I look back at where I was one year ago this day, and the changes in my heart cannot be counted. It is renewing and both refreshing to see prayers answered and seeing the Holy Spirit move in real ways at training camp just a few days ago. Never in my life have I been more thankful for the pain the Lord allowed me to go through just to have this new understanding of who He is and who I am through Christ. The Lord truly works and moves in brokenness espically when we don’t understand what is dwelling underneath the surface of it all.
Training camp is finished, and I have never been more eager and thrilled to embark on my next year. People have come up to me and have asked how my training camp has been, and I honestly don’t know how to put to words my time in Georgia. The truth is, I don’t think the Lord has ever stretched my understanding and faith in Him more than my experience at training camp.
Today I sit in a coffee shop trying to put to words what the Lord spoke during my time away, and the very first thing that comes to me is the reality of who we are apart from God’s Spirit. I think a prevalent theme in our society is to establish our importance through what we do and what others think of us – and, in the same way, we as Christians can adopt this habit and try to fulfill our identity as Christ followers by what we know and what we do. And as I sat in a worship service in the woods of Gainesville, GA, I was reminded that even as Christ followers, we unspokenly take pride in what we have done and how much knowledge of the word we have. Can I just say that knowledge of the word is good and that we obey God’s word not because our acts give us salvation, but because we obey God’s word from our adoration towards God. However, what I am saying is that we can take no pride for what we do, and we can take no pride for how God works through us. Because the reality is that apart from God holiness that was poured out on us, there is no good in us. I sit and realize that the only thing we can truly take ownership in is our rebellion towards God. He created us, He defeated death, He poured His spirit out on us, and He calls us sons & daughters. So I’m so reminded of this in my own heart, for I too can dwell in that. Concerning my Dad, people would come up and speak about how “strong” I am, when the reality is The Father has given me all I need!
Through that truth, I am convinced that our stride in our daily walk with God should be an awe of who He is and what He has done for us – such a necessary response for the gift of true grace. Our outcry to God should be a daily thanksgiving of who God is, praising not the mighty works of His hands, but praising the mighty one in Spirit and in truth.
financial update: With a recent donation, I am at $11,763
