REST

"You make known to me

 the path of life;

in Your presence there is

 fullness of joy;

 at Your right hand are

pleasures forevermore."

   (Psalm 16:11)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

 in all your ways acknowledge Him,

    and He will direct your paths."

 (Proverbs 3:5-6)

*Learning to Rest is Learning to Trust*

______________________________________________________
Update 9/30/12: Here are the words I left unwritten from this post...


"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)

So through different events at the beginning of this year and before that, God was showing me that I had turned into a Martha and He was calling me to become a Mary (who I used to be). I don't want to repeat myself much so you can go check out these related posts: Trust/Love Issues anyone? (A Call to Abide), Remember, Just Be, The Present, The Desert.

For a summary, my relationship with God was not okay as well as other areas of my life but I kept moving on with my routine (leadership with InterVarsity and school. Trying to balance the two). I remember one time during Common Ground I went to get prayer in the back from Paul and when I told himthat I wasn't doing good with God he told me, "But you're a leader..." He was surprised and I knew why. That's the view people had of me. ♫ On the outside you think I'm alright. There's a smile on my face, everything's okay. But on the inside there's a different story... ♫ (song below) I became like the rabbit on the right. My sophomore year I was co-leading a freshman bible study, family prayer meeting, the black csame group and I organized a school wide event mostly by myself (The Black Church Experience) and trying to keep up with being a Bio major. So yeah, on the outside it seemed like I was doing great with God since I was doing all that stuff for Him but beneath the surface my carrot was tiny. I knew this for sure but most people couldn't tell because they usually judge by external appearances. But I knew that I wasn't doing good with God. My identity was not firmly rooted in Him (kinda like in the vision that Paul had of me as a plant in the post: My Voice). And I became too caught up with being a Martha (doing work for God) to deal with my identity crisis... until things started falling apart and God used that to get my attention so that I can put first things first: my relationship with Him. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.

Friendship with God

So I finally left leadership after the Fall. In the Winter I was set on seeking God and finding my identity in Him so I also withdrew from Common Ground for a while (I talk about this in the "Remember" post). During that time of being by myself and in the Word, God was reminding me of His identity as my loving Father and my identity in Him as His daughter. He was also restoring to me joy and peace which I was really yearning for (posts: Just Be and The Present). And He started giving me gifts to share with people, Wisdom through His Spirit and His Word. Read the verses at the top of this post again. So yeah, He was just reminding me that it's all about my relationship with Him. Everything else flows from that ("Ministry flows from being"). So my focus should always be on Him. When I focus on Him I find my identity in Him; when I seek His presence I find all that I need (love, joy, peace, strength...) which is too good to keep to myself so I wanna share it with others (ministry). So this is what He meant by working from a place of rest (post: Trust/Love Issues anyone?) And the opposite of what I was doing (Martha me). My focus was on the work: "I have no peace and joy but I'll keep doing these things for God. I'll make this sacrifice for His Kingdom." This seems nice and sacrificial but it was the WRONG approach. God doesn't tell us to sacrifice our relationship with Him "for His Kingdom" What's His Kingdom about in the first place? "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17) And in 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 Paul tells us, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." Which is the same message Jesus gave Mary and Martha, "but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

So yeah, Jesus was reminding me that He just wants to be my friend (like a real friend). To hang out with me all the time. And because He is God He knows everything so He doesn't want me to aimlessly do stuff for Him and wear myself out. He wants to direct my paths so I need to stop worrying and choose to listen to Him. (post: My G.P.S) He wants me to do stuff with Him. That doesn't mean that everything will be easy. Storms will come but He promises to be with us even in the storm so we can find rest in Him even in the storm. Listen to the first song I posted: "Alone in His presence"."No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends"- Love Jesus. Isn't that amazing??!! Jesus calls us His friends!! HaHaHa! =)

God, thanks for teaching me all this stuff. Help me to fix my eyes on You always. It's easy to take my eyes off you to focus "on the work" or on the storm which brings weariness. And it's easy to try and find rest in the world (say facebook, or movies, or silly unimportant things) or in people or even in myself but I've realized that's not finding rest; it's actually falling asleep. But I want to be awake and alert and at rest in You always so yeah, fill me up with more of Your presence. Thanks for calling me your friend! Help us all to apply this message and to be good friends with You coz that's all that matters at the end of the day. We love You Jesus! Thanks for loving us and sending a friend request in the most awesome way: laying Your life down for us even when we were Your enemies. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 <3 :)

Chasing

"My heart says of You, “Seek His face!”
 Your face, LORD, I will seek." (Psalm 27: 8)

Lord You have my heart
And I will search for Yours
Jesus take my life and lead me on
Lord You have my heart
And I will search for Yours
Let me be to You a sacrifice
And I will praise You Lord

I will praise You Lord
And I will sing of love come down
I will sing of love come down
And as you show Your face
Show Your face
We'll see Your glory here
(Delirious)

My nephew Trevor and I. Haha he's so cute! =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"All of this is meaningless, a chasing after the wind."

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." ~Jesus :) (Matthew 6: 25-34)

"Whoever pursues righteousness and love will find

 life, righteousness, and honor." (Proverbs 21: 21)

*MORE OF YOU*

 Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth

     for Your Love is more delightful than wine. 

                    Pleasing is the fragrance of Your perfumes; 
                            Your Name is like perfume poured out. 

             No wonder the young women love You! 

                        Take me away with You—let us hurry! 

                                        Let The King bring me into His chambers.

                                                               (Song of Solomon 1: 2-3)

"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You; I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You,

 in a dry and parched land where there is no water." (Psalm 63:1)

"You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing." (Psalm 145: 16)

" Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3: 20-21) =)

*God is Love. I was made for love. All I want in this life is love. Therefore all I want is God. Intimacy with God, first and foremost, then with others (things just flow if I seek God first). Sweet Fellowship. That's what I crave. Check out: Rooted in love.

♥ Intimacy ♥

Hide me now

Under Your wings

Cover me

within Your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar

I will soar with You above the storm

Father You are King over the flood

I will be still and know You are God

Find rest my soul

In Christ alone 

 Know His Power

In quietness and trust

("Still" by Hillsong)

_______________________________________________________________

"You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." -God. (Jeremiah 29:13)

"My heart says of You, “Seek His face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek." (Psalm 27: 8)

 "...Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you... " (Read all of James 4- The Cost of Intimacy. "I am jealous for you! I'm after your whole being" -God)

"My Son died and the veil was torn so that you can find rest in My presence. Now, enter into this rest. Just come as you are" -God. (Read all of Hebrews 4- Enter in.)

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”- Jesus. (Matthew 11:28-30)

"One thing I ask from the LORD, 

   this only do I seek: 

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD 

   all the days of my life, 

to gaze on the beauty of the LORD 

   and to seek Him in His temple. 

For in the day of trouble 

   he will keep me safe in his dwelling; 

he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent 

   and set me high upon a rock."

(Psalm 27: 4-5)

My GPS :-)

Hello everyone :)

At the beginning of this year I was really worried about my future and stressed about the present since I didn't know what I was meant to do to prepare for something I wasn't sure of. Then Jesus told me: "Girl, don't stress...

Yeah I know that you don't know where you are going or what's coming up the bend and I'm not mean, it actually hurts me to see you grope along the way and sometimes crash into walls. 

So let me direct your attention to the left over there. What's that? Yup, I have given you a GPS so I don't want you to park somewhere waiting to receive all the answers about your future before you can move on. I want you to move on so that the GPS I have given you can work. So venture boldly into the unknown because you have a GPS that knows. Wait a minute! that actually means that you have to activate the GPS first then listen to it , trust that it will get you to the desired destination that I have programmed for you and then actually follow the directions it will give you.

 So each day as you journey on you have the choice to activate the GPS and to follow the directions it gives or you can decide not to. If you decide not to then you are choosing to trust yourself. Please don't do that because it's dumb lol (but for real, you just told me that you don't know the future so choosing to trust yourself is choosing to trust ignorance which will lead to you getting lost and crashing into things. So that would be setting yourself up for failure). Speaking about failure, the word 'failure' does not exist in the GPS manual as long as you have activated it and have decided to follow it's directions. Yes you may get distracted from time to time and hence fail to hear some instructions and you may have taken a wrong turn somewhere. But no need to worry! The beautiful thing about having a GPS is that it recalculates and sets you back on the right track to reach your destination. 

Yes the destination I have programmed for you is AWESOME! but I want you to enjoy the journey as well that's why I have given you this free gift, this GPS so that you can stop worrying, stressing, wandering around aimlessly, crashing into things and getting stuck in traffic- all of this will wear you out and even prevent you from reaching the destination. This GPS is not ordinary, its special! When you first start using it you will be on manual drive (you'll probably be switching off between trusting yourself and following the GPS) but when you actually decide to follow only the GPS then auto-drive will be activated, the GPS will drive for you and all you have to do is rest and enjoy the view. So yeah, take this gift, activate it and follow it please, for your own good. Peace!" :)
____________________________________________________________________________________

*GPS= God's Powerful Spirit aka Holy Spirit

Huh? Who? What? Where?Why? How?
 "The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him (Jesus)— 
   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, 
   the Spirit of counsel and of might, 
   the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD— 
 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
   He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, 
   or decide by what he hears with his ears
but with righteousness..." (Isaiah 11:2-4)

"If you love me (Jesus), keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate (Counsellor / Helper) to help you and be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14: 15-18)

"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14: 25-27)

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30: 21)

_________________________________________________________________________________

Practicals

A. Are you driving on the wrong streets? Time to make a U-turn into the Jesus freeway =)
Check out this song by Alisa they came to perform at the Black Church Experience we had in '10 (thanks guys! for blessing us with the powerful gifts that the Holy Spirit has graced you with =).

B.Jesus is saying: Let me be your wings.... "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but they who wait for 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." (Isaiah 40: 30-31)

"Fly with me and I will be your wings"

1. Read the Bible- Anytime. Anywhere. You could try reading it right before you study. It usually gives me peace which helps me focus more when I'm studying and reminds me that the Holy Spirit is with me as I study and is there to help me and to guide me into all truth. Also, we all deal with emotional drama everyday (stress, anger, confusion, discouragement, worry etc) and that's the time that you least feel like reading the Bible but grab it anyway and turn to any random Psalm and it will set you straight =)

2. Pray- God is everywhere around us and also in us (just believe Jesus and He will be) so talk to Him anywhere, at anytime about anything and everything :) He wants to give you His peace (doesn't depend on your circumstances) and wisdom. And yeah, He just wants to hang out with you and be involved in each area of your life so let's stop ignoring Him. Let's acknowledge Him (pray) for He is always with us :)

"Leave behind the world you know for another world of wondrous things"

3. Ask. Stop being afraid of the Holy Spirit. He is pretty cool! Have you read the Bible? The Book of Acts? The followers of Jesus were having a blast walking by the Spirit and doing "crazy things" like Jesus said they would ( John 16:12).

 *So Trust God and Ask for the Holy Spirit to fill you- Yes He lives in you from the moment you believe and give your life to Jesus but He also wants to fill you (take control/ be more involved in every part of our life) so we have to lose control and for that to happen we have to trust God.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11: 9-13)

* Wanna read about my Holy Spirit filling experience? Check out: Holy Spirit Downpour at Prefall. (You don't have to have the exact same experience as me to be filled by the Spirit just do what Jesus says that's the whole point for all of us. Let's surrender more and more until we surrender our all to Him :)

K, this one was for individual application and I'll publish another one later for corporate application. God showed me that this message is not just for myself so look out for "The Desert" post (coming soon!). Peace! =)

Prayer meetings:

1. Family prayer led by me and the family prayer gang- Wednesday at 1pm Storke Plaza.

2. Racial Reconciliation prayer led by Lissah and Shayne- Fridays at 1pm ?

3. Yours- day? time? :)

4. Prayer and Prophecy- Monday nights (anytime between 7-10pm) at the prayer shed on DP

*Video Clip: Check out this interview with Pastor Guillermo Maldonado. He talks about how Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever and His promises to His followers are still true today. Check out how revival is spreading like a wildfire in places where people take Jesus at His Word. Miracles still happen! Jesus is so cool! hahaha =) And there are miracles happening right here in IV. Check this out: Jesus Loves IV.

Spring Rains

Listen! My Beloved! 
Look! Here He comes, 
leaping across the mountains, 
bounding over the hills. 
My Beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. 

Look! There He stands behind our wall, 
gazing through the windows, 
peering through the lattice. My Beloved spoke and said to me, 
“Arise, my darling, 
my beautiful one, come with me. 
Behold! The winter is past; 
the rains are over and gone. 
Flowers appear on the earth; 
the season of singing has come, 
the cooing of doves 
is heard in our land. 
The fig tree forms its early fruit;  the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. 
Arise, come, my darling; 
 my beautiful one, come with me.” (Song of Solomon 2: 8-13)

At the beginning of this quarter God gave me a peek into this season we are now in. He told me that it is "a time to mourn and a time to dance." (Eccl. 3:4b) At first I was like, "Ohkay...Weird! What kind of bipolar season is this? How can I be both miserable and happy at the same time? lol" Then what He told me made a lot of sense. He reminded me of this Scripture: "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18).  He showed me that this was spiritual warfare. There's lots of the devil's strongholds in the land and a lot of people don't notice (behold) them and it for this reason He wants me to mourn (fight in the spirit: fast, pray and interceed). The whole year I've been caught up fighting ground warfare (going to endless meetings to talk about problems which just magnified them) and this wore me out and kept me from focussing on the solution, which is acknowledging God (fasting, praying, interceeding, singing, dancing). So yeah He told me to stop that (focusing on problems) in order to focus on Him, rest at His feet and have fun with Him :) because He is in control. He also told me to remember who I am. He reminded me of how in Kenya in all our gatherings we would always pray, praise and worship (singing, dancing, being, sharing). So pretty much He was telling me, it's time to be yourself. "You are free to be yourself "(Check out my Freedom album on facebook).

"Garden" by Misty Edwards: http://youtu.be/_tgTdUA0CwI

"Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises,He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth" (Hosea 6:3) So come Holy Spirit! I'm looking forward to sowing in this season (dying to myself, taking my eyes off the world to focus on Jesus; seeking Him in all that I do) in order to reap (the fruit of the Spirit, to walk by faith/ walk by the Spirit). So let it rain! :)

_________________________________________________________________________

Rejoice Always! :)

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

♥ (Psalm 100) ♥

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay." (Psalm 16: 8-10) :-)

God is so faithful! So we can rejoice always. He will keep His Word. He will keep us.

Hahaha! This is embarassing but pay attention to the lyrics. Lol. =)

Related Post: The Choice to Rejoice

Revival Rains

"Let us acknowledge the LORD;

let us press on to acknowledge Him.

As surely as the sun rises,

He will appear;

He will come to us like the winter rains,

like the spring rains that water the earth.”

(Hosea 6:3)

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

My spontaneous prayer song from Fall:

Let it rain! It's just a matter of time. He'll turn it all around. He makes all things new :)

Eyes Fixed

O soul, are you weary and troubled?

No light in the darkness you see?

There’s light for a look at the Savior,

And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting

He passed, and we follow Him there;

O’er us sin no more hath dominion

For more than conqu’rors we are!

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;

Believe Him, and all will be well:

Then go to a world that is dying,

His perfect salvation to tell!

("Turn Your Eyes" Lyrics)

_____________________________________________________________________

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-3) =)

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12: 1-3) =)

Thank You Jesus! ♥

King Like Mine

Tonight is a Good night. This activist, this revolutionary, this Jesus, put His money where His mouth was, He lived for the Cause and died for the Cause. The Cause of the oppressed, the captives, the marginalized. He came for the sick, the lost. To serve them, to love them, to give His life for them. In return He too was marginalized and He was rejected, ridiculed, beaten and even crucified. The day that True love died so that I could live. Love set me free. Tonight is a Good night.

(Read Isaiah 53) *[This was a Good Friday post]*

I'll sit on the sidelines as long as He's sitting with me =)

Some more facts about my King :-)