Lessons I am learning... and a Prayer Request..!

A couple weeks ago I prayed that God would revive in me my passion for His Word… not that I didn’t study and didn’t love it but I wanted to wake up with the necessity to read His Word and to have that same passion last throughout the whole day. I wanted to truly live on the Word and have it be the only thing that helped me to survive the day. That was a pretty powerful prayer and God has definitely answered it in my life.

I’m amazed at what He has done in these past couple weeks to shake up my life. It gets easy to fall into the routine of daily life. It is easy to have a plan and be working towards it. My plan is to finish up school and get my support raised so that I can return to Argentina by next fall but what if God has so much more for me. What if my plans aren’t big enough? God has been at work in my life there is no doubt about that. I am still in shock over last weekend and the opportunity He gave me to speak at the annual meeting (read my next post for more details). But that is only the beginning of what God is doing in me.

These are the passages God is using to touch me during this time:

Josh 1:7-9 – “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

- God asks us to meditate on His Word and obey it. It is when we spend time in the Word that we become prosperous and successful. He will guide our steps and because of that we do not have to fear the future. This is a major lesson that God is trying to teach me. It was reinforces again at church as we studied about Spiritual health and one of the characteristics being peace (Phil 4:6-7). Lord, give me peace during this time as I seek Your Word and obey You..!

Josh 1:16 - "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

- This is my desire… to obey where God leads me and go where He sends me. I can’t imagine living my life doing anything other than serve Him.

Josh 3:5 - Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."

- Have you consecrated yourself before God? Are you expecting amazing things from Him? One of Pastor John’s favorite quotes right now is, “Anticipate God”. Lord, open my eyes to the amazing things you are going to do among us..!

Josh 5:14 - Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"

- My desire is to be able to do as Joshua did… to constantly humble myself before God and ask Him what He wants to teach me. What area in my life needs to be molded into His image? What areas do I need to change so I can display godly character traits? I know I am so far from perfect so daily I should be seeking His face and what He has for me.

On a side note, last night my Argentine father, Hector Canizo passed away from a heart attack in the middle of the church service. It shook my world and reminded me how short life is and how we need to be always be fulfilling our mission here on earth to preach the name of Christ wherever we go. He passed away doing what he loved, leading others to the throne of God in worship. Please be praying as I mourn his loss from so far away. Also, pray for his family in Argentina; his son Pablo and two daughters Vicky and Lucy. Lucy’s birthday is on Tuesday and for the past couple years she has not been walking with the Lord. I don’t know how she is going to deal with this but my prayer is that it draws her back to God. I so wish I could be there to support and encourage them and grieve with them. To be honest I think it is going to hit me hard when I return to Catamarca and he is not there. Right now I just want the peace that passes all understanding for everyone who loved Hector as much as I did..!