Last weekend was so amazing! I attended a weekend conference at my church for the Youth Group Alpha Course. It was life changing. I and every one else there were given so many words and empowered to break free from chains holding them down for so long! I was one of those people.
I have struggled with addiction for so long, and last Wednesday at Youth Group was the beginning of the end of my addiction; I got prayer from the youth pastor for my addiction. I am on day 7 out of 21 to try and break bad habits and even though I am struggling, God is with me every step of the way!
On the weekend away I received a vision in a prayer session intended to pray and hopefully bring on spiritual gifts through praying for anointing from God. This vision was of a dying tree in the desert, with a black Raven perched on it and a dried-up well at its base. At the well was a woman in tattered black clothing crying and lying on the ground. Ahead of her, a man was walking away from her into a cloud of dust.
I didn't know what the image meant or why God had given it to me, but I wrote it down in the journal the Alpha leaders had given to all the students. I then prayed to God and asked him to explain the image or give me the spiritual gift of interpretation. He didn't do either of those things, but he told me to continue on my Bible reading plan through the book of John.
I came to the story about Jesus, when he speaks with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob. Jesus talks about how the woman will be thirsty if she keeps drinking from that well, but if she drinks from God's well, she will never thirst again and will have everlasting life!
The vision I had received suddenly made sense and actually had such an impact on my life. I wrote this down in my journal along with my observation and application of the scripture I had read. I then got prayer from the leaders of Alpha who were running the show. I got many words from them, one from Veronica, which was "The Richness is in the Water". This had an impact on me as well ( I will explain how these things impacted me soon) and Steve, Veronica's husband, also was given a word that I was to be a mighty Spiritual Warrior.
When I returned to my seat, I started to cry because I realized just how good God was; I have been having such hardship with my addiction that I had been going to the world's well to try and fill a void that could only be filled by God. I was so happy about the word and it has been constantly in my life as I try to break my addiction with God's help.
"The Richness is in the Water" applied to me because in the past, when faced with temptation, I have been told by God to run to him, but I would weigh the idea that God's ways were truly what I needed. I would question God as to if there were some other thing I could do, when all I needed to do was rely on his word and prayer. The richness is in the water means to me that everything in this world is empty and will not give me what I truly want, only God can do that.
Steve's word also had a profound effect on me because I often struggle with being who I am called to be in Christ because I am worried others will look down on me. I have had the spiritual gifts of tongues since I was four years old, and I have driven three demons out of people that I have encountered in my life. I in no way mean this to sound high and mighty, I am just saying that this was an accurate word in my opinion. Since the weekend ended, I have had confidence to pray over so many more people and I feel that I am more ready to defend myself with God's armor.
I have been reading the Bible every single day since last Wednesday, and I feel so much more free. Thanks for reading and please, if God tells you something even if you think it unimportant, act on it. I did, and it has made all the difference in the last 7 days. 7, a number of completion, times 3 (the trinity) equals 21, the amount of days it takes to break a habit. God bless you all.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Growing Pains
Recently, the missionaries from my church (Holly & Teni Niu) came to visit from their home in Taiwan to share about all the wonderful things they do for people there. They inspire me so much! They live with so little, praying to God every day that the money for basic needs will come to them, while moving all across the island of Taiwan to mission to those who have lost their way or have never heard the great name of Jesus.
They inspire me when they come to visit not only because I would love to be involved in missions at some point in my life, but because they inspire me to reach out and mission to the people around me, here in my home. I don't have to go to Taiwan or Africa to be a missionary, because reaching out to the person I sit next to and eat lunch with every day is just as big!
While listening to them speak at our Youth Group, we were given a great display of how they combine culture from so many different places and present God in an understandable way. Teni practices a Maori Warrior Dance, he bends metal bars, tears phone books, and uses these incredible feats of strength to show us and the people of Taiwan the Lord's love for us.
I WANNA DO THAT! And I realized that I can! I look around me today and I see so many people who are lost, alone, afraid, struggling, and unhappy, because they have a bunch of stuff clogging up the waterway to God. I am one of those people, but I realized, that if I do mission to the people around me, then I have made a difference. A difference that impacts not only that person, but it has brought me closer to God and taken me out of my comfort zone.
I like comfort, I like a plan that gives me some reassurance, and I don't like doing things that take me out of my comfort zone. I, however, have realized that sooner or later, God is gonna get me out of the comfort zone so I can do what is truly right for my life.
I recently started a group on the crafting website called Ravelry. A group for Christians to talk with one another, share their crafts, and to pray for one another. I was horribly nervous about doing it, afraid no one would join, but we have a ton of members now! I realized that I felt my efforts would be useless, but I prayed and said, "God, let your will happen" and did it anyway because I felt that it was what Jesus wanted me to do and that it was what Jesus would have done.
One person makes all the difference, I know it doesn't seem that way. But if you are kind, loving, or share your faith in friendship with someone, then they may do that to someone too, and then the cycle may just continue until there is a huge crowd of those who have been awoken by Jesus!
I am considering starting a little bible study within my youth group, to further step out of my comfort zone and to spread Jesus as far as I can and to strengthen the faith of myself and my friends. I hope that everyone who reads this will ask God what they can do to do the same, God bless you and thanks for reading!
enjoy my latest project, on my brand-spankin'-new spinning wheel! hand spun yarn is so purtty!
They inspire me when they come to visit not only because I would love to be involved in missions at some point in my life, but because they inspire me to reach out and mission to the people around me, here in my home. I don't have to go to Taiwan or Africa to be a missionary, because reaching out to the person I sit next to and eat lunch with every day is just as big!
While listening to them speak at our Youth Group, we were given a great display of how they combine culture from so many different places and present God in an understandable way. Teni practices a Maori Warrior Dance, he bends metal bars, tears phone books, and uses these incredible feats of strength to show us and the people of Taiwan the Lord's love for us.
I WANNA DO THAT! And I realized that I can! I look around me today and I see so many people who are lost, alone, afraid, struggling, and unhappy, because they have a bunch of stuff clogging up the waterway to God. I am one of those people, but I realized, that if I do mission to the people around me, then I have made a difference. A difference that impacts not only that person, but it has brought me closer to God and taken me out of my comfort zone.
I like comfort, I like a plan that gives me some reassurance, and I don't like doing things that take me out of my comfort zone. I, however, have realized that sooner or later, God is gonna get me out of the comfort zone so I can do what is truly right for my life.
I recently started a group on the crafting website called Ravelry. A group for Christians to talk with one another, share their crafts, and to pray for one another. I was horribly nervous about doing it, afraid no one would join, but we have a ton of members now! I realized that I felt my efforts would be useless, but I prayed and said, "God, let your will happen" and did it anyway because I felt that it was what Jesus wanted me to do and that it was what Jesus would have done.
One person makes all the difference, I know it doesn't seem that way. But if you are kind, loving, or share your faith in friendship with someone, then they may do that to someone too, and then the cycle may just continue until there is a huge crowd of those who have been awoken by Jesus!
I am considering starting a little bible study within my youth group, to further step out of my comfort zone and to spread Jesus as far as I can and to strengthen the faith of myself and my friends. I hope that everyone who reads this will ask God what they can do to do the same, God bless you and thanks for reading!
enjoy my latest project, on my brand-spankin'-new spinning wheel! hand spun yarn is so purtty!
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