Another week at BCOM -- another week causing me to be closer to the Lord, farther from myself, more disinterested with the cares of this world, and longing more for the day when I can see His face. In all honesty, that's how my week has been. Some days I so just long for nothing more than to leave this place and be at His side. It's not that my life here is bad--but I know how superior life in His eternal presence will be, and I long for that. I just can't wait to see Jesus smile...
And yet I am called to live here for now, and called by no one less than God Himself, so I must live that out! How difficult the Christian life is! Yet how full of hope. I know only a small glimpse of what life will look like after I'm done with life here, but oh! how beautiful that glimpse is!
Things have been pretty typical this week-- class, homework, putting to death the flesh, putting to death the flesh the next day, or hour, or moment... speaking the words the Spirit gives me (because Lord knows it's not I who speak anything wise!), growing in God, and crying out for mercy when I once again make an idol out of the things in my life instead of worshiping the Lord.
I have had the pleasure of forming a new friendship this week; the Lord has once again blessed me with a kindred spirit. I love when He does that. :) Heather is a sweetheart who loves the Lord and enjoys life -- my favorite kind of person!
Keep praying for me, because I covet your prayers. I agree with Paul in saying I am the very least of all the sinners... and yet His grace is abundant and His love for me unending.
Titus 2:11-13 "For the grace of God has appeared, with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Amen and amen.
Rejoicing always, and longing for His return,
Jules
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Goodness and Mercy
It's wild how fast the time passes here. I feel like I just updated my blog, and yet it's been weeks! Sorry for the delay, friends. I have been busy living!
Oh the Lord is good. That has been my theme over the past few weeks. Every day He brings me back to that truth, whether I had been sitting in sunshine or a torrent, He calmly guides me with His steady hand and sets my mind upon His goodness. Lately He has been impressing on my mind Isaiah 42:16, which says, "I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness to light in front of them, and rough places into level ground. This is what I will do for them, and I will not forsake them." I am definitely being led on an unfamiliar path, but I have a good and faithful guide, so though I cannot see where this path is leading me, I can at least trust my Leader.
These verses have been my stronghold, and the promises I cling to.... the hope that keeps me trusting:
Psalm 27:13-14
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 16:5-6
Lord, You are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.
Psalm 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me! It's a guarantee! What a promise from the Lord!! He has been showing me that He has nothing but good things in store for me -- from my personal time with God to class, that is the theme!
Speaking of class, we just finished our 2-week Theology course, and I could have stayed in that class for the rest of the semester! Never have I enjoyed a class so much! It has inspired me more than any other class to dive deeper into the Word and discover more of the indescribable God we serve. I loved learning about His attributes, and I became so much more curious to know Him more. The more I know Him, the more I trust Him, and I think that is reason enough for anyone to study the character of God.
The more I seek Him, the more I find Him; the more I find Him, the more I love Him.
Holly and I may have just become Theology Nerds because of this class as well.... It happens. =)
So, there's a little meat for you to chew on! Keep me in your prayers as the Lord continues His refining work!
Rejoicing always!
Jules
Oh the Lord is good. That has been my theme over the past few weeks. Every day He brings me back to that truth, whether I had been sitting in sunshine or a torrent, He calmly guides me with His steady hand and sets my mind upon His goodness. Lately He has been impressing on my mind Isaiah 42:16, which says, "I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness to light in front of them, and rough places into level ground. This is what I will do for them, and I will not forsake them." I am definitely being led on an unfamiliar path, but I have a good and faithful guide, so though I cannot see where this path is leading me, I can at least trust my Leader.
These verses have been my stronghold, and the promises I cling to.... the hope that keeps me trusting:
Psalm 27:13-14
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 16:5-6
Lord, You are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.
Psalm 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me! It's a guarantee! What a promise from the Lord!! He has been showing me that He has nothing but good things in store for me -- from my personal time with God to class, that is the theme!
Speaking of class, we just finished our 2-week Theology course, and I could have stayed in that class for the rest of the semester! Never have I enjoyed a class so much! It has inspired me more than any other class to dive deeper into the Word and discover more of the indescribable God we serve. I loved learning about His attributes, and I became so much more curious to know Him more. The more I know Him, the more I trust Him, and I think that is reason enough for anyone to study the character of God.
The more I seek Him, the more I find Him; the more I find Him, the more I love Him.
Holly and I may have just become Theology Nerds because of this class as well.... It happens. =)
So, there's a little meat for you to chew on! Keep me in your prayers as the Lord continues His refining work!
Rejoicing always!
Jules
Friday, October 8, 2010
A Love Story
On the shores of Island Lake Reservoir, Duluth, MNUpon discovering the clear night sky filled with thousands of twinkling stars, my friends and I grabbed jackets and blankets and ran down to the lake where we laid on the shore, huddled together to stay warm. There we watched the heavens. I have never seen a more beautiful sight; even now I am breathless remembering the glory and painful beauty of that night.
I was mesmerized. There it was--the Milky Way--shining in all its brilliance before my eyes. Every few minutes we would see a shooting star flung across the sky, and decided that our Daddy in the Heavens was blowing kisses at His daughters, so we blew Him some back. Our voices rose in choruses of praise and delight as we sang to our Lover. We spoke aloud to our Daddy in English, Spanish, and unknown languages, glorifying the Name that is above every other name and loving the beauty that is He. The night was timeless--we were so captivated by the Creative One that we forgot to count the moments. The only tellers of time were our toes, now numb from the cold, and aching bodies begging for relaxation from being so tightly curled up to ward off the chilly night air.
When we could no longer feel our feet we prayed for one final kiss goodnight from Daddy. We asked for it to be a big one--impossible to miss--a light that we would all see, and that would glide across the entire night sky. We waited patiently, knowing that He would not disappoint us, sometimes singing and talking to God, sometimes lying in silent expectation. While we waited He gave each of us individual kisses--shooting stars that only one of us would see at a time. But still we waited, not satisfied because we asked of the Lord and knew we would receive, even as we got colder and colder. Patience was wearing thin.
Finally, out of the very corner of my eye I saw a bright light that I had not noticed before, and I turned to my right to discover what was distracting me from the brilliant sky above. My heart
leapt within me and I sat straight up more excited than I have ever been in my life as I saw a radiant, yellow-orange crescent moon rising over the quiet lake. I cried out to the girls beside me that our kiss from heaven had come -- and it had. It met every standard we had prayed for: big and impossible to miss, one we would all see together, and that would go across the entire sky. At this point we were enraptured with our Lover, worshiping Him now with dance and shouts of joy, spinning around on the rocky shore in love with the Creator.The next morning our hearts were still singing love songs, remembering the way our Lover had romanced us on the dark, starry night before, and we read love notes to keep the fire burning...
"You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride. You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes." (Song of Songs 4:9)
Monday, October 4, 2010
Catching my Breath
Could it be that in the midst of 3 of the craziest weeks of my existence that I actually get a break?? Indeed it is so.... today I amazingly have some time off from my busy life and I am using it to catch up on the life that I've been absent from for a couple weeks! I actually skipped class this morning, which is something I never do, but was necessary. I needed rest, and I needed some time to breathe this morning. This afternoon one of my many meetings was canceled which freed up even more time, so by the grace of God I have a free day! Praise the Lord!
There is so much to tell and not enough time to tell it all, so I will just hit the highlights! First off, we are in the last week of our World Religions course, and the homework load has finally died down a little bit. I had to choose a major world religion to write a paper on, and chose Buddhism because that is the religion of Thailand, where I am interested in going on internship. I was getting so excited while writing my paper to at some point share the love of Christ with people of this religion... the Lord is birthing in me a heart for Buddhists, and I can't wait to have opportunity to interact with them!
As I mentioned in earlier posts, I am working weekly with the Life Center in downtown Minneapolis. This past week our team was divided up and stuck in a room with several kids assigned to us for the purpose of tutoring them. It was very unstructured and chaotic, but I'm hoping that as time goes on we will be able to bring more stability and structure to the program and really be able to help out with the kids we are working with. I was working with 1st-3rd grades, balancing between helping the one who had homework and keeping all the others who didn't in line! It was quite a feat on my own and I left the center exhausted! But I know the Lord is giving me a heart for these inner city kids who rarely or never are shown real love and affection and never get one-on-one time with someone who cares about them. So pray that the Lord would use me in their lives!
God has been doing a lot of work in the lives of my girls. We do something at BCOM called prayer ministry, where we essentially pray through things that people are struggling with and ask the Holy Spirit for revelation. Last week I had 3 prayer ministry appointments with 3 of my girls, and the Lord truly brought light into situations, and broke down walls that had been built for years. I am seeing great growth in their lives. Please pray that that growth would continue! This past weekend I took them on retreat to a cabin in Duluth, and we had a great time of bonding and experiencing the Lord's love for us. Here is a photo of myself and my girls:
I had the great honor of baptizing one of my girls as well over the weekend, which was a new and incredible experience for me. The water was freezing, but it was worth it! :)
Aside from all the busy to-do's in my life, the Lord has also been teaching me about His irrevocable love for me, and especially about the Father's heart. This has been something very necessary for me in the last few weeks, especially since my recent break-up, and feeling the need for love and wanting the protective, adoring love of a father. Since my own father is not nearby, I have had to turn in a new way to the Father in Heaven and have been anything but disappointed by what I have found in His arms. Oh, His heart for me is incredible! Just think on these things, the things He says to me...
"I know everything about you..." (Psalm 139:1) "I chose you when I planned creation..." (Ephesians 1:11-12) "You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book..." (Psalm 139:15-16) "I am not distant and angry, but I am the complete expression of love..." (1 John 4:16) "I offer you more than your earthly father ever could..." (Matthew 7:11) "My plan for your future has always been filled with hope..." (Jeremiah 29:11) "My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore..." (Psalm 139:17-18) "When you are brokenhearted I am close to you..." (Psalm 34:18)
This is just a sampling of all the things that the Father says to me, and the other night I just meditated on these truths, allowing them to sink into the core of who I am so that they and I become inseparable. I want these things to define who I am so that in the midst of life's crises I do not forget the truth about who my Father says I am. I am falling more in love daily....
More will come later, but I don't want to drag this on for now. Thank you for reading, and please keep me in your prayers. I am blessed by you.
Rejoicing Always,
Jules
There is so much to tell and not enough time to tell it all, so I will just hit the highlights! First off, we are in the last week of our World Religions course, and the homework load has finally died down a little bit. I had to choose a major world religion to write a paper on, and chose Buddhism because that is the religion of Thailand, where I am interested in going on internship. I was getting so excited while writing my paper to at some point share the love of Christ with people of this religion... the Lord is birthing in me a heart for Buddhists, and I can't wait to have opportunity to interact with them!
As I mentioned in earlier posts, I am working weekly with the Life Center in downtown Minneapolis. This past week our team was divided up and stuck in a room with several kids assigned to us for the purpose of tutoring them. It was very unstructured and chaotic, but I'm hoping that as time goes on we will be able to bring more stability and structure to the program and really be able to help out with the kids we are working with. I was working with 1st-3rd grades, balancing between helping the one who had homework and keeping all the others who didn't in line! It was quite a feat on my own and I left the center exhausted! But I know the Lord is giving me a heart for these inner city kids who rarely or never are shown real love and affection and never get one-on-one time with someone who cares about them. So pray that the Lord would use me in their lives!
God has been doing a lot of work in the lives of my girls. We do something at BCOM called prayer ministry, where we essentially pray through things that people are struggling with and ask the Holy Spirit for revelation. Last week I had 3 prayer ministry appointments with 3 of my girls, and the Lord truly brought light into situations, and broke down walls that had been built for years. I am seeing great growth in their lives. Please pray that that growth would continue! This past weekend I took them on retreat to a cabin in Duluth, and we had a great time of bonding and experiencing the Lord's love for us. Here is a photo of myself and my girls:
I had the great honor of baptizing one of my girls as well over the weekend, which was a new and incredible experience for me. The water was freezing, but it was worth it! :)
Aside from all the busy to-do's in my life, the Lord has also been teaching me about His irrevocable love for me, and especially about the Father's heart. This has been something very necessary for me in the last few weeks, especially since my recent break-up, and feeling the need for love and wanting the protective, adoring love of a father. Since my own father is not nearby, I have had to turn in a new way to the Father in Heaven and have been anything but disappointed by what I have found in His arms. Oh, His heart for me is incredible! Just think on these things, the things He says to me...
"I know everything about you..." (Psalm 139:1) "I chose you when I planned creation..." (Ephesians 1:11-12) "You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book..." (Psalm 139:15-16) "I am not distant and angry, but I am the complete expression of love..." (1 John 4:16) "I offer you more than your earthly father ever could..." (Matthew 7:11) "My plan for your future has always been filled with hope..." (Jeremiah 29:11) "My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore..." (Psalm 139:17-18) "When you are brokenhearted I am close to you..." (Psalm 34:18)
This is just a sampling of all the things that the Father says to me, and the other night I just meditated on these truths, allowing them to sink into the core of who I am so that they and I become inseparable. I want these things to define who I am so that in the midst of life's crises I do not forget the truth about who my Father says I am. I am falling more in love daily....
More will come later, but I don't want to drag this on for now. Thank you for reading, and please keep me in your prayers. I am blessed by you.
Rejoicing Always,
Jules
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