Living Greater

Well, its been quite some time since my last blog post. A lot of changes and adventures since January. Updates?

My home church, Brooklyn COG changed our name to Pathway Church of God and launched a new site in the county area. Its been an adventure and many challenges have come from it, but a lot of great things have come from it. We launched "Belong Groups" as our form of small groups for our church and a way to keep everyone connected somewhere. They have been amazing and life changing.

I got a new job recently and now work at University of Maryland, Baltimore as an Academic Coordinator. I really enjoy my new job and the people I work with. It is completely different from UMUC outside of the fact I still work in higher education, and I LOVE it.

I moved to federal hill in Baltimore the end of August and live with an old co-worker. Its been an adventure but living in the city is so fun! I am looking forward to the new experiences and living on my own again. (Not looking forward to the parking tickets that I am sure I will get.)

I think that's all the updates for now...so onto what I originally decided to post about.

Currently, in my young adult small group, we are reading the book "Greater" by Steven Furtick. It has been an awesome and challenging experience at the same time. I love listening to Steven Furtick's podcasts and enjoy learning about Elevation Church. This book has really changed my view on life and my calling in a radical way.

As Christians, we are called to live greater. In the Bible, Jesus Himself told us in John 14 that if we have faith, we will do even greater things than Him. (John 14:12-13) Really? Greater than Jesus? This book breaks down this concepts and shows us that we do not need to live the same old, every day life until Jesus comes back. Everyday we need to strive to live up to the calling that God has placed on our lives.

Over the beginning chapters of this book, we are introduced to the story of Elijah and Elisha. When Elijah came to Elisha to transfer his anointing onto his life, Elisha took it and ran with it. Not only did he accept the calling immediately, he burned the plows that he had been using for his job. Elisha was called to be something more than someone who tends oxen 7 days a week. Through this book, I have personally been challenged to live for something greater.

Faith is the foundation to living a greater life. We can be called to do something, but if we don't put our faith in God that He will lead and guide us, we will fall quickly. Last night before I went to bed, I was reading chapter 5 of "Greater" which is called digging ditches. This is where Elisha performs his first large miracle. (2 Kings 3). Israel is in a major drought and the army is fighting against the Moabites and they cannot continue to fight without water. King Jehoshaphat asks Elisha to ask God for help. The Lord tells the kings to have the people dig ditches and he would send the rain. This will show their supernatural faith. They would get their miracle, but they had to work for it. The people of Israel dug the ditches all night and the next morning, water arrived as God had promised.

Wow. This helps remind me that even though God may promise things to us, we still have to use our faith and work for it. We cannot just sit back and everything will be given to us by God. Sometimes God works that way, but most of the time, He wants to know that we are willing to pick up a shovel and dig some ditches.

I am entering a season in my life that will require a lot of ditch digging. I am excited that God has allowed me to walk the path I am about to begin and I cannot wait to share it when I am able to!

Don't be afraid to live greater.

Who are you committed to?

Towards the end of 2011, God really began showing me areas in my life that I needed to work on. One of the areas specifically was keeping my commitments. The thing with me is that I loveeee helping people and doing things and being sociable. But sometimes, okay most of the time, I spread myself too thin and I have to back out on one of my commitments. I am tired of making excuses. My commitment resolution runs deeper than just being somewhere when I say I will be. Its about turning everything I have over to God and letting Him rule my life. I am nothing without Him and I when I try to do things on my own, I fail miserably.

Tonight at Crosswind Church, the main text came out of Philippians chapter 3. The verses that really stuck out to me when I looked at them more and more were these:

12 I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. 13 Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. 14 I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. 15 So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision - you'll see it yet!

I LOVE how plain The Message Bible is. I love how Paul pointed out that he wasn’t an expert, but he knew the goal and what God had in store for him. I know that God has plans for my life and over the past few weeks I’ve seen a shifting in the seasons in my life. I know that God is doing something in me for a reason and I want to run and finish this race but I know that I can only do it with God right beside me. And I can’t be double minded because all that will do is blur my vision.

Its not easy to change things in your life. Just because you make a list of resolutions doesn’t mean you are going to follow all of them every day and never mess up. Will I break a commitment in 2012? I’m sure I will. But out of all of my resolutions, this is one that means the most. To me, it matters the most. I’m running and I’m not looking back.

2012 Resolutions

Well, since its a start of a new year, I figured I would post a resolution blog just like other bloggers I’ve seen so far!

My 2012 resolutions are:

1. Stick with my one-year Bible readings.
2. Save money (and work hard on my school loans)
3. Travel to places I haven’t been before
4. Read more books
5. Relax more and not overbook my schedule so much
6. Stick with working out at least 4 times a week

I think that my resolutions are good ones that can be easy and hard at the same time. Some are important to me more than others, but I hope I can stick with all of them.

Here’s to a great 2012! :)