Suffering.

Over the course of the past month or so, God has taught me many things. I really wanted to take some time to write them down for my sake and for the encouragement of others. I hope that it serves that purpose well.
The LORD began my journey with this scripture, "No eye has seen, nor ear heard, no mind can conceive what God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). Now, when I initially read this verse, I assumed it meant that God would give me all sorts of beautiful gifts during my time at college. He has. Superabundantly. That He would unfold the plan He has for my life and make me successful in all that I do, just because He loves me. And He does. But He had a lesson far deeper than worldly success on His mind. Even during the past month, God showed me that 1 Corinthians 2:9, no matter how wonderful it sounds, does not exclude heart-ache and pain. Though I would like to reach my aspirations with as little suffering as possible, sometimes it's my struggles that birth the fruit that God talks about when He says in John, "...he who abides in Me will bear much fruit."
If I were to be entirely honest, most of my life has been a spiritual trial. Anything from severe anxiety, fear of the supernatural and of Man, doubt of my identity and of God, insecurity, and even those little nameless struggles that have a sneaky way of grabbing my hope in Christ and try to pull me under. Life is full of pain. Even for people like me who have had little outward trial in their life (like death of loved ones, divorce in family, disease, etc.). So why do these things happen? Or as many people ask, non-believers and believers alike, "Why is there suffering if there is a good God?"
I can say with full assurance that there is suffering because it draws us closer to the heart of God. In the heart of God, there is safety and peace, joy and gladness, security and hope. It forces me to stop, recognize my weakness and my need for Him, and then, hopefully, I'll run to Him for help. I've found that through my times of pain, and when I ran to Him for help, the joy in my life increased seven-fold as He showed me more about myself and more about His heart for me. Wow, it's beautiful. I never understood before now, how Christians could rejoice in suffering. But for one who's given their life to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, suffering is one of the greatest and most effective tools of making us more like Him. If we learn well, sisters, there's no knowing where His plans will take us in life. No mind can conceive.
So now I can honestly say, "THANK YOU, GOD for the chance to suffer in life. Thank you for counting me worthy to bear some of Jesus' pain, to become more like Him. I know that one day, that work which you began in me will be completed. Help me, Father, Para, not to back down when I'm faced with tribulation, but to remember that it is only one step forward in the direction of Glory. I love you."

Steph

"Remember, Elena, there is a time for everything under heaven. Suffering shows us how weak and vulnerable we really are, and how much we need a Savior."

1 Corinthians 4:10 ¨We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body¨

1 Peter 4:19 ¨. . .those who suffer according to God´s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.¨

Okay, wait a minute. Could it be true what these verses are saying? God is telling us that as believers, we carry death in us? That it is God´s will for us to suffer? What happened to all of those teachings that God wants us to be healthy and prosperous, that Jesus came to give us abundant life?

When is it God´s will for us to suffer? And what is the difference between the suffering of a believer and the suffering from which we are saved by Christ?

A closer look at the scriptures shows that there is a great difference between the two. Just a few differences I have noticed:

The suffering and death of those who are not yet saved is a result of sin. They do things which in the moment are pleasing to their eyes and their body, but ultimately is destructive to both their body and their soul. All forms of sin have negative physical and spiritual consequences, whether it is sickness--which may include side affects from chemical addictions, cancer, headaches, STD´s, backpain, etc--guilt, stress, depression, self hate, violent and/or abusive relationships... the list is a long one. The unbeliever suffers because of sin and because without the truth of Christ he or she cannot be freed from bondage to death, shame and fear.

The believer also suffers but it is a different kind of suffering. Our suffering is like the suffering of Christ. (Yes, what I said is biblical--it is true that salvation comes only through the death of Christ, and that Christ is the ONLY one worthy and able to die for us, but there are also many mentions in the new testiment that we the church are Christ´s body, and more than once is speaks about us sharing in Christ´s suffering and death). Christ did not suffer because of anything he had done wrong. His suffering was 1) for the sake of the Truth and testifying of the Truth (what was he accused of? Claiming to be a son of God. Guilty as charged); 2) Voluntary and a result of a decision to conform to God´s will. This is expressed clearly in his prayer at Gathsemene--though He did not wish to suffer unnecesarily, he expressed a decision to follow God´s will rather than his own. 3) Not for lack of faith, nor for lack of God´s power to save him. Jesus knew that God was able to rescue him from the cross, but he knew it was God´s will for him to endure and so he did--all the way to his death; 4) In the flesh. Though Jesus suffered greatly in the flesh, his spirit was not crushed or destroyed or He could not have risen again--in fact, the bible said that he endured for the sake of the Joy of the result he knew his death would bring; 5) for the sake of others. Jesus didn´t need to die for himself, he was okay as he was. But he submitted himself to suffering so that others could experience true life as well.

So the conclusion is that yes, the believer is called to suffer, but a different kind of suffering. Our suffering is not as a murderer or a thief, someone still suffering because of sin and blindness, who is tormented both in their body and their spirit. Our suffering is in the flesh--in our body and perhaps in our emotions--but our spirit remains filled with Joy, Peace, Hope, and praise for our beloved God. It is a mature kind of suffering that puts aside our own wants and interests in order to help others to grow in Christ. It is a suffering that inevitable comes when our devotion and obedience to God clashes with the blindness and the evil currently in the world. It is suffering which comes because we are faithfully declaring the truth, because we are continuing to love others and do good, and because we choose to keep ourselves holy and not live our lives for human desires. And it is a suffering in which we continue to rejoice and praise God, doing good and walking in faith and obedience.

The truth, beloved sisters....

It's so easy to think the thoughts of this foreign land, but I am a princess of the Kingdom of God, and that makes all the difference in the world! Because of that fact, I have the mind of my brother Jesus, I am of the elect of God -- beloved and *justified. I am in complete holiness before Him, I am a partaker of a divine nature, having recieved great and precious promises :). I am NOT a partaker of the corruption of this foreign land. My glory is that of Christ Jesus, even though I don't deserve it. BUT ITS THE TRUTH.
(Romans 5:1, 1 Corin. 2:16, 2 Peter 1:4, Col. 3:12)
*It is this righteousness which, in being imputed to the justified believer, is the ground of his justification in that it declares him to have the same standing before God in personal holiness as Christ Himself. WOW!

Why do I follow something I can't even see?

This is a question I have been thinking about a lot lately.

For anyone who is reading this and isn't aware, I am currently living in Montevideo, Uruguay, many miles from my beloved sisters (and bloggers) in Christ.

In my time here I have come to a crisis point-- I have been forced to decide whether I am going to believe that God is real--in which case I must seek and submit myself fully to him--or if I'm going to deny God and go on doing whatever seems right according to what I see and feel. Studying abroad has been at times a very lonely experience, to the point where I would just ache for meaningful interaction--a sincere conversation, a caring touch. So strong was the feeling of isolation at times that I became convinced that there was no way an invisible, "imagined" embrace could console me. It has been a strong temptation follow others who have adopted a more "liberated" view of love and sexuality.

But in spite of this, I came to a point where I realized that I could not deny God. I know too well that he is real. I've seen the joy of those who faithfully follow him. I've seen too many people healed--both physically and emotionally. I've seen too many promises fulfilled, and sensed him too closely, to the point where I know I can never deny He exists, no matter how distressed or far from Him I feel.

And the thing that most puzzles me is this: a physical embrace feels wonderful for a moment--but afterwards leaves me feeling worse than before. Yet this invisible God, whom I can't touch, can't point to, can't feel his physical arms around me--somehow this God comforts me, strengthens me, and leads me to peace.

And all of the things that I've had so much pride about: dancing, being culturally and socially knowledgeable, having the ideal study abroad experience, being a part of certain groups---things so small and silly yet somehow so important to me---all of these are worth nothing if they pull me away from the Invisible God. Everything that matters is bound up in knowing this unseen God, in opening my heart to him, submitting myself to him--his love, his truth, his wisdom.

Why do I follow an invisible God? no answer makes sense. All I know is that when I followed my eyes--did what seemed good, did what I wanted, I was miserable. But as I slowly let go of my stubbornness, the things I take pride in, and begin to trust in what I don't see, I am being filled with peace. And bit by bit the hurts in my heart are softly being healed, and I am learning how to really love others--- not a selfish, hungry love that craves acceptance and gratification in return, but the kind of love that wants others to know the grace that I know.

My body and even my heart sometimes scream against it, but I know that the all caring and accepting embrace that I so long for in the middle of the night cannot be satisfied by anyone. The only one who can touch me deeply enough is unseen and yet more real than anything else--he is the one true God.

All Night Worship!!

I'm always thankful for the opportunities that G-d gives His people and even more thankful when His people step into them. This being said, I sometimes forget that G-d will use anyone. When I had decided that the youth explosion would be over at the end of the summer, I had never thought the Lord would have me do something else, with the rest of my time. At the end of one of the youth explosions, I was surprised to find that my worship team went back up to the stage to continue worshiping, even past the time of ministry! Nobody wanted to leave, they wanted to stay and worship. Not really knowing what I was saying, I expressed how wonderful it would be to have an all night worship session and push through the night, I also seemed to forget who I was talking to, because in that moment they jumped on board and I was commissioned to talk to some people about getting it started. I thought, Ok, we'll try one worship night, see how it goes and if the door is open we'll continue to do it once a month.

The very next morning I expressed this idea with one of the community pastors, and was surprisded to find how quickly he jumped on board to the idea to, even so much so that he wanted us to do it every Saturday! I was able to talk him down to once a month and expressed that this first time would be more of a trial, just to see who was intrested and how it would go. We now had a date, time: 10p.m-6a.m and a place to host the event. The Lord works so quickly sometimes!

Now before this event, on Saturdays, there's another event that goes from 8p.m-10p.m and it's worship and prayer specifically for the local college and the students up there. Some of the people at this group stayed on with us through the whole night completing 10 full hours of worship!! I kind of feel like they prepare the atomosphere for my group b/c they're already seeking G-d's mighty presence and welcoming Him in Joyfully.

I have never been in a worship service quite like this one before!! Now it's very open, all are welcomed to come the only requirement is to worship with your heart, and if you can't stay the whole night, that's fine as well. From 10p.m to 3a.m it was like getting doused with Holy spirit energy, we could not come down, we just kept worshiping as if we would never be tired again, everything in the room buzzed and seemed to want to worship along with us. During this time, One girl was healed instantly, another fell out in the spirit who had never fallen out before, she also sang prophetically which if you were to ask her today, she would readily say, that isn't her "lane" she doesn't sing. Visions were flowling freely, I saw the angels come down around us at one point, their hands extended torwards us and they were shouting "Power to the People!!" over and over again. It was also in this time frame where I had to submit and admit that G-d wanted me to do this once a month. It was offical, G-d had given me a new assignment to work with, but could you blame me for being surprised that He had handed it to me? Again this is why I'm so thankful when G-d's people step out into what G-d has for them, trust me, I know how hard this could be somtimes myself.

From about 3-5 the atomosphere changed and it became very intimate, and the soft prayers went out to the community as G-d expressed is heart for our region. But even this time seemed to fly by so fast, as the spirit of worship was flowing in the room.

Now from 5-6, I would probably call this the sacrifical hour. This was an hour where we actually had to push, some of us were tired in our flesh, but our spirits were so revived, at time it seemed like 6 o'clock would not come, but still the worship flowed forth freely.

When we all left, many expressed how "alive" they felt, I myself needed my roomate to talk me down when I got home, I just couldn't sleep!! Everything about me just seemed to buzz with the electricity of G-d. When I talked to others later that day, they expressed the same thing, the needing to come down from the heights in which G-d had taken us that night. Praise G-d!!!

So if you ever find a free moment the 2nd Saturday of every month, please remember us in your prayers as we Worship our G-d in Spirit and in Truth. The next one will be this Saturday, September 12th, 2009

Youth Explosion

So I've been doing Youth Gatherings this past summer and have been blessed by my generation for their hunger for G-d. I've just made it a summer thing so this last one on August 30th was the last one for the year, but b/c of so much interest I will be starting them up again next summer.
So here's the vision, invite the youth and the youth at heart to come and worship the Lord with your entire being. Now that includes all denominations, I always make it a free event and I don't want anyone left out. I also have a speaker talk on whatever the Holy Spirit gives to them. I'm very open, keeping the theme "stir up the gift" and encouraging my generation to step out in what G-d has placed in their hands. I'm blessed to say that many were intrested in speaking, the youngest speaker being 18 and the oldest 35, I don't think I'll go any older then that unless the Lord places someone specific on my heart.
At this last meeting, August 30th, I loved how smoothly everything went, Worship lasted for TWO HOURS, with our hearts just crying out for more and more of G-d! Remember this is my Generation!! (I'm 21) so the age group there was like 16 to 27, all worshiping G-d because He's more then worthy!!
The speaker, who was my age, just graduated from college and was just about to enter into a 10 month internship of ministry, I figured this was a great way to send him out. He spoke on expecting G-d's greatness, having realationship with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and moving into the things that G-d has for you.
At the end of each event we open up the alter and anyone who would like prayer is more then welcome to come and recieve. Everyone usually comes up, wanting a dose of the Holy Ghost, but what I loved about this last one is I saw 3 people get healed from words of knowldege that went forth. Later when I was praying about the event and the people who got healed, I kept hearing the Lord say 5, that 5 people got healed! I'm not sure if the others had gotten healed during the message and they just didn't say anything or maybe on their ride back home, but I was truly blessed that the Lord would come to my event and heal His people. That's very encouraging!!
So now that the summers over the Lord doesn't close one door and not open another!! I will now be doing an all night worship service once a month, the second Saturday of each month, From 10p.m-6a.m If the Lord lays it on your heart to pray for this event please do. We had our first one the 2nd Saturday of August, just to see the turn out and to see how many people were intrested. Many testimonies came from that one night!! but I blog about that at another time.
Many Blessing to all!!!

A New Adventure.

This is my first ever blog post, No I mean it, I have never "blogged" before in my life, I've enjoyed reading and visiting blogs, but I must say that this is new territory for me and a little frightening that at any moment someone could be reading and judging these words, Well let me make it as simple as possible. Anything I write on here, from here on out, I hope will always bring glory to my G-d. I won't be ranting and raving about politics, but rather what I see G-d doing in politics, I won't be arguing healthcare, rather how I see G-d affecting peoples lives all the time, I hope to be more encouraging then demanding, but I know myself well enough to know that I can also be rather blunt, Please don't take it too personally, When raised by a bunch of New Yorkers it's kind of hard to keep your mouth shut.
Anyway this is my prayer for this blog and any future blogging activities: Father I present to you these writings and ideas, hoping that they are inspired of you and are birthed from the inspiration of our many times spent together. Keep me humble, compassionate and above all just me, so that you may be given glory through teachings and testimony. Daddy I love you and I pray that your heart would be presented on all matters or subjects. You alone can impact and transform this world through your spirit, Zech 4:6 may you be given the glory forever and ever, Amen.