Great God, Be Glorified

I don't know exactly when it started. I can't pinpoint an exact moment of the day, or even my life for that matter when this change was brought about. Yet it has been becoming in its fullness more and more today. Perhaps it was the walking under a tree swaying in the breeze as its leaves fell upon me that fully opened my eyes that there's a change...the old must fall away in order for the new to come. As God ordains the seasons of nature, the days of the year, and the moments of which He is fully in (we do it injustice by calling it a minute of time), so He ordains the present and the future.

All around me I see these two extremes of people forgetting and people remembering. I see these extremes of people fully surrendering and others frozen in their lack of faith. I see it in myself so often too. Why do we forget those things that God has boldly declared? Why do we stand frozen unwilling to facilitate the means for God to move? God is fully faithful...He has never shown Himself otherwise. What He said He would bring about, He will do!

It was roughly 3 months ago when God began healing my hearing loss. Since that day, God has moved in so many tremendous ways with it. Lately, I have been reminded of how fickle the flesh is and how it is nothing of myself that brings this about. There have been people in my life who have believed since the beginning that God is fully capable of doing this and will do so. There are others in which God has changed their heart to see what He is doing. Others include ones in which they hear but their lack of faith holds them back. And there are others who may not be capable of understanding such a thing at this time, yet God is doing His great work in them. I am greatly encouraged daily by the ones who still believe, challenging me to continue to walk in faith in prayer and petition asking God for healing in its fullness. Yet I find myself saddened tonight to see that some are beginning to or have already forgotten. We do not wait on the Lord in our own timing; it is fully His. Our Lord never leaves any prayer unanswered; instead, we fail to believe.

Lord, help our unbelief!

"Oh Great God, be glorified. Our lives laid down, Yours magnified..."

There is nothing stronger in me that desires to see God glorified to the fullest. God healing my ears is not about me in the least. It's about Him awakening our eyes and hearts to see Him for who He fully is, despite our lack of trust and our unbelief. It's about Him fulfilling what He said He would do. It's about bringing His people to see Him in His full splendor, grace, and power.

What sin is in our lives that keeps us from receiving Him in the fullest? Where are the areas in which we lack to surrender? Where do we lack faith still?

Could it be that our hunger for God becomes satisfied and we feel content to sit back? Could it be that we are not desperate enough for Him, and we feel rich with what the world has to give?

These are the questions I continue to ask of myself, and I now ask aloud.

But Oh Great God!!!

Be GLORIFIED!

That is the cry of my heart...

Song of a Messenger

I’m here to tell you of the greatest love story of all time
It surpasses human comprehension including my own
I’m here to listen to your heart and your life
That you may call me friend
I’m here to show you the greatest love I can give
To no longer keep what is not my own

Let me tell who this man named Jesus is
Let me tell you what He’s done for me
Let me tell you He is who He says He is
Let me tell you what He can do for you

Can you see the tunnel of which I am walking through
There’s a light at the end that you can’t see because darkness is all you’ve known
You think that if you’d look and open up your eyes
The magnitude of which you see would leave you blind
Take away the comfort of the life that’s been all you’ve known
Yet blindness is all you know now

Sometimes it seems easier to stumble around in the dark
There’s secrets and hurts that can be hidden, never exposed to the light
You think that if they were exposed your heart would be broken and grow cold
The pain caused by it would be greater than the knife in the dark
Empty tears rolling down a stoic face never exposed to the light
But your heart has already grown cold

I’m here to tell you now that there’s a greater hope
I can promise you it surpasses anything you know
Would you stay and listen a while, hear me sing

There’s no other name but Jesus
There’s no other love like His
There’s no other friend like Jesus
There is no one like Him
There is none like Jesus

Walk alongside me a while and hear the whispers of His name
Open up your eyes and see the light that takes away Your pain
See that the darkness is not your domain
Your heart is slippery to hold on your own, let Him carry it on
Release the life you know now, let Him heal it to the full
And turn your ears to hear Him calling you home

“There’s no other name but mine
There’s no other love like this
I’m the one that’s by your side
I’m the one of which there is no other
There is none like me”

Do you hear who this man named Jesus is
Do you hear what He’s done for you
Do you see that He is who He says He is
Do you know what He can do for you?

All other ground is sinking sand...

"On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand."

All other ground is sinking sand...it is only upon Christ on which we stand.

How true this rings to me as I sit tonight on the last official night of summer before classes start, thinking and journaling about many different things.

Over the past week, God has been opening my eyes in incredible ways to see so many of the ways He has been faithful. I have been realizing the shaping and refining He has been doing in me and in so many around me. I think that so often we get caught up with the necessary process of growing and advancing that we forget where we've been and where we've come from. It is easy to get discouraged in the midst of pursuing righteousness if we never open our eyes and see the ways in which God has been refining and shaping us. The need for reflection is key. Our pursuing righteousness should always be the goal, and in every moment we should be striving and seeking to become more like Christ, who set the model for us. Yet, at the same time, we should never become so consumed with that goal that we forget the reason why (the love of Christ) the means given (the strength of Christ) and the growth made (the grace of Christ).

I think back to where I was at this time last year, and I think about the ground I was standing on. I was standing on sinking sand, attempting to pull myself up onto the rock, but it was such a struggle to do so. The past year has been a refining of my faith in God, bringing me back to the question, "do I trust Him or not?" in every way. It has been a refining of my character and motives in which I do things. I need to do things because of the love of Christ overflowing out of me, not for any selfish gain or ulterior motives, or even simply "because I should." I have been learning what it means to be a leader and how it's really so little of what I used to think it was. Christ in humility and boldness set the example, and that is the end to which I strive. I have learned what it means in even deeper and more profound ways what it means to truly walk alongside people and love on them. It is definitely a stretching and challenging thing, but one in which I receive so much blessing from.

I have been learning, through the grace of God and grace of others, what it means to be a "woman of Christ," one with a gentle and quiet spirit, slow to speak yet endued with wisdom because she is quick to listen to her Lord. It is a role that I have seldom understood or accepted, but how I find such a beauty and peace within it, because every day and in every step I take, I fall more and more into who God has created me to be. Creation was not complete until Eve was made. The creation of man was not mentioned until it was both male and female. The role of a woman is one I have slighted tremendously, but grace be to God who has opened my eyes to the necessity of such in this world. I am an integral part of creation, just as man is. We are each endowed with our own gifts given to us by the Lord, and it is within those that I need to delight in and develop. And for the first time in my life, I can honestly say how much I love being a woman.

But more than all of these things, I have encountered God more and more with each passing day. As I come to the feet of my Savior and surrender all upon Him, I see the results of what it means to give it all up for Him. It is truly amazing, but even greater still than that, it's still nothing compared to knowing my Savior deeper, greater, and fuller than never before. I can say with full confidence and joy in my heart that He is the One...He is the One of which I desire to profess my love for, rest in His arms, praise ever more. There is none like Him. There is no other love and intimacy quite like it. And that blows my mind. I think about my relationship with John and how incredibly blessed it is as God continues to bring us closer together, man and woman, and the intimacy that grows in that relationship...it is incredible. There is really no blessing in the world like it, but it still pales in comparison to the intimacy found in the Lord. There is such a marked difference in walking by faith and not by sight...in trusting in the One whom you don't see in human manifestation but upon the opening of eyes and hearts is seen in every aspect of the world. There is an incredible thing in our God in that He is incredibly intimate yet incredibly glorious. He knows my heart fully yet He also knows the world. He is the One of whom I will always stand forever in awe of. He is the One who reaches down from Heaven touching which is weak and broken in order to heal fully. He always does and He always will. He is the One, He is my God.

"On Christ, the solid rock I stand...all other ground is sinking sand."

I write this tonight realizing that I am stronger than I ever have been. This isn't anything I have gained on my own; rather, it has been everything I have lost. I stand stronger than I ever have been today because I realize that my strength is nothing. God's is fully everything. Christ is the solid rock on which I stand.

And I can't even begin to speak, comprehend, or fathom what is in store for this year...I know it's a time in which I have been fully prepared and trained for, yet am still completely inadequate in. It's a time of the present yet training for the future. What the means are and how it will all play out remains to be seen.

But I know this:

God is fully in it. I trust in nothing else.

That's more than enough!

"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name."

He is the One

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him" (2 Chronicles 16:9)

I was talking to Brittany the other day and she spoke of how she found her life verse, referring to a bible verse that seems to speak the theme of her life. It was really interesting she brought this up because the night before, I was reading this book of scripture and was struck by the verse above and i couldn't get it out of my head. When she said "life verse," I realized that perhaps I have found mine...

No matter where I go, what I am doing, I desire to go for the sake of knowing my Lord deeper and stronger than ever before. That is not an easy path but it is surely worth it...How amazing is it to know that His eyes follow me wherever I go, giving me strength as I seek to be fully commited to Him in every way.

In the midst of reflection and preparation over the past couple of weeks, my thoughts have been so many. I've been having such a desire to write and tell of these incredible things that God is doing...and the words are somewhat coming, but honestly, they fail miserably. I still can't do it justice and never will be able to. Yet, i can't keep silent about this God of mine!

He is the One who proclaims bold promises and fulfills them.

He is the One who hears all cries of prayer and never delays in answering them.

He is the One who has given the gift of healing and fulfills it.

He is the One who creates and shapes beauty beyond compare.

He is the One who understands the divine mystery and beauty of man and woman.

He is the One who gives and anoints us with gifts that we can love Him more through.

He is the One who gives peace as the world does not give.

He is the One to whom I can look for all things.

He is the One, the Only, my God...

The Weight of Choices

In the midst of spiritual warfare over the past couple of days, I've found myself pondering it in a different way than I have before. I am clearly seeing that the choices I make and the things I do have an effect no matter what it is. That is a given. It's been interesting over the past couple of days thinking about the choices I make out of obedience and love for God and how those choices aren't an easy road. There are many paths that I can take, but always one that is the highest that God ordains. Because I have chosen that path before, it's next to impossible to choose anything other than that. It's tasting and seeing that the Lord is good on that path though difficult. Sometimes this is seen during the time and others in hindsight. Yet in the times I have chosen the path God has ordained, I always look back and see what God has done, leaving me with no regrets of choosing such a path though it was incredibly difficult at the time And that's what I must remember in the midst of difficult paths.

Because it comes back to something incredibly simple: my choices have an effect no matter what they are. The choices out of obedience and love to God provide a richer, fuller path that I will surely see Him in, even though the battle with Satan and flesh is tough. The choices I make because of my flesh, being tired or not wanting to journey on that difficult path, Satan surely gets his foothold in me and either eats me up or makes me incredibly apathetic. In that I am distant from God because of my lack of obedience, or moreso, love and trust that He knows best regardless of how difficult the path is.

You know, so often it's easy to look at becoming a Christian as something we signed up for, like we joined a club and it should be all fun and games. And sometimes it's definitely tempting to want that. But I've been coming back to the fact that being a Christian means being just that: a follower of Christ. In that, we are to lay our lives down for His sake. It is not an easy task, but we should be reassured that He has been there in every way in our place. He's not telling us to do something He doesn't know full well what it entails. He's telling us to do the same as He did because He's been there-and even more so, He knows what obedience's results bear. I believe it is better to walk blindly in the light of our salvation rather than blindly in the darkness when who knows what could cause us to stumble.

This life does not bear easy things or situations or lessons, regardless of who you are. It's going to be difficult no matter what. But this life does bear a choice: to walk with God or not to. We can choose the light or darkness. When I come back to this in the midst of the choices I make and the impact it bears, I find that regardless, it is still better to be in the light, because it is there I have God on my side. It is better to be obedient because He has been there. It is better because in the light, there is full presence of love, and in the darkness, there is none of this at all.

As believers, we are promised trials and tribulations, and never received a promise that this life would be easy.

But we have the promise of Christ through the Father...and that should always be more than enough.

The Path We Have Chosen

In the pursuing hard after You
We find ourselves looking back at what You’ve done
Stand in awe and wonder, fully amazed
And yet unknown realities at what is to come
To walk blind by faith, trusting You in every step
Is surely the path we have chosen before You now
We do not know the means nor the way
The necessity to hold on that You will provide
For how can two hearts be quenched that are full of love
For You our Father and for each other?
We ask that we pursue righteousness in every moment
And that these fires inside will steadily burn
In the pursuing hard after You
We look and see that You have always been faithful
And know that You will always ever be so
We do not know what all will come
But we will walk blind by faith, trusting You in every step
For that is the path we have chosen before You now