With Everything I have...or is it?

The other day, as I was doing my devotions in 2 Chronicles, my eyes fell on the following verses:

"And they entered into a convenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with
all their heart and with all their soul. That whosoever would not seek the
Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man
or woman." (2 Chronicles 15. 12-13)

Those verses, although talking about the Israelites, really stood out to me. While the Israelites don't have a history for always seeking the Lord, at that moment in time, they were joining together, and keeping each other accountable for seeking the Lord with their everything that they had! These Israelites really were serious about their relationship with God--even to the point of death!

Although this event occured in Old Testament times, why shouldn't we also do the same thing as this group of Israelites? Maybe we don't have to go around killing those who don't seek God (please don't!), but, I know for myself anyway, sometimes I take my relationship with God much to lightly. While I truly do want to seek God with all of my heart and with all of my soul, sometimes other things in life take priority and I forget about what should really be the all-time focus in life--God and my relationship with Him! Just imagine what it would be like to be held accountable to a committment to really seek God--not just 15 minutes each day half-heartedly reading the Bible, but rather, intentionally and continually, focusing on God's Word and applying it to my life! My whole life should revolve around loving God and seeking Him with everything that I have!
After I read these verses, I jotted this note: "Oh how lightly I take my Christian walk at times! Lord, make me to seek You with such a zeal as this!"

Are you reading this?

Yes, obviously you are reading this! :-) But guess what? I don't know that you're reading it (at least I haven't figured out a way to know who looks at my blog!) It feels kind of wierd to not know if I'm writing to dozens of people, or if I'm writing to myself. Probably most likely it is a little between the two extremes! Anyway, here is my suggestion for you: if you're reading this, please let me know that you do read my blog and leave me a comment. That way, if no one responds, I know I have a problem, and that I need to do some more "advertising" for my blog! :-) Thanks!!


Seeking to know Him, my Lord and Savior,
Angie

"No, Lord"?

"You cannot say 'No, Lord'and mean both words; one annuls the other.
If you say no to Him, then He is not your Lord." ~D. James Kennedy

This short quote caught my eye when I read it. It really is quite profound. So many times, as Christians, we tell the Lord that we want to do His will, but if He asks us to do something that doesn't necessarily sound like the greatest idea to us, we say "No, Lord, anything but that!"

I know, because I've done that myself! All my life, or for the last several years anyway, I've felt that God might want me to be a missionary, but, since I had grown up on the missionfield as an MK (missionary kid), I knew that life as missionary wasn't just beaches, palm tree, and tropical weather. No, it was much more than that--most of it was good, but there were also some things that weren't all that wondeful either. So, when I would feel that "nudging" of the Spirit, saying that God might want me to be a missionary, I would say "No, I really don't want anything to do with it!" All I wanted was to go to college and study music, get married, and lead a normal life, in the US!

Well, as you know, man's plans aren't always God's plans! Little by little, God began working in my heart. It was in 2005, I think, that I finally dedicated my life to God, telling Him that I wanted to do whatever He asked me to do. However, there was still a little bit of my life that was beging held back--not as much as before--but there was still a little bit of a "no" to doing anything regarding missions. Little did I know that God would totally change that!

It was August 2005, and the beginning of the semester for the Antioch Bible Institute. For the opening week, Dad invited a missionary lady, who is from a church in Fortaleza, to come with a group of young people and present a drama. This drama, however, wasn't just any drama. This drama was based on a true story of an Indian tribe that was begging for missionaries to come and bring the Gospel to their family. They had never heard the Gospel before, and when a few did, they wanted all the rest of the tribe to hear it too! The main purpose of the drama was to open the eyes of the audience to the necessity of spreading the Word and taking it to those who have not heard it.

Needless to say, that evening, the Spirit convicted me of my unwillingness to spread the Gospel. That night I prayed and told God that I would go wherever He would call me, to spread the Good News of Salvation. I was still hesitant about the where He wanted me, and how I would ever do it, but now it was different: I could no longer understand my reasons as to why I didn't want be a missionary, mabye even go back to Brazil one day. All of the reasons that I thought were so important, now seemed so weak and lame! It was amazing how, from one minute to the next, God totally changed my way of thinking!

Well, that was 2 1/2 years ago, but since that night, my focus in life is totally different! Before that day, while I wanted to work with some kind of teens ministry and be involved in a church, what I really wanted was to get a degree in music--perhaps piano or violin performance. But now, I am hoping to go to a Bible Institute www.cornerstonebibleinstitute.com , and complete the program there. I still do not know where exactly God wants me, or how He is going to use me, but now, I'm open to what He wants for me! I am really excited to see where He is going to lead me in the next few years!


While I am far from having achieved anything, I am slowly learning that if God is really going to be my Lord, I have to say "yes!" to Him and what He has for my life. As a Christian, I am never going to be totally satisfied and content in life if I'm not in the center of God's will. It is only when I am willing to do His will and to submit myself to His wishes that I will achieve fulfillment and happiness in life.

What is God asking you to do? Have you submitted your own will for your life in exchange for His perfect plan for your life? As long as you hold on to that little "something," you won't experience His best for you, for "you cannot say "No, Lord" and mean both words...."

Happy Fourth of July!!

I would like to wish every one of you a great 4th of July! My family and I are hoping to go to Kansas City to be with family to celebrate. It is almost a tradition that every time we are here in the U.S., we have to get together at a near-by park to listen to a band play patriotic music, and then watch the amazing fireworks when it gets dark! It is exciting to be able to look forward to that this year! While I am proud be a Brazilian, I am just a proud to be an American! May God bless America!

Pictures from COMMIT

I know I've taken forever in posting this, but finally, here are some pictures from the conference I went to in Nashville a few weeks ago! Just to give you a little glimpse of my week:






These are the wonderful girls in my group: Nasia, me, Caitlin, and Hannah. There were also two other girls, who aren't in the picture, Emily and Christina. We had a great time together!!






Our group presentation--not the best picture of us, but...we did it for God's glory! :-)


Girls listening attentively during one of the sessions




Elisabeth and Jocelyn, sharing what they've learned about getting along with brothers and sister! Yes!






The student choir and orchestra singing "It Will Be Worth It All!" the last night of the conference. It was really awesome to be able to sing with all of the other young people!!

Irritations

It started out as a simple overview of the life of Joseph. Pastor Wayne began his sermon, "An Introduction to Joseph" by going over the main events of Joseph's life. After about fifteen minutes of introduction, he finally went back to Genesis 37, and began his sermon. :-)

The main theme of the message was "irritations" and reasons for why they arise. One point that Pr. Wayne brought out and emphasised several times is the fact that irritations don't cause division; rather, it is my response to irritations that cause division. Pastor then continued to list three reasons for irritations, using the life of Joseph to demonstrate them:

I. Rebuke or correction in my life. (Joseph's brothers were doing wrong, and Joseph told on them--Gen. 37:2)
II. An injustice is done to me. (Joseph's brothers keenly felt the favoritism that Jacob showed to Joseph--Gen. 37:3-4)
III. God's sovereign blessing in the life of others. (God chose to bless Joseph with the dreams--Gen 37:5-11.)

I guess the reason I'm writing all this is because I was challenged through this message, and felt like it was just for me! How often haven't I justified my reactions and responses by saying (or thinking!) that it was simply normal that I responded that way as a result of the way he or she acted! But in reality, I am the one responsible to determine whether I am going to allow a little irritation result in rifts and divisions between me and those around me. It is in my hands, or as often said, the ball is in my court. I have two choices: I can choose to respond negatively and simply make matters worse, or I can determine to react in a Christ-like manner, resulting in character that is more like Christ. While at the time the irritation may not be pleasant, I can cling to the promise of Romans 8:28, saying that "all things work together for good...." My prayer is that from now on, with God's strength, I will respond to those many irritations in life as Joseph did--allowing them to make me more like Christ.

How have you responded to the irritations that God allows in your life?

From Medora, Kansas

To say the least, the last few weeks have been very busy. At the time of my last post, I was headed to Nashville for a Bible conference. That week has come and gone, along with many other things. However, let me share a little of what the last few weeks have been like for me!

Although the conference only began on Tuesday night, the 27th, I had to attend a leadership meeting for the girls' sessions that I would be helping with. There were about 15-20 (I'm not sure how many!) other girls who were also leaders. It was very touching to go around the room and have each one share a "high" or a "low" in her life, with the other responding to that specific situation. This time of sharing helped to give a feeling of unity and oneness amongst the group.

Probably one of the best sessions of the entire week was on Wednesday afternoon, a session for just the teens/college-age students. Several young people got up and gave a testimony of how God had been working in their lives. While it would take too much time and room to write all about each of them, it was very challenging to hear these young people share how God had transformed their lives, and challenged them in specific area of their lives. I was especially challenged with the testimony of one guy, David, who shared how God had called his family to the missionfield, then allowed David's brother to die while they were there. David then ended with a phrase that is true for everyone one of us: "A passion worth dying for is the only passion worth living for." How true! If you really stop to think about it, if your life passion and goals aren't worth dying for, then they probably aren't worth even living for!

So where are we living? Well, one of our churches, Medora Community Bible Church, has provided a house for us! My family and I are sooo thankful for their generosity and kindness! I am especially excited as this is the first time that I have had my own room! To make it even better, the curtains are green--my favorite color! yay!! It has been interesting though, as the house is hardly more than a few yards away from a busy highway AND a train track! In fact, it is so close, that when trains pass by, you can practically feel it pass, not to mention hear it! :-)

By the way, here is a link for some pictures from before we left Brazil, that I added to my facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3705&l=8bc40&id=1206606263
I want to add some pictures from the last few weeks sometime too.