I can’t think cohesively enough right now to actually formulate a complete and whole blog post but every time I sit down and am able to put something on paper I feel a little more clarity so I thought I’d give it a shot. My team this month has taken a much needed hiatus to the rural undiscovered beaches of Myanmar. I was threatened by a new Irish friend Thomas to not reveal my actual location because him and his wife found this place and want it to stay undiscovered 🙂 It is absolutely beautiful and the biggest takeaway has been reading my Bible and talking with the Lord for hours on the beach each day. So I am going to process a little bit by some of the verses that have really stood out to me and I’ve included some prayers from my journal this month! Yay vulnerability here we go.
- 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
My version in my Bible says that it’s as if we were looking into a mirror at the glory of the Lord. This is absolutely mind blowing to know that the Holy Spirit is SO alive and in us that we literally reflect the Lord’s glory. I want to live my life radiating the glory of the Lord, being a fragrance of his presence (2 Corinthians 2:15.) We don’t need to separate ourselves from His presence like in the Old Testament but everyday we choose to let our sin veil our faces when we can look right in the mirror at the Lord’s glory. That is something that Moses and David and all of these iconic Old Testament heroes didn’t get to do. I read a book last month called Not a Fan and he was talking about when we get to heaven everyone says they are going to ask David “What was it like to slay Goliath” or Moses “what was it like to part the Red Sea?” But the author of this book spun it around and said that they will be asking us “What is it like to have the Holy Spirit living inside of you and guiding you everyday?” I think that is a gift that I take for granted on the daily.
Lord continue to transform me into the spitting image of you. Humble me and reveal in me anything I am not surrendering that is keeping the veil over my face and not allowing me to fully gaze upon Your glory that lives in me.
- Ephesians 4:1-2
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
This one hit a little hard because whoa-we have a calling that we need to walk W O R T H Y of. The Lord gives us our callings freely but we have a responsibility to protect and care for them. I have spent most of my life being careless with my calling and I want to take myself and what the Lord has called me to do seriously. There is so much grace for us and thank the Lord because we need it, but I’m tired of having to say sorry to the Lord and people I hurt over the same old stuff when the Lord could be leading me into greater depths of bringing kingdom on earth.
Also, we are prisoners for the Lord. We owe Him our lives and yet He lets us live freely but when we decide to truly follow Him, we give Him the keys. Living a life of full surrender to the Creator of the Universe who adores you and wants to see you step fully into your calling on this earth with an eternal paradise waiting for you isn’t my traditional view of being in prison, but I’ll take it 🙂
Lord thank you for your redemption and chasing me so furiously. I am a slave to You and to Your love. Where you call me I will go. I won’t kick down the doors you shut. Please sustain me from your Word and Truth alone as I’m learning patience and love, and to see others the way you see them.
- 1 Kings 19: 11-13
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Asia is a spiritually heavy place with so many religions and voices screaming and fighting to be right. The Lord doesn’t appear in chaos or confusion as the other gods do. He is so sovereign that His gentle whisper is louder to those who seek Him than a powerful fire or earthquake. I’ve found the Lord whispering on this secluded beach as the sun sets. The entire fishing village flocks to the beach to watch the day’s spectacle. I’ve never watched an entire village press pause to stare in wonder at God’s creation.
I feel like this verse is super relevant to what is happening in America right now. There are so many opinions SCREAMING at each other for justice and what is right. The Lord appears to Elijah in a gentle whisper and THAT is what got his attention. Maybe as the entire country is screaming, christians need to find a different approach to evangelizing especially to people who know the Bible but don’t believe it because the Bible followers don’t look anything like Christ. The more I travel and see so many cultures and beliefs, the more I believe 1 Corinthians 13 to my core: that ANYTHING without LOVE is completely in vain.
Lord even after I leave this remote beautiful town I want to find you in the stillness. I pray that through the chaos I will be able to find you and not get lost in this world or my flesh. I pray that your truth will be my foundation and that I will live my life to serve you and not the idols that I have allowed to be in control in the past. I praise you for your sovereignty and allowing me to come sit at your feet in the stillness and talk to you as your child. I’m so thankful for a home to come back to and I pray for the people who are lost in the chaos and confusion of screaming and tension that You will be the only clarity and You will be the only option for them Lord. Draw us closer to you and Your Truth all in Your perfect love.
Amen.
