I wanted to make another blog just to share some things that the Lord really placed in my heart this week. Like I said in the previous blog, I have really begun to have a desire to walk in a constant state of prayer with Jesus and have literally seen a difference when I am actually walking with the Holy Spirit in that.
On Thursday morning I had a wonderful coffee date with my new friend Britany here, who is in Phase 3 Fire & Fragrance on campus. We had planned for 630am. I decided to get up at 5am for some odd reason. Going to bed, I prayed that the Lord would just give me energy and that the Holy Spirit would wake me up. So 440am and I wake up, wide awake. I remember the prayer I had prayed, and instantly I smiled and began to think about the scripture "Ask and you shall receive". I wasn't that worried about Him not waking me up because I had an alarm... I didn't beg, I just asked, believed, and then received. That alone was so wonderful.
The next hour and a half I had alone, I wasn't sitting in the prayer room, I wasn't like trying to focus on praying... But the Holy Spirit was with me the whole time. The sweetness of His spirit was so thick. I could literally feel him all around me. I took my time getting ready, and the longer I was awake in the silence of the early morning, the better I began to feel, the peace in my spirit began to grow, and my heart was becoming one with the Father more and more every second. He loves to be near to me. I didn't have to do anything - I was just open to receive... and He loves to give.
So coffee comes around, and if I were to sum it up in just a couple sentences... I'd have to say 1) The Holy Spirit was having so much fun Britany and I and our spirits inside began to enjoy the Holy Spirit together and 2) My heart took a trip home. Coming from a place like the Farm (A Place For The Heart), you learn to speak this certain language. I had never realized how rare and precious of a jewel it was until I was taken out of that atmosphere and put into something different. Not a bad different, just different. I love YWAM, and I have grown so deep in Truth and Spirit with the Father in this time and I have roots here now that could never be anywhere else. But what I took away from the farm was intimacy with each person of the Trinity. A language of being still, waiting, lavishing, living out extravagant lives... and that is something that will never be replaced - it is a home inside of my heart that I know the Lord loves to be in.
I met Britany in the prayer room. I was waring in the spirit, and she was writing in her journal right next to me. She came up to me afterwards and immediately my spirit inside came alive. There was something different about her than anybody else I had met here on campus. She spoke my language. She encouraged me... spoke that I was an evangelist, and that I was a Giant in the Spirit. We had planned to have coffee but it didn't work for a couple weeks. So we finally set a date. Sitting there, like I said before, it was like going home. I told her all about the farm and the Holy Spirit just came over her and she started crying by the beauty of it, and told me she had never heard of a ministry that focused so much on the sweetness of Jesus and just waiting on His presence, and really taking time for beauty and poetry and the HEART of people... not just what we are called to, but who we ARE and pulling that out. It made me realize and remember what the Lord had done in me, and again it awoke something else in side of me. We sat then for an hour and a half and just really enjoyed each others company. It was sweet, thats all I can describe. You know when you first fall in love with Jesus, or you have a new revelation and suddenly everything is like 10x's more beautiful? It's like everything is edited... it's more bold, more colorful, more fresh? Thats what this hour and a half was like. It was like finding a beautiful tree that was blowing in the slight breeze and you're able to just sit under it for hours, or finding a new field you can go and frolic in, or having a beautiful journal you just can't wait to pour your heart out in... It was amazing.
While sitting there, Britany felt like she was suppose to read this poem over me. After taking it out she realized that it was the poem she was writing two seconds before she met me. Right before we wrote the poem she asked the Lord to send her girls that spoke her language and she could disciple and walk with. She wrote this poem, and then she met me. It was truly set up by God - I love when He is so intentional (which is all the time). The poem had a picture of a big tree with a bird on the right side - and it was about flying and a dove. Just the picture and title blew me away and I was hit with the Holy Spirit, haha. Trees & Doves & Flying are 3 things that the Lord has spoken to me about over the past 2 or so years of my life, and visions of Doves flying keep reoccurring. At the moment I don't have the poem so I can't share it right now. But I just wanted to tell you this short hour and a half encounter with Jesus through a friend.
Through this the realization that I carry the Lord in my heart wherever I go became so extremely real to me. What I experienced growing up at the farm is not something I just can experience there. It is a language in the heart of the Lord that I can constantly walk in. I don't have to be at one place in order to encounters Jesus' sweetness, I carry that inside of me. I have the ability then to pour that language out on other people... and it is contagious. Because people thirst for Jesus even when they don't believe in Him. And it is such an honor to be able to give that to people. Love God. Love Others. It's that simple.
After our coffee date, I had such a joy. I couldn't help but poor it out. I was able to really encourage a girlfriend here who is going through just a dull season, I was able to pour out living water into her heart because I had just been poured into. It reminds me of the power of remembering. We have to remember where we came from and what the Lord has done in us - how much He has redeemed us. The reality & power of our past experiences are going to fade in our life... we move on and we don't mean to, but we forget. When we are not feeding of the Word and really spending time with the Lord on a daily basis, it fades even more and we grow weary. But when we choose to remember what God has done, when we choose to go to Him for our daily bread... It's like jumping in a refreshing stream after a hard days work. You don't care what it looks like to other people, you are just so excited to be renewed and you feel like you've just been brought to life again.
Having coffee with Britany was really like meeting with Jesus. Her heart is so hungry and thirsty for Him, she doesn't care what it looks like, she just wants more of Jesus. When friendships are made like this, nothing can replace them and you really experience the heart of Jesus in a new way, and He loves it. He loves our hunger, He loves our thirst, He loves our desire to know Him more. He isn't a pushy God, He isn't an angry God... He is a jealous God for MY heart. and I love that.
Through this, I have made Psalm 45 something I read everyday. It is so beautiful. I encourage you to read it, and really let it soak into your spirit.
I want to encourage you. Have hope. God knows what we are going through. He knows our ins and outs, even the parts we are scared to look at. He loves us through it all, and He loves to lavish us. We are His children and He is SO pleased with us. We don't have to do anything but just receive the love He desires to pour out on us, and in that we truly learn to live life out as beautifully as it was created to be lived. Jesus loves you. He loves you so much. He has so many presents He is longing for you to open. Just be open to what He has for you and you will be blown away by the Love of a God who sent His son for YOU to be in constant communion with Him. Don't be afraid, just step out and Trust. He is waiting to take your hand.
Showing posts with label Week 9. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Week 9. Show all posts
Friday, June 11, 2010
Week 9 - Planting Churches & The Power Of Prayer
What a beautiful the week the Lord decided to gift me with. A song that has continually been singing in my spirit is "Lord, You are good and Your mercy endureth forever", and what a true statement this is. Forever... No matter what... Good... No matter what... He is Lord... No matter what. So cool.
This week we had the privilege of Jaeson Ma and Erik Fish speaking to us. The topic was "Planting Churches". Going into this week I wasn't super stoked, I didn't really have a desire to plant churches but that has definitely changed over these past few days. One question that was the basis of this week was, "What is church?" Not "what have Americans made church to be"... but really, what is the biblical view of church? Church is any amount of believers committed together to obey the commands of the Lord. As Americans, and in many other places, we have picked up the belief that church is on Sunday morning and people meet in a building for 1-2 hours. But we have it wrong. YOU are the church. I am the church. WE are the bride of Christ. It can be translated into DNA... D- Divine Truth (Love God), N-Nurturing Relationships (Love Others), A- Apostolic Mission (Loving The Lost - Apostolic= Sent/Go & Mission = Assignment). So in this Church is "The Presence of Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet". Now doesn't that sound like something you'd like to not only be a part of, but actually live out and BE?
During this week we learned to how to not only do and be this, but to go into the places with no church and start planting them. It all starts with going. We have to go. Whether that means in your own backyard or going half way around the world - we are called to GO. Next, we Make Disciples. This comes through relationship. So many times we just try to pour information out - and it only goes to the head. We walk with these people, we help them through things... we establish friendship and through that, without us teaching them "information" we are showing them day to day how to live out what we are called to. And this is not just about with Christians, this is with everyone! Then we baptize them!! This part of the week really hit me hard. I don't like that for so long I have thought you only do this in a "church building" or that a pastor or someone ordained has to do this... No. We have inside of us everything needed to baptize someone. We speak life over them! They declare their new life! And then we have the privilege to baptize them into that new life, leaving everything behind, in the name of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. We watched a video of all of these college campuses getting wrecked by the Love of the Father... and they started to baptize each other. I started welling up with tears and looked at the my friend and said "Hannah! Why haven't I been doing this my whole Christian walk? Why aren't we living this out?" Then... We Teach Them To Obey. We are taught all of this in Matthew 28:18-20. This stirred me up so much. What a beautiful order. The realization came that we have done this 100% backwards. We try to teach them how to obey, without having any motivation or heart revelation of why they are doing it. Then Baptize, and then start to disciple, and then we go. Haha, so backwards right? We do not have to do anything to become qualified to do these things. God has approved us from the beginning, and has given us power to walk this out. He wouldn't set out this amazing process and then say we have to train at a school for 3-10 years in order to really know what we are doing. Once we start walking it out, that is where we truly learn. And we will make mistakes, but that's the beauty of it all - Jesus just keeps rooting for us and helping us along with the Holy Spirit being our Leader. This is Grace.
The second thing that was most profound over this whole week - and I believe a revelation that just keeps hitting me... is the power of Prayer. It is the basis of everything. It is not setting aside time for God 30 minutes - 2 hours a day... It is walking in constant communication and adoration with the Father... choosing to rise above higher than ourselves and have our body & soul submit to our Spirit. Having intimacy with Christ is really waiting upon the Lord. It is the ultimate act of faith, it is choosing not to just go to the outer court (Good- Repentance), not just the inner court (Great - Prayer/The Word), but into the Holy of Holys... because that is the best and Jesus died so we could have access! We can have all the presence of God, but it requires that diligence and focus. We choose to have daily bread, not yesterdays revelation - but TODAYS. A fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit every day, a daily encounter with God, WALKING... not just stopping by, but really dwelling in that place with Jesus. This is where life is birthed, endurance is created, Love is cultivated. God desires to be with us. He doesn't want what we can DO for Him, He just wants us. When we SEEK Him, we WILL find Him and out of wanting God, you'll begin to want what He wants. "Once you've tasted the best, you won't want the rest." Prayer is not something we just choose to do, or feel obligated to. For so long I felt so obligated to pray. It was sooo boring to me. I dreaded "praying. But that's because I didn't have a revelation of what prayer really is! So I really had to come before the Lord repent for that. It's not an obligation - it's truly our great reward as Children of God. God desires for it to be enjoyable and powerful, and if we truly want revival in our nation, we have to be committed to cultivating a lifestyle of intercession. We need to start infiltrating this into the church now, it has to be a place where the core identity is constant prayer.
God is calling this generation, yes you and me, to go TO Him before we go out FOR Him. Because if we are going out and doing stuff FOR Him, before we go TO Him - what are we truly giving out? Is the love and knowledge we are transferring from ourselves, or from the source of those things? We will continue to be tired, and quickly burn out in ministry if there is a lack of dedication to prayer. This brings the statement, "Practice What You Preach" so much closer to home... and honestly stirs up a desire in me to truly do that. Not just so what I am saying is valid, but because the power of God is so much stronger when there is truth in our words because we have walked it out rather than just somebody else's revelation. And honestly, I'm tired of trying to live off of somebody else's left overs rather than God Himself feeding me.
So basically in a nutshell.. God is good, haha. It is so wonderful that God would choose me and you. He doesn't need us for anything. But He loves us so much that He desires us to live with Him inside of us - and when we choose to really let that consume us, everything we have ever had a desire for begins to come true. Literally, I can say with full confidence that my dreams are coming true. It isn't YWAM that is making my dreams come true. It's the fact I've tasted and I've seen that God is good and I realize that there is no better place to be in His presence... and He LOVES when I am there with Him. He longs for the times when I fully let my heart connect with His. It brings Him such joy to have me around - what an incredible thing!
After writing this, I think this song really begins to sink in and the revelation of how true it is hits me all over again...
This week we had the privilege of Jaeson Ma and Erik Fish speaking to us. The topic was "Planting Churches". Going into this week I wasn't super stoked, I didn't really have a desire to plant churches but that has definitely changed over these past few days. One question that was the basis of this week was, "What is church?" Not "what have Americans made church to be"... but really, what is the biblical view of church? Church is any amount of believers committed together to obey the commands of the Lord. As Americans, and in many other places, we have picked up the belief that church is on Sunday morning and people meet in a building for 1-2 hours. But we have it wrong. YOU are the church. I am the church. WE are the bride of Christ. It can be translated into DNA... D- Divine Truth (Love God), N-Nurturing Relationships (Love Others), A- Apostolic Mission (Loving The Lost - Apostolic= Sent/Go & Mission = Assignment). So in this Church is "The Presence of Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet". Now doesn't that sound like something you'd like to not only be a part of, but actually live out and BE?
During this week we learned to how to not only do and be this, but to go into the places with no church and start planting them. It all starts with going. We have to go. Whether that means in your own backyard or going half way around the world - we are called to GO. Next, we Make Disciples. This comes through relationship. So many times we just try to pour information out - and it only goes to the head. We walk with these people, we help them through things... we establish friendship and through that, without us teaching them "information" we are showing them day to day how to live out what we are called to. And this is not just about with Christians, this is with everyone! Then we baptize them!! This part of the week really hit me hard. I don't like that for so long I have thought you only do this in a "church building" or that a pastor or someone ordained has to do this... No. We have inside of us everything needed to baptize someone. We speak life over them! They declare their new life! And then we have the privilege to baptize them into that new life, leaving everything behind, in the name of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. We watched a video of all of these college campuses getting wrecked by the Love of the Father... and they started to baptize each other. I started welling up with tears and looked at the my friend and said "Hannah! Why haven't I been doing this my whole Christian walk? Why aren't we living this out?" Then... We Teach Them To Obey. We are taught all of this in Matthew 28:18-20. This stirred me up so much. What a beautiful order. The realization came that we have done this 100% backwards. We try to teach them how to obey, without having any motivation or heart revelation of why they are doing it. Then Baptize, and then start to disciple, and then we go. Haha, so backwards right? We do not have to do anything to become qualified to do these things. God has approved us from the beginning, and has given us power to walk this out. He wouldn't set out this amazing process and then say we have to train at a school for 3-10 years in order to really know what we are doing. Once we start walking it out, that is where we truly learn. And we will make mistakes, but that's the beauty of it all - Jesus just keeps rooting for us and helping us along with the Holy Spirit being our Leader. This is Grace.
The second thing that was most profound over this whole week - and I believe a revelation that just keeps hitting me... is the power of Prayer. It is the basis of everything. It is not setting aside time for God 30 minutes - 2 hours a day... It is walking in constant communication and adoration with the Father... choosing to rise above higher than ourselves and have our body & soul submit to our Spirit. Having intimacy with Christ is really waiting upon the Lord. It is the ultimate act of faith, it is choosing not to just go to the outer court (Good- Repentance), not just the inner court (Great - Prayer/The Word), but into the Holy of Holys... because that is the best and Jesus died so we could have access! We can have all the presence of God, but it requires that diligence and focus. We choose to have daily bread, not yesterdays revelation - but TODAYS. A fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit every day, a daily encounter with God, WALKING... not just stopping by, but really dwelling in that place with Jesus. This is where life is birthed, endurance is created, Love is cultivated. God desires to be with us. He doesn't want what we can DO for Him, He just wants us. When we SEEK Him, we WILL find Him and out of wanting God, you'll begin to want what He wants. "Once you've tasted the best, you won't want the rest." Prayer is not something we just choose to do, or feel obligated to. For so long I felt so obligated to pray. It was sooo boring to me. I dreaded "praying. But that's because I didn't have a revelation of what prayer really is! So I really had to come before the Lord repent for that. It's not an obligation - it's truly our great reward as Children of God. God desires for it to be enjoyable and powerful, and if we truly want revival in our nation, we have to be committed to cultivating a lifestyle of intercession. We need to start infiltrating this into the church now, it has to be a place where the core identity is constant prayer.
God is calling this generation, yes you and me, to go TO Him before we go out FOR Him. Because if we are going out and doing stuff FOR Him, before we go TO Him - what are we truly giving out? Is the love and knowledge we are transferring from ourselves, or from the source of those things? We will continue to be tired, and quickly burn out in ministry if there is a lack of dedication to prayer. This brings the statement, "Practice What You Preach" so much closer to home... and honestly stirs up a desire in me to truly do that. Not just so what I am saying is valid, but because the power of God is so much stronger when there is truth in our words because we have walked it out rather than just somebody else's revelation. And honestly, I'm tired of trying to live off of somebody else's left overs rather than God Himself feeding me.
So basically in a nutshell.. God is good, haha. It is so wonderful that God would choose me and you. He doesn't need us for anything. But He loves us so much that He desires us to live with Him inside of us - and when we choose to really let that consume us, everything we have ever had a desire for begins to come true. Literally, I can say with full confidence that my dreams are coming true. It isn't YWAM that is making my dreams come true. It's the fact I've tasted and I've seen that God is good and I realize that there is no better place to be in His presence... and He LOVES when I am there with Him. He longs for the times when I fully let my heart connect with His. It brings Him such joy to have me around - what an incredible thing!
After writing this, I think this song really begins to sink in and the revelation of how true it is hits me all over again...
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