Samoa－YWAM Documentary

This film was made by a young man from Taiwan who showed up at our gates one night in Samoa and who then became a huge blessing and friend to us all.  At his departure he gave us this - a short film encompassing all of his stay with us. This young man was a Buddhist who came to live with us for a short time for "vacation," he is the manager for one of the top Korean pop bands in Asia! Although we did not see him come the Lord, even he recognized a significant change in his mind and heart that was drawing him nearer ultimate "truth." I hope you enjoy watching and join us in praying for our Taiwanese brother :)

Is it Foolish, or is it Brilliant?

How is it that He would choose me; a broken, unstable, fickle, confused little girl to represent God among the nations. That I would be an ambassador of the Kingdom of God - the One and Only, the King of all Kings, Lord above all other Lords, the Great High Priest and Ruler of all. And He chose me.

This is so hard to wrap my head around. That the Perfect God would choose such an unworthy and messed up little girl to go into all the world, representing Him. Umm? It's true that He uses the lowly to confound the wise...

The words of Paul when writing to the Corinthians have never been so real and applicable to my life as they are in these days.

"Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” [1 Corinth 1:26-31]

And so it is true - all that I have done, has not been of me. It's been by His great grace, power, strength and mercy that I can even begin to tell you the stories of my life. That I have personally seen people's hearts that once were stone hard, turn to the Lord and receive a life free of the cares of this world, in a few minutes of speaking. Or participating in miraculous physical healing around the world where broken bones are mended, backs straightened, wounds healed, pain leaves, and the dead come back to life - by laying down all of my plans/dreams for my life, and looking foolish in the world's eyes. Do you realize how foolish it looks to see someone get hurt and instead of immediately getting pain killers, you ask if you can pray. And yet my tables are flipped, and now I have come to see how foolish it is to NOT go and pray for the person who's broken leg is terribly painful - when you know that you are the representative of the God who Heals. If the person is miraculously healed they thank you and will listen to the message you carry, if they aren't healed some will still listen - and others will roll their eyes, let you know that you are a "fool," and request pain medications!

Or how about looking foolish when God tells you to go live in a different country when you have no money in the bank, and no job. So you do it and the day you arrive have to tell your landlord that you have no money, but you know the rent will be paid. Then the day before rent is due random strangers come up to you individually and give you enough for the rent - to the dollar. Now who is foolish? The one who went without, or the one who says "when you give me enough money I'll go"? But in which lifestyle will He get more glory? 

And how foolish does it seem for the God of all nations, people, all power and authority, to choose and call me. A 22 year old girl, from a broken family, who hasn't completed university, has no formal training or certifications other than CPR, no paying profession - to go into all the world and represent Him. Using me to teach elders and chiefs of nations, to enlighten the educated with greater understanding and knowledge, to sit with the dying and give them peace, to love and care for those who have killed your brothers and sisters, to play with the children who no one wants, to lead slaves into a freedom that cannot be taken away, to inspire and challenge others to pursue God above all other pursuits. And not just to do it - but to be effective and influential, earning position and acknowledgement that I am not worthy of. 

Who cares about position? It is better to look foolish in the sight of my friends and family and to follow the call of my God - that He may truly receive ALL the glory, all the honor. I know His Kingdom will be established on this earth, that He desperately desires relationship will all men and women; I know He'll have this whether I accept His "mission" or not - but if I could participate, and advance His kingdom... what an honor! And what a joy to have such a relationship with Him. That He would love me so much to use me, even in my most broken and foolish looking state, to be and Ambassador of Him; and I, in awesome love, only want to show Him off. To show just how Great, Merciful and Loving He truly is - that by joining His mission I could give Him what He wants most. Relationship with you. You see, it's no longer about me and my life - although I am ever aware of my short comings and failures, I am completely content in laying down every part of the life I could have by walking away and choosing something easier. But He is too great, too amazing, and it is so worth introducing this God I serve, to others. Laying down my comforts, my rights, my desires and plans to see His kingdom advance in the most unlikely of places - it can't be compared. The latter far outweighs the "normal" and "average" life that I could have lived. 

So here I am, a messy and imperfect, young woman who has chosen to accept the calling to live a life out of the ordinary. A life that would be difficult, impossible by human means at time, but more satisfying and filled with a clearly defined purpose. Not living up to the "standards" of this world, and yet exceeding the dreams of many by simply following the voice of a God whose love is unmatchable and whose plans are incomparable.

So is it foolish, or is it brilliant? 

Jesus said, "Raise the Dead" PART 2

If you haven’t already read Part 1 Please do so first here.

After meeting with the father of the child this past weekend there are a few things I would like to add about this whole experience.

To start, it turns out that this little girl – was actually a 2 year old boy who just had really long hair (as is common here in Samoa). The family is a Christian one who as the father said, could be walking more with the Lord. In his perspective they were at the market just as any other day and at one point weren’t paying attention to the baby. When they checked in on him they realized he was dead – the entire market also telling them it was dead. The mother rushed the baby to the back where she and a few others were trying to revive it – but as the father told us, the entire market were telling him that his son was dead. When he saw a group of palangi’s (foreigners) going back and praying it gave him hope and faith that his son would live. After God raised the child from the dead and the mother left was when He knew that it was God who saved his son – we went to him and confirmed it yet again.

On Saturday when we were meeting with him again he said that the doctors still don’t know what is going on with the child, but that it still has a fever. In this we all felt that the little boy will be fine, and so we’re just praying that Sio (his name) gets healthy soon.

My co-leader, Rachel, was praying and seeking more into the experience this weekend and she also came had another realization. When we went to the back where they were trying to revive the dead boy, they weren’t doing CPR. They were slapping his head and splashing water on the baby... nothing they were doing would have, in any situation, brought life back into the child. In realizing this again later it just further encourages and confirms that it HAD to be GOD who raised the child from the dead and that if we hadn’t been there the baby really would have died.

When we returned this weekend to the market it was apparent that the entire market was talking about us. A Samoan who was with us shared with me as we were ministering to the father again that all the people were saying, “they have been here before,” and asking “what religion are they?” “weren’t they the ones who prayed for him?” As our time continued in the market many people came up to us asking questions, mainly: who are you? what religion are you? what are you doing? and several thanking us for what we had and were doing. Several people asked about YWAM, one young man came to us and said, “I want to come and do what you do. How do I come?” Another older man stepped in front of us as we were moving through the market and, sticking out his hand, thanked us each individually for doing good work and for coming. This would seem normal to those of us from a Western nation, but in speaking to a Samoan later we found that his action of shaking our hands (being an older Samoan man) was one of the highest displays of honor.

It is so clear that the miracle of the baby being brought back to life is only the begin of many testimonies to happen in that market. The doors of their hearts and minds are coming open and we are seeing incredible fruit in the follow-up. While we are continuously praising God for the miracle of life, even more-so I am praising Him for giving us the influence and opportunities to share the truth of His love and power for all of humanity.  The people of that market are clearly opening their ears to what we have to say and are wanting to know more. As a team we are determined to return to the market at least once a week to talk and pray with people.

Samoa is such a tiny nation and it's all villages. Here they joke about the way you get in trouble on the other side of the nation and even your neighbor's kid will know about it before you get home. Word travels like wildfire here with any good or bad thing is grapevined through the nation in such speed that it honestly shocks us sometimes. I know that as this become more and more a reality in the hearts and minds of the marketplace workers that God's fame will spark such curiosity in the nation. One ripple will turn into a mighty wave of revival! Pray with us as we hope to see this picture into a reality. That hearts would be revived, that the mediocre Christianity that has taken hold will fan into the flames of radical Christ-followers, and that the Truth of Jesus would permeate through the lies of the false religions that are trying to take over this nation (mainly being Mormonism and Jehovah Witness). We want to see His Glory proclaimed across this nation and the hope of our God who is living and who cares for each individual to change this country forever! It's not only a hope, but a legitimately possibility! Join us in prayer and lets see this nation radically changed!

Jesus said, "Raise the Dead" PART 1

Every week we have half the DTS students go into town to practice evangelism and hearing God’s voice in the form of something we call “treasure hunts.” I was one of the staff leaders for the afternoon evangelism team this Wednesday.  In the morning I woke up with such a strong desire to “know Jesus” more.  It was such a strong feeling and as I was having my quiet time with God the final word I was left with was Him saying, "all I needed to do in order to see Jesus, and receive the “7-fold blessings” that God the Father promises.  I heard God tell me to Love me with your whole heart. To know me and make me known. Let me love you too. Watch how I show you my love – how I lavish my love upon you...”

As the day went by and time grew closer to evangelism time I was feeling pretty uninspired, discouraged and just struggling to find joy in going out.  Upon arriving in town we split up into groups and I ended up co-leading a group of 7 (Desiree, Nathan, Jake, Tammy, Rachel and Kamuta). We prayed to start, asking God for directions on where to go, or who to speak to that afternoon. We call it a “treasure hunt” because God will often give pictures, words or names that we will come across during our time. Following the words received from the Lord, we began to walk around town, talking and praying with people as we went while sharing about God’s love for them. After a while we hit a rut with no direction, low energy, and discouragement in not seeing any fruit that afternoon. In attempts to restart, we decided to pause by the fruit market to purchase some hospitality items and snacks to boost our energy.

Walking into the market the team split up. One which I was apart of went to buy fruit for our speaker, while the other group went to the very back to a small food court. Walking in I recall noticing a dad, holding a baby girl, and in my spirit I felt that something was wrong.  However, I kept going and we went on browsing the fruit stands. The other group were buying pork-buns in the back food court of the market when one of the team, Tammy, saw a “clues” and went to explore it with the others. Not long after she’d gone off something shifted in the market and there was a sudden odd panic/heaviness that came upon the entire market place.  Looking back to where the team at the food court was, I noticed Tammy running over to the group (who were sitting with their juice/food) and all of them immediately run towards the back corner.  Catching my eye, Tammy urgently motioned for me to come.  As I began walking towards them an intense sense of urgency came over me and I turned to the two girls with me saying with much seriousness to “come, now!” Rachel, my co-leader literally dropped the fruit she had in her hands as they both ran after me; not even looking back.  Making our way back into the crowd that had by this time gathered in the back corner, I saw three women crouched over a sink clearly wailing and panicking.  As I drew closer I saw that one of the women was holding a baby in the sink.  The women were slapping the baby, splashing water on it, and squeezing at it’s lifeless limbs.  The whole market was uneasy, concerned and filled with despair and confusion.  A Samoan nearby, who spoke English, came to us and said, “the baby is dead,” looking on at the situation with so much defeat.  At that point, I kid you not, all of us looked to one another declaring “pray” and seamlessly moved in closer.  Just behind the woman at the sink we pressed in and began praying some of the boldest prayers I’ve ever heard. While some started by praying in tongues, others began boldly claiming life over the child; calling for life to refill the body, and for Jesus to show Himself through the life of the child.

I’d like to pause for just a minute to explain that when I initially saw the baby it had been at least 8-10 minutes since the mom declared the baby dead. The child was past the point of just looking “blue-ish” but was pale, limp, the veins in her head were sticking out from the absence of oxygen and no pulse to be seen/felt. And the desperate women's attempt to save it was in splashing water and slapping it's face. 

Back to the story and we’re all standing behind the family of the baby praying and claiming life to come back into the girl.  We’d been praying for some time when Nathan leaned over to me whispering, “look!.... her hand is moving!”  A minute later as we all looked on, still praying, the baby’s body began convulsing, riveting with spasms as oxygen began filling the muscles again. We looked on – still praying with fervency and confidence.  Several minutes later the baby’s eyes opened but were dull.  We kept praying, (even more excitedly than before if it was possible) noticing color coming back into the body.  Then the child's eyes slowly moved to latch on to the people around her and began crying loudly! [Selah]

At the sound of her cry we stopped praying in joyful and confident awe.  It was done! The baby was alive!

An onlooker ran to grab a towel that was wrapped around the baby’s body as the mother clutched the baby to her chest.  They took the baby out of the market, in shock as the baby wailed, to a taxi to take them to the hospital.  Once she left with the baby (that was ALIVE), our team stood, looking at one another in shock. Not shocked that the baby was alive, but at the entirety of what just happened.  “What just happened? The baby was dead right? God just raised the girl from the dead! We just saw a person raised from the dead! We just prayed and saw God raise the baby from the dead!!” Looking up from our group we realized that most of the people in the market were just staring at us.  Some were clearly trying to understand what had just happened, while others seemed utterly confused at our response.  The oldest of the the women that had been with the mother looked and as I made eye contact with her, could tell that the reality of what just happened was sinking in. Tears streamed down her face as the initial shock passed.  We, also still in shock, aimlessly went back to the table that had the team's untouched, half-eaten food and sat down.  The crowed starred and while some looked on, others returned to their stands.  As a few of the team finished the pork-buns and juice, we went through the details, a number of people crowed around, joining us as we debrief what has just transpired.  The baby girl was dead, with great faith we went, prayed over the baby, and saw life literally return into the baby.  As we took a minute to praise God for what just happened, we realized we should go find the family to talk to them.  One vendor hovering over us, who had originally told us the baby was dead, led us to where the father’s booth was. As we went up to the man who was sitting in a chair, clearly in shock, my heart stopped.  It was the man who I had seen holding the baby and whom I’d walked passed earlier!  One of the students (Kamuta) translated for Rachel as she explained and encouraged the father in what the Lord just did in bringing to life back into his daughter.  The emotion in his eyes was nearly overwhelming as he cried and asked us to return to speak more to him and his family once his wife & child returned.  We couldn’t stay as it was getting late, but promised to return Saturday to check-in on the baby, talk with them, and pray over the family.  In all of this it seemed that the entire marketplace’s eyes were on us.  (Looking back, I wonder why we didn't just give the Gospel message and do an alter call, but it wasn't on our radar.)

As we walked on our way to the bus stop to return to the YWAM Campus, we tried to continue on in ministry but kept finding ourselves stopping every block or two to go over what happened.  None of us had a set time on the events, though some guessed it to be 30 mins- 1 hour from when we first heard that the child was dead to the time the mother picked up the crying baby.  We would go through the details, share revelation we had about the whole thing, and praise God for raising the child from the dead and for using us!

One thing that we talked we all agree was that when heard "the child is dead" - even though we knew with our minds that the child was dead, not one of us had a thought/concern/feeling of doubt that the baby wasn’t going to be alive when we walked away.  This was one of the moments that so clearly exampled the gift of "faith” and "working of miracles" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11.

                                      ______________________________________

I have prayed for the crippled, sick, deaf, and blind; I have prayed over dead people. Sometimes people are be healed, and other times they are not. Up to today I had heard stories of people praying and seeing people raise from the dead, for years.  Every time I heard one such story, praying and asking God that some day I would have the faith to believe and see something like that.

I have never felt so overwhelmingly humbled as seeing this amazing miracle - when a young girl died and then was resurrected as I prayed over her.  This will forever mark my heart as I praise God for His power, His compassion and mercy.

I could go on to tell of all the revelation and awe we as a team have gained since the moment that baby was raised from the dead (for it is expansive and only growing by the day), but I will end with this: MY GOD IS ALIVE!!!  He cares for every person, and walking with Him is better than a life of comfort, luxury and social norms.  I am so thankful and honored that God has called me to missions. For I count it a joy when facing the trials, hardships, sicknesses and pain of living this lifestyle for the opportunity to actively participant in seeing the dead rise, blind are see, deaf hear, sick healed, the lost come to Christ.

READ ABOUT THE FOLLOW-UP MEETING WITH THE FAMILY HERE IN Jesus Said, "Raise the Dead" Part 2

Talofa from Samoa

To start fairly, all I can say is “wow!”

I landed in Samoa, a tiny island country in the southern Pacific Ocean, a week ago! It will be my joy to live here for 4 months as a missionary with YWAM. Over the summer I am staffing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with approximately 50 students: 20 foreign to Samoa, and 25 Samoan students.

This week a few teammates, that I came with from Kona, and myself have been traveling around the country (which can be done in the span of a day) recruiting our Samoan students. It’s been an incredibly interesting experience as we are quickly learning about the Samoan culture. Their culture is very much one of respect, honor, laughter and of protocol. We found very quickly that there is a “right” way to go about things, and a wrong way. Luckily we’ve received much grace as we have tried our best to learn these protocols.

Pray with us as the remainder of our staff fly in today. We will be doing staff training for the next 2 weeks, one week here on the island of Upolu and next week on the bigger island, Savai’i. On June 15^th all our students will arrive and we are so excited with what the Lord has planned to do in us this summer. Also, please pray for all the foreigner’s health – mine has been fine so far, however those who haven’t lived in a developing nation before will likely have some troubles. Pray that hearts would be open, willing to see change in their lives. And that we would all abound in grace towards one another – especially in the area of cultural clashing.

This land is absolutely Beautiful! I hope to share some pictures soon of the country. Until then I’ve put some up of the YWAM base/property I’m living on. Internet is extremely expensive at $3.50USD an hour so my access will be limited.

Love Always,

Marisa Anne

Simon says, "Do what Jesus Says"

Today I read a quote from Francis Chan that goes,

"Simon says, 'Pat your head.' 

We pat our heads. 

Jesus says, 'Go therefore and make disciples…' 

We memorize that verse." 

I wonder just how true that is.  Sometimes, in a community such as the one I live in, it's hard to see that this is truly the issue.  That when someone nearby begins... "Simon says.." we poise our ears, straining to hear what the command is, so as to obey correctly.  Our body posture changes as we prepare for anything - excitement and anticipation in our hearts. We are ready and will do our best to do what "Simon says" as quickly and correctly as we can.  

Yet, when someone nearby begins with, "Jesus said..." our mind settles in for the reading/recitation of a book. We settle down, ready to listen to "the Holy and ancient scriptures."  There is no action really needed and maybe, just maybe we'll be super "spiritual," decide to memorize the verse! What an amazing accomplishment.  

I don't mean to demean the memorization of scriptures, in fact, I find it invaluable. However, if we stop at memorizing some words from a book - we are horribly misusing those Holy Scripts.  Those words on the pages of the Bible - they are ALIVE. If we believe what God says to us through this Bible, that the words on the pages were divinely inspired and true, should not these scriptures inspire something in us? 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-2, 14 ESV)

The Word of God, the living, was the Son - was Jesus.  So when we read the Word - we are reading Jesus.  And we say that we believe that Jesus is still alive - having been killed on the cross, and then raising from the dead 3 days later. If, He is indeed alive as we say, do we truly know Him today? Or do we leave His Word to be classified as "ancient Holy scripts"?  

My heart is burdened with the sadness of the Jesus we seem to have confused for ourselves.  While we read what He did and said thousands of years ago, we have made him to become a story character worthy of memory and praise. When, in fact, He is ALIVE, living and breathing, speaking and moving today.  The same words he spoke to the disciples 2,000 years ago He speaks to us today.  Now, it's not as if He has appeared to me everyday teling me what to do to the letter every day. BUT, He has written us all a letter, found in the Word/the Bible, that clearly communicates what "Jesus says..." Do we act on those instructions? Do we position ourselves with anticipation of the instructions to come - ready to act and excited to participate? Do we even know what He is telling us to do?  

With this, I leave you to think upon these things. Allow yourself to ask Jesus what His will is for you today. Does He want you to speak encouragement over someone, maybe open your home to a person/family in need? Or would He simply want you to love Him today? Perhaps today He'd just love it if you'd position yourself to hear His voice, to anticipate His directions... 

Love Always,

Marisa

Another Year to Celebrate!

This week marks the beginning of another year of life having just celebrated my 22nd birthday!  In the last couple weeks I have been hit with the awe of all the Lord has taken me through and all He's allowed me to be apart of - here's a few highlights, accomplishments and memories that have marked my life thus far.

22 Life Accomplishments by age 22...

I have accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of my life and welcomed Holy Spirit into my heart!
... worked in a Christian foster care facility
... preached the gospel in a remote hill tribe of Thailand
... gone Christmas caroling in a Buddhist nation
... jumped off a 30ft cliff into the ocean, sat atop a 200ft waterfall
... led a team of nine 17-49 year old, "missionaries in training" from 3 different nations with 2 different languages, into Jamaica for two months
... shared my testimony, ministered to, and worshiped in several prisons around the world
... lived in a 3rd world nation for 6months
... witnessed the reconciliation of many to their Lord Jesus & led many to accept Jesus as their Savior
... attended a national soccer game between Haiti and the Virgin Islands - and lived to tell about it!
... witnessed to men, women and children in the red light district of Phuket
... been in 6 nations, 26 states, and swam in 3 of the 5 oceans of the world (Atlantic, Pacific and Indian)
... spent time learning Spanish, Latin, Sign Language, Creole, Thai, Hawaiian, Korean, and French
... had God physically heal my back of Scoliosis/injury
... witnessed the physical healing of broken arms, legs, crooked spines immediately through prayer
... helped steward a move of God as the revelation of Jesus Christ swept the Lee University campus
... received training in primary health care, counseling, ceramics, graphic design, interior design, evangelism, water technology, art, acting, vocal performance, intercession, worship, and Bible
... led worship in homes, youth groups, barns, church fellowships, prayer rooms, airports, and street corners in several different languages
... lived with people from 24+ nations: Egypt, South Africa, South Korea, Haiti, Canada, USA, Russia, Cameroon, Singapore, Guam, Jamaica, UK, Thailand, Burma/Myanmar, Tajikistan, Australia, Philippines, Sweden, Norway, Armenia, Israel, China, Brazil, & Holland
... made connections with several dignitaries and foreign ministers from around the world and become good friends with an African princess
... stood by one of my best friends on her wedding day
... ran a 2 day medical clinic in the mountains of Haiti, seeing around 200 people, some of whom traveled 3 days to get medical attention and most of whom had not had not seen a medical professional in over 3 years.


These are just a number of the amazing things God has led me to do in the short life I've lived.  In seeing these and knowing that God is always preparing us and training us for the next step I sit in awe at the marvelous unknown that lies ahead. As I remember many of these events in detail, I am reminded that it has only been by the Lord's amazing grace and the prayers and support of friends, family, and even strangers that has brought me this far.  I am so thankful to al those who have participated in my life and am looking forward, with great expectations, to what will follow.  I hope you will continue to join with me as I chase after the healing of people's hearts and the making of my God's mighty Name known in the nations of the Earth.

If you would like to learn more about how you can partner with me, you can sign-up to receive my newsletter and can read about supporting me financially. May the Lord bless you ten times more than He has blessed me! 

Love Always

Discovering the Beauty of Humanity

The last 3 months of 2012 I spent taking a counseling ministry course through the University of Nations  in Kona, HI, and it was through those ninety days that I came to fall in love with the beauty of my own humanity.

For most of my life I've battled finding appreciation and love for humanity.  Growing up witnessing and hearing of the countless faults, weaknesses, negative behaviors and the unfailing promise that perfection is expected yet unattainable.  Within a culture that depicts complete perfection and excellence as an indicator of achievement in whatever field a person pursues, this placed a horrible future promising only the destiny of failure and slim hope for true satisfaction.  This has been a struggle over the years as I was entering a life calling and ministry that required me to love unconditionally; to love the beauty out of the ashes and to even bless the ashes.

The ministry of reconciliation with those called "destitute" has been a constant calling, yet so difficult for me to truly do with a cheerful heart.  I the hardest block for me to overcome in that area was that I still couldn't love myself as a human, as God created me.  Now, had you asked me I would have refuted that saying that I knew God created me, that He loved me unconditionally.  However, it was only recently that I realized I've believed that I had to obtain some sort of achievement, or ranking, some level of "spirituality" or relationship in and with Him so that I could be truly acceptable to His service.  This could not be further from the truth.

As I have had the revelation of His love for me in a new way these past few months I have come to a massive change of heart.  A few days ago I was speaking with a friend here and was able to explain it in this way.

I have never felt so "human." I have also never been able to say I felt "human" without automatically attaching a negative, pessimistic, heart feeling with it - until now! When I shared with my friend that I have never felt so human it came from a place of complete peace, satisfaction, and joy.  This is because the truth that I am God's masterpiece - just as I am- has never been more real to me.  Although for years I have taught others about the beauty of who they are, of how He made us perfect and how He sees us as such - even in our weakest points, I was still only sharing from a place of knowledge and not true understanding.

Now I joyfully boast in my weakness, I willingly acknowledge my failures and know deeply that it is in this that God is so clearly glorified. Not only that, but I have discovered the intimate truth of His intense love both for me as an individual, and for all of humanity in it's humanness.  Although humanity has fallen away from instant intimacy with God, we still are not and less beautiful nor condemned but through ourselves.  God does not see us as failures, even in our rebelliousness, but rather He sees us as sons and daughters who are on a journey home. The term "perfection" I don't believe should be as definite as we make it. I believe it should be used only in the context of the beauty of God's love.  We have come to believe that perfection is in a body type, a salary, a position or ranking, a personality or character type, and even in our performances.  This definition of "perfection" is faulty - because the truth is that the uniqueness of every individual is what is perfect. This is what I believe God intended for us - to champion each person, big, little, skinny, fat, black, white, red, poor, rich, whatever - because they were created by God.  We are His Masterpieces Before We do anything because We Are as He Created us. Because we are Human. This has been a radical change in my perspective and it has completely transformed my life.

Unrestrained & Undone

If all I were to do is worship my God, my Father, my Beloved and Counselor - that would satisfy my heart and soul; BUT He plans even more than that!

He created me, you, us, for intimacy!

The joy of participating in the lives of others while learning more of His Majestic ways... I am so overwhelmed by the LOVE He wants to SHARE.

He doesn't simply desire us to love Him, but He desires an active, 2-way, relationship! Wow!!!

This one thing remains through it all - our love for one another.

I am undone.

My Lord, I will be led by you.

May my life be an example of the sweetest of surrender and love for you, Glorious God Most High!!!!

I heard this the other day and it's completely captivated my attention "I want my life to be characterized by an unrestrained affection for the Son of God!" This is now the focus of my heart, that I would be completely unrestrained when it came to loving the Son of God; the Great High Priest; the I AM; that my life would be a testament to the love we share.

May revival (Jesus' Inheritance) begin with me!

I am completely overwhelmed with desire to know Him more, to love Him more - God, increase my capacity, teach me new ways of loving You.

Love Always