Week Three. He Has A Plan.

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit-just as you called to the one hope that belongs to your call-one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But Grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” Ephesians 4:1-7

In the book I just finished, Beyond Belief by Josh Hamilton (OF for the Texas Rangers), Josh talks about his struggle with drugs and alcohol that tore apart his life for 4 years and his battle to overcome the power of sin to fight back with Jesus at his side to gain control of the life he was given. He speaks on the constant battle to follow Gods plan for his life and the time when he failed over and over falling back into sin, feeling unworthy of the life God had for Him. Later in the book he finds strength one night in his Grandmothers house after 4 years of drug abuse, holding a bible open to James 4:7 “Summit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

            In the verse above in Ephesians, Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus urging them to live out the life that God himself laid the foundation for. He goes on to say that we are to do this in the same likeness as Christ lived out His plan and to remember that we are unworthy of His plan, but by the Mercy of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we have been given the gift of Grace to be deemed worthy of a life with Christ and to following the path God has for each of us. Many times I feel inadequate to fulfill God’s plan for my life, or sometimes I sit, wondering, questioning God’s plan for my life, sometimes not understanding what is next or wondering why things happen at the particular time, maybe wanting them sooner or later. As I live my life though I am constantly reminded later that God's timing is perfect. Sometimes I don’t see it then, but later in life, like as if He flicks me in the head, I realize again and again His timing is perfect. Like His plan for Africa and wanting to come over here so badly for the longest time having to wait 5 years to do so. 5 years ago I would have not known the kids I do now, have the relationships with people I have and at the time my heart was full of selfishness and not servant hood. Like always though, His plan is perfect and my timing to come here was perfect and I constantly thank Him for this opportunity every time I come over here and serve in His name. As I sit here though, I always question and know that I am not worthy to come. I am a sinner, destined for an eternity of Hell, but with the forgiveness of God and the sacrifice on the cross by Jesus Christ I am able to live an eternity with Christ walking with Him as I live life and forevermore!

           

            This summer when I was working at Pine Cove (Go Base Camps!) I was asked what my favorite song was and why. For someone who loves music more than anyone I know it took me a long time to answer, but after a minute or 2 I said, “Embracing Accusation” by Shane and Shane.  As to why, I began to explain how much truth the song has within it. Its starts off with:

The father of lies

Coming to steal

Kill and destroy

All my hopes of being good enough

I hear him saying cursed are the ones

Who can't abide

He's right

Alleluia he's right!

The devil is preaching

The song of the redeemed

That I am cursed and gone astray

I cannot gain salvation

Embracing accusation

The father of lie, Satan has come to destroy the hopes that I have of being good. “Be sober minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a lion, seeking someone to devour” 1 Peter 5:8 He is out there to destroy our hopes and dreams and to speak hatred and unworthiness into us. But:

Could the father of lies

Be telling the truth

Of God to me tonight?

If the penalty of sin is death

Then death is mine

I hear him saying cursed are the ones

Who can't abide

He's right

Alleluia he's right!

Could the father of lies, be telling us the truth. Has the one, cast out of the heavens be constantly telling us exactly the truth, that we are unworthy and should be given the penalty of sin, that is death. He is right, I am a sinner and deemed unworthy. I am selfish and boastful, and living a world dedicated to things other than God. I do forget to read the word, I do sin and yes I should spend an eternity with him in Hell, but Satan refrains from one thing, which is probably the verse that makes this my favorite song.

Oh the devil's singing over me

An age-old song

That I am cursed and gone astray

Singing the first verse so conveniently

He's forgotten the refrain

Jesus saves!!

He redeemed us from the curse of the law.

In the torments and evil things spoken to me (us) by Satan. Out of everything he says that could be true, he has forgotten one thing. Jesus has saved me; Jesus has saved us as a body of Christ from the death that should be given to us! God has given us a plan to live by and a path to follow and it is up to us to follow it. If you doubt that then turn to my girlfriend Anja's favorite bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plan I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, and not for evil, to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE.”

The Lords plan for our lives is to not live in torment, fear or confusion. He has given us a life worth living, worth telling others about and a life that with God, will be the perfect plan for you. If we live in Him and abide in His plan and teaching, He will sustain us, give us a HOPE, give us a FUTURE and our plan will be lived out, although not always easy, by not my timing, not by your timing but his timing. My heart burns with passion for the hope and life God has given to me. He has given me a life to live, but it is not my life. He is the creator and redeemer and through Him I live. He is the reason I live, the reason I sing, the reason I live to want so desperately for others to know Him. My heart is to see a world break out of selfish desires and see people radically transformed to follow the plan God has for you.

Josh Hamilton was given a plan for his life. For 4 years he went on and off drugs, trying every worldly kind of treatment he could and it wasn’t until he put his faith in Christ and found hope in Him that he was able to follow the plan that God had for him. It is not until we put our faith in Christ as well that we can see the plan that He has for us and live it out like the way we were meant too.

My prayer for everyone reading this and even for the ones that won’t. If you every feel inadequate, unworthy or confused in your life, look to Christ. He is the reason we live and through Him we live. God has a plan for you and I, and I promise, that with Christ, nothing can stand in our way of accomplishing the plan God has for us.

We are one body in Christ, one world created by God, with many different plans. I pray that we as a body for Christ follow that plan and live out a life that has Him right by our side and allows no one, including our self, to stand in our way. 

Week Two. God is Enough

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.” Colossians 1:15-20

          The second week I got to do 2 pretty incredible things. The first being, going back to work at the school Rays of Hope, on Tuesday, which is a primary school (K-6^th) in the slums of Kabalagala which is right outside of Kampala about 30 minutes away from SOZO House 1 and SOZO House 2. When I arrived I could see that God has done incredible work in the renewing of the school including using people to fix floors, paint walls, put a water faucet in the school so no more walks to get water and build a kitchen area designated for cooking and serving food for the kid’s breakfast and lunch. The kids had not forgotten me and I was, with the help of a few of kids, able to remember most of the kid’s names I had gotten know the year before. God has supplied new and more teachers (which meant I didn’t have to teach which is good because I would rather them get and education….I do not have the gift of teaching school). Joel, the Headmaster of the school said that most of all of them had been able to pay their school fees and the others had made arrangements to do so soon. To see this school thriving like ever before gave me so much affirmation and joy that the Lord has his mighty hand over this school and His spirit has and will continue to let it thrive as he transforms lives using education and the teachers and kids of this school to radically effect there nation and neighborhood they live in.

          The second was on Wednesday of that same week I was able to go to a family group that the interns had been going to all year. I went with Carrie, Quinn and Paige because the guy, Jake in their group was in Kenya. The families, like the school, were in Kabalagala just a few blocks away from the school. As we arrived, we were greeted by the grandfather of the house and then by his granddaughter and his grandson Ronald. When we entered the home I was told that the Grandfather, alone, takes care of his 10 grand children and 8 of them live in the small home that we had bible study in. Before we even sat down, they showed the kindness of the Lord by the way they spoke, smiled and acted while we were there. The Grandfather was still thanking the 3 girls for the glasses they had given him a few weeks before and the son showed thankfulness too as well. As they served us tea and bread, the 2 more grandchildren arrived and say down in the small room just to see us and hear the word of God again from us. This time though Ronald read from Word and gave the teaching in English and Lugandan so that his grandfather was able to clearly understand as well. This family, even though not having a lot, still had so much joy in their lives, and praised God for every gift that they had. As we left, in the pouring rain with no rain jacket, I was truly more blessed by that home visit than I ever thought I was going to be.

          In Colossians 1:16-20 (the verse above) Jesus is praised by Paul for all of His glory, mercy, power and honor. As the second week came to a close, I was constantly reminded of how awesome my God is. He is the ruler and power over all creation and loves each one of us even though we deserve to live without him. We live in a world of wrong and right, yes’s and no’s and in this world, my God is in control of it all. He is the one that created all things, sees all things and knows all things and though Him alone I have life. Our world, especially America is a country thriving on the next best thing, how much you have, what don’t you have, I want to be better than you and yet in all that, the times I see God the most are times like the first 2 stories. In places that don’t have much, but yet have everything because they have Christ and have little to replace Him and He alone is enough to fulfill every desire we could possibly have.

          My heart burdens to see the world, myself included, except Christ as all they need. Last weekend we took the kids of SOZO to play soccer and as I was walking back with House 2, I was walking with Remmy and pointed to the house of the hill that belongs to riches man in Uganda. I asked Remmy if he would ever want to have that much money, and Remmy, who a few months ago barely had food and no bed replied with these simple words… “You know a rich man dies too….I may have no money, but I have Jesus, and that is all I need.” Jesus is all we need and I desire to have the same heart as Remmy and to look around me and see a world that has that same heart as well. We have become a possessive world, but I pray that we as a people and nation become a prayerful and thankful world. “For it is written, if anyone shall boast let him boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:21. May God’s love and mercy affect this nation so much that we no longer boast in what we have or don’t have, but only boast in the love, righteousness, glory, mercy, forgiveness, power, and redeeming sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7