Thoughts from John- Grace and Legalism

I just got off the phone with a man interested in starting his own internship program and he said something that really hit me. We can doing anything starting with the foundations of God and grace, but we as humans can turn anything into legalism. As humans, we all have weaknesses in our grace. I recognize this live among a world that shows this.

My heart cries out for a generation to hold themselves not to individual standards, but a generation that holds the standards of God. One of the greatest views I see in God is His love and grace. He has so much and is willing to give it to all of us, but He will eventually hold us all to the same standard. God’s love in consistent and equally infinite to all.

What I am learning and seeing is God wants us to all to recognize He loves us so much (and if you don’t believe me check out Zephaniah 3:17 or read Passion for Jesus by Mike Bickle)! The thing I struggle with and realize is we all don’t feel like God “speaks to us”, but the question I am now forced to answer is am I really listening? How can I say I don’t know God’s love or I don’t hear God today when I am not looking for these things?

We can’t be caught up in what we aren’t seeing and we have to concentrate on what we can see and what we hope for. We must stop condemning ourselves for the sake of self pity. I have faith in God, and I know that all times will come to pass with proper listening and action. So I encourage you take some time everyday to listen to God and love some people. With these actions we will begin to shift from condemning legalism to a generation living in love and making God’s love complete.

Thoughts from Cassie- Knowledge

Today during the first hour of the prayer meeting I was looking back through my journal, and I stumbled upon this entry from a while back I thought was beautiful:

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So, I have found something amazing. Knowledge of God is not something freely given, God gives it to those he trusts, those who fight for it. Just as I feel I need to be fought for, so does God. He fights for us every day, and I’m beginning to see one of the best ways I can show my love for Him is to fight for His knowledge, to fight for the words He has for me.

Proverbs 2:3- “Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

Thoughts from Aly- The DI Plague

Over the past week and a half or so, a plague has hit our Desperation team. It doesn’t seem logical as to whom it hits or when, but when it hits, it’s not playing around! It chose to strike me last Thursday. I was down for the count. I spent 72 hours in bed, most of it sleeping. I didn’t have the energy to do anything.

I was praying about it the other day. I asked God why I was so ill and for such a long period of time. I’m not normally one to get sick. I had been sleeping a lot and eating healthy so why was I so sick? His answer caught me off guard.

The couple of weeks before I was sick had been particularly dry for me spiritually. I was distracted at prayer meetings. I only read my Bible out of habit. I would often speed read through just so I could say I finished my reading. My God time went from an hour or more of profound time with my Savior to being completely satisfied with half an hour of dry reading, journaling and listening to music.

God said I was spiritually sick long before I became physically sick. Because I was spiritually weak, I had opened myself up to physical sickness. It was the first time I connected my spiritual life to my physical well-being. It was a gigantic revelation to me. My spiritual life has become tied to every other aspect of my life, intricately involved to be exact. Because I was sick, it forced me to spend quality time resting. I was able to have my first productive God time in weeks. I felt refreshed and was on a God high for the rest of the night.

Since then my physical body is getting better much faster. More importantly, I’m not spiritually sick anymore. My heart feels alive again! So I would encourage you, check your spiritual health regularly. Don’t ignore your spiritual health it’s even more important than your physical health!