Peru: Martes: Dia Tres

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
~Psalms 118:24

     Today I fell in love with my Savior all over again. I love Him. I honestly and truly love Him. I'm crazy about Him. I think about what He has done for me, and I get all gitty inside. I think about how much He knows me, and yet how much He loves me anyway...I am so overwhelmed, so undeserving. Today, I wish He was physically in the room with me. I know that whoever sees the face of God can't live? But if I die, then I can look into His gorgeous eyes, hold His powerful hands, and hug His scarred and perfect body . Oh, to be dead. He is all I need. I am content with Him. 

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus...

...Look full in His wonderful face...

...And the things of earth will grow strangely dim...

...In the light of His glory and grace."

In His Arms,

<3 D

Peru: Lunes: Dia Dos

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk you in it..."
~Isaiah 30:21

     Today the Lord blew my mind. He drew a doorman named "Caesar" to Himself. I ask God to work through me oh so often, yet I am always so surprised when He does. :) My God is so much bigger, so much better, that I ever give Him credit for. Today I learned something: Never ignore the promptings of the Lord. He will give you fruit, if you are willing to obey Him. 

Please, keep Caesar in your prayers!

In His Arms,

<3 D

Peru: Domingo: Dia Uno

"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so."
~Psalms 107:2

     Today I realized the importance of FE. As I was sharing the gospel with a older gentleman named "Bob" on my flight to Lima, my heart sank when I realized that no matter how hard I tried, my faith wasn't going to be enough for him. My FE won't ever be enough for others, they must obtain it and know it for themselves. Everyone, at one point in there life makes a conscious decision whether they will take their intellect off the throne or whether they will step out with just mustard seed sized FE. FAITH, it's hard and scary at first, but it will be more than worth it in the end.

Please, keep Bob in your prayers!

In His Arms,
<3 D

"I am sending you to them..."

Ezekiel 2:4-8

"I am sending you to them...and you shall speak My words to them."

In six hours, I and group of twenty take off for Lima, Peru. Though this will be my third trip to the country of Peru, I could not have been more undeserving and blessed to be given this opportunity. I feel unprepared and very unworthy, but somehow by the grace of God, I think I'm ready. I'm ready to see what God is going to do and I am ready to watch the Savior call His beautiful people to Himself. 

2 Timothy 1:7

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

Joshua 1:9

 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

I'm not gonna lie, I'm scared. I know that (for some crazy reason) God has called me to THIS country, on THIS trip, at THIS time, to speak of His truth and to tell His story. But I also know that we are called to be "Sober minded and vigilant, because our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking out who he may devour." PLEASE, please, keep myself and the rest of the group in your prayers this week. The Lord has something unimaginable planned for this nation, these people and this trip, but Satan wants nothing more than to stop, get in the way, fight, distract, and hurt in any and every way he possibly can. 

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

God is BIG and I am expecting Him to do a mighty work in the nation of Peru. Only through His strength, not our own. May His perfect will be done. Be praying!

In His Arms,

<3 D

Imagine for a moment...

     Imagine for a moment, that you’re living a life that’s not your own. It’s a boring life. There is no real point to your existence. Every day goes on just like the ones before it. Again and again you try with no avail to bring happiness, contentment, excitement, passion, joy, feeling, anything into this life you lead, yet time and time again it all feels futile. No matter how hard you try to change, the outcome is inevitable, stuck in a never ending cycle. You don’t feel like fighting it anymore, because every time you do, you come out on the losing end. You barely feel anymore, all that’s left to your life is emptiness. 

     Now imagine for a moment, that in this same life, this same empty existence, that you meet someone. This person turns your whole world upside down. It’s the introduction of a lifetime. Soon after you meet Him you find yourself unable to think of anything but Him. He makes you want to change the way you speak, the way you think, the things you do. Not only is He constantly on your mind, but everyone, everything, falls into the background as you become completely consumed with Him. For the first time in your life, you feel everything you’ve ever wanted to, with just a glimpse of Him. You can’t stop smiling; nothing can kill the joy inside of you. You’re completely head over heels in love with this guy and He’s changed your life.

     But that’s not all. You want to show Him off. You want your family and friends to see the reason for your passion, the reason for your excitement.  You want them to meet the love of your life. You want them to know Him. You want them to see the way you look at Him, and they way He looks at you. You want them to overhear the inside jokes He whispers in your ear. You want them to understand why you’re so crazy in love with Him. You want them to see His beauty, because you know that’s all they’ll ever need. It was all you ever needed.

     Can you see yourself in this life? Happy, content, changed. All because of one person who made you become who you always wished to be. Can you feel the growing desire to bring Him home to meet the ones you love? Now imagine, for that last time, that your family and friends refuse to meet Him. You want nothing more than to tell them of His perfection, of all the things He has done for you, but they don’t want to hear it. Not only do they refuse to give Him credit for all the changes in your life, but they don’t even want you to speak of Him. You have finally found the love you have been waiting for your whole life, and they don’t even believe He exists.

     This post is to all those people out there that I love and yet refuse to believe. He is real, He is why I breathe, He is the reason I’m alive, and no matter how many times you tell yourself that the one who stole my heart is all in my mind, in that same moment that you doubt, He is calling you. Though you two have never met, He knows your name, He knows what makes you smile, He knows what makes you cry, He knows you because He created you, and He is calling you to be His child. He changed my life, and all He wants is to be able to change yours too. Just listen…

In His Arms,

<3 D

Matthew 14:28-29

 "Lord, if it's You," Peter replied, "tell me to come to You on the water."

"Come," He said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat,

walked on the water

and came towards Jesus.

In His Arms,

<3 D

Being Weak...

 
     I am praying God will give me a lot of grace with this post, because I know exactly what I want to say...I'm just not quite sure how to say it.

     Do you ever feel discouraged? Do you ever try really hard to do the "right thing," but you don't understand why it's so hard? Do you ever feel alone? Do you ever find yourself trying to do something that you are sure God will be proud of, yet you find yourself struggling? Do you ever feel weak?

     The truth is most of us go to great lengths to disguised our weaknesses. We try and prove that we're strong, that we can handle anything that gets thrown our way...(don't even try to pretend this doesn't apply to you. We all do it.)

     During the past week, I felt very incapable. Very weak. Like I couldn't do anything right. I didn't understand why I thought I was on track with God, yet things were still hard. I felt discouraged. I felt weak. Last night my (heavenly) Daddy gave me answers to why this was. (He is kind of perfect like that.) Through a book, he gave me these words: "Trying to live the Christian life out of your own power is ridiculous. Why would a person do that? Why would you walk when you can ride? Being filled with the power of the (Holy) Spirit begins with an honest acknowledgement of our own weakness."

     After receiving God into your life, the next best gift He gives us is His Holy Spirit. I believe once you have surrendered your life to Him, you are given access to the Holy Spirit, all you have to do is..well, access it. :) This is what the Bible has to say about it:

• 2 Cor. 12:9-10 "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness...For when I am weak, then I am strong."

That was exactly what I was missing... 

• Acts 1:8 "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you..."

All you have to do is ask for it. And with His Spirit comes amazing grace (to do the hard things,) and this, this perfect unexplainable peace. (Apparently, "unexplainable" is not a word-says my computer.)

• Gal. 3:3 "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to obtain your goal by human effort?" 

Enough said? I think so. Well, one of my many weaknesses is my lack of writing talent, so I hope you picked up what I was attempting to put down. :) Blessings!

In His Arms,

<3 D