Steadfast, Beloved

Week 2 Mark 4:39-40 "And He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" Lately it feels as if I was walking through a storm. One I had not experienced in a while. There are currently a lot of changes going on in my life at the moment. I like change. But the enemy does not. I know that the direction in which things are moving are certainly an answered prayer. The circumstances in which they come may not have been my own plans, but I know that God changes paths for our own benefit. In light of these changes, is the truth that the enemy will attack in whatever way he can. Jesus and the disciples were crossing the sea; they were stretching out to proclaim souls to Christ. But on the way, they were met with a storm. This storm brought panic, fear and disbelief. This is exactly the distraction that satan wants us

Week 1 Proverbs 16:9 "A man's heart plans his way,  But the Lord directs his steps." Reflecting back on the first week of field time, and how everything we did was nothing like we imagined it would have been; it was better. I'm finally learning that the Lord blesses in two ways. He will either bless your plans or He will change them. God sees my heart and every intention and will sometimes have to correct me when my plans don't turn out the way I wanted. I've found that when this happens, the ministry we have done is far more Spirit filled than our original plans. This morning I was listening to the hymn "I Surrender All", and I couldn't help but think of all things I still want control  over in my life. "I surrender all except my own will". Wrong. How can Jesus rule in my life if I won't let Him rule my heart? Even Jesus had to yield to the Father's will. I'm not one who freaks out when things change, but it does freak

Week 12 Day 5; Teachable Proverbs 12:1 "Whoever loves instruction loves kowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid." I never want to stop knowing the character of God. Everyday I want to wake up in awe of Him because I know who He is. Sometimes I will wake up with this attitude, but that can quickly change when I allow to let people's actions or attitude affect mine. I remember first coming into IGNITE and accepting instruction with actions but not in my heart. Before coming, I prayed for paitence. That was a mistake! Surely God would give it to me, and I hated it! Eventually I began to see a pattern in the process of gaining this paitence. It came through people. In Warren Weirsbe's book "On Being a Servant of God", he said this truth, "People are the hardest ministry but they are also the most rewarding". Isn't that the truth! If I want to fully know God's supernatural paitence with me, I must learn to be paitent with others and vi

Week 12 Day 4; Teachable 2 Timothy 2:2 "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, comit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Here we see teaching from another perspective. The teacher. As humans, we all learn from a young age. We learn about our family, environment, and language. And as we grow, our knowledge only increases. Today we finished our book "The Knowledge of the Holy", by A.W. Tozer. This book is full of the attributes of God,  but it also expounds upon them. Countless times I was left in awe or in a headache. This just goes to prove how great our God is and all this time whom I mistook Him to be. There is so much more to learn about God than I thought and could never learn until I see Him in glory. But with what He has shown us we are responsible for. Jesus tells us to share the gospel and to raise up leaders.  I think of our teachers over the past three months and where they started. Almost all were once

Week 12 Day 3; Teachable Proverbs 9:9 "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning." At first reading this verse realy confused me; and to be honest, it still kinda does. But after giving it some time to  meditate on it and pray, I think I've somewhat come to a conclusion of what it might mean to me. From my understanding, I see there is always room for growth. This is very encouraging to me, because sometimes I don't always have a full  understanding (kinda like this verse). Pastor Mike always says "You dont have to be the smartest man in the room; just look for who is." I can be content in learning still and have the full confidence that one day will grow from this time of teaching. I need to allow myself to have courage in making mistakes, which I'm sure will be many. They say you learn something new everyday; it depends if you allow everyday to be a lesson or not. Just like this ver

Week 12 Day 2; Teachable Luke 2:46 "Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions." Many times I have listened to a message and just take it as it was. I go home impacted for a day then forget all about which I had learned. All of my life I have been a person who wanted to be the best in class. I was a straight "A" student with the highest scores in class. I was usually put in with the bad class because teachers thought that having a student to help another would be more beneficial. I dont know if that helped. But anytime it came around to questions I was always the one answering them. I was a "teachers pet" and always wanted to impress them and my fellow students with my knowledge. And when I was puzzled or had questions of my own, I answered them myself. I didn' t want anyone to know if I was struggling with a math assignment we had, so I took

Week 12 Day 1; Teachable Mark 4:10-11 "But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables". Jesus has just explained the parable of the sower. We know from the text what Jesus was teaching to the crowds, but I think of the disciples who had walked with Jesus yet did not understand. Why is that? I do not know. But Jesus shares here why some did not understand. Basically He says that those who know Him will understand but those who dont will not comprehend. Now I now that sometimes we can not understand what God means until He reveals it to us. Some things are not for us to know. But I believe that if God speaks specificaly to you, He wants you to understand. He desired fo you to assk Him questions, because that builds relationships. And the more you know Him, the more youo will understand Hi

Week 11 Day 5; Discipline 1 Peter 4:7 "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers." I think as humans we become so accustomed to everyday life that we forget everyday is God's grace upon our lives. When we visted Xela, I will never forget the words of advice we recieved, "Talk to people as if there was no tomorrow for them. How would you feel if they died without ever knowing the gosepl?". I've heard this said almost all my life, but in that moment it finally clicked. I never understood that the kepy to salvation are simple tools in my hand. I always chose scissors and tape instead of the shovel and hammer. While these are all good tools, I never saw people as I had the right to dig into their personal lives. Everytime I tried I would get shut down, and if God wanted them in His kingdom He would make a way right? Wrong. We are to pave the way Jesus. We get the privelage to get down and dirty to make a path. I ne

Week 11 Day 4; Discipline 2 Samuel 11:11-13 "And Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing." Then David said to Uriah, "Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him: and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house." In this story we can look at two types of people. The amn who is discipled and one who is not. David could not withhold his sexual desire and now he was in a sticky situation. He made out schemes to decieve Uriah for the mistake he had made. Uriah on the other hand, had just returned from war. Even