"Because he has set his love on Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he has known My name." Psalm 91:14

        This verse isn't simply talking about actually knowing God's name. The Hebrew translation for the word "known" is usually used in the context of how one would know a familiar friend or kinsman. This verse speaks of an intimacy with God that doesn't come from only knowing His name. God has many names in the Bible: Jehova Rapha, Jehova Shalom, Jehova Nissi, YHWH, Elyon; and each name embodies a different aspect of God's character: Healerer, Peace, Banner over my head, Lord of all. We all know different aspects of God better. One who has has a lot of illnesses knows God better as the Healer than one who is as healthy as a horse. The point is not about which aspect of God you know better, the point is that you need to continue to know more of the names of God. 
          Names are pregnant with purpose and meaning. In Bible times, parents would wait 8 days after a baby was born, watching it's personality and tendencies, and praying and fasting, before finally choosing a name. Once you knew a person's name, you knew who they were. Names today don't seem to carry quite as much conscious meaning, but the power behind them is still there. If you haven't yet, I would encourage you to find out what your own name means, I promise it will stick with you. My own name: Monica means Wise Counselor or Advisor, and it has suited me more than I ever thought it would.
         All of God's names make up His character, and the more you know of who God is, the deeper your relationship becomes with Him. In every situation in life, every new season, I make a point to ask God which part of Himself He is showing to me in a new way this season. Which name will I know more deeply after this? For much of my life I have know God as Advocate, Lover, and Faithful One. The name I pray continuously to understand Him better as is Creator.
           So I ask you, do you know God's name?

Yours Forever?

         For those of you who don't know me, I am a nanny. And often God uses my kids to teach me and show me more of His powerful truths. Here's another one I learned recently:

         I babysit every Saturday for a 3 year old boy and a 2 year old girl. These kids are crazy awesome with boundless energy and always so much fun. We often play a game where I am the "monster" who chases them around the house; and for some reason they love this game more than any other. I couldn't understand why but they ask for it every week! Well this week I finally understood the allure of the monster game.
        The most fun part of the game is when I finally catch one of the kids, growling that now they are mine forever, and carry them off to my cave (which is really the couch) and wait for their sibling to come and rescue them. But this week when I captured the little girl ready to carry her off to my cave once again, I didn't get squeals of laughter and her yells of "help brother" like normal; instead she clung to me and looked up at me with big eyes and asked "Am I yours forever?"
         My heart just melted. And it was then that I understood why these kids loved the monster game so much. We all want to be chased; we want to be pursued. We want to be swept off our feet by someone exclaiming that they have us now and will never let us go...
That we are their's forever.

        When I heard little Alyssa asking me again and again that day if she was mine forever, I heard my own heart echoing, crying out to God, asking "Am I really yours forever?" And this was His response:
"And The Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forsake you; do not fear or be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31:8
"...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20
"Where can I go from Your spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven you are there, if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand shall hold me." Psalm 139:7-10
       Sound like someone who has been captured to you? This is the proof of God's pursuit of us. This is Him lifting us up in His arms, and promising that we are His forever.

Revival

One year ago, I walked into the high school ministry building with energy and an excited heart. My expectations were high considering the high school group I went to at City of Grace was outstandingly powerful. My expectations were crushed however. The high school students were closed off, complacent, and just plain apathetic. I still made worship a time between God and I  and no one else, but it seemed like every week I got the same dull vibe.

                The students did not want to be there. They would rather be on their phones than in those purple chairs. The worship leaders were not passionate at all. The pastor was gifted but his messages were shallow and repetitive. He was trying to spark us as students to become fired up for the LORD. All of it just seemed like we were going through the motions.  Sadly I finally confessed to my friend and to my family “There is no way this youth group can change. There is no hope.”  However…God proved me wrong. Very VERY WRONG.

                God always works in mysterious ways. He works in the moments of uncertainty and when we label situations as impossible. This is true because if it seems as if it could NEVER be accomplished by our will, it could only be A WORK OF GOD. I was truly as God showed His full power over the next year. As I sit writing this, I am still awed by the change in my youth group. It is not a small change either. Our youth group went from just over 50 students to 258 students over the past month. Most of the 258 students either accepted Christ or recommitted their life back to Christ.

                But despite the numbers, the hearts and the atmosphere of that youth group changed. A miracle I call it. A revival as God calls it. Either way I learned that NOTHING is impossible when God is on your side. No matter how impossible the situation may seem, the LORD is a powerful God. He stops at nothing to show us that He is not far but in fact is always with us.

                So I’m choosing to give up my doubt. I may not know where I’m going or even how I’m going to get there but what I do know is I place my full trust in the God of the Universe. I hope you never give up on a dream the LORD may place in your heart. It may be crazy in your eyes but watch and see that the LORD IS GOOD.

                For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37

Only Enough for Today

"Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."                   Lamentations 3:22-23

    I have heard this verse so many times, "the Lord's mercies are new every morning." Great verse; but it never really meant that much to me until I read the story of the Israelites in Exodus this morning, when God sent them Manna to eat. He gave them sustenance every morning, enough for each day; but here's the commandment that was the kicker: they could only gather enough for each day. No saving or it would go bad and attract worms, no taking more than you need or others wouldn't have enough. But if everyone followed the commands and trusted God, they would all have enough to eat; they would all have enough to sustain them...
      My life has been CRAZY lately! Lots of changes going on that I never predicted would happen. I'm being put into some positions that I never thought I would be and put in others that I had dreamed of for a while.
Basically, I'm being stretched.
A lot.
And usually whenever this happens, God shows me something amazing to spiritually fill me up completely and overwhelmingly to get me through this season. Something that I could constantly look back to and it would give me the strength to get through a particularly hard day or just remind me that He's still working. But not this time.
    God was telling me today that He wants me to live on the same concept in His grace right now as the Israelites and the Manna. I didn't realize that in those past seasons I would fill up with all of God's glory and power, but then rely on myself to sustain the grace that God gave me. I was still living in my own control instead of just relinquishing everything over to Him. The Lord is really pushing me this season to just be filled up every day by Him and live in His grace and mercies. To rely on Him each new day for the sustenance He wants to give me. That's how He intended me to live: fully dependent on Him for everything. I can't store up on yesterday's grace because it wasn't meant to be enough for more than yesterday's circumstances.
I have to fully trust on Him just to live in each day. It's kinda scary. But it's also the best place I could ever be in, so intimate with my Savior that I can only go to Him with everything. There is no other option. It's freeing. To just live in God's grace and mercies for each day.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

Waiting for God's Blessings

      I've been rereading through the story of Jacob in the Bible lately. The poor kid had trouble from the very beginning! Even while still in his mother's womb, the Bible says Rebekah could feel Jacob and his brother wrestling inside her. Well his brother wins that battle and comes out first and then when he does finally come out, his parents name him "deceiver"! Who does that to their kid? I mean seriously, talk about emotional baggage from the beginning! Needless to say, Jacob had problems early on in life.
But he was also called by God to a remarkable purpose early in life. God told Rebekah,

"Two nations are in your womb,

Two peoples shall be separated from your body;

One shall be stronger than the other, 

and the older shall serve the younger." Genesis 25:23

      God called Jacob to a great purpose; he would become a great nation. But as the younger brother, he would get nothing from his father. Jacob believed God would make him into a great nation, but he was so fixed on what he thought he should have, that he missed all that God was offering him. Jacob only thought in terms of his culture, of the blessing his brother would get instead of him. So he lived up to the label that was given him: deceiver. He deceived his brother out of his birthright, taking all the land that would have one day been Esau's. Then when his father was old and sick, Jacob did, what I think was the worst thing of his life: he deceived his father and stole his brother's blessing.

      Jacob grew impatiant with God's promises. Something that I've been finding myself doing lately as well. He couldn't wait for God's timing. And his vision wouldn't go beyond the blessings in front of him that were to go to his brother. So he tried to take matters into his own hands and steal a blessing for himself. Yet all along, God had another more grander plan in mind for Jacob. When he was out in the wilderness (running from his angry brother, no less) God showed Jacob what his blessing was. He gave him a vision of Angels climbing up and down a ladder to Heaven. God showed Jacob that his blessing was higher than just earthly things. God wanted to bless Jacob beyond his imaginings and give him a heavenly blessing as well.

      I wonder how many times we miss what God has planned for us, simply because we get impatient waiting on Him. We see all that's in front of us and naturally assume that's what God wants to give us, so we try to take it. But usually, the blessings right in front of our face are for someone else. God wants to grow us, expand us, and give us things we can't imagine. It's always more with God, never less. So when we wait on Him and His promises, we get a higher blessing; a heavenly Kingdom blessing. God is always faithful to complete His promises.

"Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we don't lose heart." Galations 6:9