“‘See, the former
things have taken place, and new things I declare; before
they spring into being I announce them to you’� (GOD in Isaiah 42:9).
God has been showing me a lot about redemption over the past
few years and has ignited a passion in my heart to see situations and lives
transformed by His light. Redemption gets me fired up, and I believe God
specializes in it. 🙂 He’s been showing me how He can turn all things to good, even the darkest, hardest, most painful times
in our lives. On top of that, I believe He likes to use our greatest struggles
and weaknesses as our greatest ministry tools; what Satan intended for harm,
God turns to good in order to bring kingdom to this earth. Nothing can escape
the full redemption of Christ if we allow Him to transform our lives – PRAISE GOD
for that!
We’ve been doing a lot of preaching/ teaching/ ministering
at the church we’re working with here in Lira and it’s been sweet to see how my
teammates are all getting words from the Lord to share. Just a few days ago
while someone was speaking, I felt like God was whispering into my ear; He was
telling me to share about REDEMPTION. This didn’t come as a huge surprise since
it’s something that gets me pumped up, but little did I know God wanted to
reveal a bit more to me this time. It’s always deeply moved me to hear about
how the Lord has transformed other people’s lives, but I never felt like I had
a concrete example to share about how Christ had redeemed my own. Of course God
has redeemed me from the grave and taken away my sins – praise Him for that! –
but I was trying to figure out how He was going to use some of the hardest
periods of my life as ministry tools. Thanks to a revelation from the Lord just
a few days ago, I can now see how God is tangibly redeeming my life right
before my eyes. I am so excited about this!!
God’s redemption is
so sweet. Have I said that before? Yea, I’m sure I have… but I just wanted
to make sure you heard it again. We serve an amazing God. 🙂
One of my prayers going into the Race was that God would
direct my heart and focus my passions; I want to see how God has uniquely
gifted me in order to fully be used to bring KINGDOM in this world. Only God can
reveal the specific talents and passions He placed inside us, and when we walk
in His will we begin to discover how He has uniquely gifted us and therefore
how He uniquely wants to use us. When we operate out of the abundance of what
God has already placed inside our hearts, the service we do doesn’t even feel
like service anymore because we’re doing what we were created to do. Wow, that’s pretty sweet huh? Praise God for that.
In Ireland I realized that I simply love talking to people
about Jesus. When I’m in situations like this (I can think of quite a few in my
life), I feel alive and like there’s
nowhere else I would rather be – this is
what God created me to do. (We recently learned that when we are meeting
the need of another but what we’re doing is life-giving instead of draining, we’ve
discovered a spiritual gift. Awesome!) So yea, I like talking to people about
Jesus. It gets me fired up. Whenever I did street ministry in Ireland or spoke
at schools in Kenya and started getting towards the gospel, my heart would
start beating fast and my voice would raise a little; the truth of the Lord’s
LOVE and SACRIFICE for us and the ways only He can offer true life, joy,
freedom, peace and redemption pumps me up! YES! This is what the world needs to
hear! THIS TRULY IS GOOD NEWS!
This passion for proclaiming the goodness of the Lord has
not gone unnoticed by the people I’m walking this journey out with. One of the
benefits of living in community is allowing your team to both encourage and
challenge you in all that the Lord has. I love it. Some of my teammates (Carin
and Justin specifically… thanks guys!) have recently called out the gift of evangelism in me and have
challenged me to step into that more. What does that practically look like? I
have no idea. But it’s ok. God does, and He’s the one leading my life. 🙂
So yea, this is where
it gets really good. This is where God is REDEEMING my life. Get excited!
One of my greatest struggles has always been questioning/
doubting God. I am a person who likes to ask questions and understand things,
but sometimes that doesn’t work with God. God is infinite; we are finite. If God
was a God we could fully understand, He wouldn’t be a very big God. There are
just some things we can’t explain and in those times we simply have to TRUST in
Him and His divine plan and sovereignty. The mystery of God can actually be a
beautiful thing; without it there would be no room for faith. So yea, I’ve been
through various periods of my life where I deeply questioned God and the things
that were happening all around me. I didn’t understand. I’m not saying I do
now, but God has miraculously met me in those places and given me a sense of
peace in the midst of it. Ultimately, it’s freeing to not have it all figured
out because our Heavenly Dad does and we can trust in Him. Thanks, God!
With this budding gift of evangelism, I’m going to be placed
in situations (and have been throughout my life) with people who have questions
about God. I like talking to people about Jesus. I like questions. I understand
where these people are at… because I’ve been in their place. WHOA! This is
radical, people! This is God’s sweet
redemption! The dark periods of questioning/ doubting God and receiving some
insight and peace in the midst of that is going to be used for God’s glory in
the ministry He has for me! One of my greatest struggles/ weaknesses is now
becoming one of my greatest ministry tools! YES!! I am able to meet people
where they’re at in their questions and doubts because I have been through it; God
is using those hard times in my life for the good of others! Only because I have
seen the light through this darkness can I proclaim that same LIGHT to others! THIS IS REDEMPTION! This is the LORD’S
WORK!
After God revealed this to me I couldn’t help but spread the
good news at church the next day; I wanted to stress the fact that what God has
done in my life He can and will do in theirs (and yours!) Revelation 19:10
says, “The testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy.� What Jesus does, He’s going to do again… so I’m going
to keep testifying to what the Lord has done! God has gifted EVERYONE in unique
ways and wants us to live in the fullness of what He has placed inside of us!
The Great Commission is for everyone; we’re all missionaries, we just have
different mission fields. We are all placed in situations with people (friends,
families, co-workers, etc.) who are in desperate need of the HOPE, LOVE, and
LIFE offered by Christ. So yea, I was going for empowerment!
An hour and fifteen minutes later, I finished speaking. I
was floored that I had taken that long; it felt like only a few minutes had
gone by because I was lost in the Spirit as I spoke. The passion of the message
God had placed inside my heart just flowed out of me. I was ridiculously fired
up as I proclaimed His goodness and it was sweet to see how engaged and
encouraged people were by God’s promises. It was clearly the Lord speaking
through me and lighting a fire in my soul; I’m just blessed that He chooses to
use me in His kingdom work! What an honor! He can and will use all of you as
well… if you allow Him to. Your life will never be the same. 🙂
“For He has
rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the
Son he loves, in whom we have REDEMPTION, the forgiveness of sins� (Colossians
1:13-14).
Praise God!
p.s. I just wanted to THANK YOU ALL for your continued
prayers, support, and encouragement. God has truly blessed me with such a wonderful
group of people! Thankfully, I am FULLY FUNDED for this trip and could not be
more grateful… so THANK YOU for your generous contributions! You are all
WONDERFUL!!! However, I have a request. My new leader, Daniel Montenegro, is in
need of $500 by the end of the month or he’ll have to return home to continue
fundraising from there. Daniel is amazing and it would be a huge loss for our
team if he had to leave. Please continue to lift him up in your prayers as well
as the rest of our squad, since there are a handful of people in the same boat.
If you feel led to give in any way, you can visit Daniel’s blog site and donate
from there: www.danielmontenegro.theworldrace.org.
THANK YOU AGAIN for all your prayers and support! I wouldn’t be here without
the Lord’s provision through you guys!
Also, one more thing! Please pray for continued protection
for our whole team; we need to armor of
God in the work we’re doing. There’s been a theme lately of how God is
producing a HARVEST among us (I’ve
had two dreams about it recently… which is super exciting!) but big moves of
the Spirit also tend to lead to increased spiritual attack. The LIGHT and POWER of Christ will always overcome any
darkness, praise GOD!, but continued prayers for that would be
good. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! 🙂
