Folks from time to time I have in the past made public certain conversations I have with individuals that I feel may help you to understand the doctrine and theology of this ministry and so I offer you that opportunity once again. Here is a message I just sent to a woman who is like many in this world seeking God and their want to serve Him in their life. I thought it might be beneficial to some…
Rest is like God’s grace. No rush.
He doesn’t rush to proclaim me the sinner;
hand out the proper prescription and send me off. “Next!”
I don’t rush to find some excuse or the quickest escape route from the guilt.
"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." James 4:8
No more petty inconsistencies. No more caving and compromising. No more hiding behind the excuse that God's love is unconditional, anyway. No more grieving the Spirit.
I can't wait to tell you all about my experiences from participating in the 16 Days Like Jesus challenge. This is a photo of me today, holding up a sign that says, "When things are going bad, that doesn't mean God has stopped doing good" in front of Parang High School as a task for Day 7's challenge.
Oh, I cannot wait to tell you all about the crazy amazing things I've been put through all because I decided to step out of my comfort zone and say yes to this challenge... all in the hopes of learning more about the man Jesus was while he walked this same earth we are in.
Tomorrow will be Day 8, which means I'll be halfway done with the challenge. This is proof that I'm surviving solely because of God's grace— if I did this without depending on Him at all, I'd probably have quit after Day 1. Pray for me!
The opposite of impatience is not a glib, superficial denial of frustration. The opposite of impatience is a deepening, ripening, peaceful willingness either to wait for God where you are in the place of obedience, or to persevere at the pace he allows on the road of obedience—to wait in his place, or to go at his pace.
Every February 14, I make it a point to give my mom a little something to make her feel extra loved on Hearts' Day. I remember a couple of years back, I gave her a dozen red roses because she occasionally complains (indirectly) how Dad never gives her any flowers. I noticed she was right; I've never seen Dad buy flowers for Mom, ever.
His answer made me hope more than ever that one day, I'd end up marrying somebody like him. He said that he found it senseless to give my mother a bouquet of flowers that will eventually wilt when he could give her an entire garden of them that will always last. And he did.
Way to go, Daddy. :-) To this day, my father single-handedly takes care of our yard, complete with various fruit-bearing trees, flowering plants, herbs, and vegetables.
One day, I know God will give me a man who will plant me an entire garden of my favorite flowers. But for now, starting with this season of my life, I'm totally bent on being a living sunflower of God.
What exactly do I mean by that? Here are a few of my favorite things about sunflowers that I also think we can get pointers from in our daily journey with God.
Sunflowers track the sun. Of course, most plants are attracted to light but the sunflower's head actually tracks the sun, following its path in the sky throughout the day. They are known to do this when they are in the bud stage. Isn't that how it usually goes for us as Christians? When we first come to know the Lord, we so passionately desire to follow and live for Him, but after a while, we tend to lose track of what's important and forget to fix our eyes on His face.
How much deeper and more meaningful our walk with the Lord would be if, like the sunflowers, we'd track and follow Him all day! Easier said than done, I know, and I can definitely attest to that. But that won't keep me from praying that I may always fix my eyes on His face no matter what and desire to see Him smile.
Sunflowers need a firm foundation. Because they grow so tall and their stems become so thick and heavy, sunflowers will keel over if they aren't planted firmly in the soil.
This reminds me of Colossians 2:7, which tells us to plant our roots in Christ and let Him be the foundation of our lives. It's easy to be knocked down if we are not grounded in His Word. Where would you like to plant your roots? The decision is yours.
Sunflowers are a great choice for attracting feathered friends to your yard. I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing it's because of the thousands of seeds they produce. I've read that black-oil sunflower seeds are considered the number one choice in attracting the greatest variety of birds. I've also read that birds aren't the only ones attracted to them, but the "good" bugs too. The big, round, pollen-infused landing pad at the center of the flower literally screams to them, "Eat me!"
In the same way, Christians are called to be attractive. Not on a physical level, but on a spiritual one. In Matthew 5:16, we are commanded to be a bright, shining light that attracts others to the Christlikeness in us, an attraction so compelling that they will want to follow the same God we do.
Sunflowers produce oil that works 'miracles'. I and my family are in love with Human❤Nature's 100% Natural Sunflower Beauty Oil. If you click on that link (which leads to their online store), you'll read the numerous reviews of satisfied customers sharing all sorts of benefits they got from the product. Sunflower oil has countless health benefits that have been tried, tested, and proven.
As Christ's 'living' sunflowers, we too, should be evidently producing something: the fruit of the Spirit. All of those have healthy benefits as well — both for ourselves as Christians, and for the people around us.
Sunflowers resemble the sun. After all, that's where it got its name, Helianthus (helios for 'sun' and anthus for 'flower'). They don't only track the sun; they look like it. We, too, are called to resemble Christ and follow his example. You can read all about following God and all the ways we are to act as Christians in Ephesians 5.
Sunflowers are 'happy flowers'. Their bright, sunny yellow color and the way they stand so tall, basking in the sunlight, as if declaring, "You can't steal my joy," is one of the reasons why I like them so much. Each day, I ask God to give me the same attitude as these flowers — standing tall and radiant with joy, and prepared to fight for it in God.
On that note, I leave you with this challenge: Will you join me in becoming a living sunflower of God? It begins with a sincere desire to follow Him.
(*) to pull a Ryan Gosling: to raise the bar so high when it comes to women's expectations in romantic relationships, i.e., what Ryan Gosling does best.
This past Sunday started off normal as any other Sunday with me showing up at church by 8am for soundcheck with the band and doing straight run-throughs with the worship team till 9:30. Pastor Richie came to the stage to pray with the worship team before service started and he was really excited for this message that he has been preparing for a while called, "Don't let the bed bugs bite." As soon as we joined our hands in a circle to begin praying, ALL THE POWER suddenly shuts off and the emergency lights come on.
Oh crap. This is not good.
Pastor continued with the prayer and seemed un-phased by the whole incident, but as soon as he said "Amen," our Worship Pastor (Pastor Leann) ran to me to scramble for a brand-new setlist cause without any power, there is no band! So we quickly came up with a setlist that can be sung with an acoustic guitar and then I called my brother to bring his snare and high-hat onto the stage for a more acoustic feel to the set.
I was praying the whole time hoping that any minute now that the power would be restored, but 10 mins left until service starts and still no power. I ran to the back kitchen to find some candles and lit several around the stage.
Before you know it, 10am came and we just started service. In the back of my mind, I had a very small thought of: "Are people really going to worship without the whole band playing, without the moving lights, and without the projectors that display the words?"
The first song that we sang was None but Jesus and as we where singing, you could hear the congregation singing as a choir and it was so beautiful to see them worshipping no matter what the conditions around them were.
At that moment, God reminded me, the move of God is not limited on a full band, lights, projectors, or any other technology that we use.
In Matthew 18:20, it says:
20"For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”
While I do think that it is very important to create an environment that includes a full band, lights, and other uses of technology, we have to be very careful not to let those be our only requirements for worship. Especially as a worship leader, sometimes we can cause technical difficulties and other things get in the way of us leading the congregation into God's presence.
I just want to encourage you, don't let ANYTHING stop you from worshipping God. God is not looking for a fancy stage or anything, He is looking for WILLING people to be open and broken by Him.
I wanna hear from you!
What are some things that you are guilty of standing in the way of your worship to God?
(Click on the "figure 8" if you are viewing this on a computer, on the top righthand corner next to the twitter symbol to drop your comments!)
