WHAT GOD DOES IN YOU HE WANTS TO DO THROUGH YOU

Have you ever heard of the Dead Sea? Located on the border of Jordan & Israel the sea has such a high salt content that no life can grow. This is because water flows into the Dead Sea from one main source, the River Jordan. There is no outlet for the water, and so is forced to evaporate. Hence the water evaporates and the salt stays. This relates to a Christ followers’ life. When our source, the Lord, does so much in us and we do not have an outlet; meaning we do not do this for others, we will not produce life… but death. In other words, all that the Lord has done in your heart, He longs to do through your life. What God does in you, He wants to do through you.

God spoke to Abram in the twelfth chapter of Genesis ‘and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. And a blessing Abram (later Abraham) was! He fathered God’s chosen people, the Jews, of which Jesus Christ was one. Abraham was blessed in order that he would become a blessing. But if Abraham ran from God after his initial blessing and did not allow himself to become a blessing, would we have had Christ? The apostle Paul echoes this principle when writing to the Corinthians, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” The Holy Spirit comforts us for our own strength but if we do not then go on and comfort others, we miss out on strengthening our brothers and sisters. That comfort dies with us. What if Christ allowed what was happening in Him, stop with Him? It could not be said then that we love because He first loved us. (1John 4:19) 

 God’s hope is for the whole world! Don’t let His love stop with you. Don’t let yourself have no outlet so that death follows. But do have an outflow of what He has done for you. God begins a work in your life so it can overflow into the life of others! So that you might be a part of His masterplan, that NONE shall perish. 

 So how do we continue to have an outlet of what God is doing in our lives? Start by doing these 3 things

1.      Ask yourself “What has God recently in my life recently?” Or “What is the greatest thing that God has done for me?” that I can do for others? 

2.     Read 2 Timothy 2:2 & do what it says! 

3.     Share your testimony (your story of how you came to know Jesus) with someone. Tell of what God has done in you in hopes that through you he or she will get right with God.

Jesus is with you as you do this, trust Him to empower you as you let Him work through you!

 - Kate Anderson

THE EXPULSIVE POWER OF A GREATER AFFECTION

When I was four years old and Christmas came around, I had my little heart set on Polly Pockets. They were what I went to sleep at night thinking about and praying to receive during the holidays. I was full of excitement when I received different sets from people in my family. 

A few years down the road, I was turning 9 and dreamed of an American Girl Doll that looked like me, a tiny bunk bed for her to “sleep” in, and fashionable clothes to adorn it. My dream came true and I couldn’t believe it. I immediately forgot about those tiny Polly Pockets that once filled my heart’s desires.

Many years passed, and I bore my own tiny baby. A perfect, plump, dimple-cheeked boy who was so beautiful. I couldn’t (and sometimes still can’t) stop looking at him, thanking God for the gift of a boy full of LIFE and JOY and EMOTIONS and everything about him is real. He is truly made in the wonderful image of God. I learn so much about God’s heart through parenting my son, and through his tender spirit and love for God, his family, and the people around him. What a gift. I have absolutely left the doll behind. The Polly Pockets and American Girl Doll once held my complete affection, until something of much greater value was placed into my hands. 

Once there were things we all enjoyed (maybe even loved), until Jesus breathed LIFE into our lungs and now have something truly worthy of our affection. A relationship with Him is far greater than anything we can give to follow Him.

A hymn that has become an anthem in my life says it well:

“I have decided to follow Jesus;

No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, I still will follow,

No turning back, no turning back.

My cross I'll carry till I see Jesus;
No turning back, No turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me;

No turning back, no turning back.”

Jesus is the the most worthy, loving, and loyal Father, Friend, and Lord. He is worth your time, money, resources, and anything you could leave behind to follow Him.

-Kait Richey

Practical Application: Ask Jesus to show you what you value most in your life, and if it is anything more than Him, offer it back to Jesus and repent. Idols are not just golden statues, but anything that takes the place of affection in your life that rightfully belongs to the Lord Jesus!

Samm- IDENTITY

“Growing up I was always the good Christian girl. I did well in school, I was involved in church, and I was a good daughter. I thought all was well with me and Jesus; I loved Him and served Him. But, when I went to college and no longer had people holding together who I was, I found that I was carrying a lot of brokenness. 

During my college years the Lord was gracious to show me the bondage I was walking in. During those years I wrestled with issues of codependency, identity, and movements of depression. I didn’t realize how much I placed my identify and worth in other people. I was constantly striving for approval, fearing rejection, and worked so hard to belong. I did not know how to truly be myself and I was always afraid that people would leave me. I often felt isolated, lonely, depressed and worried.

 When I began surrendering my brokenness and the things that held me in bondage to Jesus, I began to find true freedom. He began to show me the riches of the identity I have in Him! I finally found a place where I belonged and did not have to strive.  

Jesus helped me to let people into my life to shoulder my burdens with me. He helped me to allow people into my heart so I no longer had to fight through life alone. In Him I found who I truly am and the worth He has given me.”

-Samm

IN HIS IMAGE

In His Image

“So God create man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:21

When I first started walking with God, I noticed the desire to want to be with people that I never would of thought to spend time with before. Our only similarity at first, was that God created us and the Jesus redeemed us. God used these early friends in my faith to show me His personality and His character, so that I could begin to look more like Him.

These friendships were most influential in that season:

1. My servant hearted friend: Always the first to clean the dishes or let me borrow her car. When our friend had cancer she never left her side. She even slept on the hospital floor next to her, so she wouldn’t be afraid. She often toiled, take me God instead of her… “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many”, Mark 10:45 had come alive to me.

2. My introverted friend: I learned through her introverted qualities the necessary of being alone with God and the importance of spending significant time with Him daily. I learned of HIs desire to be with me. John 15 “Abide in me and I in you” began to make sense to me in a way it never had before.

3. My peacemaker friend: This friend did not shy from hard conversations, but when it was necessary, he embraced it. I began to understand how God uses healthy. confrontation (with the aim of reconciliation) to get to the root of an issue and make true peace. Not keep false keep. I understood “Blessed are the peacemakers…” in Matthew 5:9 from the way this friend lived his life.

When God created Adam and Eve in His image, we could see parts of His personality, but not all of who He is could be captured in two persons. God continues to create person after person, instilling more of who he is inside them. In ourselves it is not possible to access all of who God is, but we learn about Him through His word, guidance of the Holy Spirit and our relationships with each other. To miss out on relationships is to miss out on God.

Every person is a unique, irreplaceable, finite expression of God’s infinite personality.

How can you build God honoring friendships? Here’s a challenge for you: think of someone in your small group who seems very different from you. Seek out a friendship with them! Ask them their story. Then ask yourself: how is this person different from me and what part of God/s character do I see in them?

ALSO have you heard about Fall Advance? It’s October 23rd through the 25th. The whole aim of this retreat is to form new friendships, deepen existing ones and discover more of who God is. So what are you waiting for?Reach out to your small group leader or send us a DM for more details to attend.

Love you guys,

Kate Anderson

GRIEF IS PROPORTIONAL TO INTIMACY

No one in this universe or the next has experienced grief in the magnitude that God has. In that same breath no one in this Universe or the next is as intimate a being as God. So it is no surprise that we, being made in the image of God, experience both of these things in our lifetime. Think of it in this way, a mother and child share a special bond that is unique in nature. The way she cares for, looks at, and kisses her child is something to behold. She develops a deeply rooted tie with her child, not merely through large moments, but through thousands of small, everyday memories and routines. 

Heaven forbid tragedy strikes and that child dies an earthly death and is graduated to our Father’s everlasting arms. On the outside looking in, we grieve with that mother, whether as a friend or family member. But no one grieves like the one who gave birth and nurtured that child day in and day out. Her grief seems unbearable compared to ours. Thus her grief is proportional to her intimacy with her lost child.  

Intimacy with God is what we were designed for as His children. To walk with God as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. One truth has always resonated with me since I began my journey with God. The simple and subtle truth that you are as close to God as you want to be. The book of James puts it this way:

 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

It is God’s nature to desire an intimate relationship with each one of us. The God of the universe has more than enough love to give, but we have all experienced that the closer you grow with someone, the greater potential there is for them to harm you or to help you. If someone close to you wrongs you or does something that lets you down, it affects you much more deeply than if it had been a stranger. Therefore, you can imagine the terrible grief God bears daily as His children choose to sin against Him. His heart breaks at the thought of us hurting one another or even ourselves as we deny the very laws He designed to protect us. 

As we reflect on this truth, let it lead us to not treat God’s Heart in a careless way, but understand that He is our heavenly father who loves us and cherishes us. Let us not grieve Him by choosing to live selfishly, but let’s honor Him by choosing to walk in righteousness. 

Practical Challenge: 

Each day this week: Spend the first fifteen minutes practicing gratitude. Thank God for different things (large and small) in your life. An attitude of gratitude is a great place for our hearts to grow in intimacy with the Lord.

- Connor Anderson