overflow last night

i am continually amazed how God is so faithful to meet us every time we seek after him. last night was our third overflow, and i have to say, i was pretty discouraged toward the beginning of the night...only a couple people there and things were already so far from what i had planned. yet, as the night wore on, God took the plans that i had made for the night and turned them on their head. things didn't go according to the schedule, but, instead of me leading the night, the Spirit began to lead - which is always incredible.

people talk about hearing God's voice, and for the longest time when i was younger i didn't know what that meant. was it an audible voice? was it some distinct voice in my head? a verse? yet, during these long nights of intercession, i think i'm beginning to understand what God's voice sounds like. it's strong and gentle - soft and full of love, and at the same time powerful and authoritative.

i believe God spoke to us last night through his Spirit. first, i'm convinced that we're broken vessels that are privileged to have a chance to be used by God. God is leading those who are in love with him to deeper things - to sacrifice, service, love, and deep commitment. if Salem is to be awakened from its apathy, then lovers of God are going to have to do the things that no one else is doing, a level of love and commitment that this city hasn't seen before. i'm convinced that God's calling us to be more radical in loving, giving, and serving than anything the church in Salem has ever seen.

second, it is by God's wisdom and his leading that the church in Salem will rise up and reach out to the unreached within its own borders. he will lead us. all we have to do is obey, which can be frightening and uncomfortable at times. but we must remember that it is God's power for God's work.

last, i'm certain God is just dying to pour out is love to us in its fulness. he did die for us, and he wants us to experience more of the abundant, full, eternal life that he has called us to. this life costs us everything - but its more than worth it.


Lord, thanks for your faithfulness to always meeting us when we seek you.

the centrality of the cross

i have been reminded of the centrality of the gospel. reading in Luke of the passion of the Christ, listening to a few messages that hit on the gospel, and starting Death By Love by driscoll and bershears have been really making me think. during the break, I didn't really feel a love for God in my own heart. honestly, my desire and preference were to spend time with addie instead of pursuing God, and i often did instead of being with Christ. i prayed for God to make me love him, to put that desire within my heart for more of him, but nothing really seemed to happen. no new desire or want to even spend time with God. 

 yet, after reading God's word about Christ's work on the cross, i was filled with awe and wonder, and my heart was stirred within me. If there is no content to love, then it is meaningless. Matt Chandler gave the example of telling the girl you are dating, "baby, i love your beautiful blue eyes" - but she doesn't have blue eyes...the statement is meaningless. there is no basis for love. on the other hand, when love is grounded on a solid foundation, it is a beautiful thing. 

my love for God grows and gains better footing on the ground before the cross. 

my love expands as i grasp the act of Christ in which he showed me the full extent of his love. 

even as i have been going over the gospel more and more, meditating on it and reading about how Jesus was born to die, how he came and bore all of God's wrath and punishment that was supposed to be directed at my head, giving me the life that i do not deserve. he substituted himself to take what only i deserve. john stott puts it this way:

the concept of substitution may be said, then, to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. for the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone. 

 

as i think about the cross as the fullest demonstration of God's love for me, i can't help but be compelled towoard his father heart.

the cross of Christ is central to the love of God.