This week our topic for classes has been "Relationships." It is being taught by our DTS director, Jeremy, and his wife, Keeley. They are quite the dynamic duo, and listening to their testimony has been awesome. It is cool to hear their heart, to know how they've walked with God in their life, and how God has really shown himself faithful and loving. They are a precious couple, and I found myself hanging on their every word as they shared.
Then, yesterday in class they gave all of us students an assignment of sorts. We were to pray about giving a gift(s) of some kind to one of the DTS students or staff members, and we were going to give them to the person during the following morning class session. The idea was that in giving we bless others and also find ourselves blessed as well. In seeking God's guidance, we could minister to others in our little community here with a simple gift. As Jeremy was giving some examples and explaining in more detail the idea behind our assignment, I knew who I was going to give to and what I was going to give.
One of my roommates suffered sexual abuse during her younger years, and has been profoundly scarred by that. God has been doing a huge work in her heart and life since she has been here, and it has been amazing to watch her open her heart and life to God and to just blossom into this beautiful woman of power and compassion and tenderness. She was the one who God immediately placed on my heart. My next thought was of the book "Redeeming Love," which is a beautiful fictional story based on the book of Hosea. It is a story of obedience to God, relentless love, overwhelming grace, and passionate pursuit. I had brought up the book before in conversation with her, and she said that she thought she would really like to read a book like that.
Also a couple days ago a few of our roommates were having a conversation about our fears and worries about relationships and marriage in the future. This girl had confessed she felt that she wanted to be in relationship with a man who was pure, even though she wasn't, but she didn't think she could ask that of someone, because she wasn't worth the love of a man who was pure. Satan was still peddling his lies of worthlessness, dirtiness, and impurity to her. But I see her so much differently. And so does God. All I see when I look at her is beauty- inside and out. This girl has a huge heart. She is so genuine, and has immense enthusiasm. She is just a complete joy to be around. I wanted to be able to communicate to her that she WAS worthy of a pure man, and that she had immeasurable worth as a daughter of the King. I wanted that book to show her the immensity of God's love and his relentless pursuit of her, and to also communicate to her that God could write her an amazing, beautiful, and romantic love story; her past does not define her, nor does it define her future.
When I gave her the gift, she teared up, thanking me with such sincerity that I felt it in my bones. She told me later that she couldn't wait to read the book. It was such a wonderful feeling to be used a vessel to minister God's love and truth to her, and also to share one of my passions with her (reading). In giving, God also blessed me.
We spent two hours of our morning giving gifts to one another, explaining how and why we had chosen our specific gifts, and then also praying over and blessing one another. It was so extremely moving (there were lots of people tearing up throughout the whole thing), and it was an enormous encouragement to everyone in the room. Everyone left that session feeling incredibly blessed.
"Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full--pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." Luke 6:38
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
I'll Give the Nations to You
I have been listening to this song a lot lately, because last week the speaker we had for classes challenged us to wrestle out with God, "What were you saved for?" As I prayed about it during the last week and a half, I kept hearing God telling me that he saved me for the nations. I was a little frustrated, because I already knew he had placed a call on my life to engage in missions internationally, but I think that's all he is going to reveal to me at this point in my life. I am choosing to be content with it and continue asking him until he knows it's the right time to tell me. I trust him and his ways. I am saved for the nations.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Fighter Verses
Since I forgot to post last week's fighter verse, I am going to combine last week's and this week's.
"For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared."
Ephesians 6:12-15
"For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared."
Ephesians 6:12-15
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Relinquishing Your Rights
Last week, all of the DTS students watched a sermon by Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM, about relinquishing our rights. Now the theme of relinquishing our rights to things seems to be a pervasive theme in the lessons we have been learning so far in DTS. I feel as though a lot of things we struggle with in our Christian walk find their roots in a failure to surrender things to God and trust him completely. I am realizing so many things about how relinquishing rights relates to missionary work, and how the areas of my life that I haven't relinquished to God are hindering me in my personal spiritual growth.
The relinquishment of rights is the release into the rewards of a relationship with God. We see this with numerous characters of the Bible. Daniel was willing to relinquish the rights to his life and trust God when he was thrown in the lion's den. Was he rewarded? He sure was! Paul gave up lots of rights. For example, he could have been a great religious leader, but he relinquished his rights to his reputation and success. He also relinquished his rights to life as Daniel did, and was martyred as a result. But was he rewarded when he got to heaven? You bet! These men and others in the Bible are examples for us, yet Christ is our greatest example of relinquishment of rights. No one relinquished more rights than Jesus Christ. And Jesus experienced the greatest rewards of relationship with his father.
The key to ministry, specifically missions and world evangelism is relinquishing our rights. We must die to our rights if we want to submit our lives to the Lord in ministry. If we don't relinquish rights, we don't give God control to be working miracles in and through our lives. The best part of this is that we will always get God's best when we let him choose. When we say to God, "Rid me of myself," he will bring so much freedom into our lives that we will ask ourselves why we had been so hesitant to do so in the first place.
After realizing how crucial the relinquishment of rights is not only to ministry, but also to my personal walk with the Lord, I needed to think about how to identify the areas of my life that I haven't relinquished to God. Of course praying about it and asking God to reveal them is crucial. Also just thinking about things that you lose your temper over, you haven't relinquished. If you have truly surrendered something to God, you cannot be upset about it, because you no longer can hold any claim to it. This is really challenging, because we have been told our whole lives that we have rights to things and we have ownership over things. Even more challenging is maintaining our relinquishments. Just because we surrender something once, does not mean that we won't have to relinquish that right again in the future. We have to renew our relinquishments, just as we would renew our driver's license.
It helps me to remind myself that nothing is actually mine; it is all God's, and he has graciously gifted me with them. I also know that the rewards of relationship with God will far outweigh the "sacrifices" I have to make in relinquishing rights. Not only will I gain greater intimacy with my heavenly Father, but my ministry will also be strengthened. I am praying that God will reveal to me bit by bit the areas in which I need to relinquish rights to him and provide me the strength to do so. I want to loosen my grip on the things of this life-- like freedom, family, reputation, finances, friends. I want less of me and more of God, and that means relinquishing my rights.
The relinquishment of rights is the release into the rewards of a relationship with God. We see this with numerous characters of the Bible. Daniel was willing to relinquish the rights to his life and trust God when he was thrown in the lion's den. Was he rewarded? He sure was! Paul gave up lots of rights. For example, he could have been a great religious leader, but he relinquished his rights to his reputation and success. He also relinquished his rights to life as Daniel did, and was martyred as a result. But was he rewarded when he got to heaven? You bet! These men and others in the Bible are examples for us, yet Christ is our greatest example of relinquishment of rights. No one relinquished more rights than Jesus Christ. And Jesus experienced the greatest rewards of relationship with his father.
The key to ministry, specifically missions and world evangelism is relinquishing our rights. We must die to our rights if we want to submit our lives to the Lord in ministry. If we don't relinquish rights, we don't give God control to be working miracles in and through our lives. The best part of this is that we will always get God's best when we let him choose. When we say to God, "Rid me of myself," he will bring so much freedom into our lives that we will ask ourselves why we had been so hesitant to do so in the first place.
After realizing how crucial the relinquishment of rights is not only to ministry, but also to my personal walk with the Lord, I needed to think about how to identify the areas of my life that I haven't relinquished to God. Of course praying about it and asking God to reveal them is crucial. Also just thinking about things that you lose your temper over, you haven't relinquished. If you have truly surrendered something to God, you cannot be upset about it, because you no longer can hold any claim to it. This is really challenging, because we have been told our whole lives that we have rights to things and we have ownership over things. Even more challenging is maintaining our relinquishments. Just because we surrender something once, does not mean that we won't have to relinquish that right again in the future. We have to renew our relinquishments, just as we would renew our driver's license.
It helps me to remind myself that nothing is actually mine; it is all God's, and he has graciously gifted me with them. I also know that the rewards of relationship with God will far outweigh the "sacrifices" I have to make in relinquishing rights. Not only will I gain greater intimacy with my heavenly Father, but my ministry will also be strengthened. I am praying that God will reveal to me bit by bit the areas in which I need to relinquish rights to him and provide me the strength to do so. I want to loosen my grip on the things of this life-- like freedom, family, reputation, finances, friends. I want less of me and more of God, and that means relinquishing my rights.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Write Me!
If anyone wants to write me letters, they are MORE than welcome to (at least for the next three months, anyway)!
My address while I'm here in Denver is:
Courtney Robinson
c/o YWAM Denver
12750 W 63rd Ave.
Arvada, CO 80004
My address while I'm here in Denver is:
Courtney Robinson
c/o YWAM Denver
12750 W 63rd Ave.
Arvada, CO 80004
Friday, July 1, 2011
Blessed!
On Monday afternoon I arrived in Denver for the start of my DTS. I felt unprepared as far as details went, but prepared in my heart for whatever it was that God had for me during the course of the next six months.
It's currently my fifth day here, and I don't even know where to begin in explaining all that has happened so far. So many things have already happened, and we have been pretty busy. But God has really been blessing me here. My heart is overflowing with the happiness that comes from being in Christian fellowship and community. If I could summarize my four days here so far with one word it would be RELATIONSHIP. There are about 60 students doing DTS here, plus about 70 staff (and many of them are families with little kidlets running around). So there are a lot of people. We have mostly just been meeting people and getting to know them. The most surprising thing of all is that I am really enjoying it and I have been outgoing and initiating conversations and haven't had to give myself a pep talk to do so!
I have met so many wonderful people, and I especially love my six other roommates, whom I've spent the most time with. They are all crazy and awesome and hilarious. We are the "rowdy and loud" room. We have a lot of fun, but we also get deep. I feel so blessed by the immediate connection and bonding we have all had with each other. I am seeing how much relationship and people are the basis of ministry. God has really given me a new desire to meet and connect with new people.
Most of what has been going on this week has been centered around preparing us for our specific DTS. There are a few different schools going on right now at the Denver base. I had applied for the Around the World DTS originally, but after arriving, I did not have all of my support in, and was transferred into the Compassion DTS. The Compassion DTS has two separate outreaches that the students are able to choose from. On Wednesday the leaders of each DTS shared about where the outreach was located and what types of ministry they would be involved with. The Compassion DTS had two choices for outreach: the Philippines or Africa (South Africa and Mozambique). While watching the video for the African outreach, I felt God telling me that now was my time to go to Africa, despite what I had thought coming into DTS.
The Africa outreach includes ministry at an orphanage during our time in South Africa, and in Mozambique we will be partnered with Heidi Baker's healing ministry. I cannot explain how excited I am about this. Orphans are definitely an area of compassion in my heart--even just kids in general. And I know that Heidi Baker's healing ministry is amazing and powerful. I am looking forward to all that God has in store for outreach. The only glitch right now is that I am still a little short on my support for outreach. As of right now I still need $724, so if you could be committing that to prayer, that would be awesome. Or if you feel led to give, that would be great too! Just contact me.
Although I am really excited for outreach and to finally go to Africa, I'm also content to just experience this lecture phase for the next couple months. Next week we start classes, and I can't wait to learn, learn, learn! I am so ready to be a student of God's Word and to just learn more about him and how he works and moves. In the five short days I've been here, I've taken in so much good stuff-- lessons, stories, testimonies, breakthroughs, quiet moments, prayers, relationships, connecting, praising, learning, sharing. I already know that I'm not the same person I was when I came. God is already moving and working in my heart and life. If five days looks like this, I CANNOT wait to see what the next six months will bring!
Prayer Requests:
It's currently my fifth day here, and I don't even know where to begin in explaining all that has happened so far. So many things have already happened, and we have been pretty busy. But God has really been blessing me here. My heart is overflowing with the happiness that comes from being in Christian fellowship and community. If I could summarize my four days here so far with one word it would be RELATIONSHIP. There are about 60 students doing DTS here, plus about 70 staff (and many of them are families with little kidlets running around). So there are a lot of people. We have mostly just been meeting people and getting to know them. The most surprising thing of all is that I am really enjoying it and I have been outgoing and initiating conversations and haven't had to give myself a pep talk to do so!
I have met so many wonderful people, and I especially love my six other roommates, whom I've spent the most time with. They are all crazy and awesome and hilarious. We are the "rowdy and loud" room. We have a lot of fun, but we also get deep. I feel so blessed by the immediate connection and bonding we have all had with each other. I am seeing how much relationship and people are the basis of ministry. God has really given me a new desire to meet and connect with new people.
Most of what has been going on this week has been centered around preparing us for our specific DTS. There are a few different schools going on right now at the Denver base. I had applied for the Around the World DTS originally, but after arriving, I did not have all of my support in, and was transferred into the Compassion DTS. The Compassion DTS has two separate outreaches that the students are able to choose from. On Wednesday the leaders of each DTS shared about where the outreach was located and what types of ministry they would be involved with. The Compassion DTS had two choices for outreach: the Philippines or Africa (South Africa and Mozambique). While watching the video for the African outreach, I felt God telling me that now was my time to go to Africa, despite what I had thought coming into DTS.
The Africa outreach includes ministry at an orphanage during our time in South Africa, and in Mozambique we will be partnered with Heidi Baker's healing ministry. I cannot explain how excited I am about this. Orphans are definitely an area of compassion in my heart--even just kids in general. And I know that Heidi Baker's healing ministry is amazing and powerful. I am looking forward to all that God has in store for outreach. The only glitch right now is that I am still a little short on my support for outreach. As of right now I still need $724, so if you could be committing that to prayer, that would be awesome. Or if you feel led to give, that would be great too! Just contact me.
Although I am really excited for outreach and to finally go to Africa, I'm also content to just experience this lecture phase for the next couple months. Next week we start classes, and I can't wait to learn, learn, learn! I am so ready to be a student of God's Word and to just learn more about him and how he works and moves. In the five short days I've been here, I've taken in so much good stuff-- lessons, stories, testimonies, breakthroughs, quiet moments, prayers, relationships, connecting, praising, learning, sharing. I already know that I'm not the same person I was when I came. God is already moving and working in my heart and life. If five days looks like this, I CANNOT wait to see what the next six months will bring!
Prayer Requests:
- for my heart to be open to what God wants to speak to me or how he wants to change me
- that God would have ALL of my attention and focus during this time with YWAM and run hard after him
- for healing of the hurt and brokenness in my heart
- that I would soak in everything coming at me and also be able to process it and apply it to my life
South Africa is the southernmost country in Africa, and Mozambique is directly to the Northeast of South Africa.
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