A Fish Named Grace

I mentioned briefly in my last post that a couple of my siblings and friends and I went to a conference in Atlanta, Georgia from December 27st to the 31st. It was truly amazing! I first went to one of Impact's National conferences by myself in 2008, and it was INCREDIBLE. To be able to share it with friends and family this time was truly awesome.

Believers worshiping the Lord at the Impact 2010 conference.
Photo courtesy of the Impact Movement.

The mission of the Impact Movement is to reach the college campus, community, and world by producing leaders of African descent who are spiritually focused, financially responsible, and morally fit. At first, I struggled with being part of a group whose focus was on one main ethnic group, so I really sought the Lord regarding my involvement. As I saw the moral devastation of the black community, the doctrinal errancies being perpetuated in many of our churches, as well as the desperate need for leaders in my age range who are bold about our Lord, there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to get plugged into this group! This is the same group I went to South Africa with in 2010, by the way. I have grown leaps and bounds in my walk with the Lord since I first became involved with Impact my freshman year of college in 2007, and I am still involved with Impact on my campus now, even though I haven't been in school!

Priscilla Shirer
Photo courtesy of the Impact Movement

So yeah, there's my short little blurb about Impact, and they have conferences every other year (except this time they're having one at the end of the year, woohoo!). At this particular conference, a woman (no, she's not a pastor or anything like that, f.y.i. lol) named Priscilla Shirer spoke about the story of Jonah. Often when we think of the big fish that ate..er, swallowed? Jonah, we think of it as a punishment. However, as Priscilla explained, this fish was actually evidence of God's grace toward him! Here's the background: You've got this guy Jonah, who is commanded by God to go to Ninevah. The guy balks, and begins to high tail it to the furthest island known to man at the time. While on the boat, God sends this crazy big storm, and Jonah agrees to have the crew throw him overboard. Now this could easily be where Jonah's story ends. He wouldn't be playing man overboard if he had simply obeyed God, right? Seems like death by drowning would have been the natural consequence.

But then this fish come around and swallows Jonah whole. GULP, just like that. (At least I'm assuming, cuz I'm assuming if chomping were involved, Jonah would've been pretty injured!) And after a good little bit in the fish's belly, Jonah was coughed up/vomited/deposited (take your pick!) on dry land. Now this is amazing to me, just how God can show His grace in any NUMBER of ways, including a FISH! But to be honest, I haven't yet even told you the part that really gets me about this story! So let's rewind just a little to the beginning of the story...

**insert VCR rewinding noise here**

God gave Jonah orders, right? He commanded Jonah to go to Ninevah, and Jonah disobeyed. Let's fast-forward again... After the fish deposited Jonah on dry land, God's word, His command had not changed. He still wanted Jonah to go to Ninevah!

Photo courtesy of Google images

Now at this point, you either get where I'm going, or you're scratching your head and really want me to get to the point. But hang with me guys! So many times in our lives, especially around this time with it being the beginning of a new year and all, we set so many goals. We want to change this about our lives, lose weight, read our Bible more, pray more, evangelize more, figure out what God's will is for us. That's not necessarily bad, but what many (including myself, until recently) of us don't realize, is that we can be so busy trying to figure out our future and determine what new thing God wants to do in our lives when we never really allowed Him to accomplish the work in us that He was trying to do last year! Like Jonah, we run away, experience grace, but are still faced with the choice to obey the exact same command God gave us before we ran away.

So here's the ultimate question, guys. What's your year going to look like? Here's what mine is going to be like, starting from this point forward. I am fully engaging in each season of life, not rushing into the next. I am going to walk with the Lord daily, concerning myself with obeying the Spirit moment by moment. I'm going to obey the things the Lord told me to do last year that I simply refrained from doing out of fear or uncertainty or some other un-legitimate reason to disobey.

I've gotta tell you guys, I definitely have a fire right now, a huge passion to be used by the Lord in a greater capacity than ever before. Even today some situations have risen that I know God has a hand in! Remember Vibia Perpetua in my very first post? Well I definitely believe living life in this way is honoring to the Lord and is a life perpetua: abiding, lasting, and fulfilling!  I will definitely keep you posted on all that transpires throughout this time!

Are there any things in your life that God, through His Word and/or Holy Spirit has prompted you to do that you put off or ran away from completely? If so, what are those things and are you seeking to change that in 2011?

Looking forward to hearing from you guys!

A Life Poured Out

Tonight I was greatly blessed and moved by a blog I read about a ministry outreach to orphans in Uganda. Moved is actually an understatement. Heartbroken and nearly bawling my eyes out is slightly more accurate. As I read through different posts and saw various pictures, I really felt like I was getting a really good depiction of biblical womanhood:  a young woman who's life was being completely poured out as she let go of her own life in order to show the love of Jesus Christ. (Kinda makes me think of Vibia Perpetua...)

I was about to close the tab where the blog was located when I suddenly stopped. Would this be it for me? Would I be one of the people who sees the needs of those who Jesus had the greatest heart for, is temporarily moved by them, and then goes to sleep in my comfortable bed, forgetting the things I have seen? I hardly believe that I happened upon this blog by chance, especially now that I feel so burdened! So I've decided to not walk away pretending I haven't seen the things I've seen, read the things I've read. It's kinda crazy/funny (okay, not funny, but yeah) that I just got back from South Africa and was more moved by the needs on a screen than the ones that were right in front of me. Granted, I was in a totally different position then. Outside of working with the children in Nkanini  (which was both heartbreaking and an incredibly beautiful and exciting blessing) I was on college campuses day in and day out, ministering to students who looked just like me, living in a place, though on a different continent, that was totally Westernized. I wasn't that much out of my comfort zone.

Children from the township Nkanini, in the city of Khayalitsha in Cape Town, South Africa. Listening to a Bible lesson we shared with them. Note: They were fascinated by the cameras. :)

I believe that living a life in full surrender to Christ is to let go of the comforts and conveniences that this world offers, counting all as loss for the sake of the gospel of Jesus. That doesn't necessarily mean that God will send all of us to third world countries where sharing the gospel will be a daily risk to our lives. But who's to say that isn't what God has for us? So often we (yes, myself including) limit the plans God has for us simply because it isn't within our realm of comprehension. But why should it be? God is wayyy more than we can wrap our minds around, so of course His plans are too awesome for us to understand completely! Yet He uses us, sinful vessels, filling us up and pouring us out if only we'll allow Him to use us to the extent that He desires:  completely.

I don't know about you, but I don't want a life that I plan out myself. I don't want a life that keeps me comfortable. I don't want a life where I'm never stretched. I don't want "the good life" that is so consumed with my little world that I miss out on the best that God has planned for me, in order to further His kingdom! I know God has me where I am right now for a reason, so all I'm trying to do right now is PRAY for those that I don't have the ability to physically reach out to at this stage of my life, and to grow and take in all the lessons God is trying to teach me, so that when He calls me to move forward into whatever He wants me to be, I'll be as ready as He wants me to be.  I greatly encourage you guys to evaluate your life right now. Are you where you want to be, or where God wants you to be? His best is better than our will ever be, and I hope that you'll seek the Father for the incredible, fulfilling life He desires to give His children.

A Country A Month

I recently started receiving material in the mail from Voice of the Martyrs, an organization that supports persecuted churches in restricted and hostile nations all over the world. (click to see what the difference is between the two!) As I've probably said before on this blog, one of the Scriptures the Lord has laid heavy on my heart is Philippians 3:7-11:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (emphasis mine)

Remember Vibia Perpetua? She had this mindset, one of complete denial of self and of flesh, counting everything as loss, esteeming an intimate relationship with her Creator much more important and significant than anything in this temporal life. So with the Lord's guidance I've been trying doing the same thing by "daily dying", in the things say and don't say, do and don't do, watch and don't watch...you get the point! May not seem to be big things to most people, but I want to be a good steward of what God's doing in my life right now so He can continue using and growing me later! But anyways, back to Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). It's so incredibly mind-blowing to me that there are people across the world, believers to be specific, who are taking this Scripture to heart in ways I can hardly imagine. When Christians in these persecuted nations read I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, they mean it!! These people quite literally "share in the sufferings of Christ" through consistent persecution, and since refusal to denounce the name of Christ is, in many of these restricted nations, a death sentence, there are some who even "become like him in his death." 

I have a heart to share Christ with the world, but aside from sharing Him currently where I'm at, what else can I do? Think, think, think...ah! I can pray. (novel concept, huh?) One of the materials I received from VOM was a map showing all of the restricted and hostile nations in the world. I posted the map on the wall in my room and have decided to pray for a country a week. Last week I prayed for Columbia. For their government, for their economy, for the churches, pastors, believers, unbelievers, persecutors, children, parents, and more. This week I'll be praying for Chiapas, Mexico. Praying is the least I can do! I'd love to support financially, but I'm not in a position to do so. However, I realize that my Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and my prayers will be heard by the One Who's able to control all that is going on in these countries--for His glory!! If we aren't careful, we can forget the power that can be found in prayer. The Bible clearly tells us this in James 5: 

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (emphasis mine)

and this in Philippians 4:

 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (emphasis mine)

So let me get this straight. There are Christians, who I'll probably never see until heaven, all over the world who are suffering, under intense persecution (think beaten, tortured, abused, jailed, chained, etc.) boldly sharing the unwanted but needed truth of the gospel in places that I'll probably never go.They are desperately in need of support. Now add this: my God says that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective, and that I should present all my requests before Him. With all that being said, I don't plan on missing out on the great opportunity of lifting up these saints in prayer any longer! Not when God has promised to hear and respond! (This isn't to say their persecution will all out stop; it's clear in the Word that believers will face sufferings in this life! But God always knows how to provide for and look out for His own.) 


So anyways, I definitely encourage you guys to check out the VOM website and request some of their free material. It's always a good thing to see a world outside of our own (especially if the most we've seen of the world has been limited to the luxuries America offers!). There are believers, our brothers and sisters in Christ, people saved by grace through faith just like us, who are suffering persecutions for this very same faith - persecutions that we may never, ever experience! We should desire to edify these saints in whatever way we can, and it can all begin with interceding for them in prayer.

"My Life: Perpetua" ~ The Origins

Who knew that coming up with a title for this blog would be so difficult!! In addition to some ideas of my own, I asked several people what it should be, yet I still couldn't seem to decide on anything!! Alas, how frustrating. After taking a break from the back-breaking, mind-numbing (okay, maybe not that serious!) labor of trying to think up an amazing and catchy title, I began to think about women of faith who I look up to and respect because of their walk with God and testimony before Him. The first one who came to mind was Elisabeth Elliot. An amazing woman, but I wanted to think of someone else. That's when the Lord brought to my remembrance a young woman by the name of Vibia Perpetua.

Vibia Perpetua was a young woman who lived during the years of the early church, thought to be only in her early 20s. She had it all: upper class status, marriage to a high ranking man, a newborn baby, her whole life ahead of her! But this young woman had Someone in her life who made all of these seemingly significant details of none effect; that Someone was Jesus. She met her Savior and Lover of her soul, her King and her Lord, the One who showed her where real life is found. And when she found that new life in Christ, she gave her very life boldly proclaiming it, becoming a martyr who was viciously slain for refusing to deny Jesus Christ.

Whoa!! Let's back up here. So Perpetua was young? check. Married? check. Mother? check. High status? check. And a Christian? big check. One of my initial thoughts when reviewing all these details was that surely it wasn't necessary for her to..you know..die.. I mean, really God? She accepted You into her life; You gave her a husband, a child, she was prospering, and she had soo many years to live (well, apparently not...)! She could have told her persecuters that she'd settle down with all the "Jesus talk," and then continue living the way she was before. But at what cost would it have been?
This young woman, in her mere 20-some years on earth, realized something that what I (even after being saved for nearly ten years) am only now truly learning to do--to count as loss all things we hold dear for the sake of Christ and His cross!

So many times we--well, I'll speak for myself, I--will look at people like Perpetua and think things like, 'Wow, she's one of those rare few that God uses to really show a big, extreme faith!!' (emphasis on rare few and extreme). But isn't that what God desires of all of us who claim Him as Lord and Savior? I think about the passage in Mark 8, when Jesus basically tells His disciples, "Hey, if you're trying to follow Me, then you're going to have to deny yourselves!! 'Cause if you're trying to hold on to this temporal life, you're sure to lose life eternal, but if you proclaim Me and My good news, you'll surely save it!" Jesus goes on to explain the consequences for those who choose to deny Him before man here on earth.

Vibia Perpetua understood this, and was brutally martyred for her bold proclamation of the gospel. But it shouldn't be something we consider rare or extreme; God desires to use each and every one of us. We should be living sacrifices for Him (Rom.12.1)! No, not all of us may be called to literally be tortured and to die for Jesus. But if it came to that, would we be willing? Are we grateful enough for Jesus' sacrifice on the cross that we allow our own flesh to die daily, thus allowing ourselves to become fully consumed with Him in order to be continual testimonies of His redemption and grace? When I look at Perpetua, I realize that I don't desire a mediocre Christian life, one content to get spiritually fat, without exercising any spiritual muscle. I want to have a passion, a zeal for my Savior that's so great that I take Him at His Word, counting all things as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ! This is how I want my faith to be: perpetua (Latin)-unbroken, perpetual, lasting, and continuous in Him.