I am growing so much in my personal relationship with the Lord.
He is revealing so much to me and it is super encouraging.
Prayer is such a good thing and something that I have been finding lately to be non-existent in my life. I am asking the Holy Spirit to show me how to make prayer be a first instinct in my life instead of secondary to turning to friends.
Jesus is so worthy of all my devotion and all of my attention. Jesus is so powerful that I feel so humbled that he wants to be a part of my life. Why wouldn't I want to be in conversation with him? I ask for prayer for that this week!
I am reading the book Radical by David Platt (which i highly recommend )and have come across so many empowering things.
I am so guilty of twisting Jesus into the God that I desire Him to be and more like myself because I am so comfortable with myself.
When I was called to be a Christian I was called to abandon the attachments of this world. In no way did I believe this when I became a Christian.
I am realizing more and more as I dive into the word how important it is to completely give everything I have to Jesus because He is so worth it.
It is worth it to give everything to Jesus because he is more valuable than anything I could ever have on this earth. When I give everything to Jesus in no way am I losing but in reality I am gaining.
The big questions is do I really believe that Jesus is worth abandoning everything for?
As I process through this I see how much I am living a life of this world and not a life of complete commitment to the Lord.
I am ready for the Lord to use me. I am ready to stop being comfortable and learn what it really looks like to live for a God who is worthy of all my devotion and so good to me.
I am just an ordinary person who is being used by a God filled with love and compassion and I am so grateful that the Lord wants to use me.
I went home this weekend so I didn't get to go to church here. I listened to the sermon online and I am just blown away by the message my pastor had to share with us.
The sermon was about taking up your cross daily. The pastor is doing a series about being a follower of Jesus not just a fan of Him.
The verse he referenced was:
"Then he said to them all:
'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and
take up their cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it'"
Luke 9:23-24
I have definitely heard this verse before but never really dived into what it meant.
The pastor shared that the symbol for the follower of Christ is the cross. He told us two things that the cross symbolized.
1.) The cross is a symbol of humiliation. The Romans had numerous ways of executing cheaply and quickly but the crucifixion was a more time consuming and costly death. This death was used for the Romans to show the citizens that they had power.
2.) The cross is a symbol of suffering. Before a person was taken to be hung on the cross they would be beaten and then have to walk to their death site with the horizontal part of the cross on their arms to then be attached to the vertical part. Jesus literally took up a 125 pound cross and carried it for our lives.
You may be thinking why in the world I would share these sad things with you? A life without suffering like Jesus did is not living a life for Jesus. Living for Jesus does not mean an easy life. Some of the suffering I go through is because of Jesus' suffering. How can I not love a God that came from the perfection of heaven to do these awful things for me.
We were encouraged to process through if we were really carrying the cross for Jesus and when the last time that following Jesus cost us something.
My answer was rarely. I don't know how often I have passed up opportunities because they were uncomfortable or because I would need to sacrifice something.
When Jesus died on the cross it was not just Him dying for my sins but Him showing a way for me to live. Taking up the cross daily is not a one time decision but a daily one. I am praying for the Lord to reveal what it looks like for me to die to myself and take up the cross every day.
Something else that I heard today when listening to a sermon that was really powerful was that I often think Gods plan is defined as what he wants me to do and where he wants me to be. Yes, that is part of it but there is something even bigger. Gods plan mainly revolves around who He wants me to be and what I am becoming.
Gods ultimate desire is to mature me to be more like Him and I so want that!
The final thing that I want to share with you is about an event that Cru had this week. It was called The Maze and it was a magic and illusionist show.
I don't think I can even adequately explain to you what happened last night. Basically the first hour was magic and illusion and the second hour was him sharing the story of his battle with leukemia and how he found Christ.
We had 188 people come to Christ through this outreach!!! God is seriously so good. Over 1,000 student heard the gospel last night!!!! :) So much to smile about and be excited about for our movement!
Anyways, God is showing me big things in my walk this week and I am so grateful. I am continually amazed at how great God is and at how much work he can really do in my life and the lives of those around me.
I have been able to spend lots of time with friends this week and that has been really powerful too just to hear people speak truth into my life and keep me grounded and accountable.
I praise God for all of you who are reading! :) You are such a special part of my life!
Love, Allison
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