Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Merry Christmas!!!
Merry Christmas!!!
Sorry it’s taken me this long to put an update up! School just keeps getting busier so it’s been harder to find the time to journal out my thoughts even for myself.
Now it feels impossible to summarize what I’ve been learning, but I’ll do my best.
They’ve focused a lot on identity in the last couple of months. They want to make sure we know who we are in Christ before they send us out to do more ministry.
I went on my first ministry trip over the Thanksgiving break. A group of us went on a surfing/ministry trip to Santa Cruz. A couple of second year students came and it was such a blessing to be under their guidance and leadership. We went out to one of the main areas of downtown Santa Cruz and asked God who He wanted to bless. I was with one of the second year students named Chris. He’s learned to be extremely bold and so it was great having some of that boldness rub off on me. As we were standing there, he asked God to highlight people for us. One guy was highlighted to me and Chris asked me what I thought he needed prayer for. The first thought that popped into my head was back pain. Chris said he was thinking the same thing. We went up to him and asked him if he had back pain and he said he did. We asked if we could pray for him and after we prayed he said he felt better. Another guy came up to him and “he’s got pain in his hands” popped into my head. I asked him if that was the case and sure enough he was an artist and said he suffered from hand cramps. What Chris taught me from this experience is that God can speak to us through what we think are our own thoughts or imagination. I’m learning that if I get a picture of something as I’m praying for someone, it could be God giving me that picture. I’ve been more bold in telling the person I’m praying for what I’m seeing and they have been really blessed by it!! We are all practicing getting words or pictures from God so I’m not always right especially when I try to get specific details about their life but people who are more experienced than I am have told me you get better with practice. It’s just learning how to be more aware of God’s voice and taking the risk to share it with someone even if you’re not sure you’re right. Learning this kind of thing has been so exciting for me because it’s something I’ve always had a desire to do. I just didn’t know how to grow in it. Next year I’m planning to dive into as many ministry experiences as I can so I can get the mentorship of people who are more experienced that I am and grow in the gifts God has given me.
We’ve just started our Christmas break and I’m in Tennessee with family for the holidays.
I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas!!!
If you want to keep reading, here are some highlights from my notes. They are in random order and from many different messages. I hope you can follow them.
Like a dance, you just need to look at Jesus’ face. You don’t have to know the next step because Jesus is such a good leader.
A good leader makes us look like a good dancer, but we have to remember that it’s because of Him that we know what to do next.
We can’t control what happens to us but we can control our response to it.
The greatest measure of breakthrough comes when you get past the point when it’s comfortable.
Acts 5:15-Peter’s shadow healed people. Why? His reality was 3 years of hanging out with Jesus. Our reality has been so watered down. Peter saw the transfiguration so when he prays, he knows what it’s supposed to look like.
He loves you just the way you are but he loves you too much to leave you the way you are.
How we see God is how we do ministry. The more we see how good God is, the more miracles we’ll see.
God told Chris (a staff member) that if you want to see more people healed, pray for more people.
It’s not our responsibility to heal a person. If you feel that, you will get burned out.
Many people have an offense against God for what He hasn’t done. That blocks the miracles.
Our prayers can be short. Jesus’ were. Chris found the most results when his prayers were quick.
Everyone is called to greatness, but not everyone will achieve greatness.
Don’t be willing just to take the good road, but take the higher road. Taking the easy road will rob you of the life you’re meant to live.
It takes character and perseverance to stay at the top.
Your faith will be tested if you want to be someone great.
If you want to be a whole person, don’t run from adversity.
If you settle for only the things you can do in the natural, you’re setting yourself up for second best.
Being thankful opens up doors to new dimensions of God. Thankfulness is the main component of our spiritual warfare. Prayer without thanksgiving is often faithless begging.
Capture worry by saying thank you for something that happened in the past.
Pray less and thank more.
Courage is fear that has said its prayers (everyone has fear)
Religion makes rules that God didn’t make.
God is looking for people who are not looking for commands but permission. He’s already given us commands. His spirit has already come. His power is already here. We just haven’t discovered what’s already here. We need to step into what God has already released.
Persistent prayer is not to change God, it’s to change us.
Do things based on Christ’s identity when you don’t feel your own.
Satan uses fear to stop you from ministering to people.
Look at what the enemy is doing to see what God wants to do. For example, people are drawn to the supernatural when you look at books like Harry Potter and TV shows that involve psychics. That shows that God wants to show up more supernaturally. The New Age movement started when people were looking for the supernatural and it wasn’t in the church.
You can’t handle more freedom if you’re not willing to take on more responsibility.
What are the restrictions that you have confined heaven to?
If you don’t have the paradigm of royalty, you’ll be afraid more often that you should be.
You can be a Christian and expect nothing from heaven.
Giving is not losing. It is sowing.
God doesn’t mind you having stuff. He minds when your stuff has you.
A lot of our prayers are just to avoid pain. God is after something more. God is interested in helping us grow.
If you want to have joy, rejoice first, then the joy will come.
Feed your heart on what God is doing and has done, not on what he hasn’t done.
God doesn’t want us to do stuff for him. He just wants us to love Him.
I don’t want a God that is my size.
People are aching for hope and we have it!
Sorry it’s taken me this long to put an update up! School just keeps getting busier so it’s been harder to find the time to journal out my thoughts even for myself.
Now it feels impossible to summarize what I’ve been learning, but I’ll do my best.
They’ve focused a lot on identity in the last couple of months. They want to make sure we know who we are in Christ before they send us out to do more ministry.
I went on my first ministry trip over the Thanksgiving break. A group of us went on a surfing/ministry trip to Santa Cruz. A couple of second year students came and it was such a blessing to be under their guidance and leadership. We went out to one of the main areas of downtown Santa Cruz and asked God who He wanted to bless. I was with one of the second year students named Chris. He’s learned to be extremely bold and so it was great having some of that boldness rub off on me. As we were standing there, he asked God to highlight people for us. One guy was highlighted to me and Chris asked me what I thought he needed prayer for. The first thought that popped into my head was back pain. Chris said he was thinking the same thing. We went up to him and asked him if he had back pain and he said he did. We asked if we could pray for him and after we prayed he said he felt better. Another guy came up to him and “he’s got pain in his hands” popped into my head. I asked him if that was the case and sure enough he was an artist and said he suffered from hand cramps. What Chris taught me from this experience is that God can speak to us through what we think are our own thoughts or imagination. I’m learning that if I get a picture of something as I’m praying for someone, it could be God giving me that picture. I’ve been more bold in telling the person I’m praying for what I’m seeing and they have been really blessed by it!! We are all practicing getting words or pictures from God so I’m not always right especially when I try to get specific details about their life but people who are more experienced than I am have told me you get better with practice. It’s just learning how to be more aware of God’s voice and taking the risk to share it with someone even if you’re not sure you’re right. Learning this kind of thing has been so exciting for me because it’s something I’ve always had a desire to do. I just didn’t know how to grow in it. Next year I’m planning to dive into as many ministry experiences as I can so I can get the mentorship of people who are more experienced that I am and grow in the gifts God has given me.
We’ve just started our Christmas break and I’m in Tennessee with family for the holidays.
I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas!!!
If you want to keep reading, here are some highlights from my notes. They are in random order and from many different messages. I hope you can follow them.
Like a dance, you just need to look at Jesus’ face. You don’t have to know the next step because Jesus is such a good leader.
A good leader makes us look like a good dancer, but we have to remember that it’s because of Him that we know what to do next.
We can’t control what happens to us but we can control our response to it.
The greatest measure of breakthrough comes when you get past the point when it’s comfortable.
Acts 5:15-Peter’s shadow healed people. Why? His reality was 3 years of hanging out with Jesus. Our reality has been so watered down. Peter saw the transfiguration so when he prays, he knows what it’s supposed to look like.
He loves you just the way you are but he loves you too much to leave you the way you are.
How we see God is how we do ministry. The more we see how good God is, the more miracles we’ll see.
God told Chris (a staff member) that if you want to see more people healed, pray for more people.
It’s not our responsibility to heal a person. If you feel that, you will get burned out.
Many people have an offense against God for what He hasn’t done. That blocks the miracles.
Our prayers can be short. Jesus’ were. Chris found the most results when his prayers were quick.
Everyone is called to greatness, but not everyone will achieve greatness.
Don’t be willing just to take the good road, but take the higher road. Taking the easy road will rob you of the life you’re meant to live.
It takes character and perseverance to stay at the top.
Your faith will be tested if you want to be someone great.
If you want to be a whole person, don’t run from adversity.
If you settle for only the things you can do in the natural, you’re setting yourself up for second best.
Being thankful opens up doors to new dimensions of God. Thankfulness is the main component of our spiritual warfare. Prayer without thanksgiving is often faithless begging.
Capture worry by saying thank you for something that happened in the past.
Pray less and thank more.
Courage is fear that has said its prayers (everyone has fear)
Religion makes rules that God didn’t make.
God is looking for people who are not looking for commands but permission. He’s already given us commands. His spirit has already come. His power is already here. We just haven’t discovered what’s already here. We need to step into what God has already released.
Persistent prayer is not to change God, it’s to change us.
Do things based on Christ’s identity when you don’t feel your own.
Satan uses fear to stop you from ministering to people.
Look at what the enemy is doing to see what God wants to do. For example, people are drawn to the supernatural when you look at books like Harry Potter and TV shows that involve psychics. That shows that God wants to show up more supernaturally. The New Age movement started when people were looking for the supernatural and it wasn’t in the church.
You can’t handle more freedom if you’re not willing to take on more responsibility.
What are the restrictions that you have confined heaven to?
If you don’t have the paradigm of royalty, you’ll be afraid more often that you should be.
You can be a Christian and expect nothing from heaven.
Giving is not losing. It is sowing.
God doesn’t mind you having stuff. He minds when your stuff has you.
A lot of our prayers are just to avoid pain. God is after something more. God is interested in helping us grow.
If you want to have joy, rejoice first, then the joy will come.
Feed your heart on what God is doing and has done, not on what he hasn’t done.
God doesn’t want us to do stuff for him. He just wants us to love Him.
I don’t want a God that is my size.
People are aching for hope and we have it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
