October 17^th, 2017

Exodus 33:18

Moses said, ‘please show me your glory.’ (ESV)

I am sitting here in the house in Cambodia praying this with my whole heart. God show me your glory this year. I want to see you in a way that I never have before. I am overcome with this confidence that He will do this. Even if it is just a glimpse of Him I would be satisfied. But I pray that, that glimpse would last in my mind and heart forever. That it wouldn’t fade, that I would have something to cling to. I know that with his glory comes a peace and an awe. I can’t help but feel that it is going to happen soon, not yet, but little by little over these next months he is going to reveal little by little until I will be left with a whole picture of who I think He is. But it won’t stay that way because then He will reveal another piece of himself to me. The truth of it is, is that we will never be able to comprehend God in all His eternity, our human brains are too small and we have too many boxes we put Him into. The most accurate example of God we have is from Jesus but even he is a mystery almost like a puzzle. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to try and understand God in the time that Moses lived. You would have had a very different kind of faith, for the average person it would have been very hard to view God as a God that wants a relationship. It would have been hard for me to have truly felt like He was there or that He cared.  It is amazing though how so much has changed in the world since then but people are still begging for the same thing. They still want to see God and see his glory. It is not just an experience of God but it is also wanting that knowledge of Him and begging to see Him. Our world is broken and breaking more and more everyday, and it feels like it is harder and harder to see God on some days so I beg that He would show me a glimpse of Him some way or some how. The beauty of it is, He does meet me, He does draw me in and reveal more of Himself.

Application: God show me more of who you are, reveal to me the characteristics of you, and teach me to be more like you. Grow my desire to read your word and teach me how to love you more.

October 24^th, 2017

Psalm 93:4

“Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty.”

When I first read this verse I thought, that’s all great and dandy but I don’t really know what to right about this. So, then I thought what exactly is the word mightier, so I looked up synonyms and saw that they were words like; vast, huge, expansive, enormous. This stumped me. I was confused because I had always thought that mighty meant strong but really it mean bigger than big. So, the verse is saying, vaster than the thunders of many waters but I thought it was saying stronger and more powerful than the thunders. And Yes, it is true that God is strong and powerful but the verse is saying that He is bigger than the sky which expands over all the earth. He is bigger than the biggest wave in the ocean. His love for us can fill an infinite number of oceans. Our Lord is mighty. We should not down play that or limit Him with our small minds. He is vast, He is bigger than anything we can even imagine. We can’t imagine something that hasn’t been created by God and put on display for us to see. That is why this word is so hard to comprehend, because we physically can’t describe it. It honestly gives me a headache trying to think about it and trying to understand.

Application: Look this week for examples of how God is bigger than the boxes I put him in.

September 28^th, 2017

2 Timothy 2:2

“You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”

Things that have been confirmed by many reliable sources, this section of the verse should give us comfort in the fact that what was being aid is true and theologically correct. I know that often people just believe what ever they are told if it comes from even just one person they deem as a trustworthy source for the teaching.  But even though Paul was a trust worthy teacher he still mentions that it agreed with other’s testimonies as well not just his own. It gives him more credit and I believe that is very important.

When I read this I originally thought of myself disciplining others, reminding me of the girls that I mentor back home. I thought to myself, how credible am I? Am I able to also cite the information I am telling the girls? The answer is no, I do not do that. I want to challenge them about what it is they should be believing, what they should do to find out what is false teaching and what is truth. I hope that with this realization now I can start looking into where verses are found so that I may start to be a more credible leader for them so that they will know when what I am saying is doctrine and what is just my opinion. Also, so that when they are witnessing to others about God and need to know where something from scripture is found that we were talking about they will be more knowledgeable about the bible.

Application: Memorize a verse that you deem as a keystone in your walk with the Lord

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.