2 Timothy 2:13

We’re taking a break from our regularly scheduled meal-planning to quote an awesome, encouraging Scripture.

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13

This is one of the coolest verses in the Bible. In order for God NOT to be faithful in our lives, He would have to deny Himself or disown (as some translations say) Himself.

This verse has been very encouraging to me as I’ve watched a friend grapple with some real questions about the character of God. It can be challenging to not just jump in & try to fix it because I’ve been where she is & I know how painful & difficult those feelings are. But I can’t fix it; only God can. God has reminded me that His faithfulness does not depend on us; He is faithful because that’s the core of His character.

I recently heard Sy Rogers talk about God’s character. He gave an analogy that God is sort of like the ocean. We can’t know everything that’s in the ocean, what every part of it looks like, or what types of animals are in different parts of the ocean. What we do know is that through & through, the ocean is salty. If the ocean is not salty, then it’s not ocean; it’s just regular water.

I may not understand all God is doing or all He chooses to allow, but I know that through & through, He is faithful and good and loving. That I know for sure.

My Theme Song from the Conference

OK – so this is my 2nd final conference update I reserve the right to post more!

The song that I walked away from the conference singing is “Overcome”. How appropriate! I just couldn’t get this song out of my head, and for good reason. Besides being an awesome song, the lyrics & the scripture that it’s based upon seem especially applicable to the group of people attending the Exodus conference.

Overcome

Seated above enthroned in the Father’s love
Destined to die poured out for all mankind
God’s only Son perfect and spotless One
He never sinned but suffered as if He did

All authority – every victory is Yours

Savior worthy of honor and glory
Worthy of all our praise
You overcame
Jesus awesome in power forever
Awesome and great is Your name
You overcame

Power in hand speaking the Father’s plan
You’re sending us out light in this broken land

We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony
Everyone overcome

And Revelation 12:11:

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

After attending a conference like this, it’s “normal”, for lack of a better word, to walk away, feeling as if you can conquer anything. It’s also “normal” for that feeling to fade within a few days and to plummet into complete doubt & unbelief. Why does this happen? I believe part of it is human nature, but most of it is a spiritual attack. When God speaks truth into our lives, Satan will do everything he can to make us question that truth. This has been the case since the Garden of Eden. God told Adam & Eve, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Then Satan came along with the same questions he has been asking ever since, “”Did God really say?” And you can fill in the blank. The purpose of his question is to cause us to question the goodness & faithfulness of God. In this case, he asked if God really said they couldn’t eat from the tree. He then want on to convince them that God was withholding good things from them.

So after attending a conference like this, it’s “normal” to walk away, doubting & questioning those things God has spoken to you. But this song & Scripture reminds us that Jesus overcome, and so can we. As I reminded people when I shared my testimony, we can’t overcome in our own strength & power, but in the power that is available to us through Jesus Christ & the Holy Spirit.

He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20

The world would try to convince us that by saying homosexual behavior is a sin, God is withholding good things from us, and that we are in fact doing harm to ourselves by being unwilling to embrace a gay identity. I would have to disagree. So often, we allow the things that appear “good” to us, like the fruit of the tree, to crowd out God’s best for us. That’s where faith comes in. We have to trust God when He says He has an awesome plan for us, plan to prosper us & not to harm us – plans to give us hope & a future.

God is the Superhero. He is able to do the supernatural – to take our natural & make it super, as one speaker said So I pray that all would continue to stand firm in the truth that was revealed to them at the conference. God is able. Amen.

Sunday Conference Update

On Saturday morning, there was a panel discussion involving Alan Chambers (President of Exodus), Randy Thomas (Vice President off Exodus), Terri Brown (Director of Exodus Membership & mom to a gay man) & Janet Boynes (she had shared her testimony of overcoming same-sex attraction that morning). People in the audience wrote questions on index cards, handed them to the panel, and then the panel answered different questions, such as, ‘Would you attend same-sex marriage?” “How do I know if I’m called to singleness or marriage?” and “How do I interact with my loved one’s partners?” It was quite interesting.

After lunch, I went to a workshop entitled, “Building Ministries on Solid Foundations”. Ron Elmore from “Beyond Imagination” was the speaker. I did have the opportunity to ask a couple of questions, so that was good. After that, we attended a Special Interest Group for those who attend Assemblies of God churches, to hear updates on what’s happening in the denomination as it pertains to this issue.

In the evening, Dale Evrist, pastor of New Song, a Foursquare church in the Nashville area, spoke on “Stepping Into a New Day of Intimacy & Freedom”. It was based off of Luke 7:36-50:

36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41″Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
48Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

His 7 steps we need to take are:
1. Authentic Humility
2. Thorough Brokenness
3. Abounding Love
4. Extravagant Giving
5. Selfless Servanthood
6. Honest Assessment
7. Rapid Response

It really was inspiring. I wish I could write more, but it’s time for breakfast & then we’re off to hear Randy speak

Trust & Rest

I’ve had an emotionally draining week. There are many situations & circumstances that are weighing heavily on me right now. I don’t need to go into the details of why here, but as I’m processing all the emotions I’m experiencing, I’m reminding of a few lines in a song by Andy Park.

“I can’t understand all that You allow – I just can’t see the reason”

All too often I find myself stopping at this point. I focus on trying to figure out why on earth God could possibly be allowing me to go through what I’m going through. Am I to blame? Did I do something wrong? Am I not praying hard enough, or am I praying for the wrong things?

Today, as I was talking with my friend Eva on the phone, I was sharing how I just need to remember the next line of the song:

“But my life is in Your hands, and though I cannot see You, I choose to trust You“

Trusting God is a choice. It doesn’t come naturally to me, and I imagine I’m not alone in that. But I’ve found that God has always shown Himself to be faithful. I have no choice but to believe that this time will be no exception.

So today, God, I choose to trust in the knowledge that You are the Rock, Your works are perfect, and all Your ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is what You are (Deuteronomy 32:4). Today, I choose to rest in You. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Amen.

Galatians

If you hadn’t guess by my last post, I’m reading through Galatians in the Life Recovery Bible, which is a version of the New Living Translation. I’m getting a lot out of it

“But oh, my dear children! I feel as if I’m going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.” chapter 4, verse 19

How often I have felt this way in my life & relationships with other believers – the desire to see people grow into and walk in all God has for them. God calls us to freedom, but living out that freedom in both a daily decision and a process.