Month: September 2016

John Fifteenin’

/ redeemedandrunningtherace / 1 Comment

During our first week here, we had a campus job draft where we all got assigned our campus job for the year. So each week, we put in hours on the island doing our respective jobs, which range from cleaning bathrooms to trash take-out to office work. I chose to be on the good ole maintenance team. There are a whole bunch of us assigned to maintenance but there is so much to be done around campus each day, so it feels productive.

Today, I got out there to do some maintenance for the week and was handed some shears to prune flowers. So I just walked around the flower beds cutting down plants so that they can grow again. I’m not the most horticultural person, so I really don’t always get the importance of pruning…does it really make a difference?
As I was walking around campus and finding plants to prune, I couldn’t help but think about John 15.
The Lord prunes us and we often don’t get why– “God, I’ve been learning this lesson… I got it. Pretty sure we’re good, don’t know why we have to go over this again.”
But He is the Gardener – He knows His garden and knows what it needs. The garden grows, and even lives, only by way of the gardener.
In the moment of refining we don’t often see God’s purpose. But once we’ve come through the fire, we can attest to the gold.
Time and time again in our lives we get through a struggle or time of growth and look back to see that God was faithful every step of the way, and each time we doubted Him He came through. Yet, the next situation arises and we’re back to our lack of trust. Why?? We just learned to trust Him last time, this shouldn’t be anything different. But somehow it is, because it’s a new situation and a different struggle. Our situations will change but our God never will. But we don’t really trust that unless we’re actively abiding. What’s it mean to abide?

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” ~John 15:4-5

From one analogy to the other.. As Christ is the Vine, we are the branches. We are in Him. He is our life itself – if branches are stripped from the vine, they will die. The branches grow and flourish when they remain attached to the vine, drinking in the water it brings from its roots. The fruit comes when the branches are adequately watered and cared for – when the branch is attached to the vine and being poured into and properly nourished, the result is fruit. If we want to live in a way that points people to the Lord, we must keep His commands. (John 14:15 – “If you love me, you will keep my commands.”) That is the fruit of our life – obedience. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control — those are all fruits of the Spirit.

But we don’t emulate those characteristics in our life, authentically, by trying to. We live out those characteristics of a Christ-follower by ABIDING in the VINE. Immersing ourselves in the Living Water, that is the very Word of God. Spending time with our Creator. Not making Him a part of our lives but making Him our lives. Because apart from Him we can do nothing.
When we begin to have this perspective, the pruning seasons can become the praising seasons, too. I’m sure glad my God doesn’t leave me to go my own way and get outta control when there’s more heart work He wants to get done in my life. If that were the case I’d be temporarily happy and never satisfied. But the Lord offers me real contentment. That’s what we’re after and He knows it. He’s the One who made us. He cares enough to make life a little more frustrating sometimes so that we’ll know Him more and be more like Him. (Hebrews 12:6 – “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines.”) I wish I would always have that perspective of the bigger picture but I often get stuck in my own selfish worldly perspective. I allow myself to get so easily consumed with how I feel rather than operate off of what God’s Word says.
My dad always tells me that we can’t bring God’s Word to our feelings; we have to bring our feelings to God’s Word. Line them up and figure out what’s true and what’s a lie based on what the Bible says. That’s convicting because nowhere in the Bible does it tell me to worry about myself and how everything is going for me. It tells me to love the Lord my God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind, and with all my strength; and to love my neighbor as myself (Mark 12:30-31). But when we do this, we find delight. Delight in the Lord. We grow in character. We walk by the Spirit and do not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
That can sometimes sound constraining, but it is actually the most freeing. To walk by the Spirit, we experience fellowship with the One who created us and knows the depths of our soul. People let us down. Situations disappoint from time to time. Even the best things in life aren’t the best thing. The best thing is Jesus and He wants relationship with you and me. He wants our hearts to be all in, abiding daily, so that we can experience His full blessing. One foot in the world and one foot out exhausts us and leaves us empty, but true rest is found in His presence.
“And since we have a great High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;” -Hebrews 10:21-23
The eternal perspective is key to our daily pursuit of Jesus. As Christians, we are the bride of Christ. The bride loves the groom because the groom first loved, first pursued, the bride. Christ has pursued us and loved us forever. Literally. That’s hard to wrap my mind around, which is great because why would I want to fully understand everything about my God? It’s kind of great to know I’ll never be able to fully grasp everything about the Lord while on this earth, because I can spend my whole life abiding in Him yet constantly getting to experience more and more facets of His character and His Kingdom with each new day, hopefully looking more like Him, too.fullsizerender

Jumping Into Island Life

/ redeemedandrunningtherace / 2 Comments

The past year for me has brought with it lots of transition and I’m so excited to look back on it and see where the Lord has me now. Since my college years began, the Lord has been constantly building my trust in Him and confidence that He keeps His promises and is faithful in all things. Graduating from LSU and now being here at the Kanakuk Institute in Branson, Missouri is one huge way God has continued to be faithful. (Our campus is called K-Kuai; hence the island life). Wow, I’ve been here for just three weeks and God has already taught me so much from His Word, given me a deeper understanding of who He is and what He calls me to, and brought me into the sweetest community I’ve ever experienced. Pretty pumped to be here.

The Kanakuk Institute is a discipleship program where we’re immersed in Scripture study under incredible teaching, discipled and held accountable in authentic community, and participate in some type of outside ministry internship. So far, we’ve learned how to resolve conflict from an informed Biblical perspective and how to inductively study Scripture. In our in-depth study of conflict resolution, we were transparent with one another and put our whole life into the light. By that, I mean we were real and honest about what we’ve struggled with and shared what the Lord has redeemed in our lives. It was the most freeing thing to be real about sin and no longer live in any shame that the devil could take advantage of in our lives.

As Christians, we have been set free in Christ. However, often times we fail to actually walk in the freedom we’ve received. Wow, the Lord has offered us life abundant, not just the eternal reward of life with Him in heaven, but also the current blessing of a life of fulfillment in Him on this earth (John 10:10). And what a shame it is that we miss that so much because we allow ourselves to lose sight of the God who’s reconciled us to Himself as we exchange that truth for lies from the devil. But being here, I want to continue to learn how to walk in freedom and confidence in who I am in Christ – made right.

How, though, do we constantly walk in freedom and not allow ourselves to fall back into those lies from the devil? How do we keep our eyes focused on Christ and His purpose for our lives with full confidence of our identity in Him? It starts within our own hearts, in our daily pursuit of Him. We pursue Him through prayer and time in the Word. As Christians, our time spent reading God’s Word is absolutely essential to our life. But if we really intend to grow and experience true sanctification in our hearts and lives, we can’t be content to just read the Bible; we must study and meditate on it. We hear that all the time.. “Don’t just read the Word. Study it. Meditate on it.” But the question that we often fail to ask is “how?” How do we really study scripture? We can find good devos and commentary on particular passages. But if all of those outside sources are taken away and we’re left with nothing but our Bible, would we be able to most effectively study it on our own? I couldn’t honestly answer that question with a confident “yes,” but I want to.

This past week at the Institute, we had the opportunity to be taught the Inductive Bible Study method by David Lawson. He led us through some of Genesis, and we will continue to study Genesis on our own with the inductive method for the rest of the semester. Next semester, we’ll use it to go through James. The inductive method is a really awesome way to break down passages of scripture and slow down reading so that a deeper understanding can be had. It focuses on observation, interpretation, and application.

When looking at a passage of scripture, it’s good to first read through it one time without stopping to get a good overview. Then, go through and observe all the details. Who is the author? Who’s the author speaking to? What’s the condition of the society at the time? What’s going on historically? Search for obvious details in the text like people, places, and events. Highlight, underline, circle, and draw symbols in different colors to mark these important observations. Record what you learn and recognize repetition, literary devices, and specific things to apply.

Interpretation is the next step in the inductive method. It’s so important to accurately interpret scripture and not take anything out of context. Read before and after the passage to get a good understanding of the context. Look over your observations to find any repeated or unfamiliar words or phrases to further study. Cross-reference. Cross-referencing is very beneficial to effective Bible study. To cross-reference is to go to other passages of scripture that refer to the particular people, places, events, or topics being studied to gain a deeper understanding. Compare what you find and form a more comprehensive story.

Lastly, and most importantly, we must apply what we study. This is where we ask the tough heart questions. What does my study of this passage tell me about God? What does it say about me? What do I believe based on what I’ve just read and studied from God’s Word? Has my perspective on the particular topic/person/book changed at all? If so, how? Where is the Lord placing conviction in my heart in regard to this study and how can I apply it today? What are some practical steps I can take to apply these truths in my life?

To finish the inductive study, use what you’ve learned to form a summary of each paragraph from the passage, then summarize each chapter, and each book. Already, this method has been super exciting to help me dig into God’s Word in a very effective way. I can study scripture with a much clearer focus and informed perspective. I hope it’s as helpful to others as it is to me.