the enemy inside of us

God can convict me just by me thinking about life. Convictions from the Lord do not only happen by reading His Word or going to church. He is that powerful. Humans are curious beings, and we want to know all the answers. We are thinkers, dreamers, and innovators. God is so powerful and can speak to us in many ways, and because of that, and the fact that we are thinkers, dreamers, and innovators, He can touch the hearts of anyone and everyone, including people in the middle of nowhere on indigenous islands who have never heard God's Word. When we learn about Him, His essence and character, it becomes easy to fall in love with Him. If we love Him so much and are thankful for all that He is, has done, is doing, and is going to do, then why do we "forget" about Him and push Him aside. It is the enemy inside of us. The devil knows our weaknesses and attacks us, and we are blind, vulnerable, and weak. We often give in and choose not to lean on God. We need to be aware of satan, and not be imprisoned to him because we have the One Who made life and gives life to the full. Go and be free!

The Giver of Life is Everything we Need

Knowing that there are people groups, even nations, in anguish who live in deep despair (physically, but especially spiritually), I cannot sit and stay in such an advanced country knowing that there are deep cries where He is not yet known. I am not necessarily saying that I want to go to a third world country because there are advanced countries that have rural areas where the thought of God is not thought or spoken of much, let alone His Son Who paid it all for us. I desire to help those in anguish overseas because that is when I feel closest to the Son; it is much easier for me to go through the motions and not be as grateful as I should be for the all that I have been blessed with from my parents and the Lord when I am in America. I have been learning lately that when I am stripped of things that allow me to be comfortable, I realize the goodness of the Lord and I praise Him more. Difficult situations are blessings in disguise because that is when I realize that God is the only thing and only one that I have and need. He never leaves nor forsakes us. He is Life!

You Just Gotta Look Up

Last night I decided to go for a run, but indoors on a treadmill. While I was walking from my dorm to the gym, I looked up. Whenever I look up, I am always awestruck by the majesty of God. The things that God creates in the sky that leave me breathless are sunsets, sunrises, the pure blueness that the sky sometimes is, beautiful bright fluffy clouds, and the stars at night. Though I like to think that sunsets are my favorite, really it is the stars that are my favorite because with the darkness of the sky and the twinkle of the stars, I can better see that Earth is round because the sky looks rounded. Though the stars are seem small, I know that they are much bigger than that, and I then realize how much God created with very few words. Earth seems massive to us, but compared to everything else that He created (including us, His children!), it is not all that ginormous. I think, as part of His creation, we need to dwell more on all that God has done, is doing, and will do. We need to let Him leave us breathless more often.

And sometimes, you just gotta look up and allow God to humble you and bring you down to your knees.

Live Free, Live New

When I do not spend time with Jesus, it easy for me to get caught up in the secular world and allow doubts to creep in. However, and fortunately, there are some incredibly powerful Bible verses, Biblical-based songs (Britt Nicole and TobyMac, to name a few), and spiritual people that can all erase my doubts in a split second. It is only in my ignorance and selfishness that I forget the heart of God (unconditional love, grace, and mercy anyone?!). As believers and followers of the Son, it is important to remember the FREEDOM and JOY we have in Him. He gives us HOPE. Don't lose sight of TRUE freedom, joy, and hope, CRAVE them, and most importantly, crave the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our advocate against evil, and is our Teacher in life. LISTEN to the Holy Spirit and read the Word, for they are both Advocates to us here on earth. Lamentations 3:21-25 says, "Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance, therefore I will hope in Him!' The Lord is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him." God is always faithful; each day is a brand new day with Him, for goodness sake! So, this gives us all the more freedom to move on to a new life in Christ each day! Yes, we can forget this all to often, but keep seeking Him, and know that when you have Him, you have all you need.

Restlessness

I am constantly restless, especially spiritually. I am restless for a few reasons. One, when I am not spending enough time with Him, I am quite unsatisfied and when I am unsatisfied, I become very restless. I think God intended it to be that way so that we can find true everlasting peace in Him alone. And two, I am restless by location. What I mean is that when I am home I often want to be at school. I know, it is strange! When I am at school I often want to be at home. No matter where I am, I am never completely satisfied. It's easy to forget that this isn't home. I know where I belong to Whom I belong. He is preparing a place for each and everyone of us.

As many of you know, I love being a world traveler and wish I could do it all the time, or rather just live overseas. I have a heart for unreached peoples and I want to serve God by serving them. I have noticed in my overseas traveling that I am less restless when I am overseas. I feel that I "belong" more abroad than in the U.S. However, I really don't feel like I belong anywhere, but I am learning lately how that is a blessing. I am constantly leaning on Him and remembering that Heaven, in the presence of the Almighty, is where I belong. Furthermore, it is completely okay that I am 'not where I belong' because it is where I am supposed to be right now as long as I am still in the presence of the Almighty. I can only find rest in Him, and as long as I am on earth, my temporary home, the only way to reach the most satisfaction possible on earth is to be seeking, serving, and loving Him. Find rest in Him. Take His easy and light yoke upon yourself and learn from Him.

    

Devotion

Devotionals. Are you devoted to the Almighty? Am I devoted to Him? Devotion is such a strong word, yet it can easily be misunderstood since we tend to use the words "devotional" and "devotions" loosely and all the time. We all need to be careful with these words and really think about what they mean, and what they mean to us individually. I often think of devotions as spending time with the Lord to help me crave Him more. I have never really thought of devotions as being or staying devoted to Him, although it is completely true. Being devoted implies their is a relationship. This is the beauty of Who the Son is. With Him, there is purpose in all we do because He cares for us and all that we are passionate about. It is amazing that God our Creator wants us despite our sinfulness, and wants us forever. He craves for a true relationship with us, and because of that fact, we should crave even more for a relationship with Him because it only makes sense to desire the only One Who will never let us down.

"Because Your gracious love is better than life itself, my lips will praise You." ~Psalm 63:3

Learning From a 4-month Summer

I technically had a 4-month summer, though it seemed much shorter than that. I will summarize each month and tell you what our faithful Lord taught me in each month.

May: I flew home from school on May 1. So weird considering I'm usually in school until around June 20! May was a very long month for me as was June. I felt pretty restless most of the time since everyone back home was still in school. Summer jobs don't start the application process until June, so I had to learn the importance of more prayer versus more thinking. Ever since entering university, I finally faced a question that I didn't realized I was avoiding: "Do I really want to be a teacher with all that the job entails (I learned that you don't just teach a subject, you teach students); why or why not?" I'm still praying about a lasting career and what I should major in. I must tell you I am still on the fence about education.

June: Because of my July trip and having to go back to school early August for leadership training, the only summer job I had was babysitting. Those kids have really grown on me these past 2 years! June was probably the hardest month for me because a team from my church went to my current favorite place in the world to help with work over there with my cousins, aunt, and uncle who live there. I prayed every single day (and had a few tearful moments) they were there for my own sanity because I so badly wanted to be there helping with my family. But I knew God wanted me on a different team for duties that could lead to a potential career (more on that in July). My parents, brother, and friends finally got out of school exactly 7 long weeks after me, so the days I wasn't babysitting I wasn't alone! June is emotionally crazy for me but one of the most prayerful times of my life. I'm so thankful that Jesus extends His love and grace in our times of extra messiness! That definitely draws me closer to Him and makes Him more attractive!

July: Finally! I get to leave this country! Nothing against America, but the American lifestyle isn't quite my cup of tea. I went to Europe to teach English since I have thought about teaching English overseas as a career. I'm not really sure how to explain it but it just isn't want I want to do. This is not to say I didn't enjoy the trip, I had super fun bonding with my teammates and the locals, as well as exploring the country. I had great conversations, lots of laughter (if you know me well, you know I absolutely love laughing, but then again who doesn't?!), and great adventures that I wouldn't trade anything in the world for, thus the praying in June for my sanity about not going on the other trip worked! God is so good and so faithful! Two days after I got back from my trip I got my wisdom teeth out. Braces+wisdom teeth out=not fun! Wisdom teeth in general aren't fun, but with braces it is extra annoying! Once my mouth fully recovered a week later, I only had a week left to hangout with people before roadtripping back to AZ to leadership training at school. I was so busy every single day that week with friends but it was great fellowship.

August: Drove about 23 hours to school (not all at once!) and definitely made time for play in Cali! Leadership retreat in northern AZ was amazing, not only because we had the pleasure of playing outside without the beginning of August Phoenix heat (I personally don't think the end of August is very hot), but because college student leaders worshipped all out and I felt like I was at the gates of Heaven. So refreshing; I had missed this over the summer. All in all, God taught me the power of prayer (yes I knew about it but I truly experienced it this summer), patience about my major for it will be revealed at the perfectly right time to me, and the realness of His omniscience.