when it rains it floods.

so i did something yesterday that i have always wanted to do. get caught in the rain. as simple as that sounds, i have always wanted to unintentionally get caught in it. and today it happened. i was running and it poured. i wanted to start crying, but i couldnt because i was so overjoyed.

the reason for the tears would be because this simple act of getting caught in the rain is a picture of everything that i have been through lately. it seems that in life we get to caught up in the things of routine or the things of mediocrity. and for me this rain was a picture of releasing that in my own life. if you have been following my blog, i have written about some of the things that the Lord has been doing in my life. it is overwhelming. its like a flood rushing at me, and all i want to do is stand there. i dont want to run away from the working of the Lord in my life and in the lives around me.

David Platt writes in his book, Radical, "Our great need is to fall before an Almighty Father day and night and to plead for him to show his radical power in and through us, enabling us to accomplish for his glory what we could never imagine in our own strength. And when we do this, we will discover that we were created for a purpose much greater than ourselves, the kind of purpose that can only be accomplished in the power of his Spirit."

And in Psalm 135:6-7 it says,

"Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all deeps.

He it is who makes the clouds rise at the

end if the earth,

who makes lightnings for the rain

and brings forth the wind from his

storehouses."

these two passages correlate in the fact that God is sovereign. He is the one who enables us to do great things for HIS great names sake. i desire for Him to get all the glory in my life. it is only by His name that i can do anything in the first place. i am so glad to be a part of the Lord's purpose. i want him to continue to use me, but to also use others to impact me. and just as the Psalmist said, "whatever the Lord pleases, he does". and honestly, i am ok with that. who am i to tell the God of the universe how to run His show. my prayers are not demands, they are requests. that is my role. i dont decide how it all plays out. and i just need to let Him do His thing.

so, from here, where do you stand? are you in the valley where the flood is, or on the mountainside where it's safe? i know that i have a lot to learn on this ride. but i am willing to continue to let go and not hang out on the outskirts and simply enjoy the view. i want to get my feet wet from that flood of love that wants to overtake me. are you?

coming soon.

i need to blog. asap.

new beginning.

"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." -Philippians 1:6

so yeah. i believe in this truth. i think more so now than i ever have. i cant even begin to tell you about how the Lord is working in my life right now. where

He is taking me. how He is challenging me. it is incredible.

i love the fact that i am made for His own possession. and that He started something in my life a long time ago when i put my trust in Him. and now He continues to build on that promise He made. He has begun a work in me, and he continues to work in me. Just one thing that He is continuing and perfecting in my life is my heart for discipleship. and that all turns back to Jesus.

these are some of the boys from Country Woods Baptist Church. there are more that i have the privilege of hanging out with, but these are just a few. two years ago i got to serve this church at camp. and fast forward a few years to the present, i am now a member of their church. did i think that two years ago that this would be the case? nope. that's how great our God is. He knows these plans for our lives. and i cant help but be humbled in the midst of it. through my trust in Him, i now have the opportunity to invest and cultivate these lives for the Lord even more. i am so grateful for the work that he started two years ago with these kids, and now i get to continue in this work, which will one day be perfected on the day Jesus calls the righteous home.

what work is the Lord doing in your life? what is he continuing? do you trust that promise?

I Exalt Thee

He is jealous for me.

He is jealous for ME.

that is what's up. tonight at church was a sweet time with the Spirit of God. He was wrapped all up in our midst.

tonight we all prayed for a man in the church named Jay. he is battling cancer and it isn't getting any better. so as a church, we laid hands on him, anointed him with oil, and prayed hard for him. it is so good to be following with a church who lives out the scripture.

we had an amazing worship time tonight as well. God is so good, and i am so not worthy of the love that He extends towards me.

back to the jealousy issue though. have you ever stepped back and thought about that truth. that God is jealous for us? He is jealous for a sinful nation? for people who are messed up? broken? distant? yeah He is. we were made for Him. and He wants us. Colossians 1:16 says, "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him." And in 1 Peter 2:9 Paul says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." we have it laid out for us in scripture and often times we fail to remember that we are here for the Lord, and He is not here for us. i was reminded of that tonight. my life is a reflection of my love for Him. that is why i live. the only reason i live.

today was so special to me. all day long i had two passages of scripture on my heart. Romans 8:38-39, which is my life verse, and James 5:16. tonight both of these scriptures were proclaimed in church. i didnt know what to say. i sent Landon the verse in Romans earlier that day, and during church he turned and grinned at me because he knew thats what God had laid on my heart. it is so funny how the Lord works sometimes. but it's always good.

Oh how He loves us!

all i need.

what does it look like to you to know Christ? i guess the more important question to ask is not that we know Christ, but does He also know you? are you known by God?

thats where im coming from as of late. well really the past 4 or 5 months. but for real i guess when i started my relationship with God. i am fully confident that i know Christ and He knows me, but i think that he is helping me understand that better. i am in a state of awe right now. it is different. all around me, in so many different situations and circumstances, God is helping me understand my role as His child. He trusts me with more. He continues to love me when i mess up. and He never stops giving me guidance.

all this is so different. i am willfully following in situations that i never thought i would. i placed a letter in a strangers box encouraging their family because the Holy Spirit told me to. i am mentoring/discipleing a kid i hardly know because the Holy Spirit impressed it upon me to help change this child's life eternally. i am joining a church that is on a remarkable journey for the Lord because the Holy Spirit led me there.

what is the linking factor in all of these? the Holy Spirit you may say? well, i will say that He does have a big impact in those things, but that isn't it. you see since i began my relationship with the Lord, i have had the Holy Spirit with me. it is biblical (some may debate with that, but that is my understanding of scripture--Acts 15:7-8; Matthew 28:19-20; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 John 4:13-16) but the fact of the matter is that i havent placed my trust in the Spirit's working power in my life at all times. i have before, but it was more of a half heartedness to see what He could do. i have tried to lead the Spirit instead of Him leading me. i wanted to make it what i wanted to, not what He wanted to. but now im beginning to see what it looks like to trust in that gift that Jesus promised to those who believe in Him. the Spirit is a PERSON, He is GOD, He is ETERNAL and HOLY, He PRAYS for me, and He prays for YOU. He cares enough for me to tell me where i am wrong and to convict me of the sin that holds me back. and part of that sin is thinking that i can contain the Spirit in a metaphorical human jar. i limited Him for the longest time. but He isn't here for me. He is here for God. God wants us to know that His gift of the Holy Spirit is really not here for our own pleasure and purpose. Th Spirit is meant to lead us toward holiness. The Spirit is here with us to accomplish God's purpose, not our own.

i dont know what this looks like for you, and frankly i dont know what it looks like for me either. i will never know what lies down the road except for the fact that i am going to try my hardest to "walk in the Spirit" and "live by the Spirit" daily like the relayed message from God through Paul says. it will be hard, and i will still mess up, but one thing i know for sure--Jesus is all i need.

"for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Philippians 2:13

buy yourself a cadillac.

"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him." 1 John 5:14-15

God has been wrecking me lately. i dont know what it is. i cant handle Him sometimes. and that is so humbling.

since i have moved to clinton, ms and have started attending Country Woods Baptist Church, God has really laid it on my heart to get involved with the youth at the church. since that has happened God continues to use me to build relationships with these kids. i do Sunday night discipleship with them, Wednesday night church, and hang out for youth stuff. we play A LOT of ultimate frisbee (so far my record is 7-1; pretty good if i do say so myself) anywho, while i have been doing all this there is this one kid that has really stuck out. his name is landon. God really burdened me for this kid. i have felt for a couple of weeks now that the Lord was wanting me to disciple/mentor him, but i wasnt sure. i prayed about it often and really wasnt sure if it was something that i should do. but last night God changed all that. He affirmed full well that he needed me to do this. how you may ask? well, landon sent me a message after church last night, how he got my number, i have no idea, but what he said hit me hard. he flat out asked me if i would mentor and disciple him. yeah, tell me about it. i told him that i would talk with the youth pastor before we made a decision. and sure enough landon had already asked him about it too. he told me that he was all for it if i had the time. and of course i have the time. so there it is. and now you know my prayer. i will ask that this time with landon will be a blessing to the Lord. that he will grow and i will grow. that both of us will find a new understanding of the Lord on this journey. i am also scared as much as i am excited. im afraid that i will fail. yes i know that im not perfect, but im afraid that it will be so bad that landon goes away from the Lord. discipleship is my heart, but it's also a hard thing.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

so the Lord is using me. thats what i have asked for. He is so good to his children. i love Him so much.