Discipline Problems

I've been doing a lot of soul searching the past month or so and have really been looking at different areas of my life that may need some changing. If you believe in Type A or Type B personalities, I am DEFINITELY a Type B. As a Type B, the biggest issue I face is lack of self-discipline. There are definitely areas of my life that I want to change such as getting in shape, living well, and diving into God's Word. The key to success in these areas is discipline. Personally, I have a lot of determination, but if I don't have the discipline to back it up where does that leave me? In the past this has left me with multiple failed attempts to read the Bible all the way through and weight loss attempts abandoned. It's time to make a change.

Today is the day. This is not a change based off of pure emotion, but one based off of decisions that act as answers to a bigger question, "what happens if I don't?" My first assignment has been simple...read the Bible starting in the New Testament and read until God says to stop. This is not a race but an opportunity to start tuning into God's voice. Make sure to write down what you hear him telling you. I will start blogging some of these thoughts in a new series of posts called Exploring the Word. This should be fun! ~Rachael

Learning & Growing

This OMEA conference has been filled with learning and growing in many areas - musically, academically, and relationally. Sometimes there is joy, sometimes there is honesty, sometimes there is pain. I will use all lessons learned to help mold me into the person I am called to be. I heard this song playing on the radio as I drove home and it just fits so well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6LTu9PdPa4

"And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again...

So come out of your cave walking on your hands
and see the world hanging upside down
You can understand dependence
when you know the Maker's hand...

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
to live my life as it's meant to be."

The purpose of the valley

I've been reading in My Utmost for His Highest and there was a key sentence that struck me. "Peter thought it would be a fine thing for them to remain on the mount, but Jesus Christ took the disciples down from the mount into the valley, the place where the meaning of the vision is explained." Chambers also says, "We see His glory on the mount, but we never live for His glory there."

I know for me personally I thought of the valley as always being this place of separation. I felt like I was supposed to avoid the valley. I'm learning that this viewpoint isn't necessarily right. If you think about it, valleys are picturesque. They are the beautiful view you look at while on top of the mountain. A place of abiding and growing. A place that is beautiful, lush and green. A place of reflecting on the climb or looking ahead to the next valley and, eventually, next mountain peak.

Personally I have been through a lot of growth in multiple areas of my life. I know I wouldn't be where I am now without having lived in the valley for a while. While in that place I started learning to abide in Christ and have begun to see a glimpse of the vision He's placed in my heart. I'm excited for the continuing journey!

"God matches the perfect dream with the perfect dreamer"

The Awakening

"Thirsty hearts are those whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them." ~A. W. Tozer

Up to this point my life has been very "drama free". I've always heard that it's harder to see the bigger picture when you are in the midst of a crisis. Boy, did I ever learn this lesson! The past months since my last entry have been a wild ride to say the least; never before have I been challenge and stretched to such lengths. November was plagued with illness and paralyzing doubts that caused me to question my calling. Through it all I was blessed by my mom and close friends who constantly redirected by fearful thinking to the glimmer of light provided by my Savior. The month of December provided a paradigm shift in my relationship with God. Every week God opened my eyes to a new lesson causing me to draw closer to Him. I would go to church and the sermon would confirm this lesson. Then someone I knew would always provide another confirmation regarding the lesson God was teaching me. It's almost like he had a plan... ;)

I finished my first placement, finished my work sample, transitioned home, and started at a new placement all towards the end of December through the beginning of January. My mom then fell and broke a rib. The veil was lifted as I came to the realization that God intentionally had me go through the trials of the past couple months in order to find strength in Him during this time.

Now life is starting to settle down a bit more and I am just SO excited for the mysteries that He will continue to unveil during this new season - a new season of thirsting and awakening!

Day 7: Abide

As believers, the Son of God dwells in us. The spiritual temptations that He faced are now the temptations that we face. What is the answer against temptation? Abide in His presence. This past week has been a journey to quiet myself each day and abide in His love. I've learned that abiding in His love means to have the ability to seek Him in the secret place, but also to walk with Him throughout the day. Chambers wrote, "God engineers circumstances and whatever they may be like we have to see that face them while abiding continually with Him in His temptations." During the spring semester I took an ethics class. One key thing I learned about circumstances through that class is that you physically can not love every single person that you pass by. This was difficult for me, because even though it may not be physically possible, boy do I try! I soon learned that what my teacher meant by this is that you can not have genuine experiences with people that you pass by on the street. It is those circumstances that are specifically engineered by God that "We wear His badge" and answer "yes" to the question, "are we going with Him?". These may be interactions with strangers or with friend or family. Always remember to love as He loved us!

"Do you continue to go with Jesus? The way lies through Gethsemane, through the city gate, outside the camp; the way lies alone, and the way lies until there is no trace of a footstep left, only the voice, "Follow Me." Abide and walk with Him.

Day 6: He did not tire

I am in awe of the works of Jesus during His time of ministry. He healed the blind man, made the lame walk, and spoke words of power and love. In Matthew 3 Jesus was baptized. Immediately afterward, in Matthew 4, Jesus was tempted. His temptation was not like ours, "The temptations of Jesus are not those of a man, but the temptations of God as Man...He did not tire. He went through the temptation "without sin," and He retained the possessions of His personality intact" (Chambers). It was after this time that Jesus began the ministry that turned the world upside down. The power of this work is unfathomable. He did not tire...Amen!

Day 5: Hope and Fire!

How can we come into true understanding of our beliefs without testing, without temptation? We often think about that word as something evil and to be avoided, when really, we should have the opposite reaction, we should welcome it. This is not to say that we should seek out temptation or give into it, but rather conquer it! "Not to be tempted would be to be beneath contempt" (Chambers). Jesus was tempted. He knows the struggle. During our personal times of trial He helps and comforts us. To pass through the fire proves that we are genuine and continually growing towards likeness of Christ.

1 Peter 1:3-9...
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."