December 27^th, 2017

Acts 2:37

“Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’”

Finally, at this point when Jesus had come and gone their hearts finally began to soften. Until this point of Peter being filled with the spirit those around him had hardened hearts. Nothing entering in and nothing going out. But then suddenly the power of the holy spirit comes in and all their hearts are softened. It pierced straight through their hearts, it didn’t tear through one layer at a time but straight through not needing to take time to sink in or marvel at a later revelation.

Like the people that listened to Peter speak at Pentecost sometimes God speaks and makes himself known in that moment exactly what needs to be known and what he is trying to teach you so that you don’t waste any time. I unfortunately was not like the crowd this past week. My heart was not soft, and the words of God were not being let in. I wasn’t wanting to let God in because it was more work than shutting Him out was.  I have a lot of head knowledge in my life what is hard for me is getting it to go to my heart too. I have a hard time believing the promises of God and what He wants for my life. It is hard for me to believe how much He actually loves me. I make it hard for God’s truths to pierce my heart. Often, I find myself asking “what should I do”, just like the disciples but for a different reason.  For me it is more of a what should I do, tell me God what should I do to love you more, know you more, abide in you more. I know that sounds super works based but still I do ask myself God I just need one thing to cling to, I need new revelations of who you are. This race is hard and tiring please remind me why I am doing this. Remind me why it is all worth it.

Application:

Look for the promises of God found in Genesis.

December 20^th, 2017

Genesis 26:24 “… Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply you descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.”

While reading through Genesis verses like this one keep showing up. Abraham is constantly reminded of the promise that God has for his life regardless of the times he messes up. Over and over God is saying because of your faithfulness, or because of Abrahams faithfulness, I will bless you. And you will have descendants as numerous as the stars.

This shows two things, one, that God has promises for everyone and with those promises he plans to keep his word, reminding you about those promises every time you doubt or fear. The truth is, that we often forget who God is and what he is capable of. This sounds trivial, but the fact is we spend more time doubting God than believing what says over our lives. I don’t know why it is so harder for me to keep and believe the promises I think God is giving me.  The truth is, it is easier to doubt because you can control your doubt, you can tangibly hold the doubt in your heart, there is no need for trust, no way to get hurt.  It is hard letting God keep control over your future, whether that be school, moving, your future spouse, or even what church to go to. How do you do it? How do you give up every area of your life? How does one completely trust some one they’ve never physically met to make all the right choices for them in their life?  But the even bigger question I suppose is, how some one sends their only child out; to the drug addicts, the prideful, the workaholics, the abusers, the abused, the liars, the cheaters, the vain? How could you do that? That would be like sending your kid whom you love very much onto the streets in the middle of a pedophilic neighbourhood, where they can use him and abuse him. Where their only concern is themselves, their wellbeing with out any concern for the consequences. God how do you have this love for us? How is it that you even concern yourself with us?

Second it shows us that God is a God of grace. The verse that says, his mercies are new every day is true. God forgives and moves on. He does not condemn you for your past. God will still use your brokenness, and your mistakes, no clay is thrown away from the pot (Jerimiah 18:4). So even though Abraham and his descendants would screw up He still gave them what He had promised. This should be comforting because it proves that God isn’t finished the work he is beginning but it also shows that God means what he says. So, when he says that he will see it through you ought to also believe all other things he says, for example what he says about loving you.

God is good, that much I know. How he continues to love us daily, that I may never know.

Applications: Pray over yourself the song “You’re Not Finished Yet” –The Belonging CO Ft. Maggie

December 12th, 2017

Ephesians 5:21-22

“submitting to one another out of reverence of Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.”

              This past week I listened to a sermon on “figuring out life: as a wife”. In the sermon he spoke from Ephesians 5:21-33.  It was crazy because I had listened to this message back in March from my home church but at the time I was still living a split life between God and the world and my heart was so hard that it really was just me sitting in the service not taking anything being said to heart. But after listening to it again I took in so much and it really ministered to me. It is especially relevant in this season right now, the practice of submitting and serving.

God has really been teaching me what it means to submit and serve with a pure heart since July in Guatemala. I remember when I got there, to Guatemala, I was so confused and upset because I really didn’t understand true submission and what that biblically should look like. Since I am from Vancouver, Canada it is quite liberal, women are told that they should have dreams and aspirations of becoming CEO’s, lawyers, women of power. It is an insult to think that a mom should stay home with their kid after having it, the man can get maternity leave instead, so the women can go back to work and provide for the family.  So naturally growing up with that all around me (my parents didn’t teach me this but schools, and society did.) I was in a bit of a shock. But as I learned what the role of a women is biblically I started to see how natural it felt and how freeing it was. I didn’t realize that submission isn’t inequality. You can still battle for your rights and you can still be equal, but submission is truly just putting others before yourself. It is important for me to remind myself that Jesus came to serve not be served, so by serving I am becoming more like Him. These concepts are ones that I am getting to act out with my team mates here, even when I am tired and drained from the day still I want to serve, still I want to press on and show them respect by putting them before myself. I pray that God would use this time to refine me and prepare me to be a woman of Him and prepare me for marriage one day so that I can serve my husband well.

Application: Do the breakfast dishes every morning this week. 

December 5th, 2017

Jerimiah 18: 4

“And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.”  ESV

 “But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.” NLT

The reason I put both versions of this verse is because I find that they both have importance in the way of what is being said. First the verse is talking about the potter and his relationship with the clay, of course this always reminds me of the ministry I am currently apart of, Potter’s Field Ministries, and Pastor Mike’s presentation with the clay and the pot. During the presentation he pulls on the clay shaping it and perfecting it. At some points he pulls the pot so thin that you think it is going to collapse on itself, that it won’t be able to be shaped anymore. But that is when Pastor Mike crushes it, he then molds it into something else saying, “I was never making a pot”. 

This is what God does to us, He shapes us and molds us into one thing, but then He strips us of pieces that are not Him, that are evil and sinful. And when we think He just about done with us and is done with stretching us, He completely switches the design on us. He pulls and tugs us in a different direction next discarding some pieces but never fully throwing them away because He knows that testimonies are powerful and encouraging so He keeps our past in His hands, but it is no longer attached to us and no longer apart of us.

For many this is a season of rebuilding and shaping in our lives. I find that now more than ever I am truly starting to become the person God wants me to be. No longer being influenced by opinion I’ve grown up with and believing things just because my family did. But it has been a true and pure time of discovery and searching for who God really is and what the characteristics of Jesus are.

I can honestly say that I was not turning into the jar that He would have hoped for, so God used Ignite to crush me into a lump and start to remake me. He has taken me out of my home, out of my identity as a pastor’s kid and I can no longer hide behind my job or school. He wanted me to start fresh and then began with stripping all I was to become just me and Him. But even though sometimes it is painful it is also beautiful and worth it.

December 1st, 2017

Luke 6:30

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

People that have their hearts aligned with Jesus and the goodness that he possesses will intern have a reflection of that in their own lives. I didn’t know the true concept of this until coming to Cambodia. I had always heard that if you are snippy or quick to anger was because you were too plugged into the world and not plugged in with God, which I guess in essence is a similar thing. When your relationship with God isn’t right then your relationship with others won’t be either.  The tongue is what will show when you aren’t right with God because even here it says that the mouth speaks from the heart. I know that for me this is true. The way that I speak is a direct line from my relationship with God. When I first got to Cambodia I was drawing back from everyone including God. I would still do my morning devotionals and sort of pursue Him there, but I wasn’t really looking at him in all I did. So naturally my relationship with people was not how it normally is, I was short with people, made sarcastic comments which were really not nice or funny, and I always was on edge with them. I didn’t want to be attacked by anyone, so I would try to attack first in order to not be hurt by the other person. All in all, I was a mess, anyone could see that my heart was not in the right place. Luckily though I have leaders that want the best for me and want me to succeed so the helped me to realize what was actually going on, hence the saying “what you say is a reflection of your heart.” I was hardening my heart so much to others that I didn’t even realize what I was doing. I thank God that this all happened at the beginning of our time here though so that I could get right with God and with my team mates.

Application:

Spend an extra hour talking to God today that you normally wouldn’t have spent.