’t leave Langley thinking that she wouldn’t be there when I got back. It is a hard concept for me to grasp that she is gone, I have been living the future so much that it didn’t even cross my mind that some one I know might be gone by the time I get back. We need to be intentional in our relationships. And that also goes for our relationship with God. We should talk to Him as if it is our last time talking to Him. There should be an urgency behind every conversation with God there should be a pressing issue of the fact that that might be the last time you talk to God on earth. We should be open to Him about how we are feeling because there is no time to beat around the bush and avoid confrontation. Be straight up and don’t waste time on petty things.

Application:

Pray and tell God exactly what is on your mind, don’t just dance around the subject. 

September 21st, 2017

2 Samuel 11: 11-15

“Uriah replied ‘the ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.’ ‘Well stay here today,’ David told him, ‘and tomorrow you may return to the army.’ So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then, he couldn’t get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again, he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.  So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. The letter instructed Joab, station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.”

In this text, there are two persistent people, Uriah and David. It takes Uriah a lot of discipline to be able to not go home and relax. He knows that he is in an army. He knows that if he goes home he might not want to go back. So he guards his mind and knows how he needs to press on in order to continue to fight the race that he has started. He doesn’t forget that he is in the midst of a war. That all his brothers and friends are fighting and losing their lives trying to protect their kingdom. I often do not have the same mindset as Uriah. I forget that we are in a battle between heaven and hell. I get lazy and just go with the flow, I listen to the suggestions of David and follow them. I forget that I am not serving David I am serving God. I need to be strong especially with our ten days coming up I need to remember I am still in battle and I can’t forget and go an get drunk on the pleasures of a vacation. It will be hard to not get caught up on the materialistic things but to truly focus on God and even evangelizing to those around me in Florida, because it isn’t my home and it can still be a battle ground.

Application: Make a commitment to do devos an hour every morning in Florida.

September 20^th, 2017

Mark 1:35

“Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.”

How easy is it for me to step back and spend time with God? If I am being honest, it is extremely difficult. I have a very hard time walking away from people and fun because I don’t want to miss out on what is going on around me. But the reality is that often we do need to step back and just abide in Him. To bring him everything, our worries, joys, just our thoughts in general. It is not like he is asking us to be completely isolated all the time from the rest of the world but he also encourages community. But he is encouraging us that before the sun rises we need to spend some time with our father alone. He is showing us the importance of prayer and how that should affect us in our relationship with God. The very first thing we do, before we get coffee before we eat breakfast we should spend some time with God. He will honour that, he sees when we seek him out of pure motives and he will honour that making us a fresh. It is amazing that this place allows us to get up early and spend time with God before we do anything else in our lives. Since being here my love for mornings has increased by a tenfold. I love them, I always hope to see a pretty sunrise, because most of the time I am up before it rises. I really feel that I am starting my day off well when I get that time of prayer right off the bat with out distractions because no one else is up.

Application: Get up at 5 tomorrow morning in order to spend that extra half an hour praying to God first and foremost before doing anything else.

September 19th, 2017

1 Corinthians 9: 24-27

"Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize?  So, run to win. All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.  So, I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified."

I already feel the difference between Sydney now and the Sydney three months ago. This Sydney is prepared for anything. I am willing to pray for random people at odd times of the day now, I always am asking God to keep my eyes alert to give me eyes to see those who are hurting near me so I am constantly on high alert trying to find some one. My mind is faster and stronger, I am equipping myself to be ready for the field. I can now run easier on lack of sleep. I can wake up before 6:30 easily where as I used to have hard time getting up at 7:30. I can feel myself being refined and transformed. God is equipping me and building up my endurance and strength much like an athlete in real life. I played sports all through high school and I love them, so I know what it is like to be in training season. This is the time where you do sprints after practice that make you want to throw up, when your coaches barely let you get water breaks and when cramps in your stomach are inevitable. Similarly, training is like that, they are equipping you, teaching you the plays, strengthening your mind with teachings, and physically making you serve with a servant’s heart. But we do all this with the mind that we are winning an eternal prize. We know we won't be disqualified if we are doing everything in accordance to the will of God.

September 18th, 2017
1 Timothy 4:8
" 'Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and the life to come.' "

This morning I woke up late. Well I woke up when I had originally planned to at five  and was about to get up and start my day but I decided to pray instead before getting out of bed. So I started to, and I guess I fell asleep. But when I woke again next at six I was in a state of annoyance for myself. I was angry at my flesh and annoyed that I had no self control. Why was I so weak. So I hurriedly got ready to start my day and out I went. But as I was getting coffee I started to talk to Shannon. Shannon is always full of good advice for me so it is no suprise she was again today. She told me that this kind ofthing happens some times to her and God had shown her a verse in Psalm 127:1. It basically says that unless God is the one building your house, your work is wasted in his eyes. From that she was shown that her time with God isn't any worse or any better if it is shorter or longer. It is quality over quantity. I feel like sometimes when I sleep in like that though, that I am letting God down because I am giving into my flesh. But as Shannon was saying it is not always true, because if you still are craving God's word and trying to study it earnestly God sees that, it isn't about how long you study it for. So in that way the Physical training of getting up early is good, but those short intense moments with God are so much better, promising blessing for this life and the next.

Application:
Tomorrow sleep in until six again to challenge myself to have more of an intense time with God.

September 15th, 2017
Phillipians 3:13
"No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing. Forgetting the past and looking forward at what lies ahead."

That is something that I am desperately trying to work on. Looking ahead and not looking back. So many times especially in the past I had looked back because I wanted to not make the same mistake twice or I was still kicking myself for what happened. It was hard for me to let go. It was not something that was easy for me, I could forgive everyone around me but I wouldn't forgive myself.  It says forgetting the past, by this I believe that he meant forgetting the shame and condemnation that you were in but not forgetting what God has done for you. Testimonies are powerful and whenever God lifts you out of something he wants you to share that with other people. What would be the point if we forgot all that God did for us? We would go on with our daily lives not being thankful for anything and we would continue to stumble over the same things, like clockwork. He is talking about instead of focusing on the perfection that comes with Christ and that process, focus on the forgiveness He has given you and how he is making you new.

Application: Thank God for all that he has brought me through and the new life I have in him today.

September 14th, 2017
Philippians 3:11-12
"So that one way or another I will experience the resurection from the dead! I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I already have reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me."

This verse is interesting because I view perfection in a negative connotation. I tried so hard for so long to live in perfection and it didn't work. I was never able to perfect all the the goals I set out for myself. So for this verse to say "I press on to possess that perfection" I can't read anymore of it. I get stuck on the word perfection. Immediately my mind goes to a formula, what can I do to get to the top, what can I do to be the best? Since coming here I have been trying to remember that I don't need to be perfect for God, infact he adores the broken, those are the ones who need his help the most. It is God who makes me complete which that in itself is perfect.  The verse also touches on not being able to or already having reached perfection, which is something that I know in my head is true but it is very hard for me to believe that with my heart. Even now when I am walking firmly with Christ and in His promises I still think, "that wasn't good enough, you are unworthy, when will I even ever be close to something that is of value?" and the list goes on. It is true what they say about us being our own worst critics.

The verse also talks about experiencing the resurrection, I have experienced a form of this resurrection. In fact all Christians that are following Christ have. We are constantly walking in his forgiveness and with that we reccognize the importance of putting to death our flesh and our sin so that he may fill us and ressurect us.

September 13th, 2017
Philippians 3:10
"I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him sharing His death,"

I want to know Christ. I say this with conviction and an urgent pleading so that it may come true. I want to know Christ. I want to dwell in His presence, I want to be intune with Him. When He moves I want to move, when He speaks I speak. I want to be so intune that I don't even have to pray for confirmation. I am constantly experiencing God and His mighty power, He is constantly on the move and working. When ever some one comes to Christ that in itself is a miracle. There are so many influnces in our world, so I am not surprised when people start to go down a bad path. When I meet people I usually assume that they aren't saved. When you really think about that it is really sad. We assume that God isn't present so often. There is so much darkness and oppression going on in our world right now it is hard sometimes to see the light of Jesus. This is why I crave to know Him, so that when I feel overcome by the darkness and overwhelmed by all that is going on around me I will look to him.

It says I want to suffer with Him sharing His death, but is that really what I wish for. Am I willing to suffer with Christ for what he has done for me? What does this suffering even look like? When I first read this I thought of physical suffering but as I reread it a couple of times I started to realize that maybe it isn't suffering in the way I first percieved it. Maybe it is talking about suffering in this world. We are more than likely deem suffering as something that is different than God does. Since we place so much weight on materialistic things He gives us we might consider it suffering when we loose a job based on our faith or He may call us to sell everything and become missionsaries which the world would deem for us as loosing everything. There is an important part to that sentence though that make I left out at first, it says so that we may share his death. This isn't talking about a physical death but the death that comes with allowing Jesus to consume you. He wants to fill you and use you but inorder to do that you need to die, metaphorically, with all of your desires. By putting yourself to death, your flesh, you then can become more like Christ. What comes with that sacrifice is consuming joy and peace and that promise of deliverance from eternal suffering and death.

September 12th, 2017
Philippians 3:9
"and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith."

The KJV says be found in Him. This gives me an image of some one searching for you or for God but when they find one they should find the other. There should be no distinction between the two. God should dwell in us and us in Him. Recently I found out that one of my friends from work back home passed away. The hardest part is, that I don't know if she was saved. Prior to me leaving she was not walking with Christ, I think that she had at least heard the name of Jesus. The thing is, I used to talk about my faith at work, or I would talk about my morals but I honestly can't remember if I ever talked to her about it. I sincerely hope that in that time she could see me dwelling in God and God in me. I hope that she saw the faith that I had, that I would do something crazy like pay to go across the world in order to serve others. I pray that she didn't see the righteousness I probably had, as just obeying the rules. God I hope that she saw me for you. When some one dies it really gives you a new perspective. It makes you realize that we don't have all the time in the world, that it all could slip away in one second.

I had planned once I got back to minister to her. I had planned to go to coffee with her and share what God had done in my life over this last year especially. She needed more and I could tell, but I didn't jump. I didn't make it a priority to share as openly as I would have liked to. So now with the unknowning I can only pray that she saw Christ through me and God urged her to seek that out.

September 11th, 2017
Philippians 3:8
"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage , so that I could gain Christ."

Worthless, for a long time I would fluctuate between feeling like I was worth alot or feeling as if I was worth nothing. The thing is though, I am worth nothing, in comparision to the value of knowing Christ. But yet even still He calls us his treasures, yet even still he persues us fervently. He is chasing us yet how often do we discard him? How often do we count what he has to say as garbage? We think we know best. We think that what we are doing is the only way and the right way. Obviously that is not correct. More and more I am being challenged to try and find God's voice, I want to be directed and follow him. I want to discard everything that I have and count it all as worthless but it is hard. It is hard to give up everything the world is telling you to grasp so tightly. The things that you grasp so tightly all your life, just poof, gone. God wants to take control, he wants to lead you in all areas of your life, but because he is a gentleman he won't barge in, he will wait until both your hands are free before grabing hold of them. He is not going to compete with things that are going on around us for our attention. He would win in an instant, but instead he wants us to seek him out.  He craves for us to try and find him. To get to know him.

Application:
Today I will write five things in my life that I need to give up inorder to be closer with Christ during on the mount time.

August 31st, 2017
John 15:15
"I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father has told me."

Did Jesus see us as his slaves just like God? I never thought about it in that way, Jesus being our master. I feel like Jesus is always painted as some one who your friend, He is the loving one that goes out of his way to be with you. He is the one that covers your shame, a mater wouldn't do that. But I realize, He is after all God. It is hard to remember some times that they are the same person, at least it is for me. I can't seem to wrap my brain around that fact, He is the son of God yet he also is God but He is still human. Our tiny and pathetic minds can't seem to wrap our brains around it so we just give up. Which I admit I do alot when it comes to Christianity and trying to understand God. There is some much that I don't understand. To some extent it is okay, I just reside in the fact that there is a God and he does love me very much and I have peace about it. But there are times where I can't help but think, "this seems so far fetched, what if I am just making all of this up?"  But that doubt fades when I truly think about God and the miracles He has preformed in my life, the feeling that I get when I worship, and the comfort I get when I pray. He is my daily strength. Even so, I hate the fact that I am a slave to something. When I think of a slave it often comes with an evil connotation, like the fact that I have been a slave to so many sins in my life. But the reality is we are slaves, whether we like it or not. We have no say in our lives or our futures but  unlike worldy masters ours has good intentions, He is trying to provide for us, it is not for His own selfish gain but a just gain for the kingdom of heaven.

They always told us in Sunday school that Jesus is our friend, so I guess it was ingrained in me. I mean I saw Him as a king but never my master or ruler in that way. When I first read this I almost felt discouraged because in my flesh I don't want another master watching my work intently. But I missed the point. It is not about how many people are scrutinising my work but how many people are looking out for and over me.

Application:
Ask God to reveal to me in ways in which Jesus is a master over my life and always has been.

August 30th, 2017
Matthew 20:26-28
"But amoung you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader amoung you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be th first among you must become your slave. For even the son of man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."

The world tell us to climb the ladder of success but the bible says we must be last and the least. I always wondered why people fell away from Christ. Sure it may be because they did feel welcomed at their church or  they had a falling out with some one, but I have began to realize there are so many things trying to pull you away than the obvious sins that the church may talk about. I grew up going to a fair conservative school, it wasn't a Christian school but it wasn't as worldly as most public schools. In my school I as a woman was constantly told that I needed to go on to university to get a degree inorder to support my family one day. I should not even consider becoming a housewife because there was more to my life than that, and it would trap me in a marriage because I would have no where to go. While I don't disagree that education is important and holds value to my life it doesn't mean that I have to be the bread winner in my family. I believe that the man should be the main provider for the family but if I even thought about saying that in school I would get a stern talking to about how I need to get my priorities straight. The school system in Canada is constantly trying to boost up women so that they may be strong corporate leaders and not just meet men at the level of competition in job finding etc. but to surpass them in all areas.

So naturally coming here was really hard for me at first when they were telling us to let the guys do all the heavy lifting, letting us eat first, and basically just going first for everything. On the inside I was about to explode not because of anger but because I want to serve in that way too. All my life I had been some one who had to be strong, so it was hard for me. I was used to going last and trying to serve others in that way. I mean it wasn't a shock because I knew that it is the way God designed it to be but it was still hard because I haven't been practicing that in my daily life at all.

These verses really remind me of Aaron within the story of Moses. He was always leading by following Moses lead. Everything he did was because Moses had instructed him which was a word given to him by God. He physically lifted up Moses arms inoder to for the Irealites to win their battle against the Amalekites. I realize that I should want to be a leader like Aaron is. Most people just gaze over him when reading this like I did the first time. But, he is the perfect example of what a servant leader looks like. He is constantly submitting to Moses and the authority that he has, he doesn't question him he just trusts him and follows. Even though he holds a high rank he is humble and and continues to humble himself in order to better serve in the way that God has called him. I find that we often want to be the Moses' in this situation, but for women in regards to their relationship to men are called to be the Aaron's. It is only us that can hold up the arms of Moses on Earth with the help of God of course.

Application:
Serve one of my team mates/ the ones that are staying in my room today.

August 29th, 2017
Luke 17:7-10
" 'When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, 'come in and eat with me?' No, he says, 'Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.' And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, 'We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.' "

This theme of God not needing us is constant. It's true, He doesn't, but we often try to trick ourselves into thinking that he does. We put too many limitations on Him and expect him to thank us for the work we do. But it shouldn't be so. He was the one who gave us life and gave us oppertunity, we are technically his slaves, and his children. My parents used to always make us do chores around the house and when we'd complain or ask why they would say "Why do you think we had children in the first place?" Now they were always joking but in a sense they were looking at it the God does. He created us so that we could worship him and since we are born after "the fall" we were also put on the earth to serve him by raising up disciples and baptize. We could be here on Earth to just do His dirty work, but it's not true because easily could do it ten times fast and batter. He just wants to employ us in a sense, he doesn't want us to become homeless with no way out. He wants us to have a secure home. He wants to provide for us. I think of the story of Ruth  when I read this. Moab did not in any means have to provide for her or her mother-in-law. But he did, and willingly. He wanted to make sure that his family was safe and that they would be looked after, so he provided her with a job because she was faithful to his family and to the Lord. God rewards those who are faithful to Him. He is asking us right now to serve him and eat later, because the food that we would recieve now will melt incomparision of what is to come.

Application:
Ask God in what way am I sneaking a bite of food? What area in my life do I need to lay down inorder to better follow him.