Becoming more like Him...

I know it's been some time since my last post, but God has been teaching me a lot lately and this is a small glimpse of it...I hope it will encourage you.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God my be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Ø    God’s word is useful/profitable so that you may gain something or take some away from reading it

Ø    God’s word is useful for rebuking/reproofing…meaning to press down, point out errors, weigh down on you, cut you, strip you of your flesh, convict and reveal

Ø    God’s word is used to train you in righteousness…it’s not there to check it off your list, but there are specific, distinct, and specialized areas you need to focus on. There is a technique in being trained. There is purpose and long-term impact.

Ø    As you encounter these different seasons, the sole reason for all these things is…to be thoroughly (not lacking anything) equipped (prepared) for every good work

There is weight and a heaviness of the love of Christ. How painfully beautiful it is. Our journey in life, as we strive to grow closer to the Lord is progressive sanctification. That is my hope and desire. To gain more of the Lord. In all His fullness. But if we only knew what it would cost us…

Philippians 2:3-5

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself. Each of you should look not only to your interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”

Ø    To humble yourself and put aside the desires of your flesh and choose to exemplify Christ…it can be difficult, but its something we must do daily!

Ø    We must die to ourselves and choose Christ above all else.

Ø    In all our humility, we must lay it all down.

 Over the past year, months, weeks, and even days that has been a recurring theme in my life. To become more like Christ. To gain more of Him in every way of my life. To feel the pressing of the Lord’s hand. To know that He is refining me. He is teaching me. He is sharpening. He is continuing to clean out my flesh SO THAT all that is left is… HIM! And the process isn’t easy. It’s painful. It’s ugly. It’s harsh and it breaks you. You get exposed of the deficiencies in your life that you didn’t want to claim or have a part of. But in reality they have been there all along. I didn’t want to own up to them because of the small amount of pride that was getting in the way. And that is when God presses down even more…

The reasons. The questions. The frustrations. The tears. The fleshing out. The pain. The ugliness. The sinful heart. The crying out for grace, mercy, and forgiveness. These are moments we recognize our unworthiness.

 And in that moment you only hope to be with the Lord. To feel His embrace. To hear Him whisper. But how could it be? How could it be possible? He is the holy and righteous God. And we are far from that in every way. We are unholy, sinful, and unworthy...yet in our struggles, in our failures, in our weakness…HE LOVES US STILL. He still chooses us. He still sees us. In the midst of our ugliness, unworthiness, and sin…He remains constant. Unchanging. Faithful. And longs to pursue us even more! He doesn’t turn His back. He is not upset. He is not bitter or angry. He is quite the opposite.

 Jesus has come to RESTORE. SAVE. REDEEM. CONQUER. PURIFY. And display HIS NAME. This life is not about us. It has nothing to do with us…BUT it has everything to do with HIM!! It’s all about His work. His power. His story. Oh that we might give Him what He deserves…giving our lives back to Him and all the praise, glory, and honor that is due HIS name!!

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of KNOWING Christ Jesus my Lord, for who sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may GAIN Christ and be FOUND in Him.” Philippians 3:8-9 

So this is where I am. Trusting. Believing. Taking one day at a time. Pressing into the word of God. Letting Him refine, sharpen, mold, purify, and restore the brokenness. Being broken is not necessary the process I would choose, but it’s the only way for God to bring me to my knees. It's the only way for God to mold me, teach me, equip me, and shape me into the person He desires me to be. It's a place to cry out for mercy. To trust Him. To let go of everything else and grab hold of the hand of our Savior. He is the Shepherd who leads us down the paths of righteousness. May God receive the glory for bringing me to where I am today!! And may you all be encouraged that even though we may have to walk through the fire…we become purified, cleansed, washed in His word, and more like Him! 

Refreshed!!

"...he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."

Proverbs 11:25

Being refreshed can have many different definitions and meanings. You can be refreshed by a cool drink, a nice swim in the pool, a long shower, a good run or walk perhaps, resting, or even listening to music. However, when I think of "being refreshed" I think of... in-depth conversations, full of rich meaning. Challenging, yet loving. Discussing the sorrows and joys. Sharing the beautiful things of the Lord and experiencing the building up of the body of Christ. It is in those conversations that I walk away with so much more joy, hope, and life as I have listened to how God is working, teaching, refining, equipping, directing, and using HIS children to impact the lives of so many. Encouragement is gained. Strength is renewed. The cords of friendship grow stronger. And our mighty, loving, gracious, tender, and loving God is glorified in that moment! You simply walk away differently. Changed. Moved. Sharpened. 

And that is exactly what I got to do this weekend...getting precious time with 3 of my dearest friends. Julie Anna, Sara, and Kaitlyn. I drove down to San Marcos on Friday night and spent the night with Julie Anna and Ryan. (I hadn't really seed them since they got married in January!). We got to catch up, go to breakfast with a group of people on Saturday, shop at the outlet malls, and then meet up with my sweet sister Jamie. We all met up with her family and had a great time at dinner! What more could you ask for...dinner with both your sister and one of your best friends?!?! Afterwards we got to go see where Jamie and the family will be moving to. We headed back to Julie and Ryan's place after we picked up a movie to watch. We popped popcorn and all sat on the bed together with the movie playing on the computer. (That is one of my favorite things to do...watch movies in bed :) haha ) 

Sunday, we woke up, brewed some coffee, got our Bibles and sat on their huge porch. We headed to church soon after that and then I had to say goodbye. I stopped in Austin for lunch with my sweet friend Sarah. I hadn't seen her since New Years..so there was a lot of catching up to do!! We ate lunch and stayed there talking for 3 1/2 hrs!! I know it's a little lengthy but that is what happens when you have deep conversations! : ) I finally made it to Waco to see Kaitlyn! It was my last stop before I concluded my weekend trip. We only got to hang out for about 15 minutes but there is something about being reunited with certain people. I feel so blessed in being able to live life with the most amazing friends! I really couldn't ask for better. 

Praise the Lord for how HE brings the right people in our lives to encourage, support, listen, challenge, love, and push you closer to the cross! Blessed be HIS name for all that HE has done!

Here are some more verses I wanted to share with you that God has used to reach me in ways that only He could...the ways that the Lord scripted His word is amazing to me because it defines itself by itself. In this life, we try to define things by our knowledge, or other's opinions, or wisdom, advice, or simply by going to the dictionary...BUT there is One who can not be defined. He is who He is and His word stands alone.

"While I was with you, I resolved to KNOW one thing...

Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

 (paraprahsed) 1 Cor. 2:2

But we have this TREASURE in Jars of Clay to 

show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 

We are...

hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;

perplexed, but not in despair;

persecuted, but not abandoned;

struck down, but not destroyed. 

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness 

of KNOWING Christ Jesus my Lord, 

for WHO'S SAKE I have lost ALL THINGS. 

I consider them rubbish, 

that I may GAIN CHRIST and BE FOUND IN HIM. 

Phil 3:8-9

...by the Power of God, who has saved us and 

called us to a holy life - not because of anything 

we have done but because of HIS own purpose and grace.

2 Tim. 1:9

Being Refined

I want to share some scripture with you all and explain what God has been showing me this week. This week was difficult in numerous ways, it was one that I needed to recognize some things in my life. Many times we run from the hard pressing of the Lord and seek a place of comfort while ignoring the ways God is trying to get our attention. We don’t want to dig deeper or be exposed of areas in our life that still need refining. It’s been that kind of week for me. So instead of going into all of that, I want the reason for this post to be solely focused on scripture and how God has met me where I am…

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”. Isaiah 41:10

“My flesh and my heart my fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”. Psalm 73: 26 

“He works out everything in conformity with the purpose of HIS will”. Ephesians 1: 11

“I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:13-14

“You are my God; my times are in your hands”. Psalm 31:14-15

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of LIFE…it is sweet to the soul”. Proverbs 13:12,19

Today, Sunday, I listened to a podcast from The Village Church. Matt Chandler is the lead pastor and we are in the Luke series. He was teaching out of Luke 18 and below is what I was able to take away from the sermon...

Jesus is speaking to The Rich Young Ruler

“You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven. Then come, follow me”. Luke 18:22

• Wealth was what the Rich ruler held on to. He was asked by Jesus to sell all that he had. To give up what he held on to most...SO THAT he could gain more of Jesus! 
• Jesus will use the very thing that we cling to and hold onto the most. He will expose us in those places in order to show us what exactly we lack
• Only the Lord knows what we lack and He will press down on us until we give in and realize our need for HIM

Some other revelations...

There are times that we fail to recognize one thing. KNOWING HIM. We have become more focused on serving (doing things) than knowing Him.

We must return…call upon…and cry out for the Mercy of God…HE wants to rescue us…HE wants to restore us…HE wants us to lay everything at HIS feet…He wants to see and know that we are not living for ourselves…but for HIM AND HIM ALONE!!!

Life back in the States

I'm Back!!! I know it's been a little bit since I've been back on this side of the world, but it's been a bit crazy and I honestly have been a little out of it. Monday, August 4 is when I arrived back to the Lonestart State. I flew back with 3 other people...Brian, Bobby, and Cara (The 3 closest people to the front in the picture below). We were all craving a little Chickfila so we decided before we all split off to have one last meal together. It was soooo good!!

Our journey back was quite the journey to say the least...we departed from Lusaka at 2pm Sunday after noon and flew down to Johannesburg, South Africa for a 7 hour lay over. We all were trying to think of things to do so we ate an early dinner and then literally went to every shop in the airport. Once we finished we found a place to camp out for the next couple hours. I couldn't sit still and knowing I was about to sit in a 10+ hour plane ride I began walking around...soon after we made our way to our gate and got settled for the night. Our flight left Joburg at 11:30pm. All 4 of us sat together in the back of the plane and it we felt like we were in a love seat. Haha...not really but it was really fun to be sitting all together. The only negative part about that leg of the flight was there was so much turbulence that I could not fall asleep. The plane was constantly shaking thus no sleep at all. :(  We hit London about 8:30am the next morning and had to move quickly through the huge terminal to our next gate. We jumped on our last leg around 11am for another 10+ hour flight. We finally arrived back in Texas at 3:30pm! Home Sweet Home!

The hardest part about flying that many hours and adjusting to the time difference is that your body is fighting against you. I made myself stay up as long as I could and then crashed around 10:30pm...I didn't wake up until 1pm the next day...14 hrs of sleep! Praise the Lord! When I woke up I was so disoriented and didn't know where I was at first. I had to concentrate so hard on anything I did. My body has not gotten that much rest since before I left in May. Anyways, I was discussing with my Mom the next couple of days and I ended up going to get my hair cut that afternoon. Some advice I would give anyone coming back from spending longer than 1 month in a different country - Don't try to drive when you first get back!! I got on the road and was driving on the left side of the road!! Ahhh...I realized about a minute later that in the States we drive on the Right side...not the Left side as we did in Zambia. Hahaha...it was such a weird moment I had and I can't really describe it all. 

I didn't have much time to adjust until I was off to Branson, MO with my family for the weekend. We left Thursday morning and got back late Monday night. It was the first time to see one of my sisters and her family since April. It was so fun to see them and talk about my time in Zambia. I also got to see some of my best friends that had been working at Kanakuk all summer...Nika and Bekah. It was refreshing to get to sit and hear how they were doing and get caught up on life. I hadn't seen them since October of last year. However, I was struggling to sleep every night. I was so tired, but when I would go to bed I would wake up 3-4 times a night wide awake. I also had the craziest dreams. It was really strange because I was having the reverse affect that usually happens when you first get to Zambia. This past Tuesday night was the first time I actually slept through the night. After a few restful nights I now feel rested! Praise the Lord!! I can function normally and think clearly!! :) 

Visiting Bekah at Kanakuk

Most of this week I have been running around trying to get things accomplished. It's crazy how you have to take care of so many things when you are out of the country for 3 months. One of those things is my Car!! I haven't driven my car since April and I had to get it inspected, serviced, and now I have to get NEW TIRES!! The joy of owning a car! Haha. In the midst of that, I have been able to rest and relax the past 2 days. It has been so refreshing to let myself stop and look back at the summer. God has brought me through so many things and allowed me to be part of such a bigger plan and purpose that only He could orchestrate. And I believe the journey is just beginning...

Thanks again for all your prayers as I was gone these 3 months. The time will be coming soon when I return to Zambia, but the Lord knows the timing and length of my stay. As for now, I am spending time with family and friends. The rest of the staff returns tomorrow and we all will be back in our offices in Irving, Tx  next week. Please pray for the many meetings that will be taking place in regards to all our new projects and even in regards to where the Lord wants each of us. I pray each of you are blessed! Thanks again!

Love to you all!

Joy