Need You Now

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

-Psalm 23:1-3

Most recently, I've found that I've been spiritually deprived. The lack of a home congregation in Massachusetts has bothered me, and I've been fixated more on grades than on what God's revealing to me through my classes. Though I've been leading a small service group, I haven't been spiritually leading, and I've let my friends down because of this. I asked God to provide me with time to just shut out everything that I've made an idol and to, instead, rejuvenate my [spiritual] life through focusing on Him.

This prayer He answered. Just not in the "conventional" way (i.e. spring break, a quiet Sabbath, etc.).

I have several medical issues. Three that recently decided to appear (or reappear) simultaneously the week before spring break. I was in such bad health that for the past couple weeks I did not have enough energy to leave my apartment (I could barely get up from my bed to get a glass of water). This, however, provided me with enough downtime for God to infiltrate the thoughts and actions that I previously removed from His influence.

He is good. He answers prayer, He displays His love, and He is always loyal. He loves us in the most unique ways, He always keeps us on our toes, and never allows us to ever have a dull moment. Though I once considered being healthy as a blessing, I found that being sick was what saved me.

Thank God for His power and sense of humor. Who would have ever assumed that two weeks in bed would have been two of the most blessed weeks of someone's life?

My Savior My God

My apologies for not updating my blog as I originally had planned--as I originally had promised.

There are times when I hear something so splendid, so blessed, so perfectly planted by God and instead of writing about them, I'll put them on a post-it and shove them to the side.

Those actions are wrong, and with prayer, they'll be corrected!

Here is what God is putting on my heart...

As of recent, I talked to my brother about God and His strength. Through God's infinite strength, He has been able to guide me in my finite understanding. For example, I was not a strong enough person to be as God intended for me to be while attending my first school, Ichabod Crane, so instead, God moved me to Loudonville Christian, where I was able to give my heart to Him and dedicate my life to loving Yeshua. My brother, on the other hand, needed Ichabod in order to learn endurance, perseverance, and overcome many of his own faults. Because of the two different schools we have built relations with people that have directly impacted our futures.

Though the entire conversation was "deep" (as described by my brother, Will), the part that stuck with me the most was when Will struggled with saying that it was God that got him through everything. William acknowledged that the word God is used by so many people, for so many reasons, that his God (or his personal relationship with God) was not being accurately described when he used the word "God" to describe what he knows to be True. "God" could mean everything and nothing to anyone who hears it.

How can we go about our day more fully understanding what we mean when we used the word "God"? How can we revive the understanding of the true, infinite, and sacrificial Lord? Do we understand what we're saying when we throw around words such as "Elohim," "Jehovah," "Lord," "Father," "Jesus/Yeshua"?

What does God mean to you? Is there just one truth and one understanding behind the word God, or are there different meanings and realities for one spiritual Truth?

Challenge yourself today by understanding what God means, who God is, and how He affects/has affected you.

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

1 Corinthians 8:6

One Day

My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight

Psalm 3:1-6

Club DTO, composed of Gordon and other college students, is up and running :)

This year we will be working at Salem Cyberspace, a place where children of immigrant families can congregate for community processing and computer access. Different tutoring options are available, as well as the opportunity to take a variety of classes (at the volunteers' discretion).

In order to start off our partnership with Salem Cyberspace, I was sent as the Gordon representative/OT leader. On my way to a place that I have never been, in a car that I have never driven in (that is owned by Gordon), I ran into plenty-a-problem.

First off, a person hit my car after being on the road for 5 minutes.

Second, my directions were wrong.

Third, as assumed by my second point, I got lost.

By this time, I was on the phone with my boss from Gordon for the fourth time in less than thirty minutes.

What she reminded me is that sometimes the journey may become long, but don't get discouraged by the journey, itself. Instead, stay focused on the path that God has created, for in the end, it can only lead to Him.

>>Truth.

I eventually got there. The meeting went well.

Can't wait to see what God's got planned for us in the near future :)

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

Deuteronomy 8:2

Awe-Struck

Domenico Feti's Ecce Homo

(in English)

"All this I did for you, what are you doing for Me?"

Worlds Apart

MISSIONARY OF THE MOMENT:

WILLIAM BORDEN (OF YALE)

"No reserves. No retreats. No regrets."

(the following passage is not my own, and has been borrowed from course documents in the class, "Foundations for Global Christianity 215," of Gordon College)

Yale graduate and heir to great wealth, rejected a life of ease in order to bring the gospel to Muslims. Refusing even to buy himself a car, Borden gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to missions. In 1912, he joined China Inland Mission. He sailed first to Cairo, Egypt to study Arabic. After only four months of zealous ministry in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis and died at the age of twenty-five. The epitaph on Borden's grave, after describing his love and sacrifices for the kingdom of God and for Muslim people, ends with "Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life."

When You Say Nothing At All

It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.

3 John 1:3

http://www.toms.com/blog/content/voice-change

Sometimes being God's children means that we literally have to

walk in faith.

My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; the one whose walk is blameless will minister to me.

Psalm 101:6

Living Prayer

you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:5

Living Prayers in my life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLZAWtdFhio&feature=related

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Romans 12:1