How He Loves

While doing my bible study, I was listening to How He Loves (one of my favorite songs) & one part struck me today. There's this part where it's only instrumental & then all the sudden the tempo picks up and the chorus "Oh how he loves us! Oh how he loves us!" continues in & for me it meant something more than usual.

Through this time of support raising, I've forgotten that I'm not alone in this. I have a Lord God who is working everything out for me & has a great plan for me! And even though sometimes I forget how much he loves me, I always remember. Lately, I've felt like that instrumental part of the song - Still with the Lord, knowing He's there, but not exactly loving him or praising him for what he is doing. Then all the sudden, I feel this rush of peace, joy & happiness that floods my heart and my thoughts and I remember again how much I LOVE HIM. How much He is great! How all the glory goes to Him! And that He loves ME, out of all people. I am his child and he will guide me through an obstacle that I face.

Oh Lord, I love you & thank you for loving me.

Here I am humbled by the love that You give,
Forgiven so that I can forgive.
So here I stand,
Knowing that I am Your desire,
Sanctified by glory and fire.
And now I've found the greatest love of all is mine,
Since You laid down Your life,
The greatest sacrife.

Majesty, Majesty.
Your grace has found me just as I am,
Empty handed but alive in your hands.
Forever I am changed by Your love,
In the presence of Your Majesty.

Australia Lovin

Some of our Wallabe team, mostly UCLA kids with one Cal Poly friend!

I'm so excited for our team! They're all so great in different ways!

Lord, I lift up a prayer for our team at this moment. I pray that they are relying on you and solely you for their needs and wants! I know we are all going through stress with raising support, but I pray that you give them peace in their hearts. I pray for our leadership, that they will be vessels that you will directly use to guide us through preparation and the trip itself. I pray for those who are financially struggling. I pray that they trust fully in your mighty works and know that you will get them through any situation that comes their way. If it's in your will Lord, you will get every single one of us to Australia! Lord, I pray that with these last weeks of school, we will glorify you in everything that we do! That we will shine YOUR light and proclaim YOUR name in our actions and words. Lord I pray for those missionaries in countries and local areas now. I pray for strenghth, guidance, health, and high-spirits! I love you Lord so much and I thank you for placing me in an area where I can publicly proclaim my love for you! I pray this in your son's name. Amen.

Worship

I have always felt a strong connection to the Lord through the act of worship. I get this sense of comfort and love whenever I worship to my Lord through singing or just praying throughout the song. I've never really known why, but I can definitely feel God's presence with me during those times. Lately, worship has been a little different because of everything running through my mind. From Australia support raising, to the trip in general, to picking a leadership team next year . . my mind is just filled with all these thoughts that I'm praying to the Lord for guidance for. However, worship puts me into perspective onto WHOM I am asking the guidance from. The lyrics within the song help me refocus my prayers from asking for guidance to merely praising Him for his work in my life thus far. I am so incredibly blessed and I know that He will help me through these decisions and opportunities that He himself has blessed me with.

One song that has been on my heart lately is "With Everything" by Hillsong.

It's such a great illustration of giving everything to the Lord, which is definitely an intimidating thought, but something we're all called to do!

Open our hearts to see the things that make Your heart cry

To be the church, the You would desire

Light to be seen

Break down our pride and all the walls we've built up inside

Our earthly crowns and all our desires

We lay at Your feet

So let hope rise

And darkness tremble

In Your holy light

And every eye will see

Jesus, our God

Great and mighty to be praised

God of all days,

Glorious in all of Your ways.

Your majesty, the wonder and grace,

In the light of Your name.

With everything

With everything

We will shout for your glory

With everything

With everything

We will shout forth your praise

One of the many countdowns to come

76 more days till I'm in Australia!

Pressing On

"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. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." (2 Corinthians 4:7-10)

This verse today in Bible Study encouraged me to keep pressing on towards my goal to go to Australia and to more broadly just continue evangelizing & reading the Word. Sometimes I may feel intimidated to share the Gospel, but a key point is that I am not alone and that I have the Almighty God on my side. These verses really depict the ups & downs of the Christian life. However, the key part of that is "up." Jesus never lets us stay down, rather he might have to break us down to remind of us of His glory and sovereignty. It's an encouraging thought to have - that no matter what, my Lord will help me, love me, and ulimately save me of eternal pain and suffering. So after this verse I am inspired! To keep pressing on to get into the Bible! To keep pressing on to spread the Gospel! To keep pressing on to Australia!

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

This also was a great verse in Bible Study which was very influential! These verses solidfy the fact that this life is only temporary, but our life in Heaven will be eternal! It gives hope to a future that we can't even fully comprehend. Even though life might have it's struggles down here, it will all pay off when we reach that everlasting life with God. I am encouraged by this verse to fix my eyes on what is unseen, rather than seen. Again - Putting God at the center of my life and having everything fall into accordance with His will.

And yes, this did remind me of Relient K's song "Pressing On"

"I'm pressing on.

Pressing on, all my distress is going, going, gone."

Happiness

My opa sent me this excerpt from one of Billy Graham's devotionals and I found it very relevant to my life. . .

I almost wish that Thomas Jefferson had not written about "the pursuit of happiness." Jefferson was correct that we should have a "right" to pursue happiness, but the problem today is that so many people are pursuing happiness without knowing exactly what they are looking for or where to find it. Happiness is a byproduct, not an end in itself. Happiness cannont be pursued anymore than one can pursue a cloudless day, grasp it, put it in a bottle, and then bring it out on a rainy day to enjoy again. True happiness is not superficial and fleeting, as a day at an amusement park might be. True happiness begins when one is in right relationship with God. In fact, God is the only source of true happiness, because He offers those intangibles that we mistakenly believe can be found on earth: contentment, security, peace and hope for the future. None of these can be found in a job, a human relationship, money, power or position. They are God's alone to give. That is why the Lord Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, told where ultimate happiness lies when He said, "Happy are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."

Now even though this doesn't directly relate to my summer project in Australia, it definitely relates to my spiritual walk with the Lord. It has put me into perspective of where I define my happiness. It brings up questions as to what I put at the center of my life. I do know that I am trying to pursue my Lord Jesus' attributes as best as I can. I am encouraged by this excerpt to further strive after that goal. I know that I am definitely not perfect, but I also know that He is perfecting me. He puts me through struggles for a reason and provides solutions for a reason. He challenges my faith but then picks me up if I fall. My God is a great God indeed and I know that only pure happiness can be found through Him. That is why I am happy today! Because I have full faith in my Lord that He will get me to Australia! One way or another I am going to get over to that continent and spread His name to the nations!

And it begins