Be faithful to endure

“And Uriah said to David: ‘the ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.’ Then David said to Uriah: ‘wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.’ So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.” – 2 Samuel 11:11-13

In Matthew 27:35 we see that the soldiers and the men who are crucifying Jesus offer to Him wine before the cross so that it might lessen the pain of it. In those days, they often did this to those put to death in hopes to numb the pain and make the torture more bearable. But in this verse, we see that Jesus refuses it. He doesn’t take the wine- He doesn’t take the easy way out. In this same way, we see that Uriah in 2 Samuel didn’t take the easy way out. He was disciplined to the point that even when the king told him he could go home for a night and take a break and shut off from his reality for a day, he refused. He didn’t want to take the wine and lessen the pain of the war he was fighting and the thought of his men who were still on the battle field. Now both of these examples are pretty extreme, however there is still so much application for me today. We need to be disciplined and know that whatever we are doing- it’s the Lords will for us to be in that situation so thus we must do whatever he has called us to the best of our abilities. Don’t take the easy way out. Discipline yourself and don’t take the wine to numb the pain because Jesus never did. Christ endured all things for me. Uriah was an honorable man who was faithful to endure, remain, and be disciplined even in the difficult. I want to strive to live my life in that one day the same things may be said of me.

Dont Put Jesus On Snooze

“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed.” –Mark 1:35

 Whoa. Talk about conviction. Okay first things first, I am a night person. I think better at night, I have more energy at night, and I would much rather do things in the night rather than early in the morning. This obviously isn’t a bad thing however considering that Jesus, the man I am imitating my life after, chose to rise early and discipline His earthly body, I think that’s a clear indication that I should do the same. Jesus rose long before daylight… yeaaaaahhh I struggle to get out of bed after I have hit the snooze button ten times. And then in that early hour He went to a secret place to pray… Considering I am a complete extrovert living in a center with like 40 of my best friends, you could probably guess that its many times hard for me to go away and find a solitary place to be with Jesus. My flesh just wants to read the bible at the kitchen table with everyone and between verses talk about what is for breakfast and laugh about how much cream I put in my coffee. And although Jesus did call me to have fellowship with my fellow believers, He first called me to spend time with Him and SEEK Him. Jesus is found when I seek Him with my whole heart- not when I only devote half of it. The more I seek Him, the more I find Him, the more I love Him- that’s the pattern. I want to be someone who begins my day with Jesus and then continues walking with Him throughout the rest of it.

 Application: tomorrow I am going to do my devos and pray outside and away from all distraction.

I say Yes, Lord

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty, Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, in myself should become disqualified.” -1 Corinthians 9:24-27

A couple days ago, my RA Shannon showed me a song called “Yes Lord” and it has been super speaking to my heart lately and reminds me of this. One of the lyrics says: “on that day when I go home, I’ll see my Jesus seated on His throne, I’ll find a crown upon my head, with a thousand jewels for every ‘yes’ I said and ill offer it right back to Him” I love this picture- that as I press on in this life and run my race that I would know of the glory set before me. And when that day comes and I see the Lord face to face I want to be able to offer my crown up right back to Him knowing that every jewel on there was only obtained by His grace. Every step I take in my race isn’t in my strength but rather in His. I want to finish the race and finish strong not because of my wavering feelings but rather because I am certain that He is unwavering. Saying ‘yes’ and trusting the Lord surely is no easy thing but it’s the only way- the way of Life. He calls me to run this race and every single step I take is a decision that I must choose to walk in. And although I don’t know what my race will look like, the point is that He calls me to say yes and boldly walk into the unknown. And to run my race confidently even though I don’t know what it will look like. As my training in Ignite draws to a close and soon I will no longer get to call Guatemala my home, this serves as a great reminder. Finish strong, fight for the kingdom, press on, and love till the end. And although training ends soon, the beautiful thing is that I get to run this race and chase after Jesus for all of my days. When He calls me, I will come running.

Application: I am going to continue to pray that even in these last days of training I would continue to love till the end and finish strong in the race He has called me to.

Buff godliness muscles

“for bodily exercise profits for a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” -1 Timothy 4:8

This verse gives me flash backs to all of the late nights and early mornings I have spent in the dance studio. We would push ourselves to the limit and we would work at it every day so that we would grow stronger and better in our skill. In dance, muscle memory is insanely important- if you train your body in the correct way, eventually your body will do what you’ve disciplined it in without your brain having to think about it. I am reminded of all of the hours I spent in that studio working on a certain piece of choreography or something and thus how much more effort should I put into disciplining myself in the way of godliness? I want to be disciplined in the way of the Lord and get to the point where all that flows out of my heart and mind is the words of the Lord- that my heart would have a muscle memory in the way of the Lord because of the diligence and discipline I have applied. I want to be diligent to the point that my first instinct is to get on my knees and pray and to press on to know the Lord with all that I have.   Improving, however, is never an overnight thing- it’s a process and even when you aren’t at your final goal of where you want to be, you are still growing and getting stronger. Same goes for this life in godliness. As you immerse yourself in the word of God, you are growing. Heaven is the end goal and is that life yet to come, however now we still have life NOW and have the opportunity to live it and continue in our imitation of Christ. 2 Peter 1:3 tells us that we have been given all that pertains to a life of godliness and holiness. The Lord has given us every tool and all we need do is be diligent and work toward that holy and set apart life.

Application:  I am going to be diligent to really take time to pray and seek the Lord in the morning

Press On to Know

“not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on that I may lay hold for that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” -Philippians 3:12

In coming to Ignite, one of my friends gave me the verse Hosea 6:3 for this year, which says: “Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.” And honestly I think it so perfectly fits this year and what the Lord has been teaching me. I don’t have it all figured out and it’s a very obvious thing that I haven’t achieved perfection. But yet, I press on to know the Lord and I continue in my goal of conforming to the image of Christ. I press on to know and grab hold of all that Christ has for me. The last thing I would ever want to do in this life is never really walk in all that He has planned for me. My God is ever constant, He does not change and He is always good. Thus, I must be content no matter where the Lord has me and through it all I have to fight to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and continue to press on to the goal of knowing Christ. No matter my ever changing feelings, emotions, and desires, I have to remember that He doesn’t change and press on to know that Jesus.

Death Brings Life

“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” –Philippians 3:10

It’s all one. Knowledge of God, His power, fellowship of His suffering, and His death. So many times, I find myself trying to stop reading after the first two things. My eyes skim over the suffering and death part but in reality it all must go together. You only know life because you were once dead and glory is only able to come through suffering. In order to be a coheir of eternal life with Christ, I also have to be a partner in the death and the suffering. Romans 8:17 tells us that as heirs we must suffer with Christ and then in turn also be glorified with Him. I have to learn to die to myself, every single day. We are to not be conformed to this world but rather be conformed to the death of Christ. Everything this world has to offer amounts to nothing but death. However, when by faith we are transformed by the renewing of our minds then we may also be conformed to the death of Christ which brings forth life.

ALL is grace

“and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law,  but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” –Philippians 3:9

Gah. Humans are so dumb. I am so dumb. WHY DO WE NEVER GET IT? Christ literally died to fulfill the law. The law was something we could not uphold and thus we were bound by condemnation. He died in order to die the death that we could not. Literally to take my place and make atonement for me so that I could have life. BUT dang humans. We pick and choose the parts of the bible we like and those that we don’t. We act like you can just switch back and forth from living under the law and under grace, whenever its convenient for us. When we do a “good deed” or a righteous thing we accept all the praise and act like we, in our own human power, have done this great thing. But then, when we mess up and fail we throw the standard of the law out the window and embrace grace with open arms. That’s not how it works. The law was fulfilled by Christ, the veil was torn, and now all is grace. We don’t get to just switch back and forth. Jesus died so that we may abide in grace- walk in it and live it. All is grace isn’t just a nice saying- it’s true and it’s what Christ died for. All means ALL. All my righteousness isn’t really mine- it’s because of Christs grace and all my failure doesn’t have to amount to death because of Christ’s grace.