Ramblings for His Glory: Seeking to know Him

Going to New York City

2010-05-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

As many of you know I leave for New York City in less than 2 weeks. I get more excited with every day. My parents have always taught me the importance of reaching out to people, and this is exactly what I will have the opportunity to do! I will be in New York City for 8 weeks working with The Journey Church, living in Manhattan, and serving Lord in leading missions teams in servant evangelism projects through out the city.

Part of this opportunity includes raising the money needed for housing, transportation, and other living expenses. The total that is needed is $4000, and the first installment of $2500 is due on May 28th. I am saying all of this because I need your help. If my friends and family who have not had the opportunity to give would be willing to give 1-5 dollars then I know that I could raise all of the money I need to make this trip a reality. It is difficult to convey in words the excitement and urgency I feel in going to NYC. I ask that you know my heart for the Lord and my heart for service! Thank you all so much for your support and love!

In order to donate, all you have to do click on the "Donate Link" on my blog profile and donate, through Pay Pal, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 dollars! If you do not have a Pay Pal account, it only takes a couple of minutes to do so (trust me, I just made one!)

I love you all and am so blown away by all of your support! I will keep posting updates through facebook and my blog!

Where I feel safe...

2010-05-07T19:19:00.001-07:00

Lately I have been coming to terms with the idea of community and truly learning from other believers and reconciling the fact of Paul's letters as teachings to the early church to the way in which we as believers should be attempting to teach each other. This has led me on a search to find sermons, lessons, and thoughts that are being taught in the Christian community. In doing so, with the internet being the monster it is, it is easy to stumble upon half truths (aka LIES) or new thoughts that are running through out the "Christian" culture that must be diciphered and filtered through God. Now, couple all of this with the mind of a skeptical, cynical person and this situation can become very burdensome! By this, I mean that I begin to feel the weight of all of the ideas that suffocate the church --ideas that are not biblically based.

But this weight is casted aside when I come back to the Word of God. In His words to us, recorded into the Holy Scriptures, I feel safe. It is where I know that 100% of what I am hearing is the Truth! I do not have to fear half truths, or ideas filtered through personal experiences, or human agendas. Please, do not misunderstand, I hear truth through godly men and women everyday --God has been good to provide them. My warning, in love, here is to not seek complete truth and safety outside of the Word of God. His word can be trusted. In digging through it, we can be assured that it FULLY reveals the heart of God, not simply the thoughts of man. As I open His word, I breathe a sigh of relief as I know I am entering into honesty and love. God's word is good. Let Him be the guiding force of Truth in your life, and relax into a good Book-His!

Ramble on, because He is worthy.

What I learned about God from my Dad

2010-05-01T15:50:00.001-07:00

I was watching a video my father put on facebook today, and I realized (for the millionth time) how blessed I am to have a father that has accurately taught me the truths of God. My dad was by my side as I trusted Jesus as my Savior, was there as I made public my decision through baptism, and has been fiercely speaking truth into my life at just the right moments since then. Now, understand, I have thousands of beautiful memories from my childhood with my father, but when I really consider the ones that have been etched into my heart, there are half a dozen that still live in my mind vividly.

When I was very young, I suppose I had been going through a bout with fear at nighttime, I remember sitting across from my dad at out kitchen table. As I was feeling very anxious and afraid, I remember my father pointing at the door that led from our kitchen to our yard. With his "because I'm your daddy" face on he said, "Krystal, do you really think I would let anyone hurt you?" My father continued to describe to me the lengths to which he would go to protect me. As I look back at that evening, I am assured that my father modeled for me the strength and protection I find in God. It wasn't hard for me to understand and believe the Truth behind God protecting Israel, God protecting the apostles, and God protecting me!

When I was 14 years old, my father reminded me of the importance of faith. The moment was simple, the words were straight forward, and the application was immediate! This moment still brings me to tears and I remember it often in moments of fear and doubt, and though it might not seem so to some, it is one of the greatest moments with my Dad. I was 40 feet in the air, strapped into a harness, waiting for my youth group to let go of the cord that was going to swing me through the air like some female spiderman...On the verge of tears and sickness, I didnt think that I could go through with this. My dad looked up at me, and knowing I was only 14 years old, he kept the lesson simple.....he said, "Krystal, do you know Jesus?" To which I shakingly replied, "Yes!" And I can still hear him saying it today, "Then what are you afraid of?" The Psalms of David and the words of Paul come to my mind as I think of this moment. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" "The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom shall I be afraid?"

My dad also gave me my first taste (if you will) of church ministry, and taught me the importance in the spiritual gift of service. Through out middle school, Dad would sometimes pick me up early on Wednesdays. Being a youth minister meant lots of preparations on Wednesday nights. Dad always tried to create an atmosphere where we could all feel safe and open to worship and receive scripture and teaching. He let me be a part of this. I would help organize chairs, help copy down words to songs, or whatever else he would let me do. Not only was this our time together, but it also let me see all that God had called my dad to do.

My dad is a great man and this is because he serves a Great God! The things I have learned about God, and about serving Him, from my Dad will never leave me. Just like Paul thanked God for the testimonies and faith of the early churches, I thank God for who He has made my father to be, because he has had the biggest impact in God's molding of me!

Ladies, thank the Lord for your fathers if you have one like mine. If you do not (and even if you do), purpose in your heart to marry a man whom your future children can say these things about.

...More ramblings in a desire to be more like Him. Be a woman who rambles for Jesus!

The weight of the cross, our struggles, and our glorious future

2010-04-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight I had dinner with a good friend...this is something we do each week. Its a nice time set aside to talk about life, God, and how the two connect (because they are suppose to!) As we were discussing life and just being honest about how difficult it can be sometimes....struggling with faith, self-esteem, believing God, understanding his will, coveting others testimonies....I began thinking of something I heard recently and decided to explore it more. I want to explore Christ's response to difficulties and how that should mold the way in which we respond...

Matthew 26:38 & 39 say "He told them, 'My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.' He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, 'My father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine'."

Hebrews 12:2 says "Let us fix out eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Let us consider this: Jesus was "despised and rejected --a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief" (Isaiah 53:3-a prophesy about the coming Christ). The idea I want you to ponder here is not the fact that Jesus dealt with difficulties and knew grief, but rather consider how he responded to it when it presented itself in his life. First, consider Matthew 26:39...Christ was honest! He told God the father how he was feeling when he said, "let this cup pass from me," but even in his vulnerability before the father who loved him, he acknowledged God's plan and his own obedience to that plan. Now, Hebrews 12:2 tells us why!! Not out of guilt-ridden obedience, not for the sake of religion, not out of slavery to the law, rather, Jesus submitted to the father's will "for the joy set before him!" There is an important question that mustn't be overlooked here: What was the joy set before him? WE WERE!! Sitting at the right hand of the throne of God as the risen savior of humanity....that was the coming joy he looked to. That was God's plan!

Taking these thoughts into consideration, what must our response be when difficulties come? The apostle Paul is used to reveal to believers of Jesus what our response should be! And...suprise, suprise...It mirrors the response of Christ.

Romans 8:17-18 say "And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yet what we suffer not is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later."

For the joy set before us, we pick up and bear our cross daily! (Mark 8:34) In exploring these truths further, I found three ideas associated with the cross. First, the cross is an expression of the world's hatred. The cross also represents sacrifice and suffering. Lastly the cross represents a life surrendered to the plans of God. When Jesus tells us to to take up our cross and follow him, we must remember that we are only following the example of Christ. He took up His cross first! He experienced the world's hatred first. He experienced suffering and sacrifice first. He surrendered His life first. He does not ask us to bear a cross that He, himself, never bore. As we pick up our cross, we should do so in the same manner He did: considering it joy because God will keep His promise to give us a glorious future! As believers in the way, the truth, and the life, we are heirs with Christ. We cannot forget to compare our present sufferings to the future glory, and as we do, we will find them growing strangely dim...(as the classic hymn says).

God Bless. Pardon my ramblings. Hold on to truth!

Just when Everybody searched....

2010-04-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

The following PRECIOUS piece of art was written by a 7th grade boy. I have been blessed to be able to take a children's literature class while at Liberty. I say 'blessed' because I am being reminded of the joys and innocence of childhood and because I am being equipped to engage children in discovering truth...whether they are reading the Word, their textbook, or reading just for fun. My professor, a woman of incredible wisdom and godliness, shared this poem with us. One of her former 7th grade students penned this during a poetry week at school.

Just when

Everybody searched for a

Savior to

Undo all this

Sin-He came

With tears in my eyes, I was blown away by the simplicity of the gospel. The Israelites, and even all of humanity-though they did not realize, were looking for the promised Savior. In God-like fashion, He did not come as they expected --slaying enemies by the sword or overthrowing political powers so that He could reign on earth. He came to 'undo all this sin' as this young man so eloquently said it. I am so happy that this was God's plan! When scripture says that He is the author and finisher of our faith....He is just that....He came up with the plot, it is His story, it is His plan! Oh the grace of God, Oh the blood of Jesus, oh the promise of our inheritance in the Holy Spirit! Most incredible story I have ever heard!

Why?

2010-04-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

Everytime I hear of someone starting a blog, I think to myself....Why? I realize that that is a bit of a rude thought, but I wonder to myself....What's the point? Who will read it? or Are they really that vain? (because I never thought they were...) It just seemed odd to me that some of my friends were writing all about their lives, their thoughts, their hardships...all for the world to read. Today I realized! When you feel like the Lord has given you something to share with the world, you have to find a way to do just that. So....why am I starting a blog? Because God is teaching me. Because I want to pour out what has been poured into me. Because I want to touch lives that are beyond my reach now. I am sure it is the same way for anyone who is seeking after God, when God speaks to you, when he reveals knowledge to you, you can't help but get excited! I get overwhelmed with the realization that the God of the universe just told me something about himself, or that in his grace, He revealed something I need to know about myself. So, I hope that these ramblings will be a blessing to someone as I attempt to shout from the rooftops what God has shown me in our secret place. God is faithful!!