Praise

The Devil's Death Knell    

Our Lord, we praise Thee.                                 

Praise is the devil's death knell.  Resignation, acceptance of My Will, obedience to it, have not the power to vanquish evil that praise has.

The joyful heart is my best weapon against all evil.  Oh! pray and praise.

You are learning your lesson.  You are being led out into a large place.  Go with songs of rejoicing.  Rejoice evermore.  Happy indeed if each day has its thrill of joy.

Talk to Me more during the day.  Look up into My Face - a look of Love, a feeling of security, a thrill of Joy at the sense of the nearness of My Presence - these are your best prayers.

Let these smooth the day's work, then fear will vanish, and fear is the grim figure that turns aside success.

Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me. Psalm 50:23

Forget

Today's devo from God Calling really spoke to me, so I wanted to share!

Forget 

Regret nothing. Not even the sins and failures.  When a man views earth's wonders from some mountain height he does not spend his time in dwelling on the stones and stumbles, the faints and failures, that marked his upward path.

So with you.  Breathe in the rich blessings of each new day - forget all that lies behind you.

Man is so made that he can carry the weight of twenty-four hours, no more.  Directly he weighs down with the years behind, and the days ahead, his back breaks.  I have promised to help you with the burden of today only, the past I have taken from you and if you, foolish hearts, choose to gather again that burden and bear it, then, indeed, you mock Me to expect Me to share it.

For weal or woe each day is ended.  What remains to be lived, the coming twenty-four hours, you must face as you awake.

A man on a march on earth carries only what he needs for that march.  Would you pity him if you saw him bearing too the overwhelming weight of the worn-out shoes and uniforms of past marches and years?  And yet, in the mental and spiritual life, man does these things.  Small wonder My poor world is heartsick and weary.

Not so must you act.

This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind ...
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:13,14

Fighter Verse

"Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and now grow weary. They will walk and not faint."    Isaiah 40:30-31

A Radical Experiment

I just finished reading Radical by David Platt. It is about "taking back your faith from the American Dream." It was a great read; I highly recommend it. Seriously: summer reading list. I was so challenged in my way of thinking and living. Platt opened my eyes to how my Christian life has been shaped by our American culture and its beliefs and values. It was shocking and sobering. I am excited to be praying about how God wants me to start making changes in my life and how he wants to transform my way of thinking, so that it might be better aligned with the teaching of the Bible and not of the world. And I have found the next big step I want to make. Perhaps you will want to join me as well.

At the end of Radical Platt poses a challenge to take on "The Radical Experiment" for one year. Motivation behind committing to this experiment is found in so many of the promises we can claim from the Bible. "Real success is found in radical sacrifice. Ultimate satisfaction is found not in making much of ourselves but in making much of God. The purpose of our lives transcends the country and culture in which we live. Meaning is found in community, no individualism; joy is found in generosity, no materialism; and truth is found in Christ, not universalism. Ultimately, Jesus is a reward worth risking everything to know, experience and enjoy." 


The challenge involves five parts:

1. pray for the entire world;
2. read through the entire Word;
3. sacrifice your money for a specific purpose;
4. spend your time in another context; 
5. commit your life to a multiplying community


Pray for the entire world.
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Matt. 9:37-38). More than a billion people around the world have never heard the gospel. At the core of this heartbreaking truth is yet another heartbreaking truth: we must not be praying. Jesus told the disciples to pray that God would send out workers to reap the harvest. He didn't start delegating tasks to each disciple; he instructed them to PRAY. So I am committing for the next to praying that God would raise up and send disciples to the unreached. I am praying for the entire world.

Read through the entire Word.
"If we want to know the glory of God, if we want to experience the beauty of God, and if we want to be used by the hand of God, then we must live in the Word of God." I have committed to reading through the entire Bible in the next year, following a chronological reading plan-- I am so interested in the historical progression of the Bible and its events!

Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose.
"Our hearts follow our money." 


This challenge doesn't just mean that we give away our excesses. "Sacrifice is giving away what it hurts to give. Sacrifice is not giving according to your ability; it's giving beyond your ability." This is definitely going to be a challenge for me, but one I feel like God has really laid upon my heart.

A few tips Platt gives for how we spend our money:

• spend your money on something that is gospel-centered
• give in a way that is church focused
• give to a specific, tangible need
• give to someone or something you can personally serve alongside
• give to someone or something you can trust
• give in sustainable ways

Spend time in another context.

Our presence is needed. "If we are going to accomplish the global purpose of God, it will not be primarily through giving our money, as important as that is. It will happen primarily through giving ourselves. This is what the gospel represents, and it's what the gospel requires." We are commanded to go; Christians cannot feign ignorance of the Great Commission. "The point is not where we go, how we get there, or even how long we stay. The point is simply that we go." I am spending six months of this next year in another context--and I CAN'T WAIT for God to rock my world.

Commit your life to a multiplying community.

We cannot go it alone. We were made to be in relationship, and the fellowship that Christian community provides is of infinite worth. I can personally attest to this, because my time spent at Tech in the most wonderful Christian fellowship showed me the inexpressible value of community. We need others to encourage us, to spur us on, challenge us, grow with us, pray with us; and we need to have the responsibility and opportunity to do those things for our fellow believers as well. It is how we sharpen one another. 

"No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age...and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:29-31).

I am undoubtedly seeking to be committed to a multiplying community. I want to know that I am investing in the lives of others within the body of the church I am a part of, and to also know that I am being invested in as well. What a joy and blessing it is to share our faith journeys with one another.

Sunshine On A Cloudy Day

"Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you. Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you. All nations will come to your light; mighty kinds will come to see your radiance."


"No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon to give its light by night, for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light, and God will be your glory. Your sun will never set; your moon will not go down. For the Lord will be your everlasting light. Your days of mourning will come to an end."
Isaiah 60:1-3, 19-20


Light makes things visible; it illuminates. To light something is to set it burning as a lamp, candle, or fire; to kindle or ignite. I love to find all the various synonyms that can be used to explain and define a word. It brings me greater understanding of the meaning that can be derived from a passage of scripture

In Isaiah 60, I loved the imagery of the light, because when I think of light, I equate it with the brightness of joy, happiness, goodness, and truth. The sunshine of life is the light of Christ within us. God brings to us eternal light, and makes it to dwell inside us. As believers we are forever in God's truth, sharing the resulting joy and happiness. We are no longer in the darkness where we were once so lost. And we don't ever have to go back. Praise God.

This everlasting light that we find with Christ should ignite or kindle a fire of passion in our hearts and souls to know Christ and to make him known. That is what Isaiah was referencing in verse 1 when he said, "Let your light shine for all to see." When we do let our light shine, the radiance of Christ will shine forth through us and draw people to him! I think it is a beautiful picture; to think that God designed it so that we would be his instruments of light in a dark world, bringing the light of day to those who are still lost in the darkness.

Those who feel stuck in an endless string of gray days of despair, pain, and desperation need not despair any longer, because God is our everlasting light. Sometimes when I feel like I am stuck in a string of gray days, I feel as though I am exuding the essence of a gray, rainy, miserable day. But Isaiah 60 gives me such joy and encouragement for those times. I have my own source of light and sunshine for those cloudy days-- it is Christ in me. Hallelujah! I can choose to tap into that light and never have a day completely overshadowed by inner emotional or spiritual dreariness. I want to choose Christ's everlasting light when I rise in the morning of every new day, knowing that  I have light inside me, and I just have to let it burst forth and shine like daylight.

Fighter Verse

"Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless."   Isaiah 40:28-29

Relinquishing Control

As the time draws nearer and nearer for me to board the plane bound for Denver and begin my DTS, I find that support-raising is always in the forefront of my mind. Every day I ask myself what I could or should be doing to be getting more support to come in, so that I may ensure I will be able to actually go. The idea of raising $10,000 is baffling to me, and hence, extremely daunting. That's a big chunk of change. But guess what? I serve an even bigger God. I KNOW he will provide for me if it is his will. How easily I forget and take matters into my own hands. I go through this thought process cycle most days, and I almost have to laugh at how bent I am on needing to do something and thinking that my control of the situation will allow the details to work out. Wrong. God is in control, and I need to let him be in control. My faith in God is shown by my actions (or lack of them), and lately my actions have shown distrust, because I want to generate the support through my own efforts, when maybe I just need to step back and let God blow my mind.

This morning I had a great reminder of this from the daily devotional I read. It was so fitting; one of those moments when you know God has is addressing you directly as if he told the author to write you a little personal note.

Rest knowing all is so safe in My Hands. Rest is Trust. Ceaseless activity is distrust. Without the knowledge that I am working for you, you do not rest. Inaction then would be the outcome of despair.

My Hand is not shortened that it cannot save. Know that, repeat it, rely on it, welcome the knowledge, delight in it. Such a truth is a hope flung to a drowning man. Every repetition of it is one pull nearer shore and safety.

Let that illustration teach you a great truth.  Lay hold of the truth, pray it, affirm it, hold on to the rope.  How foolish are your attempts to save yourself, one hand on the  rope, and one making efforts to swim ashore!  You may relinquish your hold of the rope and hinder the rescuer - who has to act with the greater caution lest he lose you.

The storms and tempests are not all of life.  The Psalmist who said "All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me" wrote also "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings."

Meditate upon that wonder - truth, the three steps safety, security, guidance.  (1) "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit" - Safety.  (2) "He set my feet upon a rock" - Security (3) "He established my goings" -Guidance. No. 3 is the final stage when the saved soul trusts Me so entirely it seeks no more its own way but leaves all future plans to Me its Rescuer.

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.  Deuteronomy 33:27

Praise God I'm not in control.

Childlike Faith

Being a nanny has opened my eyes to the mothering world in ways I never could have imagined. It presents a lot of challenges, and one of them is dealing with the endless stream of questions that spill from their uncensored mouths. I cannot count the number of times I have heard "Why, Miss Courtney?" And it is remarkable to me the number of times I am not able to actually explain or give a sufficient answer. It is a bit frustrating and trying at times, and definitely is humbling.

However, it has been a positive challenge for me to be faced with Kendall and Warner's questions about God and Jesus and heaven. I have to be able to give an answer for my faith, just like scripture says. And then I  have to be able to explain it in layman's terms. It is challenging, yet so rewarding to have conversations about God with them, and to see how God has already taken hold in their hearts.

One particularly awesome experience occurred last week in the car on the way home from piano. I had a worship song on and was singing along when Kendall asked, "Miss Courtney, are you singing to Jesus?" I told her I was, and then she asked if she could sing to him too. I said, "Of course! Jesus loves it when we sing to him. Anyone can sing to him at any time!" While Kendall was letting this sink in, I hear Warner belting out from the backseat "JEEEEEEESSSSSUUUUUUUUSSS. GOOOOOOOOD. JEEEEEESSSSUUUUUUUSSSSS" over and over. It was loud and more yelling than singing, but I was smiling inside and out, because I knew he was singing from his heart. God was more than delighted to receive that innocent and pure praise and recognition. It was such a sweet moment. 

Later when we were back home and the kids were playing and I was making dinner I could hear Warner from the next room singing, "Ohhhhhhhhhh Jeeeesssuuuuus," which is part of the chorus of one of the worship songs I listen to most frequently. It bolstered my soul, and made my heart leap to see that seed of love for God taking root in this little 2-year old boy. Oh the beauty of childlike faith.

Fan That Flame

Christ came to earth to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). This is still his purpose today, for it is not yet complete; there are many unreached peoples in the world. Scripture tells us that Christ has also passed this mission on to the church. That means you and me.

"As the Father has sent me, so I send you."  John 20:21

The purpose of the church of Christ is to extend the mission of Christ in the world. Enter the Great Commission:

"Jesus came and told his disciples, 'I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'"  Matthew 28:18-20

It is not just pastors, the rest of the clergy, and vocational missionaries that are called to extend Christ's mission. Is it not unthinkable that the cause for which Christ came, lived, suffered, and died would not be the cause of everyone who loves Christ? I believe that the unfinished mission of Christ to seek and save the lost has been passed on to us, as believers.

This means that we have to be intentional about spending quiet, intimate, personal time with God. We must pray and meditate and partake in corporate worship. We also must be in community and meet with others in a small group, so that as believers we can help each other endure and stir each other up toward love and good works. And we must also be able to move out beyond our Christian fellowship to seek and save the lost, so that they might glorify God for his great mercy.

As Christians, we have definitely tasted the fire of adventure in our lives. It is a great sensational burning and it can consume us and light us within and without. The flame of adventure sends sparks into the blood pumping within our veins and electrifies us. Satan hates that fire. He is continually doing his best to hose down our flame-- our desire for adventure and to involve ourselves in missions. Satan waits with his fire hose to douse even the smallest flickering of a flame in our hearts. But God wants us to fan that flame! I think that as believers we need to seek to fan the flame of fire and excitement for missions in our hearts and lives. Let's find how we can translate our passion for Christ into an active sharing of our faith. It might look different for each person, but we know how we can stoke our own fires, so let's do it!

Fighter Verse

"And don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go do down when you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil."   Ephesians 4:26-27

Theresa's Story

A few weeks ago I began an 8-week women's Bible study through McLean Bible Church-Bethesda. I had joined sort of on a whim, but God obviously had plans for me to be in this study. There are only four of us, and I am by far the youngest woman in the study, by about 25 years, but I love the opportunity I have to glean wisdom from these women who have walked so many years faithfully at Jesus' side. It is such a privilege, and a wonderful blessing.

This morning was special, because we each told brief versions of how we came to know the Lord and the journey we have been on with him. While each story was very touching, Theresa's really moved me.

Theresa is Singaporean, and has has only been in the United States during the last 7 years of her adult life. She told us of her life growing up in a culture where ancestral worship is a strongly rooted belief, and where death is a very scary idea. Death is scary, because it is believed that when you die you go to hell, and that there are different levels of hell. Depending on how much good or bad you do on earth determines which level of hell you will find yourself in. An entirely works-based religion, and one that points only to condemnation. What a dismal picture.

Theresa also told of how families are not very tight-knit in her culture and that she was caused a lot of pain in her family from her siblings and parents. This disconnect left her feeling very lonely and lost. At 17 she was searching for some meaning and purpose in life. This is where God stepped into her life in a huge way. Theresa met a Christian friend who really invested in her and brought her to all sorts of Christian events, prayed with her, and listened to her hardships. It was this friend who shared the gospel with her and explained the significance of a personal relationship with Christ.

Theresa was blown away by the thought that there was a loving Father in heaven who wanted to take care of her, love her unconditionally, bless her, and spend eternity with her. It seemed unreal to her, because she did not know what it was to have a father who loved her and wanted to provide for her, and she did not have to do anything to earn his approval or wonderful gift of salvation. As Theresa spoke of her relationship with her father and how she never knew what it was to be loved, tears leaked out of her eyes, and my heart broke for her. Even in her adulthood, and as a mother of three children, the absence of her father's love is a wound that hurts her deeply. But how much more profound and wonderful then is God's great love that he desired to lavish upon her! It makes my heart soar to hear of how deeply God moves and works in our hearts and lives!

Our God is mighty to save and bring redemption and light into the lives of every single hurting and lost person on this earth. We cannot give up hope or cease praying for the lost! I am inspired to pray all the more fervently for my sisters and parents, as they are not believers, because I have been reminded of how God's timing is perfect and his power is awe-inspiring. He can do far more than we could ever imagine, hope, or dream! Praise God!

"For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost."   
Luke 19:10


"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."   Ephesians 3:20

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

In honor of mother's day (a little late, I know), I wanted to post this poem. At church on Sunday the pastor read it as part of his sermon, and I thought it was so poignant and appropriate.

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you hang my first picture on the refrigerator,
and I wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you feed a stray cat, and I thought
it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you make my favorite cake for me,
and I knew that little things are special things.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I heard you say a prayer,
and I believed there was a God that I
could always talk to.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I felt you kiss me good night,
and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned
that sometimes things hurt,
but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw that you cared and I wanted to be
everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I looked....and now I want to say thanks
for all the things I saw,
when you thought I wasn't looking.

Fighter Verse

"Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God."   (Colossians 3:1-3)

My little kiddos

This is Kendall (4yo) and Warner (2yo), the little kids that I nanny for. They are great kids; I love them so much!

Warner is a happy-go-lucky little boy who loves to laugh, play, and knows that he's cute.

 Kendall loves to color princesses, and is a smart, self-assured, mother hen of a little girl.

I have really enjoyed my time with Warner, Kendall, and the Sprague family. I will be sad to leave them in June when I head to YWAM DTS.

Free

Last week I was accepted to YWAM Denver ATWDTS, which starts June 27. ATWDTS (Around The World Discipleship Training School) is a 6-month program which includes 3 weeks of lecture and 3 months of outreach. The lecture phase, which is in Denver, entails in-depth study of Scripture, evangelism training, small groups, Bible study, and individual mentoring and outreach times. The outreach phase will include travel to   five or six different locations internationally. The destinations will not be announced until  I arrive in Denver in June to begin the lecture phase. It's a true taste of missions-- fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants.

It stills seems surreal, but the time is fast approaching. I am very excited to embark on this new adventure that God has before me, and I want to squeeze everything out of it that I can and absorb as much as I can as well. And as I pray in preparation for DTS, I know that I want my approach to be characterized by one word: FREE.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."   (Hebrews 12:1-2)

I want to enter DTS with a heart, mind, body, and soul that is free from hindrances, hurts, hang-ups, fears, doubts, self-reliance, guilt, and clutches of the past. I want to be free to embrace absolutely everything that God has for me--everything that he wants to show me, everything that he wants to teach me, how he wants to grow me and mold me and challenge me. I don't want to miss out on a single thing!

I want to enter DTS with open eyes, an open mind, an open heart, and open arms--ready to embrace! I want to feel the sun on my face, the wind at my back, love overflowing my heart, and the world within my arm's grasp.

 I am praying as I allow the freedom of Christ to work within my life, that God will use me as an instrument to bring the light of hope to the dark places around the world. And I am praying that God will transform my heart, that he will break it for what breaks his, and that he will show me how and guide me through his Holy Spirit to be his hands and feet to those who are lost, broken, and weary.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours, no feet but yours,
yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion
is to look out to the earth,
yours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good
and yours are the hands by which He is to bless us now.

"But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell the without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, 'How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!'"   (Romans 10:14-15)


"For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (2 Corinthians 3:17)

Fighter Verse

"They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction."

(Psalm 1:5-6)