Expectations of Faith

Yesterday morning was our first meeting with the Agapé France team here in Paris. The energy was exciting and I can't wait to get on campus with my newfound French brothers and sisters. We read through a passage that I have read before in Jeremiah, its the "I know the plans" passage that we read when we're uncertain about the future and a wonderfully comforting reminder.

But something struck me in a challenging way being here in Paris, and I want to share some thoughts and revelations with you. 

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

In this passage the Israelites are discouraged. They have been exiled and are waiting for the Lord to deliver them. They are short-sighted and see only their present struggles and circumstances. They want immediate redemption from exile and are starting to believe anyone who will tell them what they want to hear.

False prophets are promising a better life elsewhere, but God's call is different. He tells them to take up residence where they are at, and to live their lives trusting him wherever they are. The Lord assures them that "I know the plans I have for you," and they are pretty good plans! 

How often do I jump to the conclusion, that because my own circumstances are not as they should be, that my God does not love me. That he is not inclined to do good to me. Maybe that he is not even leaning favorably in my direction. 

Matthew Henry says, "We are sometimes ready to fear that God's designs are all against us; but as to his own people, even that which seems evil, is for good. He will give them, not the expectations of their fears, or the expectations of their fancies, but the expectations of their faith; the end he has promised, which will be the best for them." 

God desires that I put my faith in him. That despite my doubts, or my dreams, I must trust that He will be on my side, to do in His will what is best for me in every situation. That He will give me the expectations of my faith, and nothing else. 

Father. Help me to see your love in my life. I give you my doubts, I give you my desires. I have nothing else but to rely on you, and the more I try and serve you the more obvious that becomes. You love me, and I want to believe that all the time. 

A Place to Lay Our Heads

So we made it. We are here in Paris for the rest of the next 300 or so days, and my first impressions: I LOVE THIS CITY. The food is fantastic, the people have been delightful, and I may even wind up losing a few pounds with all this walking. I will highlight a few things that have stood out:

The Metro:
What a fantastic way to get around the city. The first thing you have to realize about France, is that everything takes longer than in America. Once you embrace this reality (as if I know what I'm talking about) you will be much happier, and able to relax in all situations. The metro is a great example of this. It just takes longer to get anywhere you want to go. It is completely efficient and surprisingly clean, and you can get to anywhere in the city on one pass. We have figured it out at this point, but will continue to tweak the fastest routes around the city.

The Food:
We have had a few meals by now, and I have not been less than impressed by anything I have had. The paninis, crepes and gyros will quickly become a part of my normal diet and they are welcome to stay as long as they want.

Prayer Requests:
- That the men would find housing - we have been house-hopping since Thursday night and are searching ardently to find an apartment to stay in for the rest of the year.
- Patience - as I mentioned earlier, things just take longer here. We must learn not to take our frustration, that our selfish need for instant satisfaction breeds, out on the French
- That God would prepare the hearts of the students we will be connecting with in the next coming weeks

Updates will be more frequent and photo-filled, so stay tuned and leave a comment, I would love to hear from you :)

Strength Under Siege

Hey there. So. Exactly two months ago was my last post. A sorry blogger I have become, but I'm determined to keep myself accountable to stay open and honest about where the Lord has me and what He's doing in my life.

Quick update. I have about $20,000 left to raise by August 10 (essentially) in order to depart for my STINT in Paris on time. The Lord is showing up and brining money in and I'm confident He will provide the rest.

2 Chronicles 32:22

In this passage the story unfolds that Sennacherib, (god bless you) the King of Assyria, attacks the gates of Jerusalem. He physically approaches the walls and comes with messages to deliver to their king. He tries to trick them into thinking that all of their trust in their God will be for nothing as his army is very strong, and their God is weak. Hezekiah is the king of Jerusalem and his wise advice to his men is to not respond to the words that Sennacherib is saying. So they stand there, taking his insults and blasphemy, and report every word of it to the king.

Hezekiah is distraught but responds by brining these attacks before the Lord. He lays out all of the things that his attacker said, and the Lord responds mightily. An angel of the Lord slaughters Sennacherib's army and returns home ashamed.

Recently I faced an attack that felt very similar to this one. Thankfully, the peace of the Lord descended quickly and it did not amount to much. But turning to this passage gave me hope, and joy that I am certainly on the right side of this spiritual battle.

Father, keep me close to your strength. Be responsive to my cries for help. You are majestic in the ways you save me from danger. Thank you for your relentless love.

A Surrendered State

I encourage you to read through Romans 6 and just meditate, and dwell on the implications of the gospel that Paul speaks of, in your own life. I only made it three verses in...

Romans 6:3

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?"

In this passage Paul is describing how Christians have left behind their old ways to follow Christ. He is explaining that

we have died to sin, to be made alive in Christ.

Paul brings up something tha

t is easy to overlook when thinking about life in Christ. When I think of baptism I think of birth. Of rebirth. A new life cleansed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that is now a temple of

the Lord. Another part of our baptism in Christ, and an equally important one in that is our

baptism into his death.

His death on the cross not only mea

nt new life, but it also meant a complete separation from sin. Rom 4:25 "who was delivered up

for

our trespasses and raised for our justification", and as we accept the new life he offers, we must be baptized into his death as well. Death from our old habits, death from our sinful ways, death from every part of ourselves that is not Christ! It is impossible for us to live in sin and in Christ at the same time.

Father, help me to leave behind my sinful self. I want to live fully covered in the blood of Christ. Break me down, that I might be built up in your image. Strip me of my pride that I might have nothing left but to rest in your presence. Let your hand guide my ways and lead me down a path to see Jesus and him only.

A Place to Make Offerings

2 Chronicles 2:6

..."Who am I to build a house for Him, except as a place to make offerings before him."

It has been 480 years since Israel was brought out of Egypt and Solomon, son of David, has established himself as king and the Lord is clearly with him. He has accumulated an insane amount of wealth and decides to build a temple, a house for the Lord. Upon laying out his plans for all the ways he will worship the Lord with this temple, he stops and realizes something significant.

He realizes that he is building this great temple, "for our God is Greater than all gods," but not even the heavens can contain our God, so how is this temple going to be a suitable place for the Lord to reside?!

1 Cor 3:16 says, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you?" I think about this verse and what it means to be a temple of the Lord. Solomon gets carried away with his plans for the temple, then realigns his perspective, and comes to the conclusion that this temple is only a place to make offerings. And so are we.

Daily I must say to myself, "Who am I to build a house for Him, except as a place to make offerings before Him." I take away two things from this verse:

• As I walk through my days, am I building myself as a temple for God? Or am I engaging in things that detract from his glory? Solomon went all out to build this temple, he spared no expense and it was his joy to build a great temple for the Lord. So should I treat my body: physically, mentally, emotionally you name it, it belongs to Him. My body is an undeserving temple where the Lord chooses to reside, and I want it to be a suitable place for the King of Glory to dwell.
• Do I expect to do anything more for God, than simply to serve and glorify him in seeking His face and growing in knowledge of Him? We must continually humble ourselves to the fact that we can do nothing for our Lord. We can neither add nor subtract from his glory and the second we think that we are doing something for Him, that's the second we fall to pride. Solomon describes the temple as having one purpose, and the good news is if we are solely to be a place of offerings for the Lord, then He only has one requirement (Hosea 6:6).

Father, teach me how to let go of my life and all the ways I think I am serving you. Draw me near as I seek your face. Fill this dirty, broken temple with your Spirit and give me the strength to build your house for your glory.

Lord of the Temple

Matthew 21:13

" He said to them, 'It is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you make it a den of robbers.'"

Christ had just entered Jerusalem in a triumphant way. Riding in on a donkey he was adorned and praised by throngs of people. After this he goes to the temple, and Jesus is disgusted by what he sees. He cleanses the temple of it's impurities and quotes Isaiah 56:7, calling them out on their sin.

Jesus deals with the people defacing the temple rather violently. He does this, I think, because he truly does love them. He does not enter the temple to worship, but rather as Lord over all. He enters in to the temple with an agenda, a plan for righteousness, and he carries it out. The temple was made into a place of sin, of treachery, of sadness and sorrow. But Jesus came into that place and proclaimed it to be a house of prayer, full of joy and closeness to God.

As I walk with him I can't help but identify things in my life that keep me from being close with God, to the things brought into that temple. All the chaos, and distractions, and sin inside that temple mirrors how I treat my walk with the Lord. As a Christian I am a temple yes, but I deface it daily with selfishness and pride and I want more than to be a house of prayer. Despite it's intensity, this passage is encouraging, and I cling to the promise of sanctification! At times I see Christ thrashing about inside my heart, turning over tables and screaming out "I love you!" As he turned the tables over in the temple I believe that Jesus was sad. He was well aware of the sacrifice he was going to make, and he saw what he was doing it for. A people who could never love him back the way he loves us.

Father, your love is enough. Help me to live out this truth in my heart. Cleanse me daily and let me see how much you love me. Let your spirit be contagious and let the cleansing of my heart lead to fruit.

Vanashing Goodness

Well, nineteen months later, here I am. Fully aware that I am speaking to myself (why would anyone be waiting to see if I am blogging after nineteen months) I felt the need for an outlet for what the Lord has been teaching me, and will continue to teach me. As I journal in my private time I want to share every now and then what the Lord is putting on my heart and how he is convicting me in this tumultuous season of my life.

To serve as an update and point of reference for the re-launching of this blog, here's what you missed: I am a week away from graduating from the University of Florida with a B.S. in Family, Youth and Community Sciences. This summer I am raising support in order that I might serve the Lord in Paris, France through a year-long internship with Campus Crusade for Christ. More details will follow, but those are the big things for now.

Matthew 12:7

"And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would have not condemned the guiltless."

This passage begins on the sabbath, and the disciples, hungry and no doubt tired, begin to pluck heads of grain and eat them. The Pharisees, hearts set on trapping Jesus, call him out on working on the sabbath. Jesus responds by quoting scripture right back to them. He references times when priests had entered the presence of God and eaten on the sabbath. He asserts his authority and tries to change their perceptions on the heart behind the Law.

I understand that Jesus came to fulfill what the Law could not. He references a verse from Hosea 6:6. The Pharisees needed to hear that it was not works or obedience to the law that condemns a man, but that it has always been about faith in God. I am much more like the early Israelites than I would like to admit. They gave sacrifice after sacrifice and it seems as though their goodness was fleeting. Jesus is saying here that he wants me to be intimate with Him. Not do things for him like give burnt offerings, but to seek his face and grow in my knowledge of Him. This knowledge that produces holy fear and love.

As I enter into this summer of doing service to God by raising support, I don't want my money, or my energy, or my time to become simply an offering from me to earn favor from God. My goodness like Israel will surely vanish before I even open my eyes in the morning.

Father, show me what mercy looks like. If it is mercy you require, father give me the grace to experience this mercy first hand that I might live my days full of your spirit. Teach me what it means to live for you full of mercy and knowledge of you. Strip me of my pride and let me depend on you for every breath.