Ask to be hungry

So,

Last week was spent in preparation of a tournament in South Dakota, and the rest of the weekend was literally the BEST tournament ever. Hanging out with the best of friends, and listening to the voice of Holy Spirit was just too much fun!

I had such a blast competing, playing ultimate frisbee, and talking/praying with a bunch of people. But then I came back, and the God who was real for me and many others out there in South Dakota is here with me now, teaching me, loving me, and showing me more of Himself that I could never see before.
He has soo many attributes, and sometimes we just get LOST in one or two of them, like the Father's heart or the power of the Holy Spirit.

And that's just where He wants us. Completely captivated by His love. Fully trusting Him to be who He said He is. And longing for more.

I am just like you. I am not more spiritual, more holy, more righteous. In one sense, I may have experienced more than someone else, but that's not because I'm different. It is that experiencing that makes me different.

Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the One who lives inside will open the door, and let you in.

Do not stop until you're inside the house, and in the arms of the Almighty!

We know Him as the provider, as the One who fills our hunger, but do we know Him as the one who makes us hungry?

He's not the reason for famine, per se, but hunger was built into the human race for a reason. Even before the fall, Adam and Eve had need of all the trees of the garden. They needed food. Why is that?

Without hunger, one cannot be satisfied when they are filled.

So ask. For hunger. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled"

Seek. A longing for Him only. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"

Knock. On the door of His heart, as He knocks upon yours. "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me."

There's more to be found!

Is this real life?

Don't leave just because of the title. Don't worry, I have a goal in mind... sorta.

I'm sitting in the family room of my house, boxes all around me, some full, some flat and empty. I have Grooveshark running, and I'm working on my book for my novel writing class at Credo. I'm getting into the mind of my characters, and trying to show their emotion, trying to give every scene, every sentence a meaning. Then I hear the lyrics of the song: "And I love you God."

I'm UNDONE. Ahhhh!!! Holy Spirit, my new best friend, He's showing me real life! He's showing me the reality in life, more like. I just realized, this book isn't real. I want to take that person in my story and show them to my Father! I want to open their eyes and ears to see and hear Him, and their heart to love Him! I just can't stand staying here anymore!!!

This past weekend I was at a conference, "Stopping for the One", and I was just sooo touched by Holy Spirit! I NEEEED MORE! More God! I need more of You Father! I am IN LOVE with God!

I can't explain it, so I'm just gonna pray. Digitally. :)

Get alone, or just okay with people seeing you do crazy things for God.

Haha don't get afraid, you are about to see the face of your Lover, who made you and lifts your burdens and holds your hand through trials! He's awesome!

So, now that you are ready for anything to happen, put your hands in front of you, palms up. This isn't something formulaic, it's just helping keep your mind in a place of receiving more of Him! It keeps you focused.

Oh wow. Put on this music. It just came on over here, and it's perfectly beautiful!!!

http://grooveshark.com/s/I+Need+You+More/2Fg46c?src=5

Now, close your eyes and talk to God. You can sing along if you want, or pray in tongues, or whatever. It's all about getting away from the things that are holding you back from Him, but not only that, actually seeking Him.

I put this step here is for those of you who want to know what's going to happen in the future, and what's coming. :) Keep your eyes closed.

When the song is over, comment below and tell me what He said to you. If you cried, that's okay, if you didn't feel anything, don't worry. It's not something you did wrong, because it's not a formula anyway. You can't do wrong when you're seeking Him. If you want more, go find more music that is looong and spontaneous, and just keep seeking. Because those who seek will find. Always.

Love you all! I bless you in Jesus' name with peace and joy in His presence! I bless you with a revelation of who He is, and who you are to Him! Father, share Your love with Your beautiful, wonderful children! Every single human ever! All of them! Touch them again! More, Holy Spirit!! Come! Come and be their love!!! Fill Holy Spirit! Double, Lord, in Jesus' name!

Abandoned

Sinner of sinners. You awful wretch.
Mary's own conscience gouged her almost as painfully as the fear of doom to come. Her knees shaking so fiercely that she could hardly stand. Yet they pushed her on.
Down through the streets she was shoved, sifting past the rude cries and harsh laughter of those who happened to be there when she fell, when her shame was openly exposed.
She glanced aside and saw her best friends turn aside, ashamed to have known her. She cried aloud, mournful wails and heaving sobs silencing the children playing on the streets, caused dogs to bark and howl seemed to still the very air she breathed. Yet they shoved her forward.
"Stone her!" many called to the solemn-faced procession. "Uphold the Law of Moses!" the chant arose, rising higher, growing louder, like a sudden rush of water through a broken dam. "Uphold the Law of Moses! Uphold the Law of Moses!"
Some overly-zealous young men and women joined the march toward the city center. Toward the Man. The Prophet.
The Son.
They threw her down before His feet crying: "This one we found in adultery! The law of Moses said that we should stone her, but what do you say?"
The Man crouched down on His knees to write in the dirt with His finger. Mary saw the writing as the Pharisees waited eagerly. Tears came to her eyes.
They asked again, "Teacher, we caught this woman in the very act of adultery. Should she be stoned, according to the law of Moses?"
Mary watched as the Man stood and looked fearlessly to her captors. "Whoever here is without sin, let him throw the first stone at her."
There was a moment's silence, like the calming of the wind before a storm hits. Then the Man leaned over again, and continued to write.
Mary heard the scuffling of feet, and a distant murmur. Her eyes were locked on the words in the dirt. Her soul groaned and rejoiced as she interpreted the writing. The tears continued flowing freely from her eyes and fell to the dust, just as sunlight falls and is lost in the blades of triumphant grass.
The Man looked up at her then, stripped of jewelry, her hands bleeding and numb, her lip trembling.
He looked around, His mouth still closed in the perfect peaceful arc of a king, joyful, yet sober. "Woman," he said, looking back to her frail face. "where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?"
Mary could not look away. His eyes were full of kindness. "N--no one... Lord."
He smiled.
Her breath was sucked away. Her life felt real, yet unreal. Others had gathered all around the Man, watching this incredible scene unfold.
"Neither do I. Go, and sin no more."
Her heart jumped up inside her like a young lamb, prancing and leaping on the sides of the mountains.
In that moment her life changed. She found peace. She found a hurricane of love, unrelenting. She found herself, Abandoned.

"Therefore I say to you, her sins, which [are] many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, [the same] loves little."

As Mary, I have been forgiven the greatest of sins. I have been reconciled to God, brought back to union and friendship with Him through the sacrifice and love of my Love, Jesus Christ.

You don't need to go and rebel just so you can find God's love and love Him in return. You don't need a "greater sin" to come closer to God. Jesus was the closest man to ever walk with God, and He never sinned once. Yet we as Christians sometimes get a sideways view of what's really happening, and we think that because "he" or "she" lived in such darkness, they have the ability to live in such light. And there is truth in that. However, we love Him... because He first loved us.

Not because we saw the darkness, but because we saw the Light. God is soooo beautiful! We don't need something to contrast with Him to make Him look better! Even if we did, we can contrast our very best deeds and He comes out far above it all. Because, as it says in Isaiah 64:6, our righteousness is as filthy rags. Actually meaning the equivalent of used toilet-paper. Gross.

What's my point? I'm rambling, I know. But I think this is something we need to tap into as if our lives depended on it. And that is the revelation of reality. The revelation of truth. The revelation that we are His children, and no matter what you have come through, He wants YOU to be the one closest to His heart.

Whether you come from a background of grace, peace, forgiveness, sitting at His feet and gleaning from Him, or whether you came from a place of hungering for even the little crumbs that fell from the Master's table, or whether you came from a life of sin and shame and suffering, the message is the same for you as it is with anyone else. When we know how much He loves us, we will WANT to simply waste our lives on Him 24-7. We will break the flasks of our security and success, pour our gifts and savings out on Him, and wipe His feet with the "hair of our head", casting aside all dignity. 

Because He, loves us.

He loves you.

And nothing else in the world matters.

Letter to your Father

To: Daddy

Whatever I have to do,

Whatever I have to give,

Whatever I need to lose,

To draw nearer still,

Whatever I have to do,

Whatever I have to say,

Whatever I have to give to You,

And never reclaim,

It's Yours. I'm Yours.

Take it all!!!

I love You Abba!! 

Guess what? The world lied.

Haha yeah we all know that. The world lies to us all the time. We Christians know that as much as we know we are saved. Yet I find myself sometimes falling into lies that are the most ludicrous, most insanely stupid lies ever, and I believe them because something in my life doesn't make sense.

One I believed for a while was this simple, yet I had never verbalized it before: "God provides for the needs of all His children except your own emotional needs, because you have a special way of distancing yourself unwillingly from God."

Break that down.

Now laugh at it. It's dumb. It has no way of being true at all!

But we still have a way of believing it, even when we know it's wrong. WHY???

Because the human mind works that way. If we tell ourselves there is no solution, we will not be able to understand or accept one when it comes. And the truth is, "There is always a solution".

I am really happy right now.

Because God showed me something! He showed me that He invented success, beauty, all those things everyone seeks to achieve. He then showed me that the world has lied to everyone. It has said that success is doing well, and getting money/fame/dreams-come-true. But no! To be completely true, there is nothing farther than the truth. When people say success, what they are talking about is actually what comes with success. Success, is what we have because of what He paid. Success is what He gave us. It is the victory over sin and death. It is the life we have in Him. And when we believe we have success, we get the things the world calls success. Same with beauty. And life.

That brings me to the idea of faith.

For a long time I thought faith was forcing yourself to believe in something so that it would exist, or work, or whatever. But again, God showed me how the world lied to be about that one. He said that faith is believing in the solution you cannot yet see. It is definitely there, but if we don't actually act upon its existence, we will never see it.

Like success, again, when we believe that success is who we are, not what we do or gain, then we are able to gain what the world thinks is success. Blessing. Favor. Love. Life.

I'm not revising this one, unless someone comments and lets me know of something that needs it. :)

Doing what you were made for

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, everything in them, and us, Mankind. We know this, but what was God's purpose for the beautiful people He created? To tend the garden, or to create an entire race? Well, what is it that they did right from the start? The thing that stopped when they ate the fruit?

They walked with God in the garden.

They talked with God in the garden.

They ate with God, worked with God, loved Him and loved each other.

They lived in close friendship with God Almighty!

So, then they were deceived into thinking that they could become more like God than they already were! How ludicrous! They were created in His image, and in His likeness! But, in the end, they ate the fruit, and saw their shame. They didn't know who the God Judge was, but they knew His glory and holiness apparently, because as soon as they saw their shame, they were afraid of God. Their best Friend, who had made them, loved them, and gave them each other and the entire world for their enjoyment.

But this fruit (and the decision with it) brought sin into the human race. It placed it in his DNA. When you were born, you were a sinner. Your parents (hopefully) didn't have to teach you to be selfish or rude, that was your natural tenancy.

So, when Jesus was crucified, and we were crucified with Him (Gal. 2:20) we are now dead in that sense, so sin has no power over us! This is good news! But wait, if what Jesus did reversed the curse in the sense of us humans, why do we Christians still walk as though sin has power, or that we have to wait till we die to see Him and know Him?

Do we really believe in Jesus? Do we actually expect to see Him how we did in the garden? Do we understand that He is walking with us now, through life, and is able to hear us and to respond to us?

Now, in one sense we walk by faith and not by sight. We will not always just see Jesus from the moment we put our trust in Him to the day we die. In fact, I would say that most people have not seen Jesus at all, let alone more than once.

So, if Jesus' death and resurrection defeated the curse, defeated sin, defeated death, why aren't we back to our state like it was in the garden? What was so important about how we lived then that cause Jesus to die? He didn't restore us to a place without weeds. He hasn't physically walked with us in a way where we can see Him. So what was the most important thing about the garden? What did He restore?

Friendship. Intimacy. Hope. Destiny. Life.

This week, as you go about your lives, when you think about this, just ask Him to show you really what He has done for you. What is different about you before and after you believed? What has He set you free from? Are we still holding on to things in our lives that are hindering us from seeing Him more clearly in our lives? Are we really, truly, completely free from sin?

If He tells you awesome things, feel free to share! You can comment below anytime.

WE LIFT YOU UP!!!!!

Above our feelings. WE LIFT YOU UP!!!! Above our failures, above our victories, above our emotions, above what the world says, above all! WE LIFT YOU UP!!!!!!!