Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done...

I'm sorry, but I have to share this. I have to let it all out.

God has been doing some incredible things in my life. I am completely and utterly overjoyed by His Spirit and His goodness.

Let me start with Lent. I have never done Lent before, until this year. As much as I hate cliches, I ended up giving up Facebook... like everyone else. I realized I really needed to deactivate my account when I sat there with my finger over the mouse for five minutes, not wanting to do it. Talk about "You know you're addicted when..."

So I did it. I gave up coffee and soda as well. Not entirely sure why as I wouldn't classify myself as a coffee or soda addict; however, I felt led to do it.

I've heard it said one-too-many times that when you give something up (therefore creating a lacking in your life) you need to take up something else to take its place. So, I have been doing my best to spend more time in the Word and prayer. In all honesty, it's gone all right. It gets difficult to have that quiet time every day with everything that's going on. If you're not a college student you should try it some time. It's crazy.

As I've been seeking God in this lenten season, He has been incredibly faithful. My prayers as of late have been one of two things: "Lord, help me to discern Your voice, however You may be speaking to me. Whether through circumstances, other people, Your Word, or whatever--let me discern your voice..." or "God, open up my eyes to Your Kingdom. Show me where You're at work in my life and in the lives of those around me. Give me the strength to go where You're working and join in alongside of You in Your work."

He has been incredibly faithful to answer both of these prayers. Not only has he led me to a youth ministry that has been challenging and shaping my theology and ecclesiology (i.e. the church and its practices), but my faith has grown immensely. I'm beginning to see the Kingdom all around me again, which is something I've missed. I definitely let go of that last semester. Fortunately, God is bigger than our circumstances and can redeem anything.

My mom's been in the hospital for the last few days due to tonsillitis and some bad side effects from various medications she has been taking. She is supposed to fly down to SoCal this Friday with my little brother to visit my school for the first time. A few people have said to me, "Sorry your mom's not coming," or "It's official, Mom's not gonna be able to come," and that hasn't settled very well within me.

After all, who is our God? I believe that our God is a God of miracles. I believe that our God is a God of the impossible. And I believe, by faith... that my mom will be here on Friday. I've notified many people about the situation and there are a billion and a half people praying for her. The power of prayer... it's incomprehensible. If only we understood its true power, or more so the power of our God. Seriously, think about it. As Francis Chan once said, "Do you know who you're praying to?" Let that sit for a few days.

I'm beyond excited for what's to come: to see my mom healed, to see lives changed, to see God make His will known--words could never express my excitement.

As a challenge to you, in your prayer times, begin to ask God to open up your eyes to the Kingdom. Ask Him to make His will known in your life. Ask for the ability to discern His voice. As you seek Him, He is utterly and completely faithful. And even when you're not, He still is.

Go ahead, give it a shot. I guarantee you--you won't be disappointed.

He provided! Yes, He did...!

Something amazing happened to me today and it totally caught me off guard--but it definitely made my day.

I was in the bookstore at my school and wanted to buy something, but then I remembered that I didn't have a lot of money in my bank account. After getting a haircut yesterday, I should've had $10 in my account. Just to be sure that I didn't have enough money, I texted Chase to figure out my balance. The response I got was that I had $40 in my account. "That can't be right," I thought. So I logged onto my bank account online to check all of my transactions, and sure enough, even after the haircut went through, I had a current balance of $40. Long story short, God gave me an extra $30 out of nowhere. Divine provision? I think so! :)

I've really been stressing about money lately; paying for school, getting a job--it only figures that the tuition at my school is really high and I haven't heard back on a job I applied for for almost two weeks. Aside from praying for God's provision on a daily basis, I specifically prayed for it in Men's Chorale yesterday. So to see God come through like this (even if $30 isn't a lot... it's still more than I had!) has been a huge blessing. Through it all, I can hear Him say,

"Gary. I'm in control. Don't doubt that I can provide, because I can and will. Trust me."

Keep this in mind as you go throughout your daily life. God can provide. And He will.

All you have to do is ask.

Word!

I've always known how impacting God's Word is.

The dumb thing is... I still struggle with reading it on a daily basis.

I go through certain struggles, things get rough--and I wonder why.

I agree that even if you are in the Word, you'll still go through rough times.

The difference is... being in the Word...

...it changes you.

I've been in the Word every day for the last several weeks, and I've seen it radically change my life. Every day is significantly different. Not only does being in the Word change my desires--I begin to desire the things of God over the things of this world--but it gives me a clear lens through which to see the world. It clears my head, gives me a better picture of who I am in God, who He is, and what He's calling me to do.

Here's a challenge for you: if you've been struggling with being in the Word, begin in the Psalms. Even if it's one a day, I guarantee you that you'll begin to notice significant changes in your life.

God's Word: powerful. Life-changing. Impacting.

Give it a shot.

And see what He does in your life, others' lives, and the world around you.

An Incredible Year Has Come to An End...

2011.

What an incredible year. God has changed me in tremendous ways, I can hardly begin to count all of the things that He has done.

At the beginning of the year, He called me into a season of healing. Unfortunately, I'd allowed things to distract me from going into this season. It took going into some brokenness for Him to get my attention again, but He was faithful, and I entered a season of growth that I never could have seen coming.

It was not until this year that I finally began to see myself as the man that God created me to be. I began to see myself as an "overcomer," one who walks in victory and freedom. Old mindsets of mine have radically changed and I'm so glad that they did.

Around the beginning of the summer, He told me that I was going into a season of "basic faith". This did not mean that I was going to regress back to where I had previously been spiritually; it meant that I was going to go back to the foundations of my faith. I experienced a decent amount of growth over the summer, but that was nothing in comparison to what I would experience in the fall, coinciding with the beginning of my college career.

In the few short months I spent at APU for my first semester of college, my faith was beaten to the ground. It got to a point where worshiping in church became awkward; I'd felt as if I did not believe in God and I didn't belong there. If it weren't for His grace, I would have certainly given up on Him.

Alas, I came out of that season with a faith much stronger than any faith I'd had before. My faith is much more grounded now than it was four months ago, and I'm so glad that God led me through the storm that He did. It's amazing how He can use things like that to shape us and make us stronger.

I'm lookin' forward to another year to see God move in mighty ways.
More chances for my faith to grow.
More opportunities to spread His love.
And another year to grow closer to Him and become more like Him.

2012... bring it on.

17 hours 'til departure.

In 17 (and a half) hours, I will be leaving Los Angeles for Mexicali, Mexico. Not only am I leaving the United States for the first time (and going to Mexico for the first time), but I am embarking on my first missions trip ever. I'm a little anxious and nervous, yet excited at the same time. I'm heading into the unknown, and I have no idea what to expect there. It's probably a good thing I don't have any expectations though. It'll leave plenty of room for God to do whatever He wants in and through me.

Unfortunately, I have been pretty sick with some sort of flu virus for the past few weeks. Fortunately, I'm doing a lot better now than I have been. It makes me somewhat nervous that I'll be in another country in less-than-comforting conditions when I've been fighting sickness, but there's that part of me that won't worry about it. Why? Cause I know God will come through. He always does. And I figure it's pretty good to be in that place going into a missions trip. That place where you have to depend on God.

It wasn't until this summer that God called me to "go to the nations". Basically, He called me into mission work. Ironically, as I said before, I've never been on a missions trip before. And then, a few weeks ago at a choir performance, I discovered that I have a passion to work with youth. "Funny" enough, my team will be at a local church and putting on a VBS there. So in some ways, I guess I do have some expectations for this trip. I'm hoping that God will make some things clear as far as my future goes. We'll see.

Mexico... here I come!

Salvation

Sometimes I wonder what it means to "be saved." To acquire "salvation." It's funny, cause it almost makes it sound like we have the ability to obtain it. Which, in a sense, we do. We have to choose it. But after that... it's God that saves us. If it weren't for Him, we wouldn't even have the choice to choose it.

Talking about "being saved" could easily sound condescending to those that don't know God, whether they willingly choose not to believe in Him or maybe they have never heard of Him at all. The funny thing is, us "Christians" aren't any better than those people. In fact, we're almost in a worse situation. I say "worse" in the sense that we (Christians) are aware of our problems--it's probably the most significant difference between those that believe in God and those who do not.

In some ways, it's been hard growing up in a Christian home. I've almost grown up in this "church bubble"--always knowing what I believed, knowing that there was something bigger out there. It wasn't until I got to college that I realized that it was time to take ownership of my faith. I will not lie to you--it has been an extremely rocky ride. Most of the time I feel like an "outsider," like one who does not believe in God. And I can sympathize with those who don't. Some of the stuff we do in Church--it can seem kind of crazy. Maybe it's time we put away all of our "Christianese" and quit taking pride in our churchly ways. I don't think it draws people close to God; if anything, it probably pushes them away.

Our words, our actions don't save people; God does. Let's be real with people, show them that we're human like they are. After all, that's what we all are: human.

Whatever salvation means to you, remember that it's found in seeking God and believe in who He is. The biggest difference between you and the person who doesn't believe, is that you have hope. Let that hope shine. Let that love shine. I believe that this is what Christianity comes down to. When one isn't sure whether God exists or not, it's the love that shines through. It's doing things that don't make sense. Loving those who don't share your beliefs. Helping the prostitutes, the drug addicts, the thiefs--not throwing all these Christian words at them, but loving on them. There are plenty of "good people" in the world, and if Christians look exactly like these "good people," then something must be wrong. Christians aren't just "good people." They weren't created to be just "good people."

Was Christ good, or was he crazy? What made Him stand out from the crowd?

Maybe it's time we quit being so "good," and start being a little crazy.

Grace

Apart from God, I am not worthy.
Apart from God, I am shameful. I am condemned.
Without God, I have no hope. I have no chance at redemption.
I have no chance at a pure or holy life.
Without God, life has no meaning.

If not for God, whom shall I live for? The world does not satisfy.

There has to be more than this.
I will not stand to stay where I'm at.
I won't succumb to my fleshly desires any longer. They fail me.

The world fails me. People fail me. My own efforts... they fail me.
There is only One who does not fail.
His name...

His name, is God.
His name is Yahweh.
He is the King of Kings.
He is my Father.

By God's grace, I am worthy.
By God's grace, I have no shame.
By God's grace, I have new life. No more damnation.

God gives me hope. God redeems me.
God shows me how to live a holy and a pure life. He shows me how to live for Him.
God gives my life meaning. Purpose.

This is my God.
He is a God of grace.