“You must have the same attitude Christ Jesus had. He gave up his divine privileges. He took thehumble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form he humbled himself in obedience to God and dieda criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names…” Philippians 2:5-9
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.”
Colossians 3:1-4
Things of heaven, what does that even mean? Since I already died to this life and have been raised I want to know about this reality I now live in. After verse 4 the section continues to talk about ridding ourselves of sinful stuff and putting on our new nature. Verse 10 is “Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.”
In the Philippians verse it says Christ became a slave, he emptied himself, gave up his divine rights, he humbled himself and obeyed God to the point of an underserving death. Yet in doing this he received all the glory and was seated in the place of highest honor. That is the same prize that awaits us, to share in his glory.
Since I am dead to this world and alive in Christ all I have to think about are the realities of heaven. There is an eternal prize waiting. I share in all his glory. I am a co-heir with Christ. I am a daughter of the King.
Even my identity in heaven is different than the one I had when I was part of the world.
Things like impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, idolatry, anger, rage, slander, and lies are part of my sinful nature, my old one, the one that is DEAD. Therefore my identity in heaven is none of those things. I am pure, selfless, joyful, peaceful, honest, loving, graceful, and obedient. Those things are who I am. I may fall short at times but that doesn’t mean I am back to living in my old self because my old self is literally dead. It just means I’m not allowing the reality of who I am to completely take over my life. “Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” It’s a learning process and takes time, perhaps the rest of our lives.
I am a co-heir with Christ but that doesn’t mean I walk around with a “holier-than-thou” attitude it means that I have a secure prize in my life in Christ. It means that I should be like him in my life now. Christ humbled himself, became a slave even though he is King. He served others with a tender heart, mercy, and loving kindness. When it says to think of things of heaven and not things of earth, it’s saying remember the eternal glory, the eternal prize that awaits, and remember that the old self has been put to death, and that I am, in fact, a new creation.
As believers we have all been raised to new life where we can literally think about the realities of heaven. You are a co-heir with Christ in that place of honor. You are a son or daughter of the King.
When I think about the weight in that, the reality of it and what that actually means it blows my mind. Rather than getting a big head about my royalty (cuz that’s what I am), it actually brings me to my knees. It’s humbling when I think how underserving I really am to wear this crown. Yet he desperately wants me to have it. He says to me, see all that I have done? I did it because I love you. Just accept it. Take off your rags of self and put on me as a robe of righteousness. Become like me. Wear the prize because it belongs to you.
It’s such a simple and beautiful act of Love on God’s part. Putting on the crown isn’t always easy but I know it is worth it. I get to live and move in the realities of heaven. Where the things we call supernatural are completely natural to God.
Happy Mom's Day to all the Mothers out there, but especially to my one and only!
I Love you mom! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you!
Til I come home this is for you :)
So this is one of those blogs where I have nothing and so much to say all at the same time. I’m about to share a bunch of jumbled and incomplete thoughts but its ok, just go with it. I guess I could start with sharing that this is month 10 and I’m in Romania. Month 10… wow. I guess it never really seemed like the race would end. But here it is just around the corner.
As for ministry, so far it’s been a concoction of things like teaching and playing with children, sharing at churches in surrounding villages, lots of manual labor (I got to help build a greenhouse), baking pie, and prayer.
Prayer is the big one for me. Since Ukraine I have been learning more about intercession and so that’s where my heart has been at lately. Prayer is really really powerful. I don’t usually realize it in the moment how effective my prayers are but I am learning more and more just how important it is. There have been plenty of moments where I feel God tugging at my heart so hard it hurts and the only thing I want to do is pray. I think it’s a gift and I can definitely hear God’s voice and feel His presence during those times but man, it can be rough.
Also I just need to say this, God is so good! He just knows so much Haha I’ve known this about Him but it seems like the past few weeks He has just had fun reminding me of that. He has a plan for my life that has the potential to be better than any plan I could come up with myself if I just allow it. Right now I’m experiencing new levels of freedom I didn’t have a month ago. He has taken all the things of my past, all the hurts, losses, and things I’ve struggled with and has turned them in to something beautiful. He has used my struggles to bring HIM glory.
Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
When I am free He receives glory. When I am joyful He receives all the praise. When I share my testimony of His love and grace in my life He is the one who gets all the credit. It just amazes me how God works everything together in our lives. At one point or another things line up and we may realize why things happened the way they did. Maybe that’s not always the case. But I know in my own life God continues to show up and delicately weave each thread of my story together adding it to the tapestry of His greater story. I know I’ll never get to see the whole thing or all the reasons behind every little thing, but I know and trust that God has created me (and everyone else) with purpose. And I SO desire to spend my life exploring, pursuing, and fulfilling that purpose. It’s such an incredible adventure simply because it’s so much bigger than I am.
So that’s kind of where I’m at right now. My arms are out stretched towards the Father. I’m longing for more. I’m longing for deeper intimacy with Him, the one who calls me his bride. My hands are open. There’s nothing I’m holding on to and there’s nothing that can stop me. I may not have a clue what I’m doing when I return to the States but I do know that I literally have the world at my finger tips and I can dream as big as I want to. I can move mountains. I am the bride of Christ.
God will speak to and guide those who listen and turn to him for help. Psalm 119:105“your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”
God doesn’t have to light up the entire path, all I need is enough to keep me standing and to take the next step. By his word and promises I know that I am right where I am supposed to be and that he will not abandon me.
Thank you God, you are faithful!
I could also use some prayer for the last 8 weeks. Pray for Romainia, the population of Christians in the southern region is below .2% and their government has collapsed twice within the past 5 months. There is also a lot of witchcraft and hopelessness in the small town I am staying. So yea, they need prayer. Also, if you would please pray for strength and motivation for myself and the rest of my squad to finish out the race hard. Pray God continues to grow me and reveal Himself to me in new ways.
Forget religion. Forget your ideologies and theologies. Forget everything anyone has ever told you and for just one minute stop and see Him for who He is.
He is not an idea, a formula to be figured out, or an abstract being that once was.
He is God.
The LIVING God.
So why do we do this? Why do we treat God as if he were something we could create to our personal liking? We pick and choose the characteristics or beliefs about God that make sense and sound good to us and we look past the things that we don’t understand or that seem too “out there”. Then we are caught up in the beliefs and religion more than God himself. We settle thinking we have figured out the entirety of God when in reality we haven’t even begun to acknowledge the greatness and goodness of who He is.
Stop treating God as if He’s something you can pick and choose who He is. Get to know Him for yourself. Get to know Him for who He really is. Doing this you won’t be able to hide from His goodness. You will only end up experiencing it more and more. You will realize the goodness of God has no bounds. You will realize that He is a living God who cares about every detail of your life. You will begin experiencing the things that He says He is in the bible rather than just reading or hearing about them. You will experience His love, His provisions, His faithfulness, His joy, and miracles in everyday life. Why would you want to limit the God of the Universe to something that can be entirely figured out? Why not stand before Him in awe and just allow Him to be who He is in YOUR life?
God is so so so much more than you have even begun to realize. He is a God who will do abundantly more than we could ask or even think to ask. He is God, let Him be God. You will never fully understand Him and all His ways, I’ll never understand, no one will ever fully understand. It’s by faith that we are saved. And it’s by faith alone we should live and move and breathe, not by rules and religious theologies.
God is God. He’s not bound to who you think He is or who you want Him to be. He’s more than that. Find out for yourself who He is. You will encounter the love of Jesus Christ and the pure goodness of God.
“I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,” says the Lord. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come, the Almighty One.” -Revelation 1:8
Well I'm not sure whether or not we were helping the cigarette companies or helping the people. Either way relationships were built, Christ was shared, and memories were made. Enjoy !
By the way I plan on sticking to my day job as not a rapper. Note: members of this video shall remain anonymous.
I’ve had a few ah-ha moments the past couple weeks. First the whole love thing, I’m realizing more and more how I can love in a moment, especially with my team. I’ve also been reminded of the power of prayer this month, how it really is a weapon. When you start praying with Kingdom eyes you can declare things, expect things, and rely on God enough to step aside and let the Holy Spirit move. God’s goodness is immeasurable but so often when we pray we limit His goodness by limiting our expectations of Him or by simply not asking Him for certain things. Prayer is powerful like a weapon of war and it breaks chains like a huge heavy hammer. This month is my prayer month because on many occasions God has told me to do nothing other than pray.
Pray without ceasing.
Another realization I’ve had is that the World Race is pretty much a hands on training for long-term missions. I don’t know why but I didn’t really make that connection before. The idea is you get all these experiences and go home a changed person never to return to the old way. At some point before the race anyone who joins is somehow changed and moved to action. But then comes the realization that our duty in LIFE is to be the hands and feet of Jesus. So you can expect that to happen on the race. After the race it’s not necessarily about hearing a “call” from God (for some it may work like this), but really it’s about knowing your identity and role as a follower of Jesus Christ and doing it. If you’re stuck waiting for Him to call you wake up, He already has! The Word tells us to seek justice, help the oppressed, let the captives free, defend widows and orphans, feed and clothe the poor, tell others the good news, and well, what more do you need? Just do the thing you know you should do in the moment.
There’s no way that I can see all that I’ve seen and experience all that I have and not be moved to love. Why would I not want this to be my life?
Ukraine is… interesting. It’s not exactly my favorite place in the world but it has some quirks that make it more bearable. I’ve met some cool people from all over the world. Universities here in Odessa seem to have a concoction of different people. I had a Russian language lesson the other day taught by a guy from some small country near Turkey I have never even heard of. After that I went to a Salsa dance class with some students. The next day I ran all over the city on what they call a Quest, figuring out clues that lead to different destinations where we would do some ridiculous task. So to say the least it’s been eventful.
This month my team and I are working with a college ministry. And really that means doing just about anything, bible studies, youth groups, speaking at conferences, singing at churches, going to different events or planning them, cleaning a home to surprise a friend returning from the hospital, English and Russian clubs. It’s a lot and pretty much non-stop every day. But I need to ask for prayer. It’s month 9, I’m really tired. Ministry is fun and I love it but I am drained. I know God has great things planned for this month and He probably intends to use my team to make those plans happen. So if you would just pray for me to have the energy and strength I need to accomplish the tasks He places before me. Also, pray that I would not only get by but really live each day and enjoy them. Pray for Ukraine, that the blanket of heaviness over this place would be lifted off and people would experience joy and freedom. AMEN!
Now I pray that the peace of Christ would cover you and that you find yourself gasping for breath in an ocean of His blessings.
After a much too short month of ministry in Harbin, China, month 8 debrief happened. Month 8 debrief- a time I thought would never come. Especially back in Africa it seemed so far off. But nevertheless, it came and it went. That means only 3 countries left. It’s the final leg of the race, the home stretch.
HOME…
They said at debrief it’s time to work on accepting the fact that home will come. Sooner than I expect I will be standing in an airport on American soil whether I like it or not. They talked a lot about re-entry into the US, the different responses and processes we may go through, figuring out how to explain the past 11 months to people, and figuring out what’s next. Well, that’s all good stuff and there’s a lot to think about to prepare myself. But right now, to stay focused, I need to ask myself a different question, how am I going to spend my last 3 months on the race?
At this point I am straight up tired. Each day a lot is taken out of me and it takes even more to make sure I am refilled. Daily I think about giving up and going home just so I can take a break from ministry. But a year and a half ago I remember sitting in my room having a conversation with God and I said, “Ok, I’ll go. Send me Lord, I want to go.” I can’t back out on Him now, He made it happen and here I am in Ukraine. I never even thought about this country before the race and now He’s telling me to love the people here despite how I may feel. To be completely honest that’s the last thing I feel like doing every day.
LOVE…
A word that gets thrown around a lot because there are so many uses and definitions for it. I am a human so it is natural for me to love as a human would, based on my feelings, desires, and circumstances. It’s entirely conditional. But the Agape love, that’s the tricky one. It’s the love God has for us. Loving with no strings attached. It’s the most important commandment, to love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself. So I’m pretty sure God isn’t saying love me when you feel like it or when everything is going your way. No, He’s saying love because I first loved you, even when you were prideful and selfish. It’s a simple concept yet so much easier said than done. TRUST ME. Love like this is definitely something that needs to be practiced. Naturally we are all selfish and focused on our own agendas. If for just one minute we would all stop living for ourselves and take a look around we would see a world in need of this kind of love, Agape. This is my opportunity to practice. More often than I would like to admit I don’t want to love because I’m tired, I’m busy doing my own thing, because every time I do love I become vulnerable to heartache. God knows all that and still His commandment stands firm, LOVE, no matter how hard it is.
So that is my challenge for the next 3 months. To love more. Also, I intend to rejoice and maintain a spirit of celebration at all times, it makes life better. God created us to be happy and I have every reason in the world to be happy so why hold back? Plus time flies when you’re having fun so it’s time to have some fun!
Where do I start? How do I even begin to express to you how my month in China went? There's so much of my heart I want to share. So I'll just do my best to recap my journey of this past month.
A couple months before going to China God began speaking to me about college ministry and I began pressing in to that and feeling like that may have something to do with my future. Well once I got to China I found out that I would be doing college ministry and I got pretty excited. Even if God was only preparing me for this month I knew I was ready to dive head first into the ministry. And that’s just what I did.
I’ll explain a little more what that looked like exactly, I was separated from my team and lived with only one teammate and 2 girls from another team on the North side of the Harbin River. We lived in an apartment which was also the church and it was located right across the street from campus. Our goal for the month was to meet college students and basically share the gospel with them. Some accepted, some rejected, either way we befriended them and spent a lot of intentional time getting to know the students and studying the bible together. We had parties at our apartment to meet the girls and attended English clubs on campus to get to know the students. In the evenings we taught English to younger children from the community.
It was simple ministry. To me it was just living life the way it’s supposed to be. To put it plainly I fell in love with the students and with China in general. My heart aches for China in a way I never thought it would. This new found love for China came out of nowhere. This was a country I just wanted to speed past so that I could get out of Asia. Who would have guessed this would be the country to capture my heart?
I haven’t even begun to explain the turmoil this caused in my heart and my mind. “God I thought you wanted me to do college ministry in the States, what is this? Why do I love China so much? Are you going to bring me back here some day? That scares me God, I don’t know if you’re worth it. You would be asking me to give up A LOT, you know that right? I like being comfortable. I have plans to live a comfortable life. This is not exactly that. You’re disturbing my plans. I had it all under control then you came and shook things up a bit more than expected.” Although this did rock me a bit, towards the end of the month I was ready to accept the fact that God may call me back to China and that I would obey Him. He is worth it. He is the reason I live and breathe. It’s not about me or my comfort (a lesson I will continue to relearn til the day I die).
So there’s China in a nut shell. There’s so much more I want to share from that month. Perhaps it will appear in another blog. For now chew on this, does God really have the control or are there pieces of your life you’re not entirely willing to surrender? He wants it ALL. Don’t fool yourself in to thinking you’ve given Him everything when in reality you’ve already formed a plan like I did. If He’s your plan A you don’t need to form a plan B.
Praise the Lord, praise God our savior. For each day He carries us in His arms. Psalm 68:19
