1 Corinthians 9:25 IBS

Wednesday September 24^th, 2014

1 Corinthians 9:25 “And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.”

            I kind of touched on the crown yesterday, but it’s so incredible to think. Every time I think of a crown, I picture that of a princess, or even more so a queen or king! Shinning gold, with a bunch of precious jewels, emerald, ruby, sapphire, diamond, etc. that goes on your head. It sounds so expensive! It’s like when you get a new phone and you’re just afraid to touch it, or some new shoes and you don’t even want to wear them because you don’t want to scuff them or whatever. But every single one of those things are just material items, and they will wither away, just as Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever.” -This verse speaks of God’s word living forever, but in a way it’s like that, I should desire to obtain that imperishable crown, the eternal crown the Lord has for me, that lives on. I will not receive it right away, it will be one day in heaven, and I should desire God to say, “Well done good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matthew 25:21) What grace it is that God, who created me, who loves me, who doesn’t need me, yet chooses to use me, still can give me a crown for the works I do for Him on earth. It just blows my mind every time I think of that!

            But touching on the first part of 1 Corinthians 9:25, I am to be temperate in all things. A synonym for temperate is self-controlled. That definitely goes along with dying to self. I can’t be the one to run the show, Jesus is. I need to ask for self-control so I can let Him lead, and that is a daily task. Being human I always want to know what the next step is and have that control in my life, if I don’t know what is going on, I tend to freak out a little bit. The whole nobody knows what the heck to expect about going to Cambodia thing is kind of scary…But that’s the beauty of it all, only God knows the entire parade, I just see the Snoopy float that’s right in front of me. It’s a matter of daily placing my trust in Him. Man, I just can’t go over the fact that God has to work these types of things in me constantly, especially since I’m only human and I forget. All my goal should be is bring others to know Him, run my race, well the Lord’s race, with all I’ve got, and receiving a shiny crown that is solely thanks to God is an awesome plus and blessing from the Lord!

            Application: I will write, “Seek out God’s parade float for today” in my journal and pray that God will show me something new that I can serve Him or my family here in Antigua.

1 Corinthians 9:24 IBS

Tuesday September 23^rd, 2014

1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.”

            With this, it’s not necessarily a competition, but it’s a matter of running full-heartedly, with all you’ve got. Being human, we tend to do things for others in order to obtain something in return, that’s our motivation. At least I know that is mine from time to time. It’s like saying, ‘here do this for me and I’ll give you 20 bucks’ or something and my answer is, ‘okay, since you are giving me 20 bucks.’ Now, this is definitely selfish and something we’ve touched on in these previous weeks, but what I see in this verse is endurance…pressing on. What grace it is that God, who created me, who loves me, who doesn’t need me, yet chooses to use me, still can give me a crown for the works I do for Him on earth. With that, I can’t be doing His works with only that as my motivation. I don’t deserve anything in return, it’s by the grace of God, like I said, that He gives me something. I should want to do His works solely to show others the gospel and to put a smile on His face and because I have that desire in my heart. He wishes everyone to know Him, it’s my job to be willing to let Him use me so others can hear that good news.

            This verse always makes me think of an Olympic athlete. I already mentioned an Olympic athlete in previous IBS’s, but it’s a good point. They run, and I mean RUN (not literally, well in some cases…haha) with all they have to get that gold medal. I would say even the NFL and such, those football players play hard throughout the season, so that they may go to the Superbowl, and eventually win and receive that trophy. That is exactly how I need to be. I’m either all in or I’m all out, there is absolutely no in between with running the race of the Lord. Before coming here, I was lukewarm, not fully seeking what the Lord had for me and because of that He vomited me out of His mouth as Revelation 3:16 says, “So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” But I praise the Lord for that, because upon coming here He has broken me and is now reshaping me into a much stronger women in Him. God showed me that my relationship with Him before was slim, but now I know how much I need to do to be 100% in.

            Application: The only application I can think of with this is to pray DAILY, for strength and a heart that will be full in for the things the Lord has for me.

1 Corinthians 9:22-23 IBS

Monday September 22^nd, 2014

1 Corinthians 9:22-23 “to the weak I become as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.”

            This seems like a pretty self-explanatory verse. Become like the people you are sharing the gospel with so they could possibly be saved. Of course it’s not a matter of committing their sin they are in, but presenting yourself in a way so they can relate to you. For me, I think that would have a lot to do with different cultures and what they have. I get really set on the patterns of how I live and how I get ready and where I put things, that when they change I freak out a little bit. I know I’ve written on this when we changed rooms for the first time, but I see this in a different picture for this particular IBS. But something God has been showing me, is that if I am in His will I will never be “comfortable”. He will be changing things all the time, especially since I’m not the one too keen on change with certain things. But something I’ve realized is that if I indeed am in His will, I will be comfortable, but in a different sense of I’m doing what the Lord has called me to do. There is something I constantly need to be working on and allowing God to work in me, every day is a new day and He always has something new in store, it’s a matter of me seeing it.

            But with that, when I go to Cambodia, I need to be prepared to live like they do and do things the way they do. I need to keep in mind that the American way is not the only way to do things. There are many different patterns of living and I need to not be stuck in just one. I know we’ll be traveling quite a bit when we get there with five different kid’s clubs in five different villages, so that will be different and a shock to me at first, but what a blessing it is that there are five different kid’s clubs and that the Lord is allowing me to go there and pour out His love! Now that is incredible! I don’t need to worry about the way I’m living, because God is with me and He always provides. Be at their level, so they might understand and come to know the Lord.

            Application: It’s okay to be uncomfortable for the Lord! J So when I am packing for the six months I will really pray about what to bring. Of course I’m going to still be myself and bring things that I can feel like myself, but it’s really for the extra things that aren’t so necessary and prayer over that will definitely be important.

Philippians 3:12-13 IBS

Friday September 19^th, 2014

Philippians 3:12-13 “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead”

            Kind of referencing what I talked about yesterday is that I need to daily sacrifice things for my King and I need to daily deny myself. I need to daily seek Christ. Each day is new and each day holds new tasks He has in store. Paul is writing this in prison, for crying out loud, how hard is it to fully be grasped? But the encouraging thing is his faith in the Lord and remembering that He is sovereign. I really like verse 13 and him talking about “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead”. I need to have an eternal perspective as well as live in the here and now. I don’t need to dwell of things of the past, but know that God has my life in His hands and He has my future. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “’For I know the thoughts that I think toward you’, says that Lord, ‘thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.” How encouraging! But with this I also can’t be constantly thinking of the future, otherwise I will miss opportunities the Lord has for me today. But knowing that God has a hope for my future is encouraging. I also think with this is that one day I get to dwell in heaven with Him! That’s the whole point of having an eternal perspective. I get to one day dwell with Him and I need to tell people about Him so they can too!

            Application: To remember to have that eternal perspective and that I need to reach lost souls and allow God to work through me, I will write “all nations” to paradise on a paper to put on my bed.

Philippians 3:11 IBS

September 18^th, 2014

Philippians 3:11 “if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

            Live like there’s no tomorrow is my first thought with this and is something so cliché, but it is true. Each day holds something new and the Lord only gives me strength for that day. He has just been showing me that things are a daily task. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” I’ve always had this picture to help me grasp what it means, of a literal oil lamp in darkness and the light only shines one step ahead of you and there is only enough oil for that day. I know I’ve mentioned this verse before at some point during the previous months, but I don’t think I’ve ever fully grasped that until coming here and right at this point. Of course it speaks of relying on God and His strength, but it is so crucial, especially when it comes to this verse of Philippians 3:11. This verse to me speaks of daily sacrifice, daily emptying of self, daily asking for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, daily, daily, daily.

            Just like I talked about yesterday, all to Him I owe. With this verse I need to have the desire to reach Christ’s resurrection. Of course, that is something I can NEVER achieve, but it’s a daily, that word yet again, picking up of my cross and serving Him. I need to run the race with ALL I have, with endurance, just like and Olympic athlete would to get the gold. They keep going and going and going, as the energizer bunny would for something that they can’t even take with them when they die. I have to keep going and going and going for the Lord and doing as He commanded in Matthew 28, “to make disciples of all the nations”. That sounds exhausting, huh? But not with the Lord, by His means and His asset and His glory will this be accomplished. My finger is pointed to Him.

            Application: I can’t help but going back to “all to Him I owe”, but that being my application for yesterday, I think I will focus on the daily part and write “daily” on my hand to remind myself that sacrifice is a daily task.

Philippins 3:10 IBS

Wednesday September 17^th, 2014

Philippians 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death”

            Being conformed to His death is like following Him to His death. Which in a way is true. Jesus died on the cross and took all of my sins with Him. But the beauty of it all is His resurrection. If there was no resurrection, then I wouldn’t be washed clean. Something that I talked about yesterday was how I had to give up things that were holding me back and surrender them to the Lord. All of these IBS’s tie in together because it is one verse after another and the theme is sacrifice, but I gave those to the Lord so that I can know Him better.

            I don’t think I ever really understood the Lord’s grace until coming here. A few weeks ago one person on our team could’ve gone home and not one of us stood up to take that place, that sacrifice for the rest of our team. I know I was running through scenarios in my head of how I would explain things to my church and family and friends back home, but the fact of the matter is, I didn’t move…I was frozen in my seat. Then we were shown grace and no one got sent home. Praise the Lord, because our team would not have been the same without one person! On top of that, the couple that is going to be house “parents” in Uganda said they would go home so all of us can continue on. The whole thing was an example of Jesus. Jesus sacrificed Himself for me, for us, and I couldn’t even stand up to sacrifice my spot for my teammates. It was such a humbling experience and opened my eyes to God’s true grace!

            Although I had to experience that to see His grace, it’s something that I can’t turn to all the time. I said yesterday, that emptying of self is a daily thing. And so is remembering God’s grace and true power in Jesus’ resurrection. I need to ask God daily for that reminder and be able to make sacrifices. I need to ask for an increase in my faith. I know I can NEVER make a sacrifice as big as my Savior’s, but I want to give things up for the Lord, I want Him to just have all of me, because nothing is my own.

            Application: As a reminder that this is a daily task, I will write, “All to Him I owe” on a paper and put it by my bed.

Philippians 3:9 IBS

Tuesday September 16^th, 2014

Philippians 3:9 “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith”

            Being found in Him is like becoming a new man or woman. Ephesians 4:22-24 says, “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” My identity is in Christ and I receive morality from Him.

            Here I’ve been learning to DAILY empty myself. When I came to the Lord, I was made new, but I’ve learned that that is something I have to do every single day. I get so caught up in my ways and what I want that I get blinded by the fact that it isn’t even really my life, it’s the Lord’s. This past week, we had to write down things that are holding us back from running the full race the Lord has for us and burn it, giving it to Him. Previously I wrote down a whole list of things and gave it to the Lord on my own. One of those things was my family, God showed me that I wasn’t trusting Him. I am not the one that saves them from turmoil and hardened hearts, He is, He is the one to soften their hearts, and He is just as much with them right now as He is with me, He is omnipresent. But this past time was the last thing I didn’t fully surrender. And that was my dad…I was still unforgiving and bitter and that was hindering me from moving forward. God loves my dad just as much as He loves me, so I need to love my dad with that kind of love, the love that isn’t conditional. I know it will take time, but it’s with continually renewing myself and seeking God’s face, that it will happen.

            I’ve come to the fact that my life isn’t my own (like I said in the paragraph above). Being found in Him takes a daily emptying of self and renewing myself in Him. Then, and only then will I have God’s righteousness with faith. If I don’t daily renew and refresh myself in Him, I will walk in my own righteousness, which is of the flesh.

            Application: These temporary tattoos are getting kind of old (haha), but to remember that being found in Him takes a daily of denying of self, I will write “renew and refresh” on my hand. I will also pray that God allows me to have the love that He has for not only my dad, but for others, and to see others the way He does.

Psalm 133:1-3 IBS

Friday September 12, 2014

Psalm 133:1-3 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the bread, the bread of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing-life forevermore.”

            Hah what? When I read this it’s like a bunch of words that don’t really fit for describing things for today and my generation, but I think that’s good. If it were in simpler terms it wouldn’t sound right. But what I think it is saying is what a gift it is to have fellowship and for fellow believers to dwell together in unity. Verses two and three seem to speak of how sweet it is to have that unity; they revolve around verse one.

            We are all going to be together one day in heaven, why not start the whole unity thing now? It is important especially on earth, because we are going to face battles against the enemy and it helps to run the race together, knowing that the Lord will provide. For me, I love doing group activities and having “teammates” or just being around other people. But…sometimes it’s for the wrong reasons, sometimes it’s because I don’t want to feel alone. And I know that is silly because I am NEVER alone, because God is with me always! I think that is something I need to work on, is going into the group setting, whether it be here or back at home at church, with the sense of growing together in unity in the Lord, not because I “feel alone” or “left out”.

            Growing together in unity “is like the precious oil upon the head”. It is not finding a sake of feeling welcomed in a group. It is to get to know others that are running the same race and to be able to pray for each other, encourage each other, exhort each other, hold each other accountable, and so on…glorifying the Lord. Of course I know that fellowship is for those purposes, but like I said I sometimes get that mindset of “I can’t be alone” and I pray for that to go away. So one, I can grow separately with the Lord more and two, so I can grow with my fellow believers together in the Lord.

            Application: In order to accomplish this I will set more time aside for me and the Lord and when I go to join the group I will make sure it’s not because I feel “left out” or whatever, but because I want to grow with them more in the Lord. By prayer I know this will be accomplished, but as a reminder for that I will write “grow” on my hand.

Acts 2:46-47 IBS

Thursday September 11^th, 2014

Acts 2:46-47 “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

            They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart…together. I really love this. God’s people dwelling together, eating food, and fellowshipping. They were probably praying together so much and just talking about what God has done. That’s like what we do here, every single day and it’s such a blessing. We get three meals a day and are able to get seconds most of the time. We all pray together throughout the entire day for various things that God places on each of our hearts. We have 40 other people to go to if we need prayer. This is just one big, happy family here and it is such a blessing!

            Every time we come together for a meal I can’t help but look around and think, “God is awesome”! I get to talk and pray with all these people and get all this food daily. I don’t think twice about it sometimes…I really am privileged to have all of that, I don’t deserve it, yet God blesses me with it! I know I’ve kind of repeated myself a lot, but it’s true. Most other people around the world go to bed hungry every night and don’t even have a bed to go to sleep in. How unfortunate that I don’t even think twice about the fact that I am so blessed…it saddens me that most of the world doesn’t have the same comforts as I do. But that’s part of my role here, to show other people Jesus and to bless them. The second half of verse 47 says, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” The Lord is the key part in that, He uses me, all of us to work together as His vessels, but it’s always a good reminder that it is His works and not my own!

            Application: To remember how much God has blessed me, I will write I am blessed on my hand and every time I see it throughout the day, I will pray in thanksgiving for those things and also lift up those in need.

Acts 2:45 IBS

Wednesday September 10, 2014

Acts 2:45 “and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.”

            Nope, it’s mine. Well, there’s another selfish aspect of myself. I like my things in a certain spot in a certain way and if something is missing or messed up, I get really annoyed or angry. Especially when it comes to food, when I don’t want to share, don’t ask me for some. Like how would they know I’m not in the mood for sharing (hah). It just quite honestly annoys me when someone asks me for some food, which is sad, but honest. If I wanted to give you some, I would have. When I’m in the mood for sharing, by all means, the whole world can have some! If I’m reading this one out loud in class today, please don’t think you can’t ask me for some food, I may get annoyed at first, but please do ask me for some, it will help me in this lesson of NOTHING IS MY OWN! Although, at this moment in time, I really only have a bag of some old chips, which I’m sure you don’t want and a few butterscotch candies, if you want some of those, have at it! Becca is such a good example with that. She had her church bring her a bunch of food from the states when they came for their mission trip and she has shared all of it! What an awesome gift that girl has and what an example she is!

            When it comes to clothes or other items, I can be somewhat the same way. Well that’s my shirt, you can’t wear that. Being here has kind of broken that away a bit, thankfully. I forgot to bring a zip-up hoodie here and sometimes I don’t want to put on one that goes over your head, because it’s too hot. But Alyx, she lets me borrow many of her jackets all the time! She is such an example to me in that way that when she comes and asks to wear my hoodie, I don’t have any problem with letting her wear it. She saw I was in need, like this verse says, and gave. I need to do the same. Like I said a bit earlier, nothing is really my own. I may buy it with my own money, but my money is not my money either, it’s God’s. Who am I to claim things as my own? I am here to spread the love of Jesus, make disciples, and if people are in need, provide it, whether it’s through “my” stuff or not.

            Application: I will keep an eye out for things my family here may need and share it with them. If someone asks me for something, I will pray for strength and remember that it isn’t mine. I will also write “nothing is mine” on my hand for this reminder.

Acts 2:43-44 IBS

Tuesday September 9^th, 2014

Acts 2:43-44 “Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common.”

            Upon the new believers’ fellowshipping and telling each other what God was doing in their hearts in that moment, I would assume, they had fear…fear of the Lord. Now, I know I’ve talked about this before, it’s not literal trembling, but in knowing how powerful He is. They came to the understanding that God is so gracious and just and worthy of praise. With that God spoke through the apostles, revealing Himself even more so to the people. And having that, they had everything in common, Jesus.

            What a beautiful thing, having our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ in common! Something that keeps coming up in my mind right now is how I almost jumped into a relationship with a guy that I knew it wouldn’t work out with. This guy knew who God is, but he really knew virtually nothing about God, or had that relationship with Him. My problem was my fleshly desire wanting to have a boyfriend. I let that blind me into thinking it was okay, but deep down in my heart I knew it wasn’t okay at all. Praise the Lord that He watches over us! The few times that something like that has cropped up, a wall was in place so no relationship would be formed, it would just be a couple of dates and that’s it. All of those walls would be from the Lord, He was protecting me from becoming unequally yoked. I am just so blessed by that and I have also learned from the situation. I just am so happy that we have a wonderful and loving God! And what a refresher it is knowing that my Father has a godly man in place for my life and that I have so many brothers and sisters in Christ that I can have all things in common with.

            Application: At first I couldn’t really think of an application, but I will make it a point to pray for that guy that came across my path, because everything happens for a reason. Maybe I was placed in his life to be a light and for the Lord to use me in that way, only God knows. And it was definitely a lesson learned for me. I will also pray for my future husband, whoever he may be.

Acts 2:42 IBS

September 8, 2014

Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

            Fellowship, breaking of bread (or in this day pizza or tacos), and sharing His word together. How wonderful, especially in this context 3,000 souls were added and they all broke bread together. A synonym for fellowship is friendliness, which obviously is very important when you are talking together and sharing what God has done in your life or hearing the word of God together. Although, I’m not really sure how you can’t not be friendly, because Jesus is the focus of all the conversations.

            I feel like here it has been hard for me to fellowship sometimes. Homework is definitely a priority, but growing with the people and relationships built here is important too. Something I know I need to work on is just balancing my time so I can get homework done and fellowship as well. Also a struggle I have is being able to start up a conversation. I’m not necessarily an introvert, but I’m not the best at starting a conversation either and I tend to feel awkward, especially if I can’t think of anything to say. And it’s even worse when I am trying to talk to an introvert, because they definitely don’t start up the conversation. Which is not a bad thing, I just need to make it a point for myself to be the one the step outside the box and think of creative things to talk about that glorify the Lord. By doing this I can make it more of a comfortable atmosphere for everyone and no one has to feel awkward. This all sounds like something you would say at the beginning of events upon getting to know everyone, but we are on the ninth week now and most of us know each by this point. I would like to say I can comfortably talk with everyone here, it’s a matter of getting that conversation started…

            Application: In order for me to step out of my comfort zone, my little bubble and spark up some conversation, I will talk to people I don’t normally talk to and try and sit by them during meals.

I Corinthians 9:19 IBS

Friday September 5^th, 2014

1 Corinthians 9:19 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more.”

            This verse is exactly what we’ve been learning here, cultural sensitivity. If I were to go into Cambodia with my North American mindset, I would be bringing western style Christianity to a whole other culture. I need to be bringing the gospel and showing the love of Christ, not showing them how to do things. Their worship may be different, their prayers may be different, but if they know that Jesus Christ is their savior and that they can have a personal relationship with Him, then that would be winning more souls.

            Before making that step though, is dying to self. Something that we’ve been learning upon being accepted into the IGNITE program. For me, as I’m sure for everyone, it’s a daily struggle. The minute I complain about something or have a prideful thought is when self comes into the picture. Complaining…that can be an issue in servant hood. Really my whole life I’ve had a problem with complaining. “I’m hungry”, “I’m tired”, “I want to go home”, or “do we really have to do this?” That’s some things I’ve said constantly back at home and sometimes here in Guatemala, especially about the homework. When I think about how privileged I am to have gone to school, to have food three times a day if not more, and be here learning and growing closer to God, it saddens me that I even would complain. I don’t deserve any of the things I have, yet God blesses me with all of it. Praise the Lord! I can’t believe I would complain if something a little difficult or tiring comes my way. That’s not a good start to being a servant.

            Application: To remember how blessed I am and to not complain, I will write “complain” with an “X” through it on my hand. I’m sure I’ve done this application before, but it’s something I clearly need reminding of. I also ask Kaylee to call me out if she ever hears me complaining.

Luke 17:10 IBS

Thursday September 4, 2014

Luke 17:10 “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘we are unprofitable servants, we have done what was our duty to do so.’”

            Say you have a business, if you had no profit, you would essentially not have that business. Well when it comes to servant hood, you shouldn’t expect any profit. Being a servant, you do what is to be done in love and because you want to, not because you want to gain some sort of reward. Being a servant is helping others and showing them the love of Jesus Christ, you shouldn’t need, let alone deserve some recognition.

            That hits home. You see that, that’s me shoving my face in the dirt for how prideful I am. Even now, I had the thought of, “that line was kind of funny, I hope people notice it.” It’s disgusting and we know that pride is the root for all sin. Sometimes when I go to serve, I do it just to be noticed by others, to receive that thank you for the hard work I’ve done. *Screech* that’s my first problem there…”I’ve”. First of all, I didn’t even do the work, I’m just the vessel God is using. So that should just stop there, I don’t deserve a thank you for the work that I didn’t even do.

            Before I came here, I thought my relationship with the Lord was prime. I sadly thought that I was top of the line. Sometimes within my family I would think I have the authority to basically say something like, “you need to go to church and your relationship with Jesus is not good.” But regardless of them being my family, I don’t know their hearts, God does. I can surely observe things, pray, and be a light, giving all glory to God, but that’s it. I needed to check my own heart. I wasn’t seeking Him daily, I wasn’t pursuing Him with all that I’ve got. I was too busy looking around at everyone else and seeing what was wrong with their relationship and not checking my own first. Upon being here, God has been filling me up to where I’m over pouring. He’s been breaking me and peeling back layers of scum; He’s been emptying out my pot. I know I have so much more to work on as well. It breaks my heart that I even thought that way within my family and it breaks my heart to see their hearts hardened. But I know now I need to completely surrender them and that burden to the Lord. That’s something that I’ve had to learn over and over again, but this time I fully understand. God will work in their lives, He is with them always, and I can just be praying for them.

            Application: To fully surrender things to the Lord I will write everything that is holding me back from growing more and more with Him on a piece of paper and take it to the cross.

Luke 17:9 IBS

Wednesday September 3, 2014

Luke 17:9 “Does he thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.”

            For the previous Inductive Bible Studies I have taken a different outlook on these verses than what Jesus intended. When I look at this verse alone I think, ‘Well, that’s not very nice, you should thank him’. But being a servant, you put others before yourself, and shouldn’t expect a thank you in return (which touches on the verse for tomorrow, so I won’t go there). I kind of have a hard time with this. If someone is serving me, I want to thank them, although I know it was really the Lord’s doing. It’s hard because I want to encourage them and lift them up and give them “props” basically for doing the task they did. But again it’s all the Lord, it’s all to His glory. I guess my struggle is not giving thanks to those people, but giving thanks to the Lord for what He has done through those people.

Turning to prayer and coming with thanksgiving for the blessings God has given me is what I need to do instead of showing gratitude to the people themselves. I have such a hard time doing that. Prayer has always been my weakness, which is so unfortunate because it is so powerful. My mind tends to wander constantly while praying alone. In group settings, if I am tired, I start dosing off if the prayer goes on for a long time. When I really get into it, that’s when I listen. How sad is that. I know exactly what the problem is there…pride. I sometimes think, “Well God hears other peoples’ prayers I don’t really have to listen”. But what a selfish and arrogant thing to do. I genuinely want to listen to all the prayers, but I don’t take my thoughts captive and I allow Satan to get into my head with those thoughts. That’s something I need to pray for, as ironic as that sounds, that’s what will change me. I want that pride taken away, I want to become a prayer warrior and give thanks for the people God has placed in my life. What if I woke up tomorrow with only the things I thanked God for? Because of my wandering brain, it wouldn’t be much…

Application: To remind myself to go to God with thanksgiving, I will write, “What if I woke up tomorrow with only the things I thanked God for?” on a paper and place it so I see it when I wake up. And I will spend some extra time alone in prayer tonight.

Luke 17:8 IBS

Tuesday September 2, 2014                         

Luke 17:8 “But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterwards you will eat and drink’?”

            Selfish. That is my first thought on this. Of course this is Jesus talking to the apostles and explaining the situation and how you should be more faithful, but if a person was really talking to their servant that way I would picture it extremely rude. I can imagine a really snobby voice saying this. It’s crazy to think that a person who is lazy and does nothing is asking the person who has been working in the field all day to do more work and prepare their meal. In the minds of the wealthy, sure that makes sense…but in the mind of a Christ follower I foresee that being different. Well at least for me. I want to be able to serve those who have served me. How self-centered I would be to only have people wait on me and to not return the favor. But also noting that I don’t want to return the favor because I feel like I have to, but because I want to bless someone else and show them the love of the Lord.

            In doing that, I need to seek Him because I can do nothing without His strength as Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all thing through Christ who gives me strength.” I need to ask for a servant’s heart, a joyful heart to be able to go out and bless others. No attention on myself either, all glory goes to the Lord. This verse seems to be to seek out a prayer for a change of mind and heart so you can do what the previous verse says, “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat?’” (Luke 17:7) (Which is what the IBS was for yesterday)

            Application: To remember that I need to be serving others and to have a joyful heart, I will write selfish with an ‘X’ through it on my hand.

Luke 17:7 IBS

Monday September 1^st, 2014

Luke 17:7 “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat?’”

            I personally don’t have a servant…or translated to these days would be like a maid, butler, gardener, etc., but I can see how this can be taken differently. Here the person calls in their servant from a day’s work and asks them to come and eat…at once. The “at once” is kind of a command, but to me the master seems to really care for his servant, it matters to him that his servant gets well rested and fed. What a good example to be like. To me this is an example of allowing others to go before yourself. Regardless of the master being “higher up” than his servant, he let him eat first. A reminder with that, is God sees us all as His children, we are all the clay. There is no poor clay, no rich clay, no educated clay, or uneducated clay. No white clay, no black clay, no Hispanic clay, no Asian clay, etc. –From the words of Pastor Mike. We are all clay in God’s eyes and we matter.

            But what I’m getting from this is that I need to put others before me, which is something that we’ve been learning a lot here. Of course that is about being a servant myself, putting others before me. I want to be more of a servant and make sure the family around me is cared for and helped. I want to put their needs before mine and encourage them, all through the Lord.

Application: So in light of all of this, today, I will go last in line to get food (even after the guys), for each meal.