Greater is the one in us...

I was reminded recently of our desperate need for God. Not just for salvation, but also in the fact that we can literally not do anything without him. If you think about it for a moment, it makes sense. He gives us life and breath every day. He gives us the strength we need to make it through every day.

In life, many people strive for greatness. It's a huge part of the American dream. Do something great so you can be great. It is so focused on personal gain that, frankly, it's exhausting. Really. Do you know what it takes to be great today? Save a life. Run a company. Start a life changing mission. Et cetera, et cetera. I'm kind of overwhelmed just thinking about it. Seriously though. I'm currently training for a half-marathon. The energy it takes for that alone is simply amazing. Yea, this is slightly different, but you get my point. I CAN'T do it without him. And I would never want to.

And want to know something awesome? God never told us to walk this alone. And really. Anything that we do with God at our side will be great because God is great. Did you get that? GOD. IS. GREAT. And when he is in us and we allow him to totally have our hearts and lives, great things will happen for his kingdom, even if we don't get to see the fruits of our labor. We have absolutely nothing to do with it except allow ourselves to become a vessel for his will.

Philippians 2:12-13 says this, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." (Emphasis added.)

Ephesians 3:20-21. "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

It's along the same lines as being the light set on the hill to shine his light over all the nation. (Matthew 5:14-16) His light in us and his work in us is what people will see and will ultimately change the most hearts and lives.

Do you get it? Striving for greatness, or even adequacy, on your own will exhaust you. We were not created to do that. There's a reason Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God and to be strong in the strength of his might.

As I sit here praying for God to prepare my heart for my upcoming trip to Cambodia, I am reminded of this. In the darkness that surrounds the lives of those who have been rescued from sex trafficking, I pray that God shines brightly through me. Because I know I will do a poor job of it myself. The beauty of this, though, is that he can be ever more glorified in this weakness. If I only accomplish one thing in my time there, I want it to be that his name is lifted higher and higher.

But you know what's even better? I know it can happen. Because he is greater. He is greater than all my insecurities. He is greater than all my fears. He is greater than any darkness this world has to offer.

A few verses after that Philippians verse, Paul calls for us to work without grumbling or questioning so we can shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. And, Beloved, we lived in a twisted generation. Can we solve the world's issues? No. But we can shine God's love wherever we go.

So, I guess that's what I wanted to say. Seek God first. Walk humbly in his plan. Great things may come for his kingdom, but it won't happen under your own power. In that, I ask that you continually pray for me in this time. Letting go of control in this trip is hard and I have to consistently give the reins back to God. It's a struggle and I can't do it without your continued prayers. As I begin the fundraising process, this will become more and more apparent. Also, continue to pray that God keeps my heart in the right place. I never want this to become about me or my fellow trip members. Lives are too precious for that to happen.

He called me to the great unknown..

I am really excited for what God is doing in my life in the here and now. For those of you who don't know, he has given me a passion for those who have been victimized in the sex industry and may be trapped in their current situation or not see any way out.

You see, human trafficking is thriving. You may not see it just put in front of you, but just take a closer look and you will see. We aren't even immune to it here in the heart of the US. It is estimated that 27 million people are exploited everyday to serve the needs of others, this isn't just in the sex industry either.

We all know this isn't right. It may pull at the heart strings for you a little. Though it may not be your passion, it is mine. And now I have the opportunity to do something about it.

Come July, I will be traveling to Cambodia with a group from CIY to partner with Rapha House, and organization that provides a safe place for girls who have been subject to a atrocities of the sex industry.

This trip will give me the opportunity to see firsthand the ministry and to partner with them for two weeks helping the long term workers and pouring love into the lives of those girls.

As a child of God who has been forgiven and is truly free in him, I have a call to serve. As it says in Galatians 5:13, "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

God has called us to serve in love, so I am going to Cambodia. And I am asking you to partner with me in prayer. Pray for me now as I raise funds to make the trip. Pray that God will prepare my heart for what I will see and experience. Pray for the others who are going that they will also be prepared for this journey. And then in July, pray that our work will leave a lasting impact for God's kingdom. 

...for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. Song of Solomon 2:11-12

Living in the desert.

I'm discovering that I am so much like the Israelites of the Old Testament. For a bit of time they would walk with The Lord and follow his commands, but would then turn from him and begin to worship other gods and forget all that he had done for them. 

Read Psalm 106. It's powerful. It's quickly covers the tale of the Israelites after their time in Egypt while they were in the desert. Many times, especially in my life at the moment, we can be like the Israelites in the desert. Times are hard, so we call out to God and he answers us. And for a while things are good. And then other things start to pull at us and turn our attention away from God and our lives may start to fall apart to some extent. That's when we call out to God again. 

This is what I'm calling "living in the desert". If we want to start living the life that God wants and demands us to live we have to make the trek out of the desert. It's not easy. The Israelites didn't figure it out once they made it to the promised land either, but we still need to go. God's promises to us are far greater than we could ever imagine. We just have to embrace his son in our lives and stop living in the desert. He has already done much more than we could realize even at our furthest point. And we can't enjoy a deeper relationship with Jesus until we realize this and make the journey into the promised land. 

Sow seeds. Sow love.

I found this verse in 1 Corinthians. I'm sure I have read it numerous times before but never really grasped it, or had a reason to apply it to my life...possibly to my own fault. Anyway, it reads like this in chapter 15, verse 58, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of The Lord, knowing that in The Lord your labor is not in vain." 

There are days when we are doing work for the good of the Kingdom, but it doesn't seem like anything is coming of it. I know. I've been there. I'm there now. When you work with kids who don't want to be here and don't want to have anything to do with the Good News that you try and expose them to at every opportunity, you can get very discouraged. You may think, "why, God??" But really, seeds are being planted even if you may not think there is any fruit. Take heart, my friends!! Spread the seed an trust God to make it grow. Paul says earlier in 1 Corinthians that, "So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives growth" (3:7). 

Let God do the hard work. We can't make people see and respond. God has to work in the hearts and lives of those we are working with. If we try to do it all ourselves, we will just get burnt out because it is a God-sized job. Just love people with all the love God gives you (and trust me, that is a lot). When you love people with the love of Christ, you are planting seeds for God to work with. 

This could be as much of a reminder for you as it is for me. I'm a control freak. Yep, I said it. I am. I like having control of my life and the things around me. I'm not necessarily proud of that, but it's something I've come to realize and something I have to work on so I can let God do what He needs to do. 

Look into your own life. Where do you need to sow the seeds and where do you just need to let God do what He does best? It's not easy, but it is so worth it. 

My chains are gone. But are they really?

God has recently set a fire in my heart for the people who are trapped in modern day slavery. I don't know how many people actually know what a problem slavery is in today's society. Around the world, there are 27 MILLION men, women, and children being forced to do things every day that we can't imagine for ourselves. Every day, evil people are exploiting these people's lives. Such that, they can no longer live a normal life. They face death in the far every day and we don't reach out to them in an effort to alleviate their suffering.

I was thinking today that our "first world" societies are much like the Capitol in the "Hunger Games." Our products and services come from people who are forced to provide such for nothing. Thy don't get to see the fruits of their labor and we are oblivious to their pain, much the the citizens of the Capitol were. We take without thinking about where these things come from. All of these people are calling for freedom. And all of us have the ability to make a difference in some way. Our God is the God of immeasurably more, don't limit the work He would be able to do through you.

I encourage you to go to slaveryfootprint.org and find out how many slaves you have working for you. It won't be pleasant but the only way to start the transformation and give freedom to the lives of the oppressed is to understand how much you support the slave industry without realizing it. I need to give you a fair warning though, once you understand and see there will be no going back.

Even if you can't do anything you can go to enditmovement.com and sign the pledge to spread the word and encourage 10 of your friends to do the same thing.

God has given us love and freedom and we shouldn't keep it for ourselves. Once we became His, we were no longer our own. His breath is in us and we need to share the awesome life He has given us. I challenge you to let God work in and change your life and for you to not be afraid of the direction He gives you, no matter which direction it may take you. God has done amazing things for me and I want Him to do the same thing for you.

That 4 letter word called love.

Love. One of those four letter words that defines much of our human existence. Every girl wants to hear it when they find "the ONE." Almost every movie made in today's society has the phrase "I love you" in it at least once. My point is our perspective of what love is supposed to be is a little skewed. Everyone wants to feel loved and accepted and our culture simply tells them to find it in the nearest guy who will give her the time of day or in temporary experiences that he should use to define the kind of man he is. It depresses me that we have gotten to this state in our world where the ones who are in a relationship with the one true Love are unable or unwilling to step out and embrace the lost in our world. The issue of love is not a new one. Christians (and everyone else) have been struggling with it for centuries. I don't intend to solve the issue in one blog. Never that. That's impossible for one person to accomplish. Only by an act of God will anything be changed dramatically.

I think the best way to start letting God's love shine through us is to start loving our brothers and sisters. In my experience, Christians can be some of the worst when it comes to judging others. Why this happens, I don't have an answer. It could be that we get up on a high horse and think we are better than everyone who's not a Christian. Or maybe we don't take into consideration that not everyone has the same values as us. Whatever the case, churches are one of the most avoided places because people feel JUDGED when they enter. My friends, this should just not be so. When asked, Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Now I know a lot of people have heard that verse over and over, but are you REALLY hearing it? Scripture can't be read and then forgotten when you put the Bible down. It has to be allowed to sink in and affect change in our lives. I deal with it too. I could be tired or in a rush so I'll read a couple verses and run off and completely forget. James talks about that as well, but that's for another time.

In John 13, Jesus talks about this concept of loving our brothers and sisters. He says the world should be able to tell we are Christians by the example we set in loving one another. And I'm not just talking about your best friends. I'm talking about the outcasts and the downtrodden and the people who don't naturally draw your attention. I struggle with this too. I'll feel that nudge that says, "Go talk to them." And I ignore it. I don't want to get involved. I don't really like them. I make up excuses to stop that little nudge. But honestly, this is what Jesus was talking about. We HAVE to step out of our comfort zone and embrace them. It could be just what they need.

Please don't let your "comfort zone" get in the way of doing the work of the kingdom of God. I pray He opens your eyes to see those who need help and gives you the spirit and courage to act upon what you see.