Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Do Not Be Entangled Again... Galatians 5:1

Galatians 5:1 says,
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

 Before I rededicated my life to Christ, I thought that I was too far gone to be saved. I thought that there was no way that God wanted to hear from me. I longed to speak to Him. I wanted to read the Bible. Even though I had always been told of His grace and forgiveness, I was so convinced that I was too dirty to be washed clean and that God would never want me back. I thought that I was worse than others because I knew about Jesus and had experienced His love and I deliberately walked away from Him and His plans for me. 

It's a habit of mine to forget what Jesus has done for me. Satan throws thoughts of guilt, condemnation, bad memories of what I've done and inadequacy my way and I get so wrapped up in them that I forget the truth. I dwell on the sin and forget that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). During our 3 months of training, I remember one of the teachers saying that when you reject God's grace, you are putting Jesus back on the cross all over again. Jesus took all of my sin upon himself when He died and bridged the gap between me and God when he raised from the dead. The moment that I repented and asked God to save me, He forgot my sins. He has no records of them. But Satan doesn't want us to experience “the liberty by which Christ has made us free.” He wants me to stay entangled in the bondage of sin. When I dwell on thoughts of my past, I pick up my chains again. I need to remember the freedom that Christ has given me. Instead of dwelling on the past, I need to press ahead toward the plans that God has for me. 

Philippians 3:13-14 says,
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

My application this week is to post these verses on my wall as a reminder of my freedom and future in Christ.

Friday, July 24, 2015

No Right to Unforgiveness... Matthew 18:27, 29

Matthew 18:27, 29 say,
“Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.”

“His fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.”

I'll be referencing the passage of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant from Matthew 18:25-35.

So I've been forgiven for a lot. I mean A LOT. God is so gracious and good and not only has He forgiven me but He has given freedom from sin and guilt and He has an amazing plan for my life that He wants me to walk in. He didn't say, “Okay I forgive you but you have to walk in the shame of everything you've ever done and because of your sin, you will never be able to do anything do with your life for My name.” No, that is the complete opposite of what He says. When I repent, He forgets my sin and casts it as far as the east is from the west! There is no record. No list of wrongs. I'm free; it's gone. Jesus took my sin upon himself so that I could have this amazing freedom and relationship with God! He himself bridged the gap that should never have been bridged because of my sin.

Okay, so now all of that being said, what right do I think I have to ever hold back forgiveness from someone and hang on to a grudge? No one could ever do anything that makes them too far gone to be forgiven. We've been forgiven from the unimaginable by a perfect God so why in the world do we think that we can not forgive. I'm not saying that people don't hurt us. Forgiving doesn't mean that what was done is okay. It means that you won't be corrupted by bitterness any longer. To forgive doesn't even mean to trust immediately or ever. But when we hold onto bitterness, we are the ones who suffer. Bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

Hebrews 12:15 says,
“Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”

Bitterness is a weed and it happens fast. We need to cut it out at the root so that it won't come back. Okay so back to the parable. One servant was forgiven from an incredible debt from his master but then turned around and demanded a debt be paid to him by a fellow servant who owed him so much less than what the first servant had just been forgiven of. We look at this at first glance and think he's crazy but we do this all the time. We have been forgiven from so much that we can't even put into words what our debt to Christ was, yet when someone slanders us or mistreats us or whatever they do, we hold grudges and throw temper tantrums and refuse to forgive. I am so guilty of this. I look at other people who are living lives of sin or who have wronged me and think, “Wow, how awful are they. I could never forgive them!” But why not? I have been forgiven of so much more! Lots of times I end up judging someone for living a life of sin that is so similar to the way that I used to live. What right do I have? I have been forgiven and given freedom beyond what I could ever deserve. I spit in Jesus' face and put Him on the cross yet I hold grudges for what could be compared to someone just stepping on my toes. This is something that I have to constantly remind myself. I have no right not to forgive. I don't deserve forgiveness any more than they do yet God freely gives it to anyone who will confess His name and repent.

My application this week is to pray for my unforgiving heart to change and for compassion to flood my heart where bitterness was before.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Field Time So Far... Month 3

Hi friends!
     So today marks six months since classes started for IGNITE Class 8 and three months since Team Guat landed back in here Guatemala for our serving period. Well, a lot has changed in the last 6 months but the biggest thing is the incredible change that God has made in my life and the amazing grace that He has shown me.
     In the month of June, a lot of changes have come for us in Guat. The Drey Family left June 14th while Theo came back on the 15th. We had two weeks off of teaching for the the kid's summer break(their school year goes from January-October with a break in June instead of September-June like in the States). During those two weeks, missions trips started coming and we did lots of outreaches with them. We choreographed a mime showing the life of Paul set to the song Oceans(in Spanish) and presented it at several locations throughout town while also doing worship, talking to people about Jesus, praying with them and inviting them to church. We also went to the dump at Esquintla to help with a soup kitchen while also hanging out with the kids. We helped throw birthday parties at the local hospital for people with different special needs who live there.


     After the 2 week break, we returned to teaching at the schools. Last week, I found out that I had amoebas resulting most likely from having water accidentally splashed in my mouth during water games at Kid's Club a month ago. Four out of the five of us got amoebas/parasites/bacteria from this. I finished my antibiotics yesterday and should be back to normal soon. :) This past Saturday, July 11th, 12 new students arrived here at the Potter's Field Center in Antigua for IGNITE Class 9 and they started classes yesterday. This month has definitely been a month of transition but during these six months, transition has become a norm, and of this I am very thankful. Change used to be very hard for me and while it's not exactly a piece of cake now, I have become much more flexible. God is so good and the things that He is showing me and my team individually and as a whole blow me away. Please keep us in your prayers!

Thank you for your support!

By His Grace,


MaKayla

Monday, July 13, 2015

The Lord is My Refuge... Psalm 91

Psalm 91:4-6 says,
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 

So lately I've been having nightmares. They aren't fun. But the other day, a friend directed me to Psalm 91 and it is such an amazing and comforting Psalm. As a missionary, I notice spiritual warfare way more than I ever used to. Satan hates the work that Christians do and he sends things at them to distract them from what God has for them to do. Besides nightmares, I also found out that I have had amoebas for almost a month(the whole city is kind of breaking out with them right now). Satan wants us to look anywhere but at God. His goal is make us think that God has abandoned us or doesn't care about us.  So promises like these in Psalm 91 are beautiful and encouraging. Okay, first off, my God covers me. He protects me and keeps me safe. I don't have to fear anything that comes my way. I don't have to fear sickness, or nightmares, or anything else because my God is always there and always protects. What does it mean when it talks about His feathers and the shadow of His wings? It reminds me of when a mother hen protects her chicks with her feathers. They are safe with her. What a beautiful picture of our Lord hiding us and giving us a refuge in Him and what an intimate picture that is.

Psalm 91:9-12 says,
“If you say, 'The Lord is my refuge,' and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 

Making our dwelling in the Most High God is our choice. It is our choice to stop trying to get through things in our own strength. Because when we give it to God and say that He is our refuge, He will protect us. This also means though that if we do not go to the Lord as our refuge, we can't expect Him to protect us. I am stubborn and sometimes I get caught up in what is happening that I just struggle to fix it on my own. But God gently reminds me that I don't have to. I just have to give the situation over to Him and hide in Him and let Him be my refuge. Building a refuge on my own compared to finding my hiding place in the Almighty God is like expecting a fort made out of cardboard boxes to protect me rather than finding shelter in the huge walled in castle right next door.

Psalm 91:14-16 says,
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” 

He will rescue me! I  never realized how true this is until February this year when I realized that the way  I was living was so far from God. I cried out to Him and He delivered me. He rescued me from the situation that I had even put myself in. He answered me and showed me His salvation and for that I could never show enough gratitude but what I can do is spend my life praising the One that Saved me and constantly point others to Him.

My application this week is to memorize Psalm 91. It's pretty long but I think it's a very important promise to hide in my heart.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Those who trust in the Lord... Psalm 125:1-2

 Psalm 125:1-2 says,
“Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.”

These promises make me rejoice. Those who trust in the Lord. That's me! It doesn't say those that are good people or who do good things. Those who trust in Him! It's not always easy. We're human; we get scared. It's also very tempting to think that we know best. Sometimes, I think that I can get through life on my own with my own knowledge and my own plans. But just looking through the Bible shows us how trustworthy our Lord is. And we simply cannot trust ourselves. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” There is no good thing in us to trust. But when we trust in God, we become immovable. It's not from our strength or anything we can do. But because of God's strength; He gives those who trust Him stability. We cannot be moved. And when we trust in Him we have eternal life. This also means that when we don't trust in the Lord, we are going to fall. We will have no stability; no structure.

A second promise in this passage is that God surrounds us. He is our protection. Forever.

Romans 8:31, 33-35, 37-39
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?... Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This doesn't mean that we will never hurt or go through trials or pain. In fact, those are guaranteed. But in the midst of those things, God will never leave us. And we can't be taken from His protection. When we trust in Him, there is not anything that can separate us from His love. Nothing. No one can be against us; no one can bring a charge against us; no one can condemn us. We are more than conquerors. You know you'd think that being a conqueror is enough, but in Christ, we are more than conquerors. What an awesome picture of who our God is. The strength He has. None of this has anything to do with us. This is all through His grace, His strength, His goodness. No one can come against Him and because we who trust in Him are His, no one can defeat us.


My application is make Psalm 125:1-2 a bookmark so that I see it continually and am reminded of who my God is and who I am in Him.

Monday, July 6, 2015

All the little things... Colossians 3:23-24

Colossians 3:23-24 says,
 “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”

This verse is an awesome reminder for me right now. We are almost halfway through our field time which also means we are about halfway through the IGNITE Program as a whole. Life is very rhythmic here. For the most part, we have a busy but consistent schedule. It's easy to get comfortable in the normal flow of things and forget why I am here. So this verse is helpful to remember. It doesn't matter what I am doing; I am told to do it heartily as to the Lord. And that doesn't just mean the “big” ministry things that I am involved in. Lots of people only see big things as important to God but it is made very clear that it's supposed to be whatever we do. That means how I treat my team, how I submit to authority, how I react to migraines, how I treat people after a long busy day at school, cleaning the kitchen, helping prepare food, cleaning my room. Whatever I do. Every little thing. If you think about it, anything we can offer is small to God. But He wants all of it and He wants it to be done with all of our hearts.

Galatians 6:9 says,
 “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

This verse has also been encouraging to me. God laid this verse on my heart back at the beginning of IGNITE and every so often I need to go back to it. Sometimes I can get tired. Sometimes I can get discouraged. “Nothing I'm doing is reaping anything.” Satan throws these types of thoughts at me so that I will give up. But I'm told to do everything with my whole heart as to the Lord and not get tired while doing good. God has me in this place doing these things for a reason. For His purposes. Nothing I'm doing in His name is meaningless. I don't always see the immediate results that I want. It doesn't matter. Do it as to the Lord. 

There are beautiful promises in both of these verses. I will receive the reward of inheritance. I will reap what I have sown. This isn't for nothing. For I serve the Lord Christ.  But also I am reminded that I need to not lose heart. Don't give up! You will receive the reward! You get to spend your eternity in heaven with the God of the universe! So don't give up! 

My application is to hang both of these verses on my wall and pray for God to give me joy and diligence in whatever I do in whatever state that I am in.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

A Plea for Forgiveness - Philemon

Philemon 12-13 says, 
“I(Paul) am sending him back. You(Philemon) therefore receive him(Onesimus), that is, my own heart, whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.”

     So we started studying Philemon and it really touched my heart. I had heard the story before but not really dug into it. If I could post the whole chapter on here, I would, because its just so good. Anyways, I thought I'd choose these verses but I'm kind of going to expound on the whole thing.

     Okay so the story of the book is this: Philemon was a Christian friend of Paul who had a servant named Onesimus. Onesimus was not a Christian and he stole from Philemon and ran away to Rome. But, he heard Paul talking about God and became saved. So now, Paul is writing to his “beloved friend and fellow laborer” in Christ, Philemon. He makes a plea for Philemon to accept Onesimus back as his slave. The normal treatment of this type of situation would be for Onesimus to be put to death. But Paul is appealing to Philemon as a Christ follower to forgive his new brother in Christ and accept him back.

     Ok there are multiple points of this story that I love because of it's relatability(just made up a word). Lots of people come to Christ after making a mess of their lives which means they have baggage from the things that they have done. No one is too far from God. Sin is sin and no matter what situation you are in, God loves you and wants you to accept Him and His will into your life. It doesn't matter if you were a thief, a murderer, adulterer, liar, or anything else. Your life is redeemable. God has plans for you. But you have to repent, believe in Him, and completely cut ties with your sin. So this is what happened to Onesimus. He was a thief but he found Jesus and repented and wanted to turn his life around. There was just the issue of getting Philemon on board with the idea.

     Another point that I love: Paul comes to Philemon as one who has needed this type of grace given to him. He persecuted Christians and was responsible for the death of Stephen and many other Christ followers. But then, Jesus got a hold of him and started using him to do amazing things in God's name and for His glory. But there was a time when he had to go back to the people who knew him and his awful reputation and needed them to extend him grace and forgiveness. He needed people to see him as washed in the blood of Jesus and not as a murderer. “Philemon, brother, this man Onesimus is a sinner just like I am, but God loves him and has saved him just like He did for me. Will you please extend him grace and accept him back to you?” God will use our messy pasts and beautiful testimonies as ways to relate to others and bring them to Him.

     We don't know what Philemon's response to Paul's letter was but we know what our response needs to be.

Colossians 3:12-14 says,
 “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” 

     No matter what someone has done to us and no matter what society says is the accepted response of being wronged is, we are called to love and forgive, just as Christ has done for us. So in short, sin is sin, no is too far gone to be saved. Our job is to love and forgive others no matter what they have done, just as Christ has loved and forgiven us.

John 15:12 says, 
“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  

     My application for this week is to pray that God would give me a forgiving heart and bring to my mind the immense grace he has given to me when I am in the place of needing to forgive others who have wronged me.