Pursuit~Waiting on God

This was an overdue blog post. I have been so busy I haven't even been able to keep everyone updated on what God has been doing in my life.  If you were not able to attend Pursuit I am sorry you missed it! But no matter what you can still have your own Pursuit nights during your prayer time.  Well during Pursuit we really wanted to focus on God and seeking after Him.  We wanted everyone to experience a deeper connection with God. I believe we got that. Even though it was in a very small way I believe it is the spark to the huge fire that is coming.

During our Pursuit nights we had the privilege of having Timothy McCain speak.  His heart is to see Christians not just playing the part but living a life consecrated for Christ.  One of the nights we were able to have a Fire Tunnel.  A fire tunnel is where people line up in two separate lines and allow others to pass through the middle of both lines to receive prayer.  

When it was my turn I stepped through the line and received prayer form my peers.  One of the people in line that I treasure and know hears from God spoke to me and told me that God is going to give me a dream that will turn into a vision.  It will be as if I went to heaven she said.  God is going to pull back the veil and speak to me.  He is going to speak to me without moving His lips; I will understand what He is saying.  She also said that He is going to give me a great ministry.  This last part lined up with something Timothy told me.  Timothy prayed over me and prophesied that God was going to give me a Deliverance ministry. A ministry to deliver people from the demonic and addictions in their life.  

I can’t wait to hear from God.  I can’t wait to be in His presence. 

Jubilee is Coming!!!

The last few months Brad and I have been praying and fasting for our finances.  Since we are in school it has been hard to pay off old debt and keep up with the new costs of attending college. We have really been believing for a fresh start in 2013.  From the beginning of the year our Pastor has been talking about this being the year of Jubilee, the year for debts to be cancelled and people to be set free as it states in the Old Testament.  I never really paid attention to where he said this was located in the Bible and was just taking in what God had told him.  Well today as Brad was on his way to work he was praying and asking God to break the chains of debt. Right after a commercial came on the radio and Greg Laurie (A Famous Pastor) was telling a story of how a lawyer gave a homeless man a very large check to help him get on his feet and the story talked about how the homeless man's debts had been forgiven.

Brad was thrilled and knew God was speaking directly to him. I honestly didn't think much of it. I did think it was cool but I didn't give it a second thought after I read Brads text. Well, I went on with my night and went into worship and prayer.  As I was worshiping the song by Jesus Culture called, "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?" came on my iTunes.  If you do not know the song it says,

Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring Your hope and
Songs that bring Your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice

Did you feel the mountains tremble?
Did you hear the oceans roar?
When the people rose to sing of
Jesus Christ the risen One

Did you feel the people tremble?
Did you hear the singers roar?
When the lost began to sing of
Jesus Christ the saving One

And we can see that God You're moving
A mighty river through the nations
And young and old will turn to Jesus
Fling wide You Heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord

Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring Your hope
Songs that bring Your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice

Did you feel the darkness tremble?
When all the saints join in one song
And all the streams flow as one river
To wash away our brokeness

And here we see that God You're moving
A time of Jubilee is coming
When young and old return to Jesus
Fling wide You Heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord

Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring Your hope
Songs that bring Your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice

Once the song got to the part that said, Dancers who dance upon injustice I danced and sang out things that I wanted freedom from. Freedom from Debt specifically.  Then I continued to sing and worship and I heard it say, "A time of Jubilee is coming." I had never paid attention to this part of the song and was surprised by it! I was excited because this was exactly what our Pastor was talking about for the last two months.  After my prayer and worship time I decided to read my Bible. I have been in Deuteronomy for the last week and could not remember where I had stopped last night.  Come to find out I was on chapter 15 which is titled, "The Year for Canceling Debts."  I was so shocked to see this. This was the exact scripture that Pastor Terry had been talking to us about without ever revealing where it actually was. God was speaking to Brad and I clearly about our financial situation.  I can honestly say after tonight I will not worry again about how we are going to pay for school or even monthly bills. God will take care of it. 

MARDI GRAS

            Mardi GRAS is a time for people to indulge themselves with the things of the world; alcohol, drugs, and sex are extremely present and public during this time. When I was told I would have to attend Mardi GRAS for a school mission trip I was pretty nervous. All I imagined was Sodom and Gomorrah as in the Bible.  Even though I was a little frightened about Mardi GRAS I knew God had a plan and purpose for us attending. His reason was to allow his followers to show others His love for them.

      The first day we arrived in New Orleans we were not the happiest group.  Don't get me wrong we were excited for the chance to minister to people about God but we were upset about the dorms we were put in.  From the start all those who were placed at the dorms were upset and not in the most Christ like mood.  There were cockroaches and it was no Hilton hotel but we should have been thankful for a place to stay.  God was putting us to the test.  How would we react to the atmosphere around us? Would we act in love and appreciation or would we act out of anger? After reevaluating the situation we felt ashamed for the way we reacted.  After we put our selfishness aside we were able to meet some amazing women and have our own prayer meeting.  

      We all stayed up until 5:00am praying. We prayed and worshiped God for three hours, with women we did not even know.  All we had in common was Christ until we became familiar with them.  God was present in that dingy dirty place.  He was not bothered by the surroundings He was more interested in our hearts. We not only drew closer to God that night we made life long friends.  

     The next day we were picked up and taken to our hotel rooms.  We were not put in the rooms together but it allowed us to meet more new people.  The first few nights we did not go out to Bourbon Street we just worshiped God together and went to our preaching sessions.  It was more of a time to unify the students and staff before we hit the streets of New Orleans.  

     The first night we went out was a little scary. I did not know what to expect. The streets were covered with drunks, half naked people, and people on drugs.  We tried to stop anyone that passed us.  I started out with, "Have you heard the big question?" If you were to die today would you go to heaven?  Many gleefully said, "NO I am going to Hell."  This was sad to hear.  Some people did stop and we were able to pray with them but we did not see any one come to Christ in my two-person team.  

      Even though many did not come to salvation the first day we prayed with many people.  I remember on one of the nights we stopped a group of teens.  There was one young girl who was listening and wanted prayer.  As I grabbed her hand she was picked up and pulled away. She gripped my hand so tight and was screaming, "I want them to pray with me!"  It was gut wrenching because she was being ripped away from a relationship with God because of her friends.  A minute later she came running back to me tearfully asking me to pray with her as her friends yelled for her to hurry up.  I hurried and prayed with Rachel and she seemed so much more at peace and joyful.  Rachel gave us both a hug and ran off into the filthy streets with her friends.  

     Every person on the streets of Mardi GRAS was viewed not just as a number. When I looked at people that walked by me I saw them as lost sheep.  They were people walking straight into hell and most didn’t care.  Even though that is what I saw when I saw each person I decided to use a new tactic. Instead of asking each person if they would be in heaven I told each person about the love of God.  Even if they did not stop I would tell them, "God loves you and has a plan for your life."  

            The new tactic had much more success.  My husband and I stopped a few homosexual couples and just told them about the love of God.  Many are just told that God hates them but it is not the truth.  We would tell them about the love of God and they would just melt.  They were shocked as well to see Christians pouring out God’s love rather than yelling at them. 

            During the trip God decided to use me to give people words of knowledge.  In one instance my partner and I were speaking to a woman and God kept telling me she was sad and depressed and that she needed to know He loves her.  After my partner stopped talking I told her that I felt like God was telling me to pray for her about her sadness and that she was going through something.  She was surprised and said that the reason she was even at Mardi GRAS was because she was trying to get through a tough situation.  After I prayed with her she was joyful and at peace.

            On the last day, which was Fat Tuesday, we were able to see three more people saved.  Ronnie was the name of one of the guys we spoke to.  He told us how he was raised in church; some members of his family were ministers and deacons.  He had tears in his eyes as we spoke of Gods love.  When Brad was praying for Ronnie I felt like God was saying, “He is called to be a Pastor. He should not be on the streets doing what the world is doing he needs to be on the streets preaching and winning the lost.”  I was obedient and told him. 

            After Ronnie walked away a few other members of our group stopped him down the road a bit.  We were curious as to what they said so we asked them.  Alex the girl of the group said that God told her that he was going to be a street preacher and that he was going to be God’s hands and feet to take the gospel to others.  Ronnie received the same word from Alex as he did from me.  God wanted to make sure Ronnie heard what he needed to do. 

            All in all my Mardi GRAS trip was amazing.  I was able to speak to people about God’s word.  We had many that mocked us and cursed at us but it was all for the cause of Christ.  As it says in Galatians 2:20, “20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  I live for Christ and am willing to die for Him.  My goal is to see people turned to God and have eternal life.  This trip drew me closer to God and allowed me to understand His love.