Rich Moments of Pure Grace

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night

For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; and the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Psalm 92:1-4

Rich moments in life are not to just be remembered in photos, but engraved into our very souls. You can't capture the goodness of God's grace in a photo; you must experience it. Go ahead. Put your phone down for just a moment and watch the sun set, or put your hand to your chest and feel your heart beat. Think of your loved ones and the precious times spent with them. I truly believe that these precious moments are windows. Windows to look in and see the amazing, beautiful grace that God give us each day.

The cool breeze is filling the air, the houses are being decorated for Halloween, and the candy is out for grabs. Fall is in full swing, and I LOVE it. I see the ecstatic post on social media that scream, “FALL IS HERE.” Yes, I am just excited as the rest of you J I may be a little biased, but I think that fall is totally the best season!! The glorious coolness makes me want to be outside all the time. I mean seriously…all the time.

As I was outside this evening watching the sunset, I began to think about how the beauty of the sunset emanates God’s glory and leads us to a posture of praise. I know this seems so logical, and it is. The beauty of creation should make us want to shout “Thank you Jesus!” all the time, but tonight I not only said thank you Jesus for the sunset, but thank you Jesus for grace, upon grace, upon GRACE that you give me every stinkin’ day!

Everyday is a work of God’s hand; grace that has been bestowed upon you. Do you realize that? Live everyday in this truth, “I am alive because God has a plan and purpose for me.” We who are born again, by the blood of Jesus Christ, can live in this wonderful grace. What a reason to praise HIM!

vRich moments. Grace. Sunsets. Grace. Each breath. Grace. Jesus. Grace.v

Brokenness Put Into Action

I vividly remember this day last year, as I prepared for a new semester. I remember being so broken; broken over the many lost souls that I would encounter over the upcoming semester. I remember weeping, realizing the eternal destination of my fellow classmates that would sit in class with me. As I think back, I am disappointed in the way I carried out that burden that the Lord put upon me that night. You see, that “feeling” of brokenness is useless when there is no action to back it up. I may have been in anguish that night, but tragically, that brokenness wore down because of my self-centered schedule. Instead of investing in someone’s life who needed the gospel, I was sitting in a “holy huddle” with my friends, discussing churchy things.

I became complacent thinking that I was doing my job because I was teaching Sunday school, being a small group leader, and investing in my church. Don’t get me wrong, all of these things are my responsibility and I love doing them, BUT I sometimes think we forget the first part of the Great Commission. “Go therefore, making disciples of all nations...” Making disciples is essential, and not always the most comfortable thing to do. 

When I look at the scriptures, though, I do not see anything about the Christian life being comfortable, easy, or for selfish gain. 

Matthew 8:18-22

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”  Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”  And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Most of us want a place to lay our head at night; somewhere safe, somewhere comfortable. Instead, the Lord may be calling you to go to an area that may not be so safe or comfortable, but God will bless you in your endeavors if you are obedient to him. 

Matthew 9:12-13

But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Instead of us always being in our “holy huddle” of friends from church, we need to be going to the soul-sick people. The ones who have not been reconciled to the Lord. He came to call the sinners! Let the Lord use you as an instrument in this great work!

Matthew 10:38-39

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Jesus put it plain and simple here. Life is nothing without Christ. We try so hard to find our satisfaction in temporary things, but to live (and sometimes lose our lives) for Jesus is what it is all about! We will know what it means to truly be broken for the lost if we live or die in such a way. 

Philippians 2:3 NLT

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

I love the way that this version puts this scripture. This is exactly what I need to hear going into my mission field, school, tomorrow. “Hannah don’t be selfish, and think of others better than yourself!” This will help me to carry out the brokenness that I have for the lost. 

I am praying that I would not just be broken in my prayers over people, but that I would make an intentional effort to pour the gospel into empty vessels that are ready to be filled. I pray that my lifestyle will be an example of Christ’s love, humility, and grace. I want people to look at my life and see how the gospel has deeply engraved in me a change that will last through all eternity.  

Intertwined in World Missions

The burden that has been laid upon me as my summer in the Philippines comes to an end...

At the very core of my being, I want to love others and bring them joy through the Good News of salvation. I want others to smile because there is a redemptive plan for each lost soul whom God draws. What drives me is seeing lifeless, purposeless souls being made alive in Christ. My heart jumps and my spirit is happy when children listen closely to hear how much their Heavenly Father loves them. I rejoice when I see someone’s desire to know Christ manifested in outward actions. I am satisfied with the faithfulness of God’s sovereign hand in people’s lives. Tears well up, and hear strings are twisted when I think about the mass amount of unreached souls who are waiting to hear the Message of Reconciliation. I am called by the God of this universe to be an ambassador of Christ, and I will fulfill that calling. I will not restrict the Gospel because of my own selfish ambitions; this mission of telling others about the saving grace through Jesus is life or death for people all around me. 

 

“We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way...” 2 Corinthians 6:3-4

To share the love of God and to preach Christ crucified is my desire, my drive, and the flame that burns within me until Christ returns. 

“For the love of Christ controls us.” 2 Corinthians 5:14

 Thank you Lord for being faithful!

Much love,

Hannah

 

A Wishing Well or The Living Water?

All glory goes to God for the fruitfulness that has been seen on the Ulot River, already, this summer! Ministry during the first half of this summer has been encouraging; we have seen so many come to know the Lord and to follow in believer's baptism. My team has also worked very well together and we have been working towards the same goal of winning others to Christ. God truly has blessed us as we have made this journey to expand the Kingdom of God.

As I was resting on our mid-summer break this past week, the Lord convicted me of my prayer life and how needy it had become over this first half of the summer. I was no longer praising God for who he was; I was just asking him to provide for my needs, or the needs of my team. It was no longer an act of worship to pray to God, but a wish list. I found myself treating God more like a "wishing well" than the Living Water. My personal prayer life seemed to be shallow and selfish, instead of God glorifying and kingdom moving.

 In spite of my wimpy prayer life at the beginning of this summer, God still moved. He is faithful and he is so good. My prayer life is changing this second half of the summer to focus more on WHO God is, than on what he can do for me. Because once I realize how big God is, it will be much easier for me to trust him with all of the "smaller needs."

My friends, Our God is Holy and is worthy of more praise than what I have been giving him. The conviction that the Lord has brought upon me turned my eyes to Luke 11, where Jesus taught his disciples to pray. The first line is "Father, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come."
Hallowed means for God's name to be kept holy. I have not been keeping God's name ever on my lips in praise. Then it says "Your Kingdom Come." We should be praying for the Kingdom of God to shake the nations! 

I truly believe when we get our prayer life in order that God will do even greater things than we can imagine."Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,  forever and ever, amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21) God wants to use us as vessels for his "Kingdom come." May we pray for God to be glorified above all things. We also must  pray fervently and urgently for his Kingdom to come to the Waray Waray, here, in Eastern Samar.

I urge you to examine your prayer life to see what you are praying for. Are you taking time to honor God as your King? Or are you just throwing needs up to God like he is a wishing well? God has began to change my prayer life and I hope he will do the same in your life. I pray that he stirs in your heart to praise him; for he is holy. And also to pray for the nations to hear the Gospel and to know Jesus as Lord.

Yours in Christ,
Hannah

Mid-Point Update from the Ulot River

Wanted to give you guys a mid-point update: We have made it through three barangays where many have prayed to receive Christ and be baptized. God has been preparing the hearts of these people and they were eager to hear the good news of the Gospel. We are praying that as we leave each barangay that they would continue to meet together and study God's word and grow as a body of believers. Pray that true disciples would rise up from each barangay to expand the Kingdom of God. We are trusting in God's faithfulness to grow these new believers. "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6
I am so thankful for all of you who are lifting me up in prayer. I ask that you would continue to pray for receptivity of the Gospel on the river. Also pray for unity among our team as we work together for the same goal, winning others to Christ.

In the Hands of My Sovereign Lord

Let us test and examine our way, and return to the LORD! 

Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven.

Lamentations 3:40-41

I have experience the power of God in these past few weeks more than ever in my life. I want to share with you guys some personal experiences I have had. And dear one, when you read these things may you praise your heavenly Father above for the grace he has poured out on this daughter! I am nothing without my Lord! 

I have been on a roller coaster of “emotions and feelings” for these past six months because my identity has been in finding the “right guy.” If we want to be completely honest, that is where I have been for the past 6 years. Relationship-broken heart, relationship-broken heart, relationship-broken heart. You think I would have gotten it after the first couple of times. Oh but friend, the amazing part is that God’s sovereign hand has been with me through all of these experiences. You see, I would give my my heart away, get it broken and then give it to another guy. For six years that has been what I have done. Not until this past month had I given my heart back to the Lord to mend back together. I just kept giving a broken, messed up heart to another guy. What good is that for a relationship? The Lord had been patiently waiting on me, His daughter, to just stop giving my heart away! 

Listen closely to what I am about to say. God told me to never give my heart away again. NEVER. Not to a guy, not even to my husband! My heart belongs to MY Savior! Not to some fleshly person. I want to return to my first love, Jesus. Yes, I want people to see my heart for the Lord, but never do I ever want to give it away again. 

When the Lord had brought me to my lowest, most desperate position of my life I found myself begging for confirmation to make some tough decisions. The same day I had written in my journal that I needed God to SPEAK to me. Later that night, I was at a restaurant with two of my close friends, Tara and Sloan, and I had just prayed for our meal, and even in that prayer I again just asked the Lord to confirm my decisions. Probably about 30 seconds later a sweet-spirited young lady came up to the table and simply said, “I wanted to tell you that the Lord is pleased with you and that you have favor with the Lord.” My friends, if that isn’t the Lord speaking confirmation to you, I don’t know what is! In that moment I knew that the Lord was calling me to higher things. I was settling for less than what the Lord wanted from me! It also showed me that his hand has been on me this whole time! 

The Lord is definitely clearing my path for where he is taking me. It is an exhilarating feeling to know that absolutely no one or no thing is holding you back from where God wants to take you! 

Striving or Thriving?

Perfection is impossible here on earth. You will never be perfect or live a perfect life. Perfect means to be complete and whole: complete and lacking nothing essential. We will not be perfect, or complete, until the Lord returns. Yes, it is our goal to become more like Christ everyday, because he is the depiction of perfection, but God doesn't expect us to be perfect apart from the Lord. God is in the process of making us perfect through santification, but we will not be complete until the day of the Lord. We don't see anywhere that God commands us to be perfect in our own strength. You see, if we try to be perfect on our own we begin to strive towards something that is completely impossible.
God does, however, tell us how to live a pleasing life for him. The word "pleasing" means to take someone's [someone being God's] wishes into consideration in deciding how to act or proceed. God tells us some ways to please him throughout the scriptures.

Colossians 1:10
"...walk in a manner worthy of the LORD, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."
In this verse we see that to please the Lord we should bear fruit and increase in the knowledge of God.

Hebrews 13:6
"Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God."
This verse tells us to do good and to share what we have.

"This is great and all Hannah, but I do all these things. I am a good person and I give to the poor. Oh yea, and I also give my tithes." What I am getting at is this; are you just striving to live a "perfect" life, or are you thriving on the opportunities God gives you to please him? I know that too many times in my life I am just going through the motions. I will do all these good things that make me look like a great person, but am I really making the most out of every opportunity to show and share the glory of who God is?

Be real with God, guys. He is not asking for perfection. He is not asking you to strive for an unattainable goal on your own. He is simply asking you to please him by thriving on opportunities. Let conversations go further than just, "hey how are you?" How about we start being concerned with the stark reality that the person you just said hey to may be headed towards a path of destruction in an eternal hell. That is thriving on a situation. Do something crazy for the Kingdom. When you start caring less about the approval of others and start fearing the Lord, you will start thriving and stop striving.

Glory to the Mighty King

My Prayer: 

The more distant I get from God, the more distorted his plan for my life will become. When I begin to dance away in the passions of my flesh I become bogged down with unsatisfying pleasure. Oh God! May I return to you my soul! You are still gently trying to restore me. Let me listen to your sweet calm voice now, instead of waiting and hearing your disciplining voice later.  I need you, and no one else. Forgive me for putting everything and everyone else in front of you. You should be my absolute priority, not a “have to” action, but a “get to” action. I am your daughter; that is my title. Who am I? I am Christ’s and He is mine. Glorification of You, most Holy God, is now my ambition. I want you to be magnified in my life.

² Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

Psalm 29:2

What am I here for? You and I ignorantly ask ourselves this question; it is an insult to our Creator. We are here for HIM; nothing else. Here is a little wake up call. It is not about us, ever. Not as a child, a teenager, an adult, an elderly person; it is not even about us when we get to heaven! We are here to bring the King of kings and Lord of lord praise and honor for being HOLY. Our lives are living sacrifices of praise to our God. 

Three things are important to notice as we try to glorify God with our lives. (1) We are living in a sick, twisted, and perverted world. (2) We still have a fleshly nature. (3) We still have an enemy that is lying to us and accusing us. These three evil devices are thrown into the mix we call life, and guess what? God gives us the choice to either listen to the lies of the enemy, give into our fleshly tendencies, and dirty yourself up with the world, OR glorify Him. There is no in between. You are either serving your flesh, satan, or the world; or you are serving GOD. You cannot glorify God when you are living in sin. Oh, and don’t think when I say, “living in sin,” that it means that you have a so called “big sin” in your life. I am talking about anything that does not come under the lordship of our King; anything that is not pleasing to our Heavenly Father. That is what I mean by sin in your life. It could be lying, cheating, or murder. Whatever it is, if it is present in your life, glorification of God is not. 

There is a battle that is raging all around us and IN US, as Christ-followers. We are told to put on the armor and stand against our enemy. 

Ephesians 6

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

When we see our real purpose in this life, that is to glorify God, then we will battle against the evilness that so easily tries to take our focus off Christ. When we get victory in those battles, what will we want to do? Give God glory, right? It just so happens to work out that way :) Trust me, God knows what he is doing. I have realized that when you place your hope in anyone else, they will fail you. No matter how great your love is for someone, they will disappoint at sometime or another. That is why you ONLY put your hope in Christ. He will never fail you, and that will once again give you a reason to glorify God.

Oh, and let me make this clear. God deserves your praise no matter what situation you are in because he saved you from an eternity separated from him in agonizing pain. 2 Corinthians 1:10 says ^"He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us..." Yea, I would say that is a good enough reason to give him glory no matter what I am going through. 

I kinda was all over the place in this blog, but this is what the Lord was leading. Soooo boom there it is. 

Much Love,

Hannah 

True Repentance

Who are you allowing to "convict" you? The Holy Spirit or those "spiritual" peers around you? Feeling bad about something is not the same as having conviction over the fact that you have acted AGAINST the Holy God of this universe. True conviction is followed up by confession and a TURNING AWAY from that sin (repentance). If you simply "feel bad" about doing something, then you will just say, "sorry God," and move on with your cluttered walk with God. Why do I say a cluttered walk with God? Because you have just added another selfish/flesh pressured apology to tag on to the list of "bad things you have done."Dear one, sin separates us from God; "but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God..." Isaiah 59:2 Sin clutters our relationship with our Maker. When we just feel sorry about our sin, we will not see repentance. You wonder why you still are in defeat over the same sin struggle over and over again. It is because you have not truly repented.  When you see the gruesome evilness of sin that has infiltrated your heart and mind, and you see how much God HATES sin, then and only then, will you see true repentance. When you truly repent, you WILL see victory over sin. There is freedom that comes with repentance. Repentance causes self-denial and God-glorification. Repentance sheds away the selfish ambitions of your heart and makes you want to run after his desires. Repentance causes you to become more like Christ; Holy. This is one of the keys in the process of sanctification. When you repent, it is like God has breathed a breath of fresh air into your lungs. Sin sucks the life out of you, one little sip at a time. Allow God to crash into you with his convicting spirit so that you may break free from the "sin that so easily entangles us" (Hebrews 12:1) through repentance. Turning away from sin means turning towards God. What a beautiful new beginning that God gives us; "His mercies are new every morning." Lamentations 3:22-23 Rejoice in knowing that you do not have to live in bondage, you have been set free by the blood of Jesus. REPENT and BELIEVE. 

Your sister in Christ,

Hannah

Isaiah 58

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed^[b] go free,
    and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸ Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
    the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹ And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.
¹² And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to dwell in.

¹³ “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
    from doing your pleasure^[c] on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
    and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
    or seeking your own pleasure,^[d] or talking idly;^[e]
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
    and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;^[f]
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Verses from biblegateway.com

Are You a Pillar?

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a pillar is a firm upright support for a superstructure. So in essence a pillar is made to hold something, like a building, up. Pillars obviously have to be able to withstand massive amounts of pressure, and stress. When I think about pillars I think about the ancient pillars that are found, still today, in Rome. Even though buildings have fallen down, pillars are always left standing. Okay, so what’s the deal with all the talk on pillars? Because God tells us in Revelation that he is going to make us a pillar! Let’s look at verses 10-13 of Revelation 3.

10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 

Wow! What an award it is to be called pillars in the “temple of God”! Let’s look at why he will make us pillars in the temple. Verse ten says that it is because we have kept his word about patient endurance. Friend, can you testify to about enduring through some tough times in your life? I know that I can. In those enduring trials, were you patient? Were you just going, “Oh please God, get me out of this!” or were you praying, “Oh please God, let me grow through this and give you glory!” The latter one takes patient endurance.Understand that enduring for the sake of Christ is to bring him glory and you good. You have two choices when it comes to enduring for Christ. You can complain and be bitter about your circumstance (in other words, have a pity party), or you can patiently endure asking God to reveal himself to you through your trial. 

So, because we patiently endure he will keep us from going through the wrath of God that is to come, at his second appearing. Now here is the jewel that comes from this text; don’t miss this dear one. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Guess what brother or sister? You, yes you, are the conquerer! Romans 8:37 tells us so, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Remember how earlier I said that pillars are always left standing, even after the buildings fall? Jesus could not have used a better word for us that are inheriting the heavenly kingdom. Look at Hebrews 12: 26-27

26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.

When the Lord comes back to shake the earth and the heavens, the things that cannot be shaken, pillars of God, will remain! You and I, believer, will remain! We will stand because God will make us pillars of the temple of God! Praise be to God for the blessing of being made as pillars in Our Heavenly Home!

Love,

Hannah 

Sources:

"John: 90 Days with the Beloved Disciple." Barnes & Noble. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2013.
"Bibles | Crossway." Bibles | Crossway. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2013.