Remembering God's Power

This past month has been all about preparation for me . . . God's preparation in my life to do his will. He is leading us to Africa . . . we are being obedient. I was reading tonight over my blogs that I have written on my blogspot over the past couple of weeks to remind myself how God has been speaking to me during this time. I wrote one January 13th that served as a great reminder to me tonight that I wanted to share:

Yoda, Dreams and Power

“But is it possible you don’t really want God? Is it possible you just want what you think God can give you? One of the things I believe God is teaching me in my life these days is that at times we want our dreams more than we want God. We want what God does for us instead of just God.” Pete Wilson, Plan B

I think I had seen part of this quote somewhere else and know that it made sense to me at that point. But today it really hit home with me. As I go through this journey . . . the journey of growth . . . I find that we do not need to sugar coat the truth to make it worthwhile. We do not need to spruce it up . . . it is perfect exactly as it is. There is power in God . . . just God.

God doesn’t need our dreams to fulfill his will.The fact of the matter is that as believers we don’t need to dream. This is something that has become very real to me this week. We simply need to be godly. We need to be obedient and hold true to his promises.

One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Yoda . . . in the movie The Empire Strikes Back. You have probably heard it before, but it is simply “Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.” I believe that God is calling us as believers TO DO. Dreaming to me suggests hoping and trying. God is calling us TO DO.

To make my point, looking at a verse tonight really brought reality to what I have been thinking and feeling. Ephesians 1:19–20 says

“You will know that God’s power is very great for us who believe. That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead and put him at his right side in the heavenly world.”

This passage just floored me. For us who have a relationship with God . . . “believers” . . . we have the same power of God in us that was used to raise Christ from the dead! We have the miraculous power of God in us! We have the power TO DO what he is calling us to do!

So forget dreaming. Forget hoping. My desire is to realize and grasp and hold firm and act upon the fact that God is in me . . . and his power is alive and well in me. Knowing that, it brings new meaning to what God can do through you and me. It gives me confidence and belief in that if I am faithful and obedient, he will use me exactly the way he wants to . . . and that is better than any dream I can think of.

Team Work!

Hey everyone! First off, no words could possibly express the joy and excitement that is building in me everyday as i am preparing for this trip! This is a complete new area for me and my first major mission trip and i am so thrilled to be doing something crazy for God! As i have been reading "Outlive Your Life" along with the rest of my Tanzania team i came to a chapter on the importance of having a team or a group in your walk with Christ and in the things that you will do for Him. This chapter was so incredible because God really spoke to me through it! He was showing me that He has selected the perfect group to go over to Dar, one whom He is going to use to bring about some pretty awesome things. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says "It's better to have a partner than to go at it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, but if there's no one to help, tough!" It is so important to have a support group when you are living your life in crazy actions for the Lord and with our Tanzania team i know that God has selected the most extraordinary of gifts to collaborate so that we can all be the best for each other and for Him! i hope my enthusiasm is evident in this because i am smiling the whole time writing it! it is just awesome to me that God can use the biggest of sinners and the most insignificant of people to carry out His work; and to be apart of something bigger than myself is very rewarding. This trip will be challenging none the less, but that is why we are going at it as a TEAM! With all of us, there will never be a lack of encouragement or passion; and as the day gets closer to our flight, we are continuing to learn more about each other as well as learning more about ourselves. God is so powerful and He is going to be revealed to us in ways that i dont think we will have ever seen before!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers daily as we prepare for our Lord's work!

~Kaitlyn~