Gifts, Grace, Rights, Hunger, Generosity!

small beach close to campus

There has been many things to be thankful for here so far! Being that last weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada and I missed out, I thought I would say a few things of what I am thankful for. I am very thankful for the opportunity of being able to come to Hawaii and be apart of the Compassion DTS. At first, honestly I wasn't super excited to come. I know that I was supposed to come and that God was directing me to come, and I did want to do what God wanted we to do, but I just wasn't sure I wanted to step this far out of my comfort zone. Although, so far it has been great. I am very thankful for my family and friends at home that are praying and supporting me! And also I am very thankful for the roommates that I have here!

another amazing sunset

This week the lectures were on the 'what's in your hands', 'the grace ticket', 'letting go of our rights', 'hunger for God', and 'generosity'. The lecture on what's in your hands was all about understanding that everyone has their own talents and gifts and that we should all each use those gifts to glorify God and honor him. Along with this, it is important for us to be aware that each one of us have unique gifts and that we should not envy other peoples gifts. This is often a hard concept to master as it is hard to sometimes see our own talents and easy to see others. But each persons talents and gifts are special to each individual and can all be used to advance God's kingdom. For example, I have always wanted to be musically talented, but unfortunately have not been successful in that area, and so it would be easy for me to look at someone who can sing and play and instrument and wish that I could be like them, but rather what I should do is look at them and see how amazing they are and be thankful that God has made us all different so that we have people with these talents as they can share them with us!

The lecture on the grace ticket was also a very good one (they all pretty much are..). The definition of grace in the dictionary is 'a state of sanctification (made holy) by God. This definition seems like a pretty amazing statement! But then the next question that most likely would be, well why and how does someone receive the grace from God. It seems crazy and simple, but all that God asks of us is to accept Jesus into our lives. Once we have received God's grace, we start to think, well what's next? This is what the speaker discussed; what should do when we don't know what to do next? (something that has definitely passed through my head lots). She started by saying that it is important to get to know the character of God, as for anyone, one needs to know a person before they can come to trust them completely. Then we should remind ourselves about what God has done in our lives in the past and thank him for it. Lastly she said that it is important for us to hang on to the word of God and really think about and study it. If we do this we will begin to understand the character of God and what he wants to do in our lives. This can often be hard to do as we can easily can become distracted, but throughout the past two weeks, it has become very clear that it is imperative in our walk with God to read the Bible. The more we understand who God is and what he wants for us, the more we can achieve for him. The speaker made the statement that 'we often limit God to what we can think up' which I agree with. Many times if we feel that God is asking us to do something, we think - ya right, that's impossible - which according to what we know it most likely is - but God can do the impossible! We need to stop thinking so much about what we know is possible and just go along for the ride and watch what God can do. He will provide all that is necessary if we are willing to just believe! - This is something that I am definitely trying to work on while I am here. I want to try and stop analyzing everything, and just know that God has it in control and that he will provide me with the grace ticket right at the moment that I need it.

The lectures on giving up our rights and hunger for God kind of go together. In order to know if you are truly hungry for more of God and want to know more about him, you have to think about your rights you have and whether or not you are willing to give them up. This can include family, friends, finances, materialistic items, reputation, marriage, food, and even your life. This is a bit difficult for me to think about as it is hard to let go of things that you care so much about. But what the speaker was saying was that in order to fully serve and live life to its fullest, you need to give it up (in which he may give back)... I believe this is true, and that it doesn't necessarily mean that God will ask you to go and live on nothing, but he will ask you to trust him to provide and for you not to lean on your own knowledge and the world. Proverbs 3:5-6 says "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not onto your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight", and then in 1 John, it says "do not love the world or anything in the world..."Both these verse show us that we need to trust God for all we need and not the world, as you will never be at peace or satisfied with the world, but you will be with God. (as I am writing this, I am also listening to music and a song came on called 'give it all away', which is kinda funny cause it is talking about giving your life away to God as it isn't even ours to begin with!)

The last lecture of the week being on generosity tied all the lectures together. Through the grace of God we learn that we need to give up our lives as Jesus did in order to advance the kingdom of Heaven. Generosity is not only about giving financially, but more specifically having a generous heart in that you are willing to do anything for someone else because you know that is what is right. Being generous is 'walking in abundance with people around us'. It was cool because at the end of the lecture the speaker asked us to pray and ask God what it was that he wanted us to give away. People began giving money, possession, and even just an encouraging word or prayer. People were giving away things they loved because they knew that the other person really needed it or really would appreciate it. In giving away things that mean a lot to you or may put you in a different situation financially, shows that you don't care about the earthly worries and that you trust God to provide for all your needs. It's not about what you give, it's the spirit that you have while you give.

For me personally, this week has been pretty good. It has been corporate week (which means all the dts's together, about 500 people), so it has been a bit harder to focus, but the worship was really good. I have found that the most important things that I need to do while I am here is to go over and try and absorb what I have heard during the lectures (which writing the blog has helped with), and trying to read the Bible more and spend more time in prayer... something I haven't really done much of before, prayer was more of a before bedtime and at meal times type of thing. I want to become strong in the Lord and learn to hear his voice so I know where he wants me to go.

Prayer Requests: Is that I can focus on spending time with God and read the Bible, and learn how to hear his voice and know what he wants me to do (but at the same time not trying to get ahead of myself, but rather living each moment as it comes)

If anyone else has a prayer request or comments please let me know! Also let me know what you think about the blog.... like if you would like me to continue to write about my lectures or if I should just make it shorter and comment on how my week was going... Thanks :D

A really great picture of me and two of my roommates :D

Check ya lata!
Rachael