WOW #1: LOOK AT THAT FUNDRAISING BAR ^^^^^. LOOK AT IT!
YOU GUYS GOT ME FULLY FUNDED!!! I don’t even think I can fully comprehend this miracle from heaven. It takes most people months upon months of hard work and prayer to fundraise the full $16,600, but here I am, fully funded. I am truly praising the Lord for being so good to me, and for surrounding me with the most supportive, loving, and generous people. HALLELUJAH, and THANK YOU GUYS!!!
WOW #2: TRAINING CAMP
I just got back from World Race training camp: ten days of spiritual revelation, worship, learning, and community. And I am c h a n g e d. God led me to so many life-changing revelations, and I want to share them in a way that can change your life too. We’re in this together, my people. And this God is WAY too good for me to keep to myself. So here goes.
God is deeply, madly in love with you.
This truth is so well known. But most of us know it with our heads…and not our hearts. Being loved by God is not a fact; it’s a feeling. An experience. One that can hit us and bring us to our knees in tears (which happened to me, and many of my friends at training camp), but more importantly, one that can rest upon us in every moment of everyday of our lives. Sounds fake, but it is REAL. That’s what God wants for each of us, and it’s possible – I speak from experience. It is so freeing to realize that this God you believe in is not just a man with a list of rules and reasons to criticize, or a thought that pops into your head every once in a while (if at all). If you grew up in church, you may be well trained to say God is more than that, that He’s a kind, forgiving God, who offers endless love and eternal joy and indescribable peace. But who of you find that hard to believe? Who of you feel like that’s fantasy, no matter how badly you want to believe it?
That state – that state of knowing his love (or wanting to know it) but not believing or feeling it – is where so many of us spend our lives. We eagerly await that day in the distant future, when God will speak to us in a booming voice, and suddenly it will all click. But until then, we’re just coastin.
Well I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t have to be a distant fantasy. God is aching for that moment too, and He is doing EVERYTHING to get you there – but it’s ultimately your decision to let Him. He wants to meet you right here, right now, WHEREVER you are. Oh He wants that so badly. He is spending everyday of your life trying to reveal Himself to you, but your eyes are usually looking elsewhere. His voice is always speaking to you, but your ears are tuned to overlook his quiet, kind whisper and follow the loud voices of the world. His presence is a l w a y s with you, but your heart is never open to feel it.
There’s nothing keeping you from Him but yourself.
Take a moment to think about that. Pray about it. Ask yourself, but more importantly ask HIM – “what is keeping me from You? What doubts, what habits, what fears, what desires?”
Now my question for you: do you desire to feel Him? If your answer is “YES PLEASE YES I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MY WHOLE LIFE”, good. And if it’s “meh, my life is okay as it is, I don’t really need Him”, please read on.
Well, it’s cool that your life is okay. But I have news for you my friend: it can be SO MUCH MORE than just okay. Isn’t it sad that you, and so many others, are “okay” just settling for “okay”? What is the purpose of life, why are we all FREAKING HERE, if we’re all just sitting around in “okay”? And yeah, so many people are here to tell you “if you work hard and get money and maybe find your true love, you will someday be happy”. But why someday? Why someday when you can be filled with joy now? And also, how many of those people, those people who live in the someday mindset, have gotten to that point and have a joy that, if you took away all their money and fame and success, would still be left content? None. But those who trust in a God who gives them exactly what they need, who constantly fills them with the strength they need to face their struggles and the comfort they need when it gets tough, who gives overwhelming peace in the most stressful seasons of life, who is actively working all things for their good, who loves unconditionally – well, those people are all set, aren’t they? Do you know anybody like that? They’re pretty joyful, aren’t they?
I’m speaking from experience. It’s not magic, it’s not fairytale. It’s how life is supposed to be. It feels so right. And the more I’ve chased the feeling, the more I’ve sought Him, the more real it becomes. He shows up – in crazy coincidences, in miracles, in transcending feelings of fulfillment and joy that leave me sitting with a giant freaky uncontrollable grin on my face. It’s real. And you can have it. There’s nothing stopping you from experiencing it right now.
So, now to answer your big question: how?
The good news is, you don’t have to be or do anything to experience Him. He loves you just as you are. Sit in that, pray in that. He loves you so deeply and madly that He would die, for YOU. And you may be thinking, “me? Why would he speak to me? Why would he want a relationship with me?” But He calls you his child. He loves you more than you can comprehend – you are worthy of his love. In fact, you were made for it. Step one is accepting that. Ask Him to help you. Here are some verses to help too.
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:10, 13-18
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor evil powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him” Psalm 103:8-11
Next, let Him in. The great thing about chasing God is that he is already chasing YOU – all you have to do is be still, fall back, and let Him catch you. Here’s what that looks like.
Spend some time in prayer. Start by inviting Him in – yes, invite the Holy Spirit into this time, ask Him to meet with you. Ask Him to open your ears to hear him speak, open your eyes to see Him move, open your heart to His presence. Ask in Jesus’s name for Him to help you silence your mind (all of the distractions and doubts and fears and expectations), to silence the enemy (all of his schemes and lies and tricks to pull you from God), and to prepare your heart to feel Him. Then, do a mix of praying and listening.
Praying – tell Him everything. All those deep-rooted doubts and fears that you never give voice to – maybe out of guilt, maybe out of fear – lay them at His feet. Tell Him how badly you want Him, how you want to get closer to Him with everything in you, that you want to live your entire life with Him and for Him, how you just want so badly to feel Him right now. Ask Him to help you. Whatever else comes to your mind. Remember that you aren’t just sitting in a room talking to yourself – God is present, God is LISTENING.
Listening – this part is so hard. Most of us approach prayer as a monologue – but it’s a dialogue. It’s a conversation. We do not worship a silent statue God – we worship a God who speaks, who moves, who wants a RELATIONSHIP, not a ritual. So listen. He speaks to all of us in different ways. But He does promise His believers that they will hear Him speak – believe that, trust that. Sit patiently, resting your eyes on Him, awaiting His response. Don’t second guess.
Then, ask Him what you should do. Ask Him what you should do in that next moment – maybe He wants to speak to you through His word, through the bible. Maybe He wants you to play a worship song, to sing and lift your arms and praise Him. Maybe He wants you to just lay down and rest in His presence. That’s what He usually wants me to do.
Then ask what He wants you to do next in life, in faith. Everyone is on a different journey with the Lord, and do you know who’s the best guide for that journey? The Holy Spirit, man. He knows just what you need, just where to take you. He knows JUST how to get you to your destination – deep deep relationship with the Lord. Maybe He’ll call you to set time aside everyday to pray. Maybe He’ll call you to read His word more often. Maybe He’ll call you to worship more or go to church more, or to spend more time with the people in your life who know Him. I have no clue what the Holy Spirit will say – all I know is HE WILL SPEAK.
And don’t get discouraged. I didn’t really learn to hear his voice until hmm, a week ago at training camp. And I still struggle to decipher His voice from the others. But keep asking Him to help you. To draw you closer to Him. Because boy does He MELT at those words.
“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:9-13
Also, please please tell me what He does through this. I am so confident He will move in big ways – He always does. And text me, call me, meet up with me if you have any questions or want to hear more about what I learned from God at training camp!
Loving you close,
Claire
