Sunday, April 25, 2010

Hang onto your hats, folks, 'cuz this here's the Wildest ride in the wilderness!

If only I knew what I was getting into when I began this "project" of doing all of Beth's studies. I never expected it to be such an insane, wild, hair-raising, re-constructing ride. The last couple months have been so crazy, doing three of her things all together, that I barely took time to document them here. That's because it suddenly becomes extremely difficult to document incredible experiences that practically lift u up out of this world. I'm surprised I've managed to stay inside my skin!

I still have some hang-ups. I still have some serious insecurities & thought-patterns that are not of God & His truth. The difference is, I can see them. I know when they begin. In months, I have gone from a girl who loves Jesus & loves Bible study to a girl who has finally seen God be her Daddy. Finally learned how to go to HIM for everything. Finally gotten it. Finally walked out the principles in His word & made it across the river from bondage to freedom. He has pulled me out of just about every single pit I was so deep in. (Thats what's crazy about the spiritual world-u can live in many, many pits at once. Ouch!) I am becoming a different person every day now. Thanks to Miss Beth, I have learned that prayer & God's word will be the answer to anything and EVERYTHING. Nothin else. NO ONE else. Jesus. Just Jesus. He works. Every time. All the time.

Dear friends, you have a very live, VERY active enemy. He is after u in every way. He wants nothin more that to keep u focused on yourself and your problems. He wants u to be thinking about anything & everything other than the kingdom of God. To forget this would be foolish. To fight it, you need two weapons: God's word. Spoken. Out loud. As a sword. And prayer. Prayer based on the promises found in His word. As your shield. With that, nothing can stop you. Not the enemy. Not the world. Not the mediocre "normal" Christian life. Not even yourself. Use your weapons. Fight. Dare to be different. Dare to ask God to radically infiltrate and shake up your life. Dare to scoot over into the passanger seat and let HIM drive. Dare to do the thang.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Come chat with me.

Well, hi there! And thanks for stopping by. Come on in. Pull up a chair. Sit & talk with me a bit. I know I've been on the quiet side lately. It's because God's been doing some amazing things in me. Like, seriously amazing. And I think it's finally time I share some of it with you. My prayer is that you'd be able to glean some sort of wisdom from what I've leaned & been through.

As human beings, I think it's impossible to escape doubt from time to time. Doubt in all sorts of things. But especially in things that are of the spiritual world. One of the biggest doubts I've carried is that God really can and wants to free people from bondage and captivity. When I realized the amount of bondage I was living in, I doubted I could ever be free. I would watch Beth on T.V. and even go to see her live, and I would think, "Dang. If only I wasn't so messed up. I desperately want to have what she does. That drive. That passion. That effectiveness. oh well. Sucks to be me". Am I speaking anybody else's language here? Is there a nagging within you that wants to go deeper, love the Lord & His word more passionately, & be more effective? Are you thinking "if only......". Well, friends. This is what I've learned. There is NO "if only." There is no "someday, when......". No. There is truth. Truth that us the same today as it will be when you're 30, 40, 70. The truth that God says ALL OVER His Word that He's crazy about you. He loves u insanely. He longs with everything about Him to free you, fix you, and use you. YOU. Not just other believers. YOU. The only reason why You aren't dynamically effective right where you are and as you are is because you have not fully grasped this truth. You don't fully believe it. Or like me, u believ it, but it scares you to change & u don't want to want to let go and accept it. You don't want to scoot over into the passanger seat an let the God of The Universe take over & drive. Don't want to give up control of where you're headed.

This hit me really hard. I think it really got to me over the last few months. You see, I've been doing what Miss Beth has asked of me & writing down verses on 3x5 cards. I carry them everywhere with me & when I'm tempted to act out in my particular addiction, or when I catch myself in a destructive thought pattern of lies, I take them out & begin thanking God for what He promises me in His word. Before long, the truth of His word began to take over my mind. I began to say to Him, "Okay. I'm having a problem with ___. And I know you say in you word ______ about it. So I'm asking you for that. NOW. I belive u want to give it to me & I thank you in advance for it." and guess what? I began to watch amazing and incredible miracles take place before my very eyes. Within me, my friendships, my work. I began to experience incredible & dramatic change. I realized for the first time ever that everyhing God is about and is doing is for ME personally. And I became overwhelmed by the fact that little me gets to be in relaionship with the God of the Universe. The King of Kings. I began to realize He is all hope. All peace. All answers to all problems. The more I asked Him to reveal Himself to me, the more I handed the reins of myself & my life over to Him, the more I started to experience freedom & healing. The more all my issues and my messed-up head began to get fixed. It's like God reached down and has been gently re-wiring my brain and re-structuring all my insides. Praise Him-He yanked me up out of the pit of some very serious addicion & entanglement. Stuff thy destroys people & families & lives. I am free. FREE. F-R-E-E!!!!
And all of a sudden, I have confidence. Confidence that My King can do anything, and I have nothing-NOTHING- to fear! I have been falling so in love with Him. I am still amazed when I look in the mirror & see myself. I know what a totally different person I've become. I just can't get over it. I am "Living Proof" that He works. Always. Seriously! If u really want to be blown away even more, ask me about it and I'll share with you how bad I really was. You'll be floored by God!

I tell you this for a reason. First of all, to brag on God. He more than deserves it. And second, because I want each person I know to experience a complete and total freedom. It is absolutely and more than possible in any & every area. And my longing and passion is to see people walk in it, too. Especially you, my dearest high schholers. If you can get this now, you will be like a thousand sticks of dynamite against the kingdom of darkness everywhere u step for the rest of your life. That's my passion. To see YOU free. Thrive in this, my dear young brothers and sisters. Thrive! Aslan is not a tame Lion. But He IS good. Oh, so good! An He has a specific purpose for you in His kingdom. One that NO OTHER PERSON can carry out. You are that special. That important. And THAT powerful. Believe it. Grab it.