Touched by Angel

So today after church Tim and I didn't have enough time to go home to eat. (He had to go to work, and I had to attend a friend's bridal shower.) So we decided to stop and grab something from the mcdonalds dollar menu. While standing in line, we began discussing how much we could buy with the 4 dollars in our bank account. All of a sudden, a lady came up behind us and told us to order whatever we wanted and she would pay for us and may the Lord bless us. Haha, apparently she heard our depressing discussion. We were so touched we felt like crying. We asked what her name was, and she said Angel.
She left immediantly after paying for our food. We never saw her come in or go out, and we never noticed anyone else in line with us. I dont know if she was an actual angel, but it was pretty ironic that her name was Angel. Normally we always see ourselves as the giver. It was very touching to be the recipient of a good deed. What a remider of the way we should respond to the needs of others. How wonderful and encouraging is the body of Christ!

A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22:9

But just as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us, see that you also excel in the grace of giving.

2 Cor. 8:7

Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Romans 12:13

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

Hebrews 13:2

Slow to Anger, Quick to Love

Two posts back to back! Must be in the writing mood.

This semester is teaching and growing us in incredible ways. Besides taking four amazing classes (well 3 amazing, one not so amazing), God has been reveiling so much of Himself through His Word. Its wonderful to soak it all in. You can hear a story told a million times, but there comes a time where everything connects and it is made real to you.

So a little while ago I wrote a post on marriage. One of the passages I gave was James 1:19-20

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

James 1:19-20

While having a personal devotion time, I came across this passage in Psalms.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Psalm 103:8

This verse immediately reminded me of the verse in James. But this was not the only verse proclaiming that the Lord is slow to anger and quick to love. Its also found in Exodus 34:6, Numbers 14:18, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 145:8, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, AND Nahum 1:3

How do we do this? How do we become slow to anger? How do we become quick to love others, quick to listen to them, and quick to actually LOVE them?

We learn by example.

We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

We are but mere reflections of the Son. Tim gave a good analogy today, he said that we are like the moon, the only light that we can give is a reflection of the sun's light.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

This is why Paul says in Philippians 4:8 that our "good deeds" are rubbish. LOVE, FORGIVENESS, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GENTLENESS etc. can only come from God. We cannot have the fruits of the Spirit, without the SPIRIT! We are nothing apart from Him.

This righteousness comes from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. Romans 3:22-24

Wrestling with God

Do you ever feel like Jacob in Genesis 32? Jacob wrestled with God. Even though he ended up with a limp, God said that he prevailed. I'm not sure if this passage is saying Jacob physically wrestled with God or if this was a spiritual battle. But I do know that there are times in our lives where we feel as if we are wrestling with God.

God speaks. We hear.....we digest....we obey. Or at least we should obey. But that pattern takes a crazy spiritual wrestling match between our desires and God's desires. Sometimes we're not even sure which desires are ours and which desires are God's. During this wrestling match, we may even get physical results like Jacob's limp. Except ours comes in the form of nausea, headaches, and fatigue.

Tim and I are going through this right now. We're trying to wipe away our desires for God's. Sometimes our desires are so wrapped up in "good things" that it is hard to tell the good things from the God things. Please pray for us. Pray that God will give us clarity to see His will. Pray that we would not create any form of division in the body of Christ. You can pray for us in the same way that Paul prayed for the believers in Colosse.

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."

Colossians 1:9-12

Growing in Love

Sorry its been awhile, I guess we get blogging brain farts. Alot has happened these past few months....crazy how that can happen.

We are now currently in a new home (just right down the street) and Tim has a new full time job at a Walmart distribution center. We're loving the new place, its bigger with two bedrooms and feels like a mansion to us! We're so use to living in small dormlike marriage housing...its weird having a townhome. Tim loves his new job. We get so much more time together. He works the night shift on the weekends, so we get Tuesday-Fridays together! Works out great for classes too!

We feel so blessed, it almost feels wrong!

It seems like recently our marriage has never been better. I can't believe we are still so madly in love. We learn more and more about eachother everyday...but in reality I think we're learning more about ourselves everyday. You never notice how selfish humanity is until you're in a relationship. Its amazing how self centered we are, and you don't see it until you have to put someone else first above yourself.

Marriage can only work when you both focus on glorifying God. Its not about what she feels or what he feels....its about what God feels. Its not about what she did wrong, or what he did wrong...its about forgiveness and making His name known! Its not about ourselves, its about the Almighty, Prince of Peace, King of Glory, Our LORD Jesus Christ! Aren't these themes throughout His word?

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

James 1:19-20

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:3-6

Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Colossians 3:12-14

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:3-4

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

We're coming up on two years of marriage... Can't imagine what the Lord will teach us by 50 years!! What a beautiful thing the Lord created.

The Comforts of This World

Why do we always choose to go to other things before going to God? Anytime we're stressed, depressed, angry, overwhelmed, etc we immediatly go to what brings us comfort.

Facebook?
Blogging?
Television?
Sleep?
Spouse?
Food?
Friends?

And these are just examples of the ones we go to before going to God. For others it may be other things. We live for time off. For the weekend. For vacations. For rest and relaxation. For peace.
How come we can't be content?!!?

"Sometimes we can be so busy looking for what is missing in our lives that we miss WHO is busily present in our lives!"

We are constantly looking towards the future as something that will fix our problems.
Maybe when we have more money...
Maybe when we get a new job...
Maybe when we have kids...
Maybe when we move overseas...

Isn't God the one who fixes our problems? Isn't God the ultimate comforter??

We fallen into the lie that our weakness can trump God's strength.
We may not consciously say this, but we live in a way that says we can comfort ourselves. That we can fix our own problems. This is a weakness not a strength.
When we do this, we become stressed, depressed, angry, overwelmed and all those things that we were trying to fix in the first place!! Weakness doesn't produce results.

We all have weaknesses and they can mess us up. But they can't mess God up. His plan and purpose is going to be fulfilled. Does that mean we can use God's sovereignty and strength as an excuse for our unfaithfulness and weakness?
NO.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Romans 6:1-2

As we've seen before, weakness does not produce results. Let us refrase that...it doesn't produce GOOD results. It produces the same or worse results. Sin creates more sin. Only Christ conquered sin, therefore we must look to HIM before looking anywhere else!

There is purpose in where God has you.

He is using this time of waiting to build you into what your future demands you to be. It is divinely ordained!

We can't simply skip a chapter, hoping to arrive at the great pleasure God has in store for us. We will only experience failure because we are unprepared.

When a baby is born, can it simply skip learning to walk and talk and go straight into a multi million dollar career? We are like babies learning to walk and talk. God is teaching us things today that will build us into the people He has designed us to be.

Enjoy the ride. We may never discover what God's purpose for our lives is until the day we arrive in heaven. Maybe that is what we are longing for. Heaven. Ultimate peace, relaxation, and rest....sound familar?

So lets not look for those comforts in earthly things, let us fix our eyes on the Kingdom of Heaven.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Thoughts of a seminarian.

I have often heard stories of people who have pursued careers in ministry and of people who have attended seminary that have become different people from who they were when they first started. They seem bitter and display a countenance of indifferance. I have wondered how these people who have studied a God of love could come out on the other side so unloving. I am beginning to understand.
I have recently felt overwhelmed in my Christian philosophy studies. I want you to think for a second of the stereotypical philosopher. They are always asking questions of the reality around them; seeking ryhme and reason for the current state of the world and its people. They are not satisfied with the simple answer, "Because that is the way it is" or "Some things can only be explained by faith." They view life as something to be examined day in and day out.

I am the polar opposite of this person.

I am the person who gets frustrated with these people because I think they are wasting their time debating things that can never be proven. I do not like to ask questions. I am very easily satisfied with simple answers and require little debate to convince me of a position. I have a hard enough time deciding what toppings i want on my pizza, so the thought of arguing with someone over life's unkowables litteraly makes me sick to my stomach. I am in no way, shape or form anything that remotely resembles a philosopher.

I became so frustrated tonight while studying that i began to slip into this depressed/indifferent state that i have heard of in the previously mentioned stories. It scared me. I realized how easy it is to let your frustrations overtake your whole outlook. But after talking with Candi I began to see that not everyone is made the same. My strengths are not the same as a philosophers. While i have a hard time understanding new knowledge, I have an easy time applying the small amount knowlegde i have to real life. I do not think quick while in the midst of conversation, but given time i can process and write a defense for my beliefs. It is the way i was designed and built.

I began to realize that this depressed/indifferent state was just a product of my feelings of inadequacy. There are so many different kinds of people in the world who need Jesus, how can I possibly prepare myself to minister to all of them in the way they need most. And then i realized I can't. There are many within the Christian faith who posess gifts that I do not. I am not the body of Christ. I am only in it. But just because I am only a hand does not mean that I should have no interest in the eye. In examining each part of the body we understand more fully what the body is as a whole. And so, in observing the many parts of Christ's body, I can more fully understand who Christ is. I pray that God would use me to help other's discover more about Himself.

-Tim

Upcoming Months

We are joining Faith Baptist!! It was so important to us to find a good home church, and we are really excited. There are alot of opportunities to serve, we don't even know where to begin! Tim has been struggling without a place to play music. But if he isn't able to play at our new church, please pray that the Lord will give him opportunities to use his talents. He has some great friends around him who have been letting him play from time to time.

We have about a week of no papers, so we're really soaking up on rest and fun! Its incredible how much two or three classes can affect your schedule. You take any break you can get!

We aren't worried, but we are preparing for upcoming months. Please be in prayer with us. God always has shown His provision in our finances, and we have no reason to doubt Him now. But we believe that we are to call upon the Lord in all stages of our lives.

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Ps. 145:18

1. Because Tim's job is seasonal, it ends in July. So we will start looking for another job this summer.
2. Candi may need to look for a job on campus. Typically on campus jobs are hard to find.
3. Our car hit 200,000 miles and is acting up. We're afraid it doesn't have much longer.
4. We would love to be able to go see Candi's parents and take mission trips.

Most of these things are selfish desires, and only God knows what we truely NEED. We ask that when you pray, you won't pray that God grants these things. Rather that the Lord's will be done, and our attitude remains glorifying to Him no matter the outcome.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

Give thanks in ALL circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Learning

Wow no one ever told us how much you learn about yourselves in seminary. It is like everyday brings a new light on a subject. College changes you as a person, but seminary is helping us form who we are in Christ. What is my role as a (husband/wife) (student, church member, worker)? Why do I believe the things I have always believed? Am I really a teachable spirit...or do I just hold on to what I know?

We find ourselves sitting in our car, staying up late, or simply stopping where we are to have a serious conversation with one another. Granted we have always been talkers, but now it seems as though we can't get enough.

Oh how exhausting! Even during our times of rest, our brains are still moving at lightning speed! Seminary was a wonderful decision...but we're thankful there is an end in sight. I'm sure by the end of our time here, we will be bursting at the seems to put what we have learned into action.

Lord, even though You have put us in a place of learning, help us not neglect the work that needs to be done today. Give us Your eyes to see the hurt and lost around our sphere of influence today. Give us Your heart for these people. Give us Your hands to help them. And Lord, one day soon, give us Your feet to go to the places where Your love needs to be preached!

Springtime!

Blogging and seminary just don't seem to work together. But upon request of of a good friend (Lindsey) "we need to work on that".

So heres an update on our life...

Tim's job is going great. We realize that no matter what our bank account says, we have yet to miss a bill payment. Just goes to show you that when God says "go", He will provide a way. If we pray, we have no reason to doubt Him. Has He ever given us a reason to?? How wonderful and faithful is the God we serve!

School is good. It requires so much more work than we ever anticipated. Some days are literally spent reading and writing from the moment we get up to the moment we lay down. It is so nice to both share in this responsibility. Not only are we able to keep eachother accountable, but we are able to share in this struggle to learn and grow.

We recently changed our degree program. Now we are both in ICP 2+2 program. In which we will receive our Master of Divinity through two years in America and then two years serving overseas. Because we are both in school, it will take us around 4 years over here, and then two years on the field. As most of you know, this is what we were planning on doing after we graduate anyway. This way will make it somewhat easier to get overseas. We are so excited about this opportunity and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us!

We have recently been attending a Faith Baptist, and can really see ourselves as members there one day. This is really exciting, because we were having such a hard time without a church family. The church is not at all what we would have expected that we would love, but God has really been placing a peace and joy in our hearts about it. There is a great opportunity to serve, and we hope we will be able to become more involved.

Recently our days are spent reading, writing, studying, (For Tim, work), inventing new recipes to cook, spending time outside in this wonderful spring weather, hangin out with old and new friends, and most days we'll have some down time for netflex movies!

A God Who Never Leaves Nor Forsakes

Praise the Lord Tim found a new job! With five bucks in our pockets, it was about time! God really gave us a wonderful first month here. Its been such a blessing to completely focus on our marriage and each other.

We are currently "church shopping". Its really not fun. We feel so judgemental walking into a new church every sunday, only to compare it to the church we were at the prior sunday. Every church has its pros and cons, and we know we will never find the perfect church. But please pray that God will lead us to one that will challenge us, and grow us more like Christ.

We have felt nothing but peace and joy since we've arrived here, and we know this is exactly where the Lord wants us. (peace and joy mixed with a little stress about all these crazy seminary papers! haha) We can't wait to see what God has in store in the future!!!

New Home

We are officially moved into our new apartment. Its small, but bigger than the jail cells that we lived in at CSU. And alot homier. Kinda like a New York apartment. We're still looking for a dresser. We found one at goodwill, so we've pretty much been looking every day for another one.

We're in the process of looking for jobs. Seems to be a long process, but we understand that God has brought us to this place for a reason and He alone will provide.

We found out that Tim's M. Div in Worship Leadership doesn't offer classes at night. So we will both need to find part time jobs in order to pay bills and attend school. We only have one vehicle, so this can present somewhat of a difficulty...but we're hoping to be able to schedule our classes and work times differently. Living on campus does help.

Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6