Greetings :)
I wish you could be here to really experience how much God is moving! Words cannot do it justice! I absolutely LOVE hearing God's voice and knowing its him. My relationship with him has grown so much since I have been here and I couldn't be happier about it! Knowing I'm walking in his will is SO UNBELIEVABLY comforting! I can honestly say that I'm in love with my heavenly daddy now more than ever before.
I have been praying about what will happen after DTS because I know it will fly by. There are so many amazing people here and I love getting to know them but in the back of my mind I know that I will be going home eventually alone. I have been praying about my faith and how I can stay obedient and in his will when I get home. I know at home the pressure is to go to college but I feel God is leading me a different direction right now. So please be praying for me about that. :)
I wanted to share some of the little things I have been learning that I thought were interesting! I know I have heard a lot of messages about tithing that I did not agree with but this one hit it spot on. In 2 Corinthians 9:7 it says that "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver". I don't know about you but I always felt obligated to give to the church I was in but I am almost always cheerful when I get the opportunity to bless the poor or the needy. When It talks about tithing in the Bible in Malachi 3:10 it says "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in his house." The storehouse back in the day was a place that they filled up to give ALL of the tithes to the poor and the needy. Now when most of us tithe in church it goes towards maintenance of the churches. Very little of the offerings go to missions or poor that I know of. Don't get me wrong giving to the church is wonderful but tithes were meant to go to the needy. That just stuck out to me because I had always felt bad about not being cheerful when I gave to the church. Baffling, I know but God set me free of that because I AM cheerful when I give to the needy. I thought that was cool!
This weeks speaker was Corey Stark from International House of Prayer In Kansas City. Whoop!! (side note: since I have been here I have heard more about IHOP then I did when I lived 10 minutes away from it. Weird stuff.) Corey has been my favorite speaker so far. He took us through the end times and the book of Revelation and it makes a lot more sense to me now! I still have a ways to go but he set a great foundation for me to continue learning on. I wish I could share with ya'll but I'm still pondering it.
He did also speak about praying. God LOVES it when we pray from his word. It's a new thing to me cause I was always like "God wrote the Bible so I shouldn't have to repeat it to him." But the Bible is his will and when we pray the Bible our prayers will ALWAYS be answered. Many of us are praying against God's will and those are the prayers that aren't answered because you are not in unity with him.
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of you heart. " - Psalm 37:4
This verse is taken out of context a TON. God wont just give you what YOU want. That's called taking advantage of him. No can do. When you delight yourself in the Lord, spend time with him daily, really chase after him, HIS WILL becomes what YOUR HEART DESIRES MOST.
That's all I got. :)
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Call 2 All Beginnings
Hey Guys!
Thought I would just update you all on whats been going on since I have started DTS here at Youth With A Mission. Three weeks have already gone by so quickly! I'll try to catch you up.
The first week we spent mainly getting to know each other as classmates. There are about 30 of us in Call to All. We are the smallest of all the schools here. We already are like family. For lecture we had Clint Bokelman as a speaker. The main theme of the week was learning how to hear God's voice. I learned all the ways that God responds to us. He is not limited to anything. He uses visions, words, colors. I know that in the past I have settled for "not hearing his voice" because it was not in the way I expected. Since I have been here I have learned how simple it is. He has been speaking me all my life I have just didn't know it was him! He has the power to make things pop into your mind out of the blue and that's just what he does! I have spent so long thinking I was just scatter brained and God was really speaking to me! I could identify Gods voice more that week than I have ever before! It was just how It is meant to be with him. In EVERYTHING I go back to him. He's my father and my best friend. Why wouldn't you continue talking to him all the time? It's how the relationship is supposed to work. He wants to speak to us but we think it will be in some big way when he's just whispering his unfailing love to you all the time.
The second week was corporate week. We had the founder of Youth With a Mission, Loren Cunningham, speak to all 500 DTS students. He spoke about giving everything to God. It sounds cliche but to really follow Christ you have to give up all "rights" that you think you have. As Americans it is especially easy to think that we are entitled to certain things like freedom, family, love, even life etc. We also think that as humans we have the right to freedom, love, food, reputation, family, money, marriage, jobs, etc. In reality EVERYTHING we have is a gift from God that we claim and take for granted. To be followers of Christ we MUST give up your rights to everything. Like many others here I decided to give up those rights. I know for a fact that my sacrifice of my rights to him means greater glory for his name, and I trust that he knows whats best and will provide love, money, food, freedom etc. in his perfect time.
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. --1 Corinthians 10:13
God spoke to me during corporate week about reputation money and love specifically, and giving up the rights to them. I can tell you personally about that if you would like. He gave me the scripture of 1 Samuel 16:7 "For the lord sees not as man sees; for man looks at outward appearance and the lord looks at the heart". You WILL experience a lot of freedom when you stop comparing yourself to others.
Many of the teachers here are like the guys who wrote the Bible. All the Gospels were written in different cities, different time periods, andNOTHING is contradictory. The speakers I have heard suggest new things to grow deeper and then a new speaker comes in the next week and says the same thing. I have never thought about reading the Bible out loud with people in public. Most Christians that I know look for a quiet place to go read and meditate. But I have heard multiple times to try reading it out loud in public. It's an awesome way to grow together and see the word of God in a new way AND an opportunity for people who would never read the Bible to hear the messages.
God also spoke to me about humility in this time. We are human and although we think of ourselves as generally good people we are constantly falling short of His glory. Its important to remember that. God gave me the verse Psalm 16:2 randomly in worship so I looked it up.
My soul, you have said to Yahweh, "You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing."
Its a wonderful verse to meditate on. Everything that you think is good in you HE created which means YOU have no right to take credit for it.
This last week we had the founder of Call to All, Mark Anderson, came and speak to our class. He really challenged us to look at our relationship with God in a whole new light. The first day he spoke about how the modern church has salvation wrong. Most churches now say that you need to admit to your sins believe Jesus is the Son of God and confess to become a Christian. But after you do that you feel bound by all the rules you have to follow. Christianity is not a place of rules, that's religion. It always leaves you feeling guilty. Guilt is not from God. So many people today call on God as if he is serving them. But the truth is you miss the will of God the very purpose he designed you for when you start with you and your desires. You are here to serve God, but he will bless you for it beyond your wildest dreams when you do.
Much of the focus for this week was based off of Luke 9. We are called to deny yourself daily and take up your cross. That is whats Christianity is really, It's how you begin the relationship with him. You have to deny yourself of your flesh and serve God KNOWING the whole time that by being a Christian we are intentionally enduring our death (in modern times instead of carrying your cross you would be carrying your electric chair and WILLINGLY getting into and turning it on). WHEN YOU DIE TO YOURSELF YOU ARE TRADING IN YOUR LIFE EVERY ASPECT OF WHO YOU ARE FOR GODS LIFE. YOU WILL HAVE EVERYTHING HE HAS, ALL AUTHORITY, POWER, COURAGE, ETC. EVERYTHING IN HIS NAME. You can't just settle for you keep your life and bring him into your life because then he can't work. He is too big to fit you and him in one body. It's ALL of him or ALL of you.
Luke 9:24 "For whoever wants to save his life will loose it, but whoever looses his life for me will save it."
Our command is not to admit believe and confess alone, Its to die to ourselves daily. Willingly give up our desires of the flesh.
"If anyone should come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me"
Luke 9:23
I have a bunch more to tell you but this is already super long. I'm so excited to be here and learning so much! I would give you a big hug just for reading this whole post. Thanks for all your support! Love you guys :)
P.S. I'M GOING TO THE PHILIPPINES!!
Thought I would just update you all on whats been going on since I have started DTS here at Youth With A Mission. Three weeks have already gone by so quickly! I'll try to catch you up.
The first week we spent mainly getting to know each other as classmates. There are about 30 of us in Call to All. We are the smallest of all the schools here. We already are like family. For lecture we had Clint Bokelman as a speaker. The main theme of the week was learning how to hear God's voice. I learned all the ways that God responds to us. He is not limited to anything. He uses visions, words, colors. I know that in the past I have settled for "not hearing his voice" because it was not in the way I expected. Since I have been here I have learned how simple it is. He has been speaking me all my life I have just didn't know it was him! He has the power to make things pop into your mind out of the blue and that's just what he does! I have spent so long thinking I was just scatter brained and God was really speaking to me! I could identify Gods voice more that week than I have ever before! It was just how It is meant to be with him. In EVERYTHING I go back to him. He's my father and my best friend. Why wouldn't you continue talking to him all the time? It's how the relationship is supposed to work. He wants to speak to us but we think it will be in some big way when he's just whispering his unfailing love to you all the time.
The second week was corporate week. We had the founder of Youth With a Mission, Loren Cunningham, speak to all 500 DTS students. He spoke about giving everything to God. It sounds cliche but to really follow Christ you have to give up all "rights" that you think you have. As Americans it is especially easy to think that we are entitled to certain things like freedom, family, love, even life etc. We also think that as humans we have the right to freedom, love, food, reputation, family, money, marriage, jobs, etc. In reality EVERYTHING we have is a gift from God that we claim and take for granted. To be followers of Christ we MUST give up your rights to everything. Like many others here I decided to give up those rights. I know for a fact that my sacrifice of my rights to him means greater glory for his name, and I trust that he knows whats best and will provide love, money, food, freedom etc. in his perfect time.
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. --1 Corinthians 10:13
God spoke to me during corporate week about reputation money and love specifically, and giving up the rights to them. I can tell you personally about that if you would like. He gave me the scripture of 1 Samuel 16:7 "For the lord sees not as man sees; for man looks at outward appearance and the lord looks at the heart". You WILL experience a lot of freedom when you stop comparing yourself to others.
Many of the teachers here are like the guys who wrote the Bible. All the Gospels were written in different cities, different time periods, and
God also spoke to me about humility in this time. We are human and although we think of ourselves as generally good people we are constantly falling short of His glory. Its important to remember that. God gave me the verse Psalm 16:2 randomly in worship so I looked it up.
My soul, you have said to Yahweh, "You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing."
Its a wonderful verse to meditate on. Everything that you think is good in you HE created which means YOU have no right to take credit for it.
This last week we had the founder of Call to All, Mark Anderson, came and speak to our class. He really challenged us to look at our relationship with God in a whole new light. The first day he spoke about how the modern church has salvation wrong. Most churches now say that you need to admit to your sins believe Jesus is the Son of God and confess to become a Christian. But after you do that you feel bound by all the rules you have to follow. Christianity is not a place of rules, that's religion. It always leaves you feeling guilty. Guilt is not from God. So many people today call on God as if he is serving them. But the truth is you miss the will of God the very purpose he designed you for when you start with you and your desires. You are here to serve God, but he will bless you for it beyond your wildest dreams when you do.
Much of the focus for this week was based off of Luke 9. We are called to deny yourself daily and take up your cross. That is whats Christianity is really, It's how you begin the relationship with him. You have to deny yourself of your flesh and serve God KNOWING the whole time that by being a Christian we are intentionally enduring our death (in modern times instead of carrying your cross you would be carrying your electric chair and WILLINGLY getting into and turning it on). WHEN YOU DIE TO YOURSELF YOU ARE TRADING IN YOUR LIFE EVERY ASPECT OF WHO YOU ARE FOR GODS LIFE. YOU WILL HAVE EVERYTHING HE HAS, ALL AUTHORITY, POWER, COURAGE, ETC. EVERYTHING IN HIS NAME. You can't just settle for you keep your life and bring him into your life because then he can't work. He is too big to fit you and him in one body. It's ALL of him or ALL of you.
Luke 9:24 "For whoever wants to save his life will loose it, but whoever looses his life for me will save it."
Our command is not to admit believe and confess alone, Its to die to ourselves daily. Willingly give up our desires of the flesh.
"If anyone should come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me"
Luke 9:23
I have a bunch more to tell you but this is already super long. I'm so excited to be here and learning so much! I would give you a big hug just for reading this whole post. Thanks for all your support! Love you guys :)
P.S. I'M GOING TO THE PHILIPPINES!!
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