We have a Great God!

 Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies. - John 7:18 

I was thinking about this verse and wondering who am I trying to glorify with my life?  God or myself?  Who are we trying to glorify here at Genesis? The band, the building, the coffee or our church?  When people walk away from Genesis, what or who do they talk about?  Here is my hope!  I desire to for people to encounter me and walk away talking about God!  I would love for people to walk away from a night of Genesis talking about their God encounter.  I can here it now, "Wow, do you know what God said to me last night at Genesis?"

My Prayer for this year, God may I live in such a way to bring all the glory to You.  May I be all about delivering your message in a way that brings glory to you and not to the messenger!  I am simply the cup that You fill up with Your Spirit and pour out.  Thanks for giving me this incredible privilege!  I love You! 

HISwill

God has been wrestling with my heart, or maybe I've been wrestling with God lately.  But either way, He's put a lot on my mind.  It is often very scary to me when I consider the greatness to which God calls us.  If God calls me to do something huge, who am I to refuse?  And, yet, who am I to do it at all?  Can I do it?  What if I fail?  As a pre-med student struggling with a desire to learn and to grow and a hunger to help people who are sick or hurt, I am often overwhelmed with God's calling for my life.  What if I score terribly on my MCATs?  What if no medical school wants me?  And, lately, as God has been pushing me forward and up, challenging me to grow and to develop, to learn and to strive, He has also been quietly whispering to my heart that everything will be OK.  And it will be alright, but not because I am smart or capable or wise.  But because God is beyond all of those things, and He is the one equipping and supporting and growing me.  It is about GOD, not about me.  That is the KEY!  At a conference I went to recently, a speaker proclaimed that if God has a plan, then it is His responsibility to see it carried out!  Wow-what a relief!  When I worry about my abilities, I am scared out of my mind of failure or inadequacy.  But my God is never inadequate.  He is never incapable or even afraid.  He IS, and in Him, all things are.  And through Him, His will is done.  No worries; no fears; no pitfalls.  He can do it.  And in Him, all things are possible for me, for His calling on my life.  And in Him, all things are possible for you.  No matter how grand His will for your life is, it can happen!! Don't let fear or self-dependency hold you back--go! Reach!  He can do it--just do your part and let Him!

God's Provision...

I was reading today about God's provision and it was really encouraging. Especially since I'm in the middle of preparing for small group. Let me show you what I mean... In Genesis 22:1-19 Abraham was directed by God to take his son Issac onto the top of the mountain to be offered to God as a burnt offering. As Abraham and his son walked up the mountain Issac asked his dad where was the lamb that they were supposed to bring with him to slay. And Abraham told him that God would provide a lamb for them. As Abraham laid his son on the altar and reached up in obedience to slay his son an Angel told him to stop. He passed the test of obedience. Abraham then looked behind him and saw a ram caught by his horns in a thicket. It was a replacement, and his son was saved. This is a crazy example of how God provides. I believe Abraham had so much faith from the start because in Hebrews 11:17-19, God tells Abraham that his seeds (descendants) would come through Issac. This was confusing to Abraham as God then told him to slay his son but he trusted that God would provide and that his son could even be risen from the dead if needed. Abraham had no idea what God was going to do (the process) or even why, but he had the right concept(obedience and faith) that God would provide. And he was blessed because of it!

This story and idea of provision really struck me while thinking about small group. I have no idea whats to come in the fall! I don't have everything planned out detail by detail. And that's okay! Believe me, the human side of me wants to! Just like Abraham I don't know the process of whats to come but I am trying to have faith. I'm learning that I don't need to know every detail because God's ways aren't my ways and he could do something amazing and unexpected. It's just a matter of having faith and knowing he will provide! Maybe by having faith, God will provide for me with girls to influence, awesome ideas to share, and huge growth! Who knows.....I'm trusting in him.

up with the roosters!

WoW! so the church i work for has a prayer group that any of the members or staff can attend at 6:00 am Wednesday morning. My fellow staff members rag me because i struggle to make it but what they don't realize is that i am there in spirit every Wednesday morning. It's not my fault if they cannot sense me through the spirit that moves through the group. LOL. But, this morning I went to the meeting (Like actually, not just in spirit). Anybody that really knows me understands that mornings are a tough time to get me to do anything. This morning was cool though. Although I am tired and somewhat drowsy it is awesome to be up and talking to God. It's also cool because my soul intention was to wake up and encounter God. There really aren't too many other things that can get me up this early. But to be honest it was awesome. I encounter God often, but sometimes it seems like it's planned on my schedule. How often do I encounter God when he calls on me rather me calling on him? I don't know it's just some random thoughts i had during the wee hours of the morning......

being real

So lately I've been thinking more and more about reflecting the character and glory of God.  We are His people, His children, His bride.  And Genesis 1:27 says, "so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." This thought blows me away! I am made in God's image.  This is so amazing, and at the same time, it is a huge responsibility.  If I am MADE to shine like God Himself that means I need to be living like Him, looking at the world and other people as He does.  My body is not the only thing made in His image; my heart and my mind are made to reflect Him as well!  And the most amazing thing happens when we start realizing this truth:  we become REAL.  And the Christian faith desperately needs real people.  I truly and passionately believe that the more REAL we are, the more REAL God Himself will become to those we encounter.  Christians too often live for themselves, overlooking God's plans and God's people.  When we live as we were created to live, putting God first and others second, loving above all, reflecting who God REALLY is, God is glorified and we are blessed!

Manna...

(Numbers 11:1-17)
Moses had just saved the Israelites and taken them out of captivity in Egypt. Women, me and children became hungry and there was little food. Even though they had manna (like coriander seed-tasted like wafers made with honey) they still complained to Moses. They were craving the food back in Egypt. This was cool because God was giving them just enough to where they would really depend upon him. He was trying to humble them and test them. I love this part Kelly Minter says, " God uses scarcity in our lives to draw us to dependency on Himself". And this is what he did with the Israelites yet they were still complaining. In Numbers 11:5 The Israelites said back in Egypt they had an abundance of food "at no cost". As we can see this isn't true because back in Egypt they were slaves for 470 years. Their babies were killed, and hard labor was ridiculous. This concept they had about food being "at no cost" was just silly. I think this story plays out in our lives. For example, when we are going through recovery from a tough situation. We are trying to get back on track with God and he is giving us just enough for strength and just enough for us to still depend upon him. Although we still have a hard time letting go. We remember those moments "at no cost" and forget about the price we paid for them(hurt, regret,sin,shame..). I liked this story because there was two points. First- sometimes God puts us in situations to depend upon him and not on ourselves. And two- God wants to take us out from captivity from the things holding us back from him. You see God wants us to rely on him, but he's not going to force it. It's up to us if we are going to demand for more from God or just stick with what he gave us. When we think about it this way, manna doesn't sound that bad. Cool thought!

48 Hours of Prayer

This comes from the 24-7 prayer web site - IT IS MY HOPE FOR US!!!!

The Vision

So this guy comes up to me and says "what's the vision? What's the big idea?" I open my mouth and words come out like this… 
The vision?

The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.

You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.

They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.
They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn't even notice.
They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.
They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport.. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.
What is the vision ?
The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games. 
This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day its soldiers

choose to loose
that they might one day win
the great 'Well done' of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don't need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: "COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground
The whisper of history in the making
Foundations shaking
Revolutionaries dreaming once again
Mystery is scheming in whispers
Conspiracy is breathing…
This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.

Young people who beat their bodies into submission.

Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms. 
The tattoo on their back boasts "for me to live is Christ and to die is gain".

Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them ? 
Can hormones hold them back?
Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays

like a dying man
with groans beyond talking,
with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and
with great barrow loads of laughter!
Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.

Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive

inside.

On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide. 
Would they surrender their image or their popularity? 
They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,

they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)
Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus. 
Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.
Don't you hear them coming? 
Herald the weirdo's! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes. They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon.
How do I know? Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D. And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great 'Amen!' from countless angels, from hero's of the faith, from Christ himself. And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.

Guaranteed.

Chain Reaction

What is the result of obedience?
I have been reading down the lineage of Abraham and i think i have seen the result of obedience. Because of Abraham's obedience to God his son was spared and would later be blessed out the WAZOO!!! (yea i said wazoo). And even later it goes on to bless his grand children all because his willingness to trust God with his life.

I have been thinking about this Generation effect that Abraham caused by his own obedience to God. It's kind of like a chain reaction. If i can live my life trusting God than maybe those who i influence the most will live there lives trusting God. Maybe my life will be blessed and as a result the people around me be blessed. I know it seems like a crazy thought, but really it makes since. I don't know its just something i have been thinking about lately and wanted to doodle about it a little bit...... HOLLA!!!