Choosing the Light

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:5-7.

"I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." Deuteronomy 32:4.

This is going to sound like a bunch of ramblings. Basically, I've been realizing two major truths from these verses.

First, God is light. He is perfection. There is NO darkness in Him. There is NO injustice in Him. There is NO sin or wrong in Him.

So voices of compromise, shame, accusation, or injustice are not from God. Neither is lust, bitterness, rage, or mockery. We try to excuse these kinds of voices by pointing to different Scriptures, but it just doesn't work. There is not even a shifting shadow in God. He is fully light.

If we want to be close to Him, we must allow His light to shine into every area of our lives. This may sound scary, but it's actually a joyful thing. You can see how the enemy has deceived you for so long, and you can walk away from that deception. You can walk into life.

We can't have fullness of life until we let God root out every stronghold of death and darkness in our hearts.

The second thing is fellowship. One of the enemy's main tactics against us as Christians is isolation. Just like 1 John talks about, when we walk in the light of Christ we have fellowship with one another. We help keep each other grounded, solid, and built up. God created fellowship so we can encourage and edify each other.

Again, accusation, deception, suspicion, and isolation are not from God.

God enjoys perfect fellowship in the Trinity--Father, Son, Holy Spirit. He also desires deep fellowship with us. He desires for us to have that fellowship with each other as well.

I think that God answered Jesus' prayers. So I have to believe that God answered Jesus when in John 17 He prayed that we as believers would be ONE just like He and the Father are one.

I know it's a bunch of jumbled ramblings, but the two main points are here:
--God is light.
--When we walk in the light, we have FELLOWSHIP and UNITY with each other.

I want that!!!

Relentless Pursuit

In the beginning, God created. His first act, the first way he revealed himself, was to create. (Genesis 1:1). Our God is a creative and active God! From the first moment of time he was forming and shaping masterpieces!

The world was formless and empty; he hovered over the earth, and then he spoke. He filled the emptiness--God has always desired to fill the emptiness with life.

Over and over, God is moved by us!

God heard the cry of his people in Egypt and he came, he rescued them with many signs and wonders. (Exodus 3:7-8).

He led his people with a cloud by day, and a fire by night. He sprinkled the ground with food from heaven. He met them with lightning and thunder.

After the Law was given, and Israel had already begun to rebel against the Lord, Moses interceded on behalf of the people. In a moment of boldness, Moses asked, "LORD, SHOW ME YOUR GLORY." After all the laws, all the rebellion, all the frustration, God instantly relented and was moved by Moses's desire. So the Lord encountered Moses with his glory. (Exodus 33:12).

Time and time again, the Lord led his people. He led through the judges, through the kings. In 2 Samuel 22, David talks about how God reached down from heaven and took hold of him. How the Lord rode on the clouds and scattered David's enemies. David shares the the Lord prepares him for battle, and trains his hands to bend a bow of bronze.

In Jeremiah 2, God asks, “What fault did your ancestors find in me,
    that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
    and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord,
    who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
    through a land of deserts and ravines,
a land of drought and utter darkness,
    a land where no one travels and no one lives?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
    to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
    and made my inheritance detestable."

And yet time and time again, God is moved with love and compassion toward his people. He continues to fight on their behalf and rescue them.

Even in the midst of exile, when Jerusalem is in ruins and there seems to be no hope, God promises his people a hope and a future. He works through foreign kings like Cyrus (Isaiah 45), he walks with his people even in their utter brokenness and shame, and he is quick to forgive (Isaiah 43).

When the people don't listen to God himself, he sends prophets.

The people continually reject the Lord.

Then, this God, this God of passion and action, performs the ultimate act.

Jesus came.

In Isaiah 61 we find that he came to proclaim freedom and favor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to preach good news, to release prisoners from darkness, to pour out the oil of joy, to comfort, and to bestow blessing.

Isaiah 53 says that he was rejected, despised, crushed, beaten, and bruised.

While Jesus was on earth, he taught, spoke, held the children, fed  the multitudes, shared life with his disciples, told stories, healed the sick, cured diseases, opened eyes, cast out demons, cleansed lepers, encountered sinners, ate with tax collectors, healed the lame, was moved with compassion,

In Matthew 23:37 Jesus is found weeping over Jerusalem and saying, "Oh how I have longed to take you up in my arms!"

He raised the dead, redeemed, delivered, saved, transformed, prayed, wept, was arrested, beaten, mocked, tortured....he died...and HE ROSE AGAIN.

(Philippians 2:6-11)

It doesn't end there! Jesus also sent the Holy Spirit. (John 14:16).

The Spirit comforts, counsels, helps, intercedes on our behalf (See Romans 8), gives us words, gives gifts and wisdom, brings peace and life, speaks truth, and along with the Church he beckons Christ to come again.

1 John 4:19 says that we love because Christ first loved us. Like in Romans 5:8, when we were still in rebellion, Christ died for us.

So you see, from Genesis to the end of Revelation, God is acting on our behalf. And he will continue to do so.

Everything we do must be out of response to that love. We aren't just serving this God out of obligation, but rather out of overflow of all he has done throughout history in order to encounter us, right here, right now, in this moment.

Our God is not passive. We weren't made to be passive either.

Pursue relentless love.

Nepal!!!

Hello, dear friends and family!

I am so excited to announce that I will be leading a team on a 10-week missions trip to Nepal! I have been on full-time staff here at Youth With a Mission for nearly a year now, and this fall have the honor of being an outreach leader with one of our schools, the Compassion Ablaze Discipleship Training School.

I will be leading a team of 8 students alongside my amazing co-leader, Luke Ballard. Both of us have completed DTS and been called back to YWAM as full-time staff for the next two years (or more!). It's already been an amazing journey, learning how to send for visas, book flights, contact ministries overseas, and receive God's heart for a nation I've never set foot in.

Nepal is home to about 26 million people, who speak 122 different languages! It is a tiny country sandwiched between China and India, and reflects influences from both of these nations as well as embracing its own unique culture. 80% of Nepal is Hindu, and many popular religious soul-searching sites can be found there. It is also over 97% unreached, meaning most of the population has never heard the Gospel or had the privilege of going to church, reading a Bible in their own language, etc. Since a majority of the population also lives in rural villages scattered throughout the Himalayas, it is difficult to spread the good news of God's love.

While our team is there, we will be able to partner with a few different ministries and contacts. The first thing we want to do is pray over every place we go. We believe that prayer shakes the strongholds of the enemy and invites God's presence even into the darkest places of the earth. We're excited to walk around the Hindu temples praying and worshiping the one true God. We will also have the opportunity to work with children, youth, families, and churches. Our ministry will be very relational as well as very practical. We want to live the Gospel, not just preach it! Some things we may get to participate in include: cafe ministry, children's programs, speaking in churches, painting classrooms, praying over people, teaching English and art, helping the sick, and providing clothes/food for the poor.

Another part of our trip that we are all extremely excited for is our trek! We will be embarking on a short trek through the Himalayas to visit the rural villages and share the Gospel. I get chills when I think about the possibility of being the first person to share God's love with some of these people we will meet!

In spite of the high percentage of unreached people in Nepal, this nation is very open to Jesus.

As we have sent other teams over the past couple of years, we have heard testimonies of countless healings, miracles, and many giving their lives to Jesus. Our team anticipates much fruit to come from our trip also, as we continually pray and seek the Lord's heart for Nepal.

I only need $2000 in order to lead this team to Nepal! Would you pray about supporting me? It is an amazing way to partner with what God is doing in Nepal, and it would be an amazing blessing for me! I am praying so hard that I will be able to raise this small amount to go to these beautiful people! Please join me in prayer, for me and my team while we are there, and please consider partnering with me!

If you have more questions, email or call me: dancingheart139@gmail.com or 303-378-5359

Be blessed, Rachel

Old Writings..... volume 3.

A Child’s Gaze

Pools of liquid mahogany beckon,

Drawing me in to their depths.

A thousand reflections dance before me.

I sway with the kaleidoscope.

Fire drips from the sky;

My sweat offers a standing ovation

Heat from sun and smoke from flame

Are the life of your existence.

I dare not touch the water.

Yellow, brown, green, it holds its treasure-box

Beneath a mass of death sentences.

This is the river that nourishes you.

The girl behind me reflects in your dark depths—

Your childhood best-friend.

Once delighted to go swimming each day,

She now sells her body to a tourist.

Shouts from across the rutted street

Cause tremors of ripples to race across your surface.

Why do the sounds still shock you so?

The drug dealers are at it again.

I smell Mama’s cooking;

You seem to sense it too as the ripples dissipate.

Rice-mush and bean-paste

Are the feast of a king.

Your clouds of yellow shroud

Memories blocked from the world:

Violence, abuse, starvation.

I can sense their haunting presence.

I shrink back at a loss for words.

The kaleidoscope vanishes; I blink.

I step away from your enrapturing gaze,

With a fear that you are studying me as well.

Old Writings.... volume 2.

Some of them are kind of haunting but super intriguing still!

13 Uses for a Bandana

#1.  The neighborhood sleeps this Saturday afternoon;

A splash of color reaches my eye.

I notice the bandana on the kitchen table,

 Beckoning me.

#2. It is the most exotic color I have ever seen.

I reach for the bandana

While the nerves in my hand play popcorn.

#3. I store treasures in the bandana,

Treasures past and treasures future.

The bandana watches over them.

#4. Dinner on a cool summer evening,

And the bandana is there,

Put to good use as a tablecloth.

Four young couples eat over it.

#5. I pick up the bandana.

I tie it around my neck and yank.

#6. I am dissatisfied with one bandana,

Overwhelmed by two.

And yet I search for a third.

#7. A party.

Guests arrive, in dinner dresses and suits.

They play games.

Blind Man’s Bluff is the bandana’s favorite.

#8. I tighten the bandana over my nose and lips.

I am an outlaw.

No one knows me,

Nor do I know anyone.

#9. The siren blares through a suffocating blizzard.

White flakes frolic outside, watching.

The bandana is my companion,

Covering the noble face of a dead man.

#10. A child is sent off to school,

Backpack indenting shoulders, bandana in hand.

He returns with the bandana tied around a bleeding arm.

Red accents the bandana’s design.

#11. Another child shrieks in the depths of a basement.

His back stings.

The bandana strikes again.

#12. I notice the bandana on the kitchen table,

Beckoning me.

I walk away.

#13. A busy street—people are bustling around in a swarm.

I see thousands of people.

I see thousands of bandanas.

Description: This poem is kind of an analogy of knowledge and how it affects a person. (It is also true of power). Each stanza has a different meaning:

1. First seeing the beauty of knowledge.

2. Desiring knowledge.

3. Knowledge is valuable.

4. Knowledge can be useful for practical reasons. Many people are unaware of its power.

5. Knowledge can kill a person.

6. We are overwhelmed by the things that we know, yet can never seem to know enough. We desire more and more although we already complain that we are overwhelmed by what we know.

7. Knowledge can be used to lead others, for better or worse. People mess around with it sometimes. (This is also an analogy of the professional world, and manipulating others.)

8. Knowledge can be used for evil and can hinder a person from enjoying life.

9. People can leave behind a legacy of knowledge.

10. Knowledge can be helpful, and lessen pain. When we know why something is happening, often it is easier to cope or adjust.

11. Knowledge can also be harmful, and can be used against people.

12. What would happen if we did not pursue knowledge? If we did not hunger for its power?

13. Everyone holds knowledge within. It engulfs society. Everyone is marked with a different story, different minds, different thoughts.

Old Writings.....

I just found this poem I wrote in University. Pretty intriguing if I do say so myself!

Tell me what is,

Which can be in prison,

Yet run wild

While its enemies pursue?

Tell me what is,

Which is older than oldest,

Yet to many

Seems quite young and new?

Tell me what is,

Which knows no home or country

Yet anywhere

Will lay its head?

Tell me what is,

Which never feels hunger

Or thirst, yet

Knows much about bread?

Tell me what is,

Which cannot speak or gesture

Yet speaks to

Your heart and to mine?

I’ll tell you what is,

Since you seem not to see,

That the Bible

Is what I just defined.

How to Gain Wisdom--Some Wise Steps

In Proverbs 2 we find this timeless advice:

indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Lately in my quest to know God more and the vastness of His character, I have discovered the value of relationship. A wise person told me recently that truth is revealed through relationship. Pretty much everything we discover about ourselves, or the universe we dwell in, or the God who conducts it all like a mass orchestra, we learn through relationships of some sort. Left on our own, we only see a broken, blurred half-sort-of reflection of what life really is. We need each other. We were formed out of the dust for the very purpose of relationship. I'm learning some keys to healthy and flourishing relationships that will help us also discover truth and understand God more. These things work with the Lord too as we seek fellowship with Him. It is a lifestyle of the Proverb--crying out for insight.

1. Listen well. I believe that most strife, conflict, and misunderstanding vanishes when we take the time to listen. Everyone has a story. Everyone has a past, present, and future. In a society that's all about talking and opinions, the counter-culturally radical thing to do is listen. Your heart and mind will be opened and I guarantee you will learn something.

Have you stopped, erased agenda, and simply listened to the Holy Spirit lately?

2. Ask good questions. I started praying that I would ask good questions. Did you know with one simple question you can squeeze minutes of solid-gold wisdom out of a wise person? It's true! The truth is right there waiting to be discovered. Stuck with what to ask? Ask someone you admire how they got where they are; ask them how they stay there; ask them something as simple as, "What is the biggest word of advice you could give to me off the top of your head?" Get to KNOW them. Then apply step one and LISTEN--soak in what they're saying. You know, you'll be asked for wisdom some day too!

What questions are you burning to ask God about Himself?

3. Encourage and honor people. This isn't flattery. It's truth. It starts with simple compliments; then it searches deeper, into the beautiful depths of a person. What do you appreciate about the people around you? And those you admire, why do you admire them? Make sure you admire them for a worthy cause. For example: I can name right now each person that has inspired each of these bits of advice I'm writing in this blog, and why I have modeled pieces of my life after them! As we honor others, we are pointing out God's reflection in them, and then choosing to imitate our Creator also through following their example.

Do you actually admire Jesus? Does your life show it?

4. Pray for opportunity, then take it! God opens up crazy doors. I have heard people who have met leaders in very high places, because God gave them the opportunity. Faith trumps qualifications. If you feel you need a circumstance to change in order for you to grow in wisdom, then ask the Lord. And don't be afraid to step out and try new things. Receive the favor of the Lord, but wait for His timing also.

Are you seizing every opportunity to spend time with God and allow Him to speak into your life?

5. Find confidence in God alone. As you follow this quest to attain wisdom, as you seek out those who have already walked the path you're trudging down, as you pray for opportunities to grow through experience, place your confidence in God. Don't allow fear of man into your heart. You don't have time for it. Embrace your identity in Christ. Allow yourself to broaden your horizon, but stay focused on the Goal.

How do you find confidence in the Lord? By doing the first one--listen to what He's saying about you!