Update, I’m in El Salvador! I’m pretty sure that we got here on Monday. We’re about an hour outside of the capitol in a medium sized town called San Vicente! We’re working with a church here doing all kinds of stuff. They’re making a name for Abba with their Passion! I’ve loved being part of this body so far, they’re so beautiful. They’re kicking off a “Salvation” Campaign in a few different cities near here. The Campaign will be on the 1st-3rd of April. Our role in that so far has been showing up in different towns and surrounding barrios, passing out info on the events around town, doing dramas, giving testimonies, praying for people, inviting them to the events, etc. Our month looks pretty packed, I’m excited to see what the Lord has in store. They want Him, and that thrills my heart to get to go after Him along side of these believers. Our ministry in Romania was similar to what we’re doing here, and it ended up being my favorite month, the Lord showed up and we got to see Him be Himself and overshadow people with His love. Please pray for the people here, that they would see His light! So brilliant, and good!
Oh, please note this: my team is well on it’s way to becoming a group of well-known performers here in El Salvador. The other night we went to part one of these campaigns at a huge outdoor venue/church in San Salvador and performed our drama in front of more than a thousand people. It’s hilarious to me the random things we find ourselves doing here on the World Race.
So lately I’ve been learning to love Abba with my thinking. Easier said than done. The past 4 months He’s uprooted a lot in my heart. Revealed lots of lies that I’ve been agreeing with since who knows when. Then He’s shown me how those lies grew into negative thought patterns, that grew into unbelief. It gets me to think about how I haven’t believed things He’s said about me and about Himself for so long. His voice it is absolutely the final word on EVERYTHING, I love what Psalms 29 says about His voice:
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic, the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; Yes, the voice of the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
One example of this pattern: the Lord showed me at the beginning of the race that I walked in the lie I was generally inadequate, somehow made less purposefully than the people around me. Out of that lie I fell into comparing myself with the people around me, which then furthered my propensity to perform for the Lord and for others. (Comparison steals joy like no other. It’s such a trap and it absolutely fruitless. Based completely on lies and the perspectives of people. ) So when that negative roots itself in my heart it becomes ground for a lot of other lies to take root, if I’m inadequate, then Abba probably won’t use me much, probably doesn’t care about the details of my life, etc, the lies go on from there. Such bull shit.
I can’t grow in my identity as a daughter and as the beloved of my Father if I’m not first believing what He says about me and about Himself, and absolutely choosing to REST in that. If we’re still looking around for our existence to be validated by how we compare to the lives of those around us we need to root out the lie that has found it’s home in our hearts. We’ve got occupy/dwell in the land He has given us to live in, A LAND OF ABUNDANCE, where HE is EVERYTHING and ENOUGH. Everything flows from our standing before the Father.
If I don’t have intimacy with Him, and if I don’t trust what He says about of me, who He is for me, I’ll fall into performing, and I’ll run dry when people don’t recognize who I am.
When Papa speaks life happens, even if it hurts to hear at first. The enemy’s voice is slimy, untruthful, condemning, fearful, negative, passive, and generally just filthy and ridiculous; he doesn’t deserve to be listened to. He literally has nothing of worth to say. Ever. I think we brush off a lot of negative thoughts as truth, because it’s what our eyes see, because it’s easy, and in that we passively receive the lies of the enemy as fact. Learning to really take my thoughts captive to the glory of the Lord is tough, it requires a lot more faith, and trust, diligence, and sometimes, just plain stubbornness than I’d imagined.
Something I’m learning in all of this is to find rest in the gentleness and humility of Jesus. He comes to my sin, my failure and my faults with gentleness. His commitment to me, His unchanging nature, His loyalty, His genuine friendship have to be a resting place for my heart, we have to be yoked to Him and no other.
I think believing what He says about Himself and about us is simply loving Him with our minds.
I’m sorry if this was hard to follow. I ramble when I get passionate about what I’m sharing. I hope this has blessed you in some way. We’re so much more than we know, all of us, because of who He is, He doesn’t make mistakes, He’s such a brilliant artist, and a passionate friend and Father.
I’ve been studying this teaching from Graham Cooke that’s applicable to this subject for a few weeks now and I highly recommend it, it’s called Overcoming Negativity Through Rest, it’s available on Itunes. Go for it 🙂
Here’s one of my favorite quotes from it: ” It’s true that we have faults, but that’s not the TRUTH. The TRUTH is who we are in Jesus. The TRUTH that sets us free is who we are in JESUS. Grace confronts what is true because it has a passion for TRUTH. ”
.
