Ignition

Ignition is our high school youth group at my church. I am an iGroup leader, which means I have a small group that I lead and discuss the topic from the night. I have about 9 freshman girls and I love them already and it has only been 2 weeks. They seem very eager to learn, open to asking questions, being themselves and being involved in group. Tonight we talked about Jesus' disciples and how Jesus asked them to drop everything and follow him. We read several scriptures and then watched Rob Bell's "Dust" video. It was really great for the students to hear because they often wonder, why would a man just drop everything he is doing and follow Jesus. Well, after watching the Rob Bell video we broke into small groups and discussed what we had learned tonight. A few of the girls spoke and said it made much more sense after watching the video. The video basically explained that everyone back then wanted to be like the Rabbi so these young boys would prepare themselves to know everything they could about being a Rabbi and then when their time came and the Rabbi came to them he would put them through many "screenings" to see if they knew the Torah and could do what he could do. Some passed and some didn't. Then the vidoe talked about how Jesus has faith in us and asked, "What if we believe we can live the way Jesus lives?" I posed that question tonight in our group. I posed it in the way of, "What would your lives look like to live the way Jesus lived?" Several of them answered with good answers....some basic answers and some more complex. I think it is so interesting that these girls are so eager to learn and how simple their thoughts really are at this stage in life. I am used to working with younger children so this is a slight adjustment for me but a very good one. I definately feel called to be with this age group and help build the foundation of their faith so they can go into the world and to college after HS and take all that they have learned with them instead of just leaving it behind at home or at church.

Lord, I pray of these young girls Lord that they would seek you daily. I am impressed that they even think about that right now Lord because when I was their age I was never taught that. But they seem so eager to learn about you Lord and know you more. I pray for those who aren't as mature in their faith right now that they would continue coming back to Ignition to learn more and soak in some of what is being said. I pray that as questions arise or prayer requests come up that they would e-mail me or each other. I pray that they would build a strong community at school to keep each other accountable. Thank you Lord for giving me this desire to work with these girls. Lord give me wisdom and knowledge to help the students feel comfortable in our group. Thank you Lord. I love you! AMEN!

Fully Devoted Follower

This was the sermon title for today. Pastor Molly did a GREAT job with this topic. There are a few great things that I learned today. The first one being that the word "devoted" does not mean "deep" as many of us often thing. Devoted actually means: persist in, persevere, occupy oneself diligently with, spend much time in, continually be in. I found this interesting because when I say I want to be more devoted in my time with God etc...the above definition is exactly what I think of. I think today just brought a deeper understanding of it though. I am at a point in my life where I am ready to be more devoted and to be persistent in my prayer life, my time with God. Acts 2:42 says, "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer." This is what I want for my life. This is what my prayer is for myself and all of my friends and family and even those I don't know.

Lord, I pray that you would give everyone that I know desire to be more devoted to you. I know that is going to look different for everyone Lord, but I pray that they hear your desire for them Lord, that you want more devotion from them. That you want them to be persistent in getting to know you even more Lord as you are persistent with them. God I pray that everyone can find a strong community, an inclusive community in order to build one another up and encourage each other. I pray that for myself as well Lord, that with the friends that I have that we would be an inclusive community where others feel welcome and that they would have the same desires on their hearts as we do. Thank you Jesus for desiring us, for being persistent with us and just loving us where we are. Thank you for giving your life for us. I love you Lord! AMEN

A question that Pastor Molly proposed towards the end of her sermon was, "What is keeping you from being a fully devoted follower? I have thought about this a little bit today and the first thing that comes to mind is that my priorities are not always correct and that my business definately gets in the way of being a fully devoted follower. I challenge all of you readers out there with the same question: "What is keeping you from being a fully devoted follower?"

Lord, I pray for my readers that you would speak to them and reveal to them what it is that is keeping them from being a fully devoted follower whether it is a boyfriend, girlfriend, business, friends, family, addictions, etc. I pray that their eyes are opened to that and that they choose to become a fully devoted follower so that they can know you more. I know that I definately want to know more of who my creator is and I am excited to know you more Lord and become more devoted on a daily basis. Thank you Lord for opening my eyes to see what is keeping me from being a fully devoted follower. I love you Lord! AMEN!

Patience

My friend Kari sent me this devotion that she got yesterday on patience. With everything I am going through right now it was a great reminder for me. Below is part of the devotion.

Being forced to wait ratchets up the stress and shortens our fuse. When that happens, we not only fail to be patient but we undercut the Spirit’s work in our lives.

Patience is not just a virtue, it’s a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22)—which means that demonstrations of impatience reveal the sour fruit of our fallen hearts rather than the sweetness of Jesus in our lives. Since God is a patient God, when we abandon patience we miss the opportunity to show our world the glory of God through our lives.

This was so good for me to read. I don't want to undercut the Spirit's work in my life. I don't want to be impatient and reveal the sour fruit of my fallen heart...that is the way of the world. The world gets so impatient so easily that they become angry and annoyed very easily when they are stressed and impatient during tough times. I choose to be as patient as possible and give everything to God when I am starting to be impatient. I am living for God so I don't want to be revealing sour fruit to the world when the world gets enough of that from others. I am living in God's grace and light and will reveal good fruit to the world.

Lord, prepare my heart for whatever it is you have next for me on this journey of yours. Give me patience during these tough times so that the world can see you through me. Help me not dwell on the past but to trust and understand your timing in everything. I know Lord that when all is said and done I will see the magnificent plans you have for me, immeasurably more than I could ever dream or imagine. Thank you God! I love you!

Trusting God

Living in this broken world trying to not listen to the enemy speak lies to me is extremely hard, especially during this waiting period about this job in MN. I constantly have to keep myself busy in order not to think about it. Everytime the phone rings I think it is them. It has been 2 1/2 weeks and I am getting very frustrated. But, I don't want to be too busy to take God out of the situation though. I need to put all of my focus on HIM and trust and have faith that on His timing everything will turn out the way He has planned.

I was reading the Spirit of Prophecy Bulletin today that I get everyday in my e-mail and this is what it said: "Let life's circumstances come as they will. Do not be so naive as to think you can outrun difficulty. Trying to run ahead to avoid possible trouble will get you out of the flow of My Spirit, says the Lord. Refuse to be driven by fear. The situations that you encounter will be the platform from which you choose to exercise your faith and trust Me. I am with you, walking with you, if you choose to not lag behind by focusing on the past or running ahead by focusing on the future. Stay with Me."

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

The first sentence caught my eye "Let life's circumstances come as they will." They told me they would call at the beginning of the week and they haven't so I talked to our youth director at my current church and he told me to not call them again because I don't want to seem too eager. I guess that I will let the circumstances come as they will and as God wants them to and not force the situation. It's not an easy thing, it involves a lot of trust and faith. Sometimes I just want to look into the future and say, I am just going to expect to not get the job because then I won't get hurt or disappointed. Sometimes I want to look to the future and look for places to live etc. incase I do have to move suddenly. I don't think either of these are wise choices for me right now. I choose right now to not be afraid of what is to come, not focus on the past or the future but live my life where I am at and keep God at the center and walking with me at all times.

My prayer for each of you is to trust God with all of your situations. Do not place fear in those situations because fear is not from God. 2 Tim. 1:7 "For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love, and self-control." God is waiting and listening for you to give him your situations so that he can overcome them for you. Trust in God, have faith, and even if things don't turn out the way you want them to, that is okay because you are a child of God and He wants the best for you. He will turn your tough situations into good. I pray that your eyes be open so you can see the good that God has planned for you. Don't look at the past or the future, live in the present and let God be the center of your lives, walking with you in every present moment. AMEN!

New Season

God is transitioning me into a new season of life. The pruning and growing has been a continual process for the last 6 months. I am hoping that the waiting period is finally over. This summer God called me into youth ministry and I have been pursing that ever since. I have had two interviews with a church in Savage, MN and they told me they were making the final decision this weekend. It has been 2 weeks since the face-to-face interview and I am anxious to hear what they have to say. I have not been great at praying about this over the past two weeks but certain things that God has placed in front of me just make sense that I should be at this church. I pray that your will would be done Lord. I pray that you open my eyes Lord that I would see the good in whatever decision is made and that I know that the plans you have for me are good, no matter where it is you want me to be doing youth ministry. Thank you Lord for this opportunity.