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!" :)
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*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)

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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.

Time to SEEK

What does "Revival" mean to us? (Post Holy Spirit Showdown at Prefall leaders retreat)

(Message I shared with InterVarsity on Oct. 7th 2011)

Greetings :) I'm really fired up right now so if any of this offends you, that's not my intention (let me know and I'll apologise later when my other senses catchup). But just read and listen to what God may be saying to us.

So we've all heard the word "Revival" thrown around, we saw it at Prefall (read my "Hello Africans..." post if you don't know what I'm talking about) and we spoke of it but I realized we may not really know what it means. So here are some definitions: "an improvement in the condition or strength of something, an instance of something becoming popular, active or important again, restoration to life or consciousness, reawakening of religious fervor."

So yeah God showed us His revival at Prefall leaders retreat (He did something new, woke us up inside, made us more conscious of spiritual realities) but we kinda left Prefall thinking, "Yes, God did something new but that doesn't mean that that is how He will keep working and doesn't necessarily mean that what we experienced is now our 'new normal'" I agree that there is truth to that line of thought and that we should not "idolize" the supernatural experience but at the same time I want to call out how the devil may be using that mentality to spread unbelief with the aim of opposing what God is planning to do.

The devil may be trying to use that mentality to bring doubt... kinda like, "God did something new (He brought revival by the very definition) but maybe He won't continue doing this new thing that He has started doing (maybe He doesn't want revival to spread)? Did you catch that? If you did, lets call it for what it is, "A lie from the devil!" and lets not entertain that spirit of unbelief.

The devil wants us to "play it safe." Yes it is true that we shouldn't idolize the miraculous and it is true that we don't control when the Holy Spirit will be poured out but then let's also pay attention to how the enemy wants to sneak in his agenda into that mentality. Satan wants us to do nothing. It's all up to God right? We have no part to play, God just moves when He feels like it right? There are elements of truth to that but let's look at how the devil may be blinding us to other important elements of truth:

What is the secret to the Kingdom of God??? (Mark 1 plug)

Asking!!!!----> And in order

to ask we must have atleast a little faith that we will receive what we are asking for. When we ask we expect an answer to be revealed to us.

So by the devil making us believe that we should do nothing, he is prevent us from seeing how we actually have an active role to play in partnering with God to bring His Kingdom in our lives and on our campus.

What is this "active role" then?

1) He says, “Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10)- Wait a mintute! 'Being still' is doing nothing right? WRONG! Being Still is actually an attitude of the heart. It's acknowledging who God is, how powerful He is and by doing so, thanking Him. It's the same as "waiting on/for the Lord" that is repeated in the Psalms and in Isaiah. It's an act of faith--> Trusting that GOD IS ABLE and that He is who He is and that He can do what He says He can do."I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope."-> Being still and waiting on the Lord is NOT being complacent, playing it safe and its definitely not entertaining unbelief in our hearts and minds!

2) We are to ASK and EXPECT GREAT THINGS from God!!! :D

Luke 11: 9-13

“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!"

For those who thought that what happened at Prefall was just meant to be a one time thing for just us leaders to experience that is not true! Before I get into why that's not true, what actually happened at Prefall???

The Holy Spirit happened that's what. The Holy Spirit (who has always been in us ever since we started believing) came upon us. Revival happened-> God "opened the eyes of our hearts", He revealed to us and made us more aware of what was, is and has always been, that is His presence among us. He showed us that "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (2 Corinthians 3:17) The "crazy" stuff that went down was just a manifestation of that truth, the power of His presence and majesty.

So from that point of view, it is wrong! and even selfish! to think that the way God showed up in a powerful way should be a one time thing. It's a show of unbelief and doubt and its also wrong for us not to desire, expect and even ask for God show up in the same "crazy" way in the lives of others and on our campus.

Look at the early church, Jesus had told them to wait for the

Holy Spirit (to desire,thirst for and expect) "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1: 8) And just like Jesus promised the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit but the story doesn't end there, actually that is how it literally begins :)

The disciple didn't have that crazy experience to keep for themselves. Look at post-Pentecost Peter in Acts 3:6, "Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."

We have the "all-surpassing power" of the Holy Spirit inside of us, that God revealed to us at Prefall, and we are NOT to keep it to ourselves we are to claim it, live in it and give it away-> Spread it!

We are not to idolize the miracles in themselves but we are to ask for God to show off for His glory. We need to activate our faith, ask and expect to God to move.

After they faced opposition in chapter 4 what did the believers pray?

"Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your Holy Servant Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."

We should pray:

"Summon your power, O God; show us your strength, O God, as you have done before." (Psalm 68:28)

"LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, oh LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy." (Habakkuk 3:2)

But we don't pray such bold prayers because we're like "What if He doesn't heal, or if He doesn't do anything?" That's not for us to worry about. Let's do our part: Be still, have faith, expect, and ask and let's leave God to do His part, He can defend His own name, His acts and His timing of how He does things, He doesn't need us to play it safe, wallow in unbelief and not take risks for Him (steps of faith).

Listen to this song:

• 
  
  And let it be our prayer :Not to stay complacent with our idea of God but to keep thirsting for Him to reveal more of Himself and His power to us and to our campus.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Matthew 5:6)

(*Shekinah in Hebrew means "the very presence of God" and someone said, "One of the clearest revelations God has given us throughout the entire Bible is His desire to dwell with His people" so without a doubt God wants to reveal His very presence to us and others so lets enter into that truth together. By the way, everything I said, I was addressing to myself as well so lets apply this together with God's help ofcourse.)

"May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him." (Psalm 68:1)

"He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

(Psalm 46:10)

All the glory to God! Love u guys! ♥

One thing I want to add: God loves us as we are, His grace and mercy is enough for us. He sees our flaws and loves us the same. I confess it is hard to believe most times but God does not want us to struggle on our own. He wants to help us. So lets pray, " I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief." (Mark 9:24) It is God who softens our hearts and takes the blinders from our eyes so that we can see clearly. He is the one that calls us "out of darkness into His marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9) So I'm sorry I left that out and was kinda harsh, but thank God His grace is enough for me too :)

Last thing! GOD IS AWESOME!!! Even though we do not always believe what He tells us in His word, He still decides to call us and use us and HE WILL definitely help our unbelief, all for His glory! :) Thanks God for your mercy, grace and faithfulness! :)

Isaiah 45:5-6

"For the sake of Jacob my servant,

of Israel my chosen,

I summon you by name

and bestow on you a title of honor,

though you do not acknowledge me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other;

apart from me there is no God.

I will strengthen you,

though you have not acknowledged me,

so that from the rising of the sun

to the place of its setting

people may know there is none besides me."

God works miracles and He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Watch this video to help activate your faith: http://www.sidroth.org/site/News2?abbr=tv_&page=NewsArticle&id=11084

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"Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice. Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens. You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!" (Psalm 68: 32-35) =)

REVIVAL'S COMING SOON!!!!!!! :D :D :D