Ohana Night! One my best friends-Malene My YARD CREW!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Holy Spirit Come!
Its been a couple weeks since I have posted anything but there has been a lot going on! I am growing daily. I wake up each morning excited to see what else I can possibly learn about who God is and His character. My prayer each day has been for a new revelation each day of Him. I have gotten AT LEAST one a day. God is so good.
My week in Kona was amazing and God moved me in many ways. I realized the power that is within me and of course every believer. Its a shame that Chrisitans walk around worried about whats said when in our very own bodies we have the power of God and he can restore, heal, and show His goodness through us if we are willing to step into it. That was quite the revelation for me!
Last week we had Andy Byrd come. He is quite the man of God. He also encouraged us to walk in the Spirit and spoke to us about the power of prayer. The whole school here is so willing and open to act on what we hear that we began praying for physical healings right and left. There were many healed from headahces, stuffy noses, and necks. There were also those who weren't healed but that does not reflect on who God is at all! Andy told us how we as Christians do have the authority to heal, cast out demons, and spread His kingdom. (Luke 9:1-2, Matthew 10:8) God would not tell us to do something if we were not capable. We have to step out in faith and let the Holy Sprit work. The sick aren't going to heal themself. Step out, try, and see where God wants to use you. You'll never know the power within you if you don't try! Having Andy Byrd here on base really encouraged us all to increase our faith and believe in the power of prayer. Coming here I thought prayer was important but honestly I figured God is God and He will carry out what He wants to do whether or not i am praying about it. Now I have come to realize that God wants us to seek His heart and know His heart for the issues around the world and in our own lives. He doesn't NEED us but He wants to show us by praying and then we can catch a glimpse of His beautiful heart. If we are not acting in love then its in vain. Gods love is pure and true. Ask God to break your heart for what breaks His. You will be blown away. That was a tid bit of what I learned last week, now for this week...
This week is Holy Spirit week. OH MY GOSH! I am so excited and have already experienced some crazy things. We have another speaker from Kona. Her name is Amy Sollars. She told us her testimony and I can not believe what she has gone through. From a young age she saw the spiritual realm. From the ages 11-16 she was tormented by demons constantly. She would talk to them face to face and they would come visit her in her room. They filled her head with lies saying, you are not good enough, you are not pretty enough, you should kill yourself, no one likes you. It got to the point where they were throwing her against her wall in her room. She did not tell anyone because at the age she was worried people would think she was crazy and she would get sent to a mental hospital. When she was 16 she went to a church and the pastor prayed for her. Her eyes rolled back and a demon began speaking in a mans voice. After 30 minutes she was restored. She could not believe the silence in her head. It had not been quiet for five years! Could you imagine that ?!
With all of that said, she has the gift and of seeing the spiritual realm. She also has an amazing gift of prophecy. She can prophesy over anyone. It comes so easy to her and she can look at people and tell them about past or future events, whatever God is putting on her heart to say. So you can imagine the week we are coming upon!
Last night she spoke of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. I do not think many people have heard of this. We all have heard of water baptism but being baptized in the Holy Spirit is just asking Him to come upon us and fill us with His spirit and stating that you believe in Him and the Word of God. She said that a sign that He is moving is speaking in tongues and not to be afraid to say whats on our heart. A prayer in tongues is in "perfect form" and satan himself cannot understand it. As we all began praying this He began to move in our tin. Let me rewind to a year ago at CCU, one night I was upset and I asked God just to hold my hand and never let go as long as I live. I raised my hand as i laid in bed. My hand and arm began moving and I could not believe it! I asked God to never let me doubt that that had happened and to always know He's there holding me and guiding me each day. Back to lastnight...as i prayed I could feel Him moving and I laid there. Amy said He is coming to some of you and just wants you to raise your hands so i did. My arms began moving just like they did last year. I laid there and prayed. That lasted for about 15 minutes or so. I sat up and continued praying. I stood up again. While all of this was going on Amy went around praying, as well as all the staff. I had not been prayed for and thats when Satan moved in. I was attacked with lie after lie. I heard you are forgotten again, you haven't done enough, you aren't good enough, who's really there for you Amy. Those thoughts overwhelmed me and silent tears rolled down my face. Katie (staff) came and prayed for me asking why I was crying. I told her the thoughts going through my head and she prayed and rebuked them in the name of Jesus. I did feel better but still was thinking I really didn't experience much. We had to close our time since it was almost 830 and we have a sound ordinance on the base. Amy went to the front and said who tonight spoke in tongues for the first time and many people raised their hands. That made me more upset. Of course I was happy for everyone because their experiences with the Holy Spirit were amazing. After she was done speaking she came up to me. She asked if I had experienced anything and I told her about my hands and she held my hands and prayed for me saying come Holy Spirit, come fill Amy. She prayed against the doubt I was feeling and the fear. She saw how hungry I was for it and she spoke it out over me. I stood there with my hands open and Amy said, there He is, He's here, He's on you. I still stood there with fear and she said Amy, start speaking. At the moment with her encouragement I began speaking in tongues. That went on for about a minute and Amy just smiled when I opened my eyes. I had about four of my friends surrounding me by that time. I am so thankful for the amazing people here that God has placed in my life. I am constantly being pushed to be stronger in my walk with God and thats my desire to have those kind of people in my life. I am sick of whats "normal." I want to live for God and whatever is not going to push me towards God needs to be taken out. God is real, He is wanting to work, He loves us like no one else ever can, and wants a relationship with each one of us. Pursue HIM! He is the one that will never let you down!
I will update throughout this week! I know its going to be a big one!
all my love <3
My week in Kona was amazing and God moved me in many ways. I realized the power that is within me and of course every believer. Its a shame that Chrisitans walk around worried about whats said when in our very own bodies we have the power of God and he can restore, heal, and show His goodness through us if we are willing to step into it. That was quite the revelation for me!
Last week we had Andy Byrd come. He is quite the man of God. He also encouraged us to walk in the Spirit and spoke to us about the power of prayer. The whole school here is so willing and open to act on what we hear that we began praying for physical healings right and left. There were many healed from headahces, stuffy noses, and necks. There were also those who weren't healed but that does not reflect on who God is at all! Andy told us how we as Christians do have the authority to heal, cast out demons, and spread His kingdom. (Luke 9:1-2, Matthew 10:8) God would not tell us to do something if we were not capable. We have to step out in faith and let the Holy Sprit work. The sick aren't going to heal themself. Step out, try, and see where God wants to use you. You'll never know the power within you if you don't try! Having Andy Byrd here on base really encouraged us all to increase our faith and believe in the power of prayer. Coming here I thought prayer was important but honestly I figured God is God and He will carry out what He wants to do whether or not i am praying about it. Now I have come to realize that God wants us to seek His heart and know His heart for the issues around the world and in our own lives. He doesn't NEED us but He wants to show us by praying and then we can catch a glimpse of His beautiful heart. If we are not acting in love then its in vain. Gods love is pure and true. Ask God to break your heart for what breaks His. You will be blown away. That was a tid bit of what I learned last week, now for this week...
This week is Holy Spirit week. OH MY GOSH! I am so excited and have already experienced some crazy things. We have another speaker from Kona. Her name is Amy Sollars. She told us her testimony and I can not believe what she has gone through. From a young age she saw the spiritual realm. From the ages 11-16 she was tormented by demons constantly. She would talk to them face to face and they would come visit her in her room. They filled her head with lies saying, you are not good enough, you are not pretty enough, you should kill yourself, no one likes you. It got to the point where they were throwing her against her wall in her room. She did not tell anyone because at the age she was worried people would think she was crazy and she would get sent to a mental hospital. When she was 16 she went to a church and the pastor prayed for her. Her eyes rolled back and a demon began speaking in a mans voice. After 30 minutes she was restored. She could not believe the silence in her head. It had not been quiet for five years! Could you imagine that ?!
With all of that said, she has the gift and of seeing the spiritual realm. She also has an amazing gift of prophecy. She can prophesy over anyone. It comes so easy to her and she can look at people and tell them about past or future events, whatever God is putting on her heart to say. So you can imagine the week we are coming upon!
Last night she spoke of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. I do not think many people have heard of this. We all have heard of water baptism but being baptized in the Holy Spirit is just asking Him to come upon us and fill us with His spirit and stating that you believe in Him and the Word of God. She said that a sign that He is moving is speaking in tongues and not to be afraid to say whats on our heart. A prayer in tongues is in "perfect form" and satan himself cannot understand it. As we all began praying this He began to move in our tin. Let me rewind to a year ago at CCU, one night I was upset and I asked God just to hold my hand and never let go as long as I live. I raised my hand as i laid in bed. My hand and arm began moving and I could not believe it! I asked God to never let me doubt that that had happened and to always know He's there holding me and guiding me each day. Back to lastnight...as i prayed I could feel Him moving and I laid there. Amy said He is coming to some of you and just wants you to raise your hands so i did. My arms began moving just like they did last year. I laid there and prayed. That lasted for about 15 minutes or so. I sat up and continued praying. I stood up again. While all of this was going on Amy went around praying, as well as all the staff. I had not been prayed for and thats when Satan moved in. I was attacked with lie after lie. I heard you are forgotten again, you haven't done enough, you aren't good enough, who's really there for you Amy. Those thoughts overwhelmed me and silent tears rolled down my face. Katie (staff) came and prayed for me asking why I was crying. I told her the thoughts going through my head and she prayed and rebuked them in the name of Jesus. I did feel better but still was thinking I really didn't experience much. We had to close our time since it was almost 830 and we have a sound ordinance on the base. Amy went to the front and said who tonight spoke in tongues for the first time and many people raised their hands. That made me more upset. Of course I was happy for everyone because their experiences with the Holy Spirit were amazing. After she was done speaking she came up to me. She asked if I had experienced anything and I told her about my hands and she held my hands and prayed for me saying come Holy Spirit, come fill Amy. She prayed against the doubt I was feeling and the fear. She saw how hungry I was for it and she spoke it out over me. I stood there with my hands open and Amy said, there He is, He's here, He's on you. I still stood there with fear and she said Amy, start speaking. At the moment with her encouragement I began speaking in tongues. That went on for about a minute and Amy just smiled when I opened my eyes. I had about four of my friends surrounding me by that time. I am so thankful for the amazing people here that God has placed in my life. I am constantly being pushed to be stronger in my walk with God and thats my desire to have those kind of people in my life. I am sick of whats "normal." I want to live for God and whatever is not going to push me towards God needs to be taken out. God is real, He is wanting to work, He loves us like no one else ever can, and wants a relationship with each one of us. Pursue HIM! He is the one that will never let you down!
I will update throughout this week! I know its going to be a big one!
all my love <3
Friday, October 24, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Praise the Lord!
As I sit to write this blog, i am overwhelmed, speechless, and so thankful. I just got back from running and a mini workout in the grass...since there really isn't a legitament work out area. haha! :) I am beyond ecstatic to say I have no pain in my back right now! Praise the Lord!!!
Yesterday we left for Kona and we began our week today with over 400 students singing praises to God (quite the change from our Honolulu base which has about 35 students!). The University of the Nations is located here and there are 4 DTS' going on along with numerous other schools that YWAM has, bringing this campus to about 1000 young people and leaders.
Worship time has always been one of my favorite times since i absolutely love singing! I stood there singing and I began to pray to God, please touch my back, take away the pain, bring your angels, make me new, its time to forget the pain of the past and move on God, I will not go back to volleyball because I have a call on my life now that I need to fulfill...just bring relief to my back! As I stood there crying out to God I felt a sense of peace. Fifteen minutes later, the leader of Kona began to say how he felt the Holy Spirit moving and said its time to pray for physical healing as well as spiritual healing for whoever felt broken. I could not believe it! I raised my hands as my friends gathered around me to lay their hands on my back. I began to feel stronger and the constant ache I have lived with disappeared. I am almost hesitant to say i am healed as I think back to all the doctors appointments, physical therapy, and money spent on trying to relieve my pain, but the God we serve can do anything. Its hard for my mind to grasp that within 30 seconds I was without pain but its time to claim it. As I ran tonight, I kept saying thank you thank you thank you Jesus. I could not stop saying it, He deserves so much more. I also want to say thank you for everyone who has been praying for me and continues to pray. He hears every word! Praise the Lord!
Keep holding His hand! <3
Yesterday we left for Kona and we began our week today with over 400 students singing praises to God (quite the change from our Honolulu base which has about 35 students!). The University of the Nations is located here and there are 4 DTS' going on along with numerous other schools that YWAM has, bringing this campus to about 1000 young people and leaders.
Worship time has always been one of my favorite times since i absolutely love singing! I stood there singing and I began to pray to God, please touch my back, take away the pain, bring your angels, make me new, its time to forget the pain of the past and move on God, I will not go back to volleyball because I have a call on my life now that I need to fulfill...just bring relief to my back! As I stood there crying out to God I felt a sense of peace. Fifteen minutes later, the leader of Kona began to say how he felt the Holy Spirit moving and said its time to pray for physical healing as well as spiritual healing for whoever felt broken. I could not believe it! I raised my hands as my friends gathered around me to lay their hands on my back. I began to feel stronger and the constant ache I have lived with disappeared. I am almost hesitant to say i am healed as I think back to all the doctors appointments, physical therapy, and money spent on trying to relieve my pain, but the God we serve can do anything. Its hard for my mind to grasp that within 30 seconds I was without pain but its time to claim it. As I ran tonight, I kept saying thank you thank you thank you Jesus. I could not stop saying it, He deserves so much more. I also want to say thank you for everyone who has been praying for me and continues to pray. He hears every word! Praise the Lord!
Keep holding His hand! <3
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Hearing His Whisper
God is so good! I have had quite an amazing week. This whole week has been focused on missions in general. From going out to foreign countries, our own cities, and just being willing to share Christ in our day to day life...we covered it all.
To be honest I am confused but in this case confusion is a good thing. (Never thought I would say that!) God has opened my eyes in numerous ways with each story that was shared. We had missionaries come from India, China, and Fiji to tell of the ways Gods been working. I heard the most amazing stories. There have been miraculous healings with lepers and paralytics. There have been faces covered in gold where a revival was taking place and so much more! Those are only the stories that stuck out to me. I sat there amazed and thought how, the God doing those works thousands of miles away is right here beside ME and living in me! (and you!)
Its really been put on my heart how we tend to put God in a box and bring Him out in our times of need. Who are we to say when we need Him? We are in desperate need of Him every second of every day. He is in charge of each breath and each step we take. Its time to realize the power of God thats within us.
On monday we had the opportunity to break out into our outreach groups. I got with my group going to Bangladesh and we began to pray. Before too long I had tears rolling down my face with the prayers being spoken. We prayed that our hearts would break for what breaks His, that He would start preparing the hearts of the Bangladesh people, that we would take every opportunity to present and glorify His name to the fullest no matter the task we are doing. As we prayed I had a picture in my mind of my team walking and talking with the people but there were angels all around us protecting our every step. I know that will be the case, God will be there guiding us daily. When we were closing in prayer I had the reference Matthew 6:25 come to my mind. I did not know what it said so I went and looked it up after we were done. I stood there and read about not worrying what I will eat or drink or what I will wear and I thought that was neat but totally not applicable to the session we had just concluded so I just disregarded it and kept it to myself. The week carried on and it was friday again. (time is flying here!) David and Kim Lehmann came to speak to us about city mission work and what a blessing they were!
Kim did not plan on speaking but David asked her to speak about her experience with YWAM and how she got to where she was at. I loved the way she carried herself, gentle but confident. She began speaking of living a "comfortable" life at home where everything was familiar; family, friends, church, school, and the hopes of finding a husband someday along with the cute kids, the cute clothes, the cute house, and the usual life we picture as we grow up. Soon she realized that God was calling her away from all that she knew to do her DTS in Austraila. Of course her life was radically changed and she met her husband who is one of the biggest evangelists there is and today they live in Austraila. I found myself really relating to her life. I LOOVE my home, family, and friends! While I was processing all of that she said she had a verse on her heart that was for one person or perhaps more but God had put it on her heart. I sat there while she began to read Matthew 6:25! OH MY GOSH was all i could think! I realized then what God was trying to say to me. He wants me to stop worrying about whats next and where life is going to go because no matter where I am He will provide and take care of me. How great is our God?! That experience was crazy but like my Dad told me...it may have been a surprise to me but it didn't surprise God :) I am thankful for the ways God is working in my life. I encourage you all to listen to the whispers of God because He in His goodness will clarify and make known the paths we are to take and the lessons we need to learn.
Miss you all!
To be honest I am confused but in this case confusion is a good thing. (Never thought I would say that!) God has opened my eyes in numerous ways with each story that was shared. We had missionaries come from India, China, and Fiji to tell of the ways Gods been working. I heard the most amazing stories. There have been miraculous healings with lepers and paralytics. There have been faces covered in gold where a revival was taking place and so much more! Those are only the stories that stuck out to me. I sat there amazed and thought how, the God doing those works thousands of miles away is right here beside ME and living in me! (and you!)
Its really been put on my heart how we tend to put God in a box and bring Him out in our times of need. Who are we to say when we need Him? We are in desperate need of Him every second of every day. He is in charge of each breath and each step we take. Its time to realize the power of God thats within us.
On monday we had the opportunity to break out into our outreach groups. I got with my group going to Bangladesh and we began to pray. Before too long I had tears rolling down my face with the prayers being spoken. We prayed that our hearts would break for what breaks His, that He would start preparing the hearts of the Bangladesh people, that we would take every opportunity to present and glorify His name to the fullest no matter the task we are doing. As we prayed I had a picture in my mind of my team walking and talking with the people but there were angels all around us protecting our every step. I know that will be the case, God will be there guiding us daily. When we were closing in prayer I had the reference Matthew 6:25 come to my mind. I did not know what it said so I went and looked it up after we were done. I stood there and read about not worrying what I will eat or drink or what I will wear and I thought that was neat but totally not applicable to the session we had just concluded so I just disregarded it and kept it to myself. The week carried on and it was friday again. (time is flying here!) David and Kim Lehmann came to speak to us about city mission work and what a blessing they were!
Kim did not plan on speaking but David asked her to speak about her experience with YWAM and how she got to where she was at. I loved the way she carried herself, gentle but confident. She began speaking of living a "comfortable" life at home where everything was familiar; family, friends, church, school, and the hopes of finding a husband someday along with the cute kids, the cute clothes, the cute house, and the usual life we picture as we grow up. Soon she realized that God was calling her away from all that she knew to do her DTS in Austraila. Of course her life was radically changed and she met her husband who is one of the biggest evangelists there is and today they live in Austraila. I found myself really relating to her life. I LOOVE my home, family, and friends! While I was processing all of that she said she had a verse on her heart that was for one person or perhaps more but God had put it on her heart. I sat there while she began to read Matthew 6:25! OH MY GOSH was all i could think! I realized then what God was trying to say to me. He wants me to stop worrying about whats next and where life is going to go because no matter where I am He will provide and take care of me. How great is our God?! That experience was crazy but like my Dad told me...it may have been a surprise to me but it didn't surprise God :) I am thankful for the ways God is working in my life. I encourage you all to listen to the whispers of God because He in His goodness will clarify and make known the paths we are to take and the lessons we need to learn.
Miss you all!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Your Grace is Enough
Isaiah 7:9b If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
I was reading through my favorite book tonight, Isaiah and this really stood out to me. Through out these past few days my eyes have been opened to a lot. I have realized that everything does fade away and all that matters is where we stand and if we are standing on Gods promises then we will not be shaken. We serve a God of covenant. Although we as humans have distorted covenant whether it be in marriage or even just throwing out an "I promise," God does not change and He will always remain true to His word. Never doubt anything He says because He will not let you down. That leads me to the biggest thing I have learned with my time here at YWAM so far. Gods grace. So simple, such a common phrase, but if you take the time to dwell on how amazing and how great it really is then we get a glimpse of how big our God is that we serve!
In 2 Corinthians 12:9 it says
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Dwell on that for a moment.
Looking at the verse as a whole you get the overall feel that yes, God has grace and He has extended that to me but look deeper...
My grace is SUFFICIENT for you. Sufficient is saying that it is enough, and He will give us what we need to get by. We don't have to ask for some huge, insurmountable amount of grace. He meets us where we are. Then, if getting His grace wasn't enough, He encourages us that where we are at our weakest and lowest, that is where His power alone is made perfect! Do you see how God can make even our worst absoulutely amazing?
Last week our speaker told us that our prayer should be, "God, give me the grace today to trust you completely." I loved that. Each day has decisions and obstacles but if we ask for that amount of grace we need to get by every morning then we have nothing to worry about.
God's grace has blown me away. The Creator, Savior, and Author of everything is willing to reach out in our individual struggles to say, take heart because where you are weak, I am strong! Today take the opportunity to delight in weakness because just when you drop your head, Gods hand is right there to lift it and make His power known.
I'll be writing more soon but this was on my heart. Love you all!
I was reading through my favorite book tonight, Isaiah and this really stood out to me. Through out these past few days my eyes have been opened to a lot. I have realized that everything does fade away and all that matters is where we stand and if we are standing on Gods promises then we will not be shaken. We serve a God of covenant. Although we as humans have distorted covenant whether it be in marriage or even just throwing out an "I promise," God does not change and He will always remain true to His word. Never doubt anything He says because He will not let you down. That leads me to the biggest thing I have learned with my time here at YWAM so far. Gods grace. So simple, such a common phrase, but if you take the time to dwell on how amazing and how great it really is then we get a glimpse of how big our God is that we serve!
In 2 Corinthians 12:9 it says
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Dwell on that for a moment.
Looking at the verse as a whole you get the overall feel that yes, God has grace and He has extended that to me but look deeper...
My grace is SUFFICIENT for you. Sufficient is saying that it is enough, and He will give us what we need to get by. We don't have to ask for some huge, insurmountable amount of grace. He meets us where we are. Then, if getting His grace wasn't enough, He encourages us that where we are at our weakest and lowest, that is where His power alone is made perfect! Do you see how God can make even our worst absoulutely amazing?
Last week our speaker told us that our prayer should be, "God, give me the grace today to trust you completely." I loved that. Each day has decisions and obstacles but if we ask for that amount of grace we need to get by every morning then we have nothing to worry about.
God's grace has blown me away. The Creator, Savior, and Author of everything is willing to reach out in our individual struggles to say, take heart because where you are weak, I am strong! Today take the opportunity to delight in weakness because just when you drop your head, Gods hand is right there to lift it and make His power known.
I'll be writing more soon but this was on my heart. Love you all!
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