In this New Year, I want to to grow deeper in my walk with Christ in all that I say and do. I want Non-Christians to want to know about this Jesus that I speak of when I serve in ministry and in telling others about Jesus everywhere I go. In this year, I don't want to have any goals to speak of, I just want God to change my character so I will be like him day by day.
In the first way I hope to grow in Jesus Christ is reading the Bible backwards and forwards. I need to deepen myself in memorizing Scripture on a more consistent basis. I feel as if God is calling me out of my little comfortable box to serve him in any capacity that he wants me to. God is also saying to me to not be complacent in my walk with him but be diligent in all that I say and do. God wants me to put him at the center of my life daily.
My evangelism teacher taught us last semester to be bold in sharing the gospel wherever wherever we are and wherever we go in life. Lately, I have been trying to share the gospel with my brother. I also have been trying to pursue my parents back to a committed relationship with Jesus and back to church again. Also, as I go into future ministry with seminary coming up, I think God is calling me to be more intentional in sharing about him. I have been praying about going into YL ministry after seminary.
Lastly, I feel led to say that I don't want any specific goals in the New Year I just want God to change my character and keep maturing in me. I want him to keep working in me until the day of Christ Jesus like it says in Philippians 1:6. I was reading this book over prayer during the holidays and the author was talking about how God was saying to him that he didn't want him to have any goals in the New Year. The author said that God said to him that he just wanted to change his character.
That is want I want more than anything else in this next year. If our character is not changed by God, then we will not be able to grow and him and do great things through him. We as the body of Christ have to depend on God for all things in our life. In John 15:5, Jesus says "Apart from me you can do nothing." Through this dependence on God, maturation and growth in our character takes place; Romans 8:28-29. Well I hope everyone that reads these are desperately dependent on God for everything in life.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Sunday, December 23, 2012
What Jesus means to me
In honor of this Christmas season I a writing a special blog post. This post will entail what my relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, means to me.
I am doing this because God sent his Son, born of a humble virgin birth so we could have life in him;1:34-35. Jesus lived a perfect sinless life and died on the cross for our sins. Isaiah 53:6 says "We all are like sheep that have gone astray, each of us has turned to turned our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all." Chris Tomlin says in his song Jesus Messiah that he is the Lord of over all things. He reigns in and over all of our lives. Jesus is our Messiah; the King of Kings, Immanuel.
Jesus became flesh and lived among us so God could have a relationship with us. John 10:10 says in Jesus we have life and life abundant.
Jesus has been my rock in some of the hardest times of my life. He brought me through a the time in my life my junior year of high school after a car wreck. He helped me re-dedicate my life to him at the beginning of my senior year of high school. Jesus also brought me through that time in my life after I graduated from college when what I thought I was going to do didn't work out. I depended on him, presented my situation to him, then he gave me his direction in my life and showed me he is sovereign over all things.
He also changed my circumstances from a year long internship program I was going to do and led me to D-focus. Jesus used this changing of circumstance for my good; he used that summer to help me become mature in my walk with him. I developed a daily, desperate, abiding, relationship with God through that summer at D-focus. I also grew in him through that next year of my life when I was unsure about the future.
This is what Jesus means and to me and my life. What does Jesus mean to you my readers.
I am doing this because God sent his Son, born of a humble virgin birth so we could have life in him;1:34-35. Jesus lived a perfect sinless life and died on the cross for our sins. Isaiah 53:6 says "We all are like sheep that have gone astray, each of us has turned to turned our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all." Chris Tomlin says in his song Jesus Messiah that he is the Lord of over all things. He reigns in and over all of our lives. Jesus is our Messiah; the King of Kings, Immanuel.
Jesus became flesh and lived among us so God could have a relationship with us. John 10:10 says in Jesus we have life and life abundant.
Jesus has been my rock in some of the hardest times of my life. He brought me through a the time in my life my junior year of high school after a car wreck. He helped me re-dedicate my life to him at the beginning of my senior year of high school. Jesus also brought me through that time in my life after I graduated from college when what I thought I was going to do didn't work out. I depended on him, presented my situation to him, then he gave me his direction in my life and showed me he is sovereign over all things.
He also changed my circumstances from a year long internship program I was going to do and led me to D-focus. Jesus used this changing of circumstance for my good; he used that summer to help me become mature in my walk with him. I developed a daily, desperate, abiding, relationship with God through that summer at D-focus. I also grew in him through that next year of my life when I was unsure about the future.
This is what Jesus means and to me and my life. What does Jesus mean to you my readers.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Snoop's life: What God has been showing me in the past year
Snoop's life: What God has been showing me in the past year: In this blog post I will discuss what God has been showing me in the past year. These things God has been showing me are important to my Ch...
What God has been showing me in the past year
In this blog post I will discuss what God has been showing me in the past year. These things God has been showing me are important to my Christian growth in my relationship with God.
The first thing God has been showing me in the past year has centered on God's desire for me to have more of a burden for those that don't know Christ. This desire started in God leading me to a mission trip in Thailand this past summer.
In the first week I was there God broke down language barriers and used myself and another girl that was there with us to lead a Thai university student in Changmai to knowledge of Jesus Christ. The gospel presentation that we used centered on discussing that God created the heavens and earth, then we shared the gospel with our new friend Noom. The day that we shared with Noom was a Wednesday, in which they had the day off school. We were able to share with Noom for about two hours. Noom and I were both Journalism majors in college.
God also used a seminary class to give me the desire to have more of a burden for the lost. In Contemporary Evangelism class, I was challenged to be more bold in sharing the gospel with those that don't know Christ. We learned about different forms of evangelism from: Personal evangelism, to Direct evangelism, Servant evangelism, Door-to-Door- Evangelism, and Church Evangelism. We read books about these different forms of evangelism that described how each is useful in it's own context. In this class, we also learned about different movements of revival and Christian growth in America throughout the years.
Overall, this class gave me a great background for future ministry and gave me more of a desire to share the gospel everyone I come in contact with. Our teacher challenged us to boldly share to gospel on a regular basis. People in the class shared their stories of their evangelism efforts throughout the semester. God sent this class in my life for me to grow in my desire to become a better evangelist. I have seen my teacher's heart for his students and other people that don't know Jesus this semester.
I also did something I had never done before in my life this semester I shared the gospel doing Door-to-Door Evangelism. We knocked on doors and shared the gospel to those that wanted to hear. This method worked at times while at other times it did not. Some people answered the door while others didn't. In conclusion, this method challenged me in my walk with Christ and ability to share with others about him.
The last thing God has been showing me in this past year is that I need to be more centered on him. One of the ways this is parlayed is asking God for forgiveness of my sins and for me to pull me away from all temptations that this world throws at me. If I do this, then it will cause me to become humbled and centered on what Christ wants for me and my life. I will be able to abide in him more if I am centered on him in all my thoughts, actions, and words. It will cause me to present/surrender things to God daily and become more totally dependent on God for everything.
Another thing that being centered on Christ will allow me to do is that it will lead me to a woman. The girl that I marry will see that Christ is in me and is flowing through my life. The person that becomes my wife/life partner will come to know that Christ is the center of my life in all that I do and I have developed an abiding, daily desperate dependence on God.
As I end this blog post, I hope God will show me more even more amazing things in this next year as I hope to graduate from seminary in December of 2013 and go onto future ministry service. What is God showing you today my fellow readers?
The first thing God has been showing me in the past year has centered on God's desire for me to have more of a burden for those that don't know Christ. This desire started in God leading me to a mission trip in Thailand this past summer.
In the first week I was there God broke down language barriers and used myself and another girl that was there with us to lead a Thai university student in Changmai to knowledge of Jesus Christ. The gospel presentation that we used centered on discussing that God created the heavens and earth, then we shared the gospel with our new friend Noom. The day that we shared with Noom was a Wednesday, in which they had the day off school. We were able to share with Noom for about two hours. Noom and I were both Journalism majors in college.
God also used a seminary class to give me the desire to have more of a burden for the lost. In Contemporary Evangelism class, I was challenged to be more bold in sharing the gospel with those that don't know Christ. We learned about different forms of evangelism from: Personal evangelism, to Direct evangelism, Servant evangelism, Door-to-Door- Evangelism, and Church Evangelism. We read books about these different forms of evangelism that described how each is useful in it's own context. In this class, we also learned about different movements of revival and Christian growth in America throughout the years.
Overall, this class gave me a great background for future ministry and gave me more of a desire to share the gospel everyone I come in contact with. Our teacher challenged us to boldly share to gospel on a regular basis. People in the class shared their stories of their evangelism efforts throughout the semester. God sent this class in my life for me to grow in my desire to become a better evangelist. I have seen my teacher's heart for his students and other people that don't know Jesus this semester.
I also did something I had never done before in my life this semester I shared the gospel doing Door-to-Door Evangelism. We knocked on doors and shared the gospel to those that wanted to hear. This method worked at times while at other times it did not. Some people answered the door while others didn't. In conclusion, this method challenged me in my walk with Christ and ability to share with others about him.
The last thing God has been showing me in this past year is that I need to be more centered on him. One of the ways this is parlayed is asking God for forgiveness of my sins and for me to pull me away from all temptations that this world throws at me. If I do this, then it will cause me to become humbled and centered on what Christ wants for me and my life. I will be able to abide in him more if I am centered on him in all my thoughts, actions, and words. It will cause me to present/surrender things to God daily and become more totally dependent on God for everything.
Another thing that being centered on Christ will allow me to do is that it will lead me to a woman. The girl that I marry will see that Christ is in me and is flowing through my life. The person that becomes my wife/life partner will come to know that Christ is the center of my life in all that I do and I have developed an abiding, daily desperate dependence on God.
As I end this blog post, I hope God will show me more even more amazing things in this next year as I hope to graduate from seminary in December of 2013 and go onto future ministry service. What is God showing you today my fellow readers?
Sunday, December 9, 2012
God can do more than ask if we let him
The theme of this blog entry is the greatness of God. God is greater than we ask or imagine if we let him work through us. This theme is from Ephesians 3:20 that discusses how God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine according the power at work within us.
An example of this is God's working in the Old Testament for the commitment to the people of Israel's good. God is always faithful to the people of Israel. God is able and faithful but the people are not. God still cares for his people after all their sin after he brings them out the exile.
Two verses that also talk of God's greatness in relation to Ephesians 3:20 passage are Matthew 1:17 and Luke 1:35-37. Matthew 1:17 says, "Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to Christ." This verse in Matthew discusses God's movement through his people and what he can do through us.
Luke 1:35-37 when the angel Gabriel answers Mary's questioning of Jesus' birth says, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." This last verse describes how God moves in mighty ways. God cannot be underestimated with his power,glory, and ability to move in our life.
In our ministries and life, we have to surrender the sins that weigh us down so that God can move in our life. God is mighty, powerful, and has the ability to save us from anything that hold us down. For God is able to to more than we can ever ask or imagine in our life; Ephesians 3:20.
An example of this is God's working in the Old Testament for the commitment to the people of Israel's good. God is always faithful to the people of Israel. God is able and faithful but the people are not. God still cares for his people after all their sin after he brings them out the exile.
Two verses that also talk of God's greatness in relation to Ephesians 3:20 passage are Matthew 1:17 and Luke 1:35-37. Matthew 1:17 says, "Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to Christ." This verse in Matthew discusses God's movement through his people and what he can do through us.
Luke 1:35-37 when the angel Gabriel answers Mary's questioning of Jesus' birth says, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." This last verse describes how God moves in mighty ways. God cannot be underestimated with his power,glory, and ability to move in our life.
In our ministries and life, we have to surrender the sins that weigh us down so that God can move in our life. God is mighty, powerful, and has the ability to save us from anything that hold us down. For God is able to to more than we can ever ask or imagine in our life; Ephesians 3:20.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Thankfulness
This past Thanksgiving I was reminded of the many blessings that God has given me in my life. I am thankful for God blessing me with best friends from high school, college, and D-focus.
I am thankful for the good and bad times God has brought me through in my life. I am thankful for D-focus and it's impact in my life. The last area I will talk about in this blog entry is that I was thankful TCU was able to put the beat down on UT on Thanksgiving night and I was able to hang out with my roommate from college.
The first area I will discuss is that I am thankful that God changed my circumstances from doing this Young Life year-long internship to doing Discipleship Focus that summer. God changed my plans because he had something bigger for my life. It was during this time in my life that I grow in maturity and faith in Christ. God showed me how much I need to depend on him in all circumstances and present things to him. God also revealed to him that he is sovereign over all things. I put all these things into practice during the next year when I was going through a hard time in my life after graduating from college when I wanted to do was not working out.
God helped me present and abide in him during this time in my life. He gave me faith in this time. He used this faith to give me the strength to be able to surrender more things to him and become mature in him.
God used an important time in my life during my sophomore year of high school when I met Christ at Frontier Ranch. It was during this time, I met some of my best friends from high school. These friends have been with me through all my life.
God has also blessed me with some good friends from college through BYX and Young Life. These include: Jim Douglas, George Cagle, Andrew Sullivan, Will Hopkins, and EJ Governator. These friends have also helped me grow in my faith and walk with God.
God used some hard times in my life to help me grow in him. One of these was hard times during my junior year of high school when I had to car wreck that took me down and path of doubt, frustration, and unbelief. During the next year of my life in my senior year of high school he helped me realize how much to depend on him. Other hard times include trying to figure out my life after I graduated from college and the frustrating time waiting on the petition to graduate in my senior year of college. In retrospect, I had to go through these hard times in order to be mature in Jesus Christ.
The last thing I am thankful for is that TCU was able to play and beat UT on Thanksgiving last Thursday. It was cool to be in the DKR and see the Frogs put the pounding on the Horns. I am so excited that the Frogs are finally in a big time conference. In a couple years Gary Patterson will take us to the national championship.
I will end this blog post by reminding all the readers of the many blessings of friends and family. Remember what God has done in your life today and what he will keep doing until the day of Christ Jesus; Phi 1:6.
I am thankful for the good and bad times God has brought me through in my life. I am thankful for D-focus and it's impact in my life. The last area I will talk about in this blog entry is that I was thankful TCU was able to put the beat down on UT on Thanksgiving night and I was able to hang out with my roommate from college.
The first area I will discuss is that I am thankful that God changed my circumstances from doing this Young Life year-long internship to doing Discipleship Focus that summer. God changed my plans because he had something bigger for my life. It was during this time in my life that I grow in maturity and faith in Christ. God showed me how much I need to depend on him in all circumstances and present things to him. God also revealed to him that he is sovereign over all things. I put all these things into practice during the next year when I was going through a hard time in my life after graduating from college when I wanted to do was not working out.
God helped me present and abide in him during this time in my life. He gave me faith in this time. He used this faith to give me the strength to be able to surrender more things to him and become mature in him.
God used an important time in my life during my sophomore year of high school when I met Christ at Frontier Ranch. It was during this time, I met some of my best friends from high school. These friends have been with me through all my life.
God has also blessed me with some good friends from college through BYX and Young Life. These include: Jim Douglas, George Cagle, Andrew Sullivan, Will Hopkins, and EJ Governator. These friends have also helped me grow in my faith and walk with God.
God used some hard times in my life to help me grow in him. One of these was hard times during my junior year of high school when I had to car wreck that took me down and path of doubt, frustration, and unbelief. During the next year of my life in my senior year of high school he helped me realize how much to depend on him. Other hard times include trying to figure out my life after I graduated from college and the frustrating time waiting on the petition to graduate in my senior year of college. In retrospect, I had to go through these hard times in order to be mature in Jesus Christ.
The last thing I am thankful for is that TCU was able to play and beat UT on Thanksgiving last Thursday. It was cool to be in the DKR and see the Frogs put the pounding on the Horns. I am so excited that the Frogs are finally in a big time conference. In a couple years Gary Patterson will take us to the national championship.
I will end this blog post by reminding all the readers of the many blessings of friends and family. Remember what God has done in your life today and what he will keep doing until the day of Christ Jesus; Phi 1:6.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
God's ability to produce Godliness
God has used different ways and things in my life to produce Godliness in me. He has used these things and ways to produce maturity in me as a believer.
One main way in which God has produced Godliness in my life is through his guidance. Proverbs 3:5-6, says that we should "trust in the Lord with all of our heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Trusting in God's ways and not own will produce Godliness in our lives daily.
A time in my where this was evident was after I graduated from college when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I thought I wanted to go into Broadcast Journalism but God had other plans. God closed down that area of my life when the jobs I interviewed for did not work out.
God helped me trust and surrender this situation to him. He reminded me that his plans are greater than mine when I gave control to God. I presented this situation in an abiding nature of submission to God after what I wanted to do didn't work out. After I presented the situation, God gave me faith and also a peace of mind during that time in my life. It was during this time in my life that God really showed me what an abiding, maturing, relationship with him is and I truly became a friend of God.
God used the things I learned before that time in my life at D-focus to prepare me to be able to trust him. I gained a clear understanding of how to surrender/present things to God with an attitude of supplication. This study showed me how much God loves us and wants us in a daily desperate dependent relationship with him. If we are depending on God daily, then he will give us the strength to trust him with all of our life. We can't do anything our own, all we have in this life comes from Jesus, the Vine.
The last area of my life in which this was evident was during my junior year of high school. I was going through a hard time in my life at the time when I had just gotten into a car wreck. I was really doubting the meaning of life, my faith, and why this happened to me. God used some friends from high school that God put in my life that previous summer to help me trust in him again. During the beginning of my senior year, I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ. God used that time in my life of doubt and frustration to help me so that would be able to trust him in the future.
We as Christians cannot produce any Godliness on our own in our lives. We are the vine, and we are the branches. Depending on Jesus Christ in all that we do will produce lasting eternal Godliness in us.
One main way in which God has produced Godliness in my life is through his guidance. Proverbs 3:5-6, says that we should "trust in the Lord with all of our heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Trusting in God's ways and not own will produce Godliness in our lives daily.
A time in my where this was evident was after I graduated from college when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I thought I wanted to go into Broadcast Journalism but God had other plans. God closed down that area of my life when the jobs I interviewed for did not work out.
God helped me trust and surrender this situation to him. He reminded me that his plans are greater than mine when I gave control to God. I presented this situation in an abiding nature of submission to God after what I wanted to do didn't work out. After I presented the situation, God gave me faith and also a peace of mind during that time in my life. It was during this time in my life that God really showed me what an abiding, maturing, relationship with him is and I truly became a friend of God.
God used the things I learned before that time in my life at D-focus to prepare me to be able to trust him. I gained a clear understanding of how to surrender/present things to God with an attitude of supplication. This study showed me how much God loves us and wants us in a daily desperate dependent relationship with him. If we are depending on God daily, then he will give us the strength to trust him with all of our life. We can't do anything our own, all we have in this life comes from Jesus, the Vine.
The last area of my life in which this was evident was during my junior year of high school. I was going through a hard time in my life at the time when I had just gotten into a car wreck. I was really doubting the meaning of life, my faith, and why this happened to me. God used some friends from high school that God put in my life that previous summer to help me trust in him again. During the beginning of my senior year, I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ. God used that time in my life of doubt and frustration to help me so that would be able to trust him in the future.
We as Christians cannot produce any Godliness on our own in our lives. We are the vine, and we are the branches. Depending on Jesus Christ in all that we do will produce lasting eternal Godliness in us.
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