The Finish Line!

We start running our race through life, as Christians, to make it to our forever home in Heaven scenario versus the infamous death crawl scene in the "Facing the Giants" movie. A movie about faith and trusting God to do the impossible for you and for others.

Scene plays out like this:

God: Keep your knees off the ground, use your hands and feet... there you go, there you go, show me good effort. Way to go, keep moving, there you go, it is a good start, just a little bit left on your goal. There you go! Good strength, that's it, that's it!

Us: Am I at the 20 yet?

God: Forget the 20, you give me your best, you keep going that's it!

***we stop***

God: Don't stop, you've got more in you than that!

Us: I'm not done... just resting a second!

God: You gotta keep moving, let's keep moving, don't quit until you got nothing left!

***we continue on our journey***

God: There you go keep moving, keep moving, keep moving, that's it you keep driving, keep your knees off the ground! Keep driving it. Your very best, your very best, your very best! Keep moving; that's it! That's it! That's it! Keep going, don't quit on me, keep going! Keep driving it! Keep your knees off the ground! That's it; your very best don't quit on me! Your very best, keep going, keep going! There you go, there you go! That's it you keep going! Don't quit until you got nothing left!

***we keep moving, but it starts to get hard when trials come our way***

God: Keep moving, that's it... that's it... that's it! Keep going! I want everything you got, come on keep going.

Us: It hurts!

God: Don't quit on me! Your very best, keep going! Keep going! There you go... there you go!

Us: It's heavy!

God: I know!

Us: I'm losing strength!

God: Than you need to negotiate with your body to find more strength, but don't you give up on me, you keep going you hear me, you keep going... you're doing good, you keep going! Do not quit on me... you keep going!

Us: It hurts!

God: I know it hurts, but you keep going! You keep going! It's all heart from here! 30 more steps! You keep going! Come on! Keep going!

Us: It's too hard!

God: It's not too hard! You keep going! Come on! Give me more! Give me more! Keep going! 20 more steps! 20 more! Keep going! Give me your best! Don't quit! No! Keep going! Keep going! Keep going! Don't quit! Don't quit! Don't quit! You don't quit! Keep going!

Us: It hurts!

God: Keep going! Go! You don't quit on me! No, you keep going! You keep going! No! 10 more steps! 10 more!

Us: AH!

God: 10 more , just 10 more steps, keep going! Don't quit! Give me more!

Us: I can't do it!

God: You can! 5 more steps! 5 more! Come on! Don't quit! Don't quit! Come on! 2 more steps! 1 more step!

***we finally make it home***

IF YOU DON'T QUIT, GOD WON'T QUIT! KEEP GOING! KEEP MOVING! KEEP BELIEVING! KEEP TRUSTING! KEEP PRAYING! KEEP SEEKING! KEEP THE FAITH! ♡

The ONE!

I don't have it all together, I just know the ONE Who does! I don't put my hope in the situation, but in the ONE Who is in control of the situation! #GodIsTheONE

Confidence Approach!

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to HIS will, He hears us." 1 John 5:14

God is always present in times of joy and struggle. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He is always in control. Life with Him is a journey of hope, satisfaction, and meaning. May we all be pleasing servants to our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Runs to the Mess!

Wednesday night youth class. After our lesson time, etc. there are some weeks I like to include a game or activity but tie it in with a way to leave them with something to think about that went along with the lesson or just biblical based. Tonight we reached our "pie face" game challenge week (but this will be a repeat game for sure, although next time we will try not to go so overboard with the whipped cream, we had it everywhere lol and emptied the whole can; it was messy)...just like last week's challenge they get excited about doing it but then nervousness sets in when it is time cause they realized they are about to be hit in the face with whip cream but don't know when it is going to happen. You spin the wheel to see how many times you have to turn the handle and you never know when the hand will pop up to hit you in the face with the whipped cream. Though they had fun, they all agreed how much better they felt when the paper towels were used to clean everything up.

Life sure gets messy and things hit us in the face, so to speak, without warning. Death, financial struggles, health issues, school issues, relationship issues, doubt, fear, ridicule, temptations, fleshly moments etc. Jesus is not afraid of our mess. He wants to be in it with us and help us in the midst of whatever we are facing. The truth of the Gospel is that God stepped into our messy world to save us and set us free, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness for His namesake. Jesus runs to the mess. Life is messy, sometimes overwhelmingly so. Our lives don’t often end up neatly packaged and orderly. We have an idea of what a perfect day looks like and strive toward it, but we never reach it because a perfect day is not reality. Part of living in contentment is understanding that our lives are messy, busy, and sometimes chaotic. The reason our lives are messy is that we are messy and sometimes hurting or broken. Jesus wants us to live in freedom. He wants us to trust Him with the mess of our broken past, the mess we have made by our own sin, and the mess that comes from living in a broken world. ♡

Putting Faith into Action!

Have you ever heard the Parable of the Two Farmers? Don’t go looking in your Bible, you will not find it there. However to its credit, it did show up in one of my favorite movies, Facing the Giants, which I am currently going through a summer youth bible study at the church where I am the youth leader. It goes like this: 

There were two farmers who desperately needed rain, and both of them prayed for rain. But only one of them went out and prepared his fields to receive it. Which one do you think trusted God to send the rain? The answer: the one who prepared his fields.

This is not a Bible story but a simple illustration that conveys a complex thing. You do not always realize it, but you are one of those farmers praying for rain. Each of us have a respective field: work, finances, family life, school, friendships, etc. Or like I discussed with my students in class... one has a summer job, one takes piano lessons, one is in choir class, one plays volleyball, one is in band camp... even as youth or adults, we aren't farmers, but we must put our faith in action so God can bless us to learn in whatever area we are placed in. I have to prepare to teach class each week and practice and prepare the music as the church piano player. We cannot just show up having not practiced or studied for a test and expect to just have the rain fall in our favor, so to speak. We have to put time and effort, commitment and dedication into what we are doing.

We can seem spiritual enough through prayer, but how do we respond with our faith? We find ourselves in predicaments desperately needing rain on the fields of life. Although He could, God does not always let it rain immediately. Sometimes though, it is more of a process than a plan. In a world where we can optimize so much in our lives, we crave specifics. We get leveled by the world’s pressure to find and do what we are “good at” so that we can be useful. This produces hard questions. “Am I where I’m supposed to be?” or “What are we going to do?” Maybe even, “Am I good enough?”

We default to the doctrine of Jeremiah 29:11 so often in Christian culture. “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper…not harm you…give you hope and future’.” It is a marquee verse and rightfully so, but we can miss the point in Jeremiah. By including this in His Word, God is not promising some dramatic revelation of our precise calling. He is promising hope for us–His people.

At some point, we do step into a specific role God designed for us, but the point is to walk with Him. It is here we find real identity. Like the farmer who prayed and prepared, it is important for us to assume a posture of active waiting. One truth we can lean on is that God is closest to the broken.

We can assume two things: God wants us to be close to us, and He wants us to be people of action, even when we are in waiting.

Paul wrote to Philemon from prison telling Philemon to “prepare a room” for him, confidently trusting in Philemon’s prayers for his release. If you ask for rain, prepare for rain. James later writes that we should ask God faithfully for wisdom and depicts anyone who doubts as a “wave tossed by the wind.”

Let us recognize and rejoice in the cross in all this.

Hebrews describes Jesus as the “author and perfecter of our faith.” He endured agony, especially in the waning stages of His life on Earth, seeing a perfect joy for all, surpassing anything else. Remember Gethsemane. Even Christ wanted God to act swiftly and help him escape the suffering of the Cross. But we can celebrate that Christ made it possible for us to be with God.

You can trust two more things: God hears us and God moves on time.

Preparing for Rain!

As we continue are Wednesday night youth bible study on Facing the Giants, our 2nd study was about preparing for rain and studying through Hebrews chapter 11, which is known as the FAITH chapter. It mentions people from previous books in the old testament who put their faith in action.

In the movie scene when Mr. Bridges (the older gentlemen who had been seen in the school praying over the lockers) came in to encourage Coach Taylor to stay with the football program in the middle of the school considering hiring a new coach, because the team had a 6 season losing streak and continuing towards another losing season. Mr. Bridges told Coach Taylor a story about two farmers who desperately needed rain. He said that both farmers prayed for rain, but only one farmer went out and prepared his fields to receive it. Then Mr. Bridges asked, “Which one had more faith?” His final words to Coach Taylor were, “God will send the rain when He is ready. You need to prepare your field to receive it.”

Wow! That quote gets me right in the chest! God is in control and He will send the rain when He  is ready but are we ready to receive it? Believe me – I know what it is to want something so badly that your heart feels swollen and bruised. It’s easy to throw your hands in the air, curl up into a ball, and tearfully asking God why your heart’s desires have not been fulfilled – especially when you see His blessings falling on the lives of others. I have been there, many times; but, here’s what I’ve been shown lately. Ultimately, all that matters in this life is that we are serving the Lord with our whole hearts. This earthly life is short. The struggles we face here cannot compare with the awesomeness of Heaven (Romans 8:18). He loves His children. He wants good gifts for His children, but He will send them when He’s ready. We have to prepare our fields (i.e., hearts and lives) to receive them.

GOD wants to bless His children, but He also needs to be first in your life. Ask God to make His desires your desires. Ask Him to rework your priorities. When His desires fill us, we have more joy, more purpose, and less time to feel sorry for ourselves. Grace be with you, friends, as you prepare your fields for rain!

Facing the Giants!

As I embarked on my new season of ministry as youth leader in May 2018, after our kickoff to our new Wednesday night youth class and summer bible study series, this is what I shared with the adults to pray about: Sure there will be fun activities and outings to come, but I pray we help each other grow in the Lord. This journey is about chosing faith over fear and failure. Knowing there are prayers of others going on behind the scenes, that are NOT in vain. When school starts back, our youth may face "giants” of moving from elementary school, to middle school, or to high school. Also, I think of the students who are finishing high school or college and now face life decisions of jobs, careers, and additional study and training. Some will leave home for the first time, facing the “giants” of making personal choices and decisions that will affect them for years to come. We must be in special prayer for the youth as they face the “giants” of life and daily living. We, as adults, are in a position to be a positive Christian influence and source of encouragement to these youth as we face the "giants" together.

"Facing the Giants”. This Christian movie is about a high school football coach who goes through some hard times – both personally and professionally – and then decides to hand it all over to God. After praying, this is the first bible study I knew I wanted to embark on as youth leader at New life Assembly of God, for our Wednesday night youth class.

* Have you ever felt you were doing the death crawl? I know that I have – it is when you have exhausted every fiber of your being, lose hope, and want to quit. Do you ever feel that you are at your absolute limits? That your trials are getting heavier and heavier with every weight or trial added to you? The scene that impacted the students the most, after we took a few weeks to watch the movie, was the death crawl scene. This week was the start of our break down studies and the movie clip we used to discuss wholehearted devotion to God. Death Crawl: The team had been losing and they knew nothing would change. Coach Taylor noticed their losing attitude and especially in the team captain Brock. Coach Taylor decided to make Brock do the death crawl. *

To do the death crawl the person must carry a player on his back while moving forward on his hands and feet. The person with the heavy load cannot allow his knees to touch the ground. Coach Taylor took this exercise one step further and blindfolded Brock so he could not see how far he had to go, become overwhelmed, and give up. While blindfolded, Brock, took each step it became even harder and the load became even heavier. Sound familiar with your trials? The coach sensing Brock wanting to quit, get’s down on his hands and knees, and continually yells out “don’t quit”! “You can do this”! “Ten more steps Brock!” ”Five more steps”! “Don’t quit Brock!” “You can do this;” Coach Taylor continued to yell out! When Brock could no longer go, he collapsed with the 160 pound team mate on his back!  When Brock looked up Coach Taylor told him he had just done the death crawl 100 yards! The coach only asked him to go 50 yards but knew he could do more! So what does football and the death crawl have to do with the trials we have to carry! A lot! God knows that you have a lot more endurance in you than you think. Just like Coach Taylor’s belief in Brock.

1. Don’t Quit! (we had 2 students who were  encouragers and one student who tried the death crawl several times as she didn't want to quit). No matter how hard, no matter how hopeless we cannot quit! The movie scene sends out a huge message to not quit, even when everything seems all uphill while riding a bicycle, or, like doing a death crawl.

2. We need encouragement while doing the death crawl. (So we later did a role play of God encouraging us with 2 of the students). Ask for encouragement when your load is so heavy and you can’t go any further. What got Brock through this death crawl was his coach’s encouragement. We all need a cheerleader to encourage us along the way. Ask God for encouragement. God is our biggest cheerleader. God is nearer to us when we hurt, and when we are suffering.

Psalms 34:18 - “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Psalms 46:1-2 -“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.”

Psalms 48:14 - “For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.”

Psalms 55:22 - “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.”

3. Be willing to carry your brother or sister on your back while they struggle. * The death crawl is also an example of someone carrying someone else on their back as Brock did with the 160 pound teammate on his back. Do all you can to help those who are going through horrific trials. Encourage them as coach Taylor did to Brock. You may even have to carry them for awhile by listening, praying for them, and just being there. We are encouraged in Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.”

The losing underdog team, in “Facing the Giants”, the Eagles, went on to become champions because they did not quit when it seemed so hopeless. The beat the team whose mascot was the giants.

Isaiah 40:28-31 - “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even YOUTHS grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like EAGLES; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

You too will be a champion if you just keep going, especially while you are doing the death crawl. Don’t forget your source of help and strength: God.

Now that we've finished watching the Facing the Giants movie on Wednesday nights, I am moving into the individual studies for the movie. Study #1 was "Wholehearted" devotion study or apathy vs. excellence. I love the youths willingness and excitement to try the death crawl, and I loved even more that they understood the reasoning behind it... how it is a perfect example for us to give our all and best when serving God, and not quitting when it gets hard. After a few tries they realized just how hard it was but wanted to keep trying, we even had to get 3 year old out of the nursery and in on the excitement, and he was happy to participate. Looking forward to the rest of our summer studies and activities. Thankful that God answered the prayers of more than just one, by putting me in a youth leader ministry position when His timing was perfect and ready and He knew I was ready... everything before this season was but preparation! ♡ #summer2018 #newlifeassembly #youthleader #youthbiblestudy #somefuntoo #newFaith #ministryFlow #Iwannamakeadifference #learningandgrowingInChrist #wholehearteddevotion