The Narrow Road

My name's Lauren. My age is 18. My aim to tell everyone about my hope-- Jesus Christ. Jeremiah 1:6-8: "Then i said, 'Ah Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.' But the Lord said to me, 'Do not say, "I am only a youth"; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you , declares the Lord.'"

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Like the Isrealites

In my reading of Deuteronomy I have noticed how certain ideas are repeated over and over again. Throughout this book the people of Israel, in fear, look to chariots or alliances with other countries to ensure that they win battles or they will neglect to take possession of the land God has instructed them to take possession of because they are afraid. God is constantly asking them, "Do you not remember when I took you out of Egypt? Do you not remember the countless battles I won for you? Why don't you trust that I will continue to do what I have always done?". The Israelites fell Into fear when they took their eyes off the fact that God is the one fighting for them and looked to their own abilities. This is an act of pride; they looked back at their past battles as if by their might they claimed victory when it was God who fought for them the whole time. Is this not what we so often do? We go into a new situation with fear, forgetting all the past times that God has provided for us. We forget that it was God who provided the friendships, it was God who gave us the victory. We look to our own abilities and we plan to try harder. We approach the rushing river once again, we think maybe, if we try hard enough or if we find the right place, we can cross on our own-- the whole time God is right beside us, willing to carry us across like he always has. God over and over instructed the Israelites, "Go and take possession of the land to which I have given you. It is I who fights for you". All the Israelites had to do was go and take possession, God would take care of the rest; God would fight the battles. So, I encourage you today, take possession of whatever it is God is calling you to with full confidence in the fact that it is he who fights for you. He doesn't just strengthen you to fight-- he fights FOR you. So step out in faith and take risks, living in the freedom that comes from full confidence in God.

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In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.

CS Lewis

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So much raw truth in this video.

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Your blog is beautiful -- God bless

Thank you so much :) It's all about a beautiful God.

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Fear often looks like wisdom to those in unbelief.

Bill Johnson (via sonofhislove)

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Deuteronomy 3:22 -- "you shall not fear them, for it is The Lord your God who fights for you."

I love that this in its simplicity is Gods encouragement to his people (I’ve been reading through Deuteronomy and have seen this quite a bit, but it’s a reoccurring theme in the Bible).

It’s funny because this encouragement from God is so against what our society would say to encourage someone. We would often say, “don’t worry, you can do it!”, “You’re strong” or even “God will give you strength”;however, typically many would not say “don’t fear, it’s God who fights for you, not you”. That encouragement acknowledges the fact that we are completely unable to do what we are supposed to do without God— it acknowledges our complete need for him.

God doesn’t just give us strength; he IS our strength. He IS our security. This is Biblical— Isaiah 33:5 says, “and He will BE the stability of your times…”. He doesn’t just give us a sword and a shield, he steps before us and guards us as a shield and fights for us with his might.

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"My life and everything good in it is because I walked up the mountain in the presence of God. I was abiding with Him and all this fruit came from the times I simply am alone with Jesus. Everything beautiful goes strangely dim in His presence. Even the greatest moments of my life, like the birth of my son when my little girl was able to catch him, pale in comparison to the intimacy with Him we get in those quiet moments alone.”

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This earth is not our final destination-- it's not our true home. We are sojourners here on earth. Naturally, being citizens of another land, we will look different than the world. We will stand out; we will maybe even be considered weird. That's how it should be. Our citizenship is in heaven. Let's carry this kingdom culture with us everywhere we go.

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If we believe God created the world out of nothing, how can we even begin to question his ability to heal or raise the very things that he effortlessly spoke into existence?

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The issue is not what you have. The issue is: how much will it take to remove trust from your life? How much is too much? It’s whatever replaces trust. That’s how much is too much. For one person it’s one hundred dollars, for another it’s ten million dollars, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is the Lord does not want anything else to be trusted other than Him.

The Strange thing about Wisdom, Bill Johnson (via sonofhislove)

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Lifestyle of Love

Much like many people, for so long i have greatly overcomplicated sharing the Gospel with people. In my desire to take control, i often try to figure out some sort of equation or phrasing or set up to give me the courage to share the Gospel instead of looking to God for that courage. In doing this, we often confine our ministry to a "perfect environment" (When we are with our spiritually encouraging friends, when we are at church, when we are on a mission trip, etc.). We often confine our "Christian life" to situations that are specifically sectioned off for ministry, but what if our whole lives were sectioned off for ministry? What if we looked at life as one big mission trip-- after all, we are mere sojourners in this world; we are here for a short time for a very singular reason. 

Our lives should be living testimonies of the Gospel by the way we love, by the way we give, by the way we show mercy, and so on. We must proclaim the Gospel with our lives, not just our words. Two of my favorite quotes express this:

"A lot of people have heard about Christianity, not a lot of people have seen it." --Todd White

"Everywhere you go, proclaim the Gospel. And if you have to, use words."

We must live a lifestyle of Love. We must love people because we realize how much God loves them. We are called "Christ's Ambassadors" in 2 Cor. 5:20. This is an all-the-time job. We are representing Christ. 

Recently, after church, i went to a nearby park with a few friends to talk with people about the Gospel. When we got there i began an awkward conversation with a lady at a picnic table. In the middle of the conversation i asked her if i could pray for her and if she had anything specifically she needed prayer for. Instantly, she burst into tears. She was newly homeless. Me and my friends got to speak life into her and take care of some of her needs. Next, we saw a lady sitting alone on a park bench so we walked up and made conversation with her. Just as before, i asked the Lady if she needed prayer for anything and she burst into tears. Both times, all i had to do was ask if i could pray for them. The impact from that simple act of love was enough to bring them to tears. The world is hungry for the love of God and Christ has chosen us to bring it to the them. If he could use me, as awkward as i was that day, then he can use anyone. 

The story gets better though, the lady told us how she had two bad disks in her back. So i excitedly told her that Jesus could heal her back. She told me that she "didnt have any money" and i told her that "Jesus heals for free" (I was so excited i guess that i didnt realize how cheesy that sounded). Me and my two friends prayed for her and told her to walk around to see if it hurt. She told us that to know for sure she'd have to walk around the whole park; instantly, one of my friends said "C'mon we'll walk with you!". So we walked with her and halfway through the walk she again burst into tears saying, "I havent walked this far since 2005! My back doesn't even hurt at all".

She then asked us what "powers we had" and we told her that it was nothing about us, but it was God. It was the Holy Spirit in us. We told her about how that same Holy Spirit could dwell in her if she believed in Christ. With tears in her eyes, the lady hugged us and thanked us. 

Small acts of love can change lives. A single sentence-- a single question-- can change lives. Through Christ, immeasurable riches have been made available to all people. See people that way. See them as God sees them. Let the realization of his love drive you to love everyone you meet with a radical and often weird love that draws people to Christ. We are supposed to look different-- we are set apart. 

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We don't like to put hands and feet on love. When love is a theory, it's safe, it's free of risk. But love in the brain changes nothing. [Believe] that love is too beautiful a concept to keep locked up behind a forehead like a prisoner.

Love Does

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Being A Doer of the Word Comes from the Realization of Our Identity in Christ

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like." (James 1:22-24) The things we do come from the new identity given to us by Christ. This passage says mere hearers of the word are like someone who looks at themselves in a mirror and forgets what they look like as soon as they walk away. The word points us to our identity in Christ-- it renews our mind. When we realize Christ has made us a new creation, when we realize that we have been made pure and blameless, when we realize that we are called sons and daughters of God, there will be great works that follow that. Let us not forget that we are called "Ambassadors of Christ". Let us have faith and believe that we are who God says we are and live out the word that has been entrusted to us. This action comes from the realization of our identity through the word. Our identity is not a product of what we do; but, the other way around, what we do is a product of our identity.

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Ezekiel 37:1-10, 13-14 "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God : Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”"

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