I am home from Tijuana, and so thankful for your prayers!! In the next few blogs, I want to share some things I experienced in TJ.

This is my first time really in Mexico, but it feels like home. It sounds strange, but being in the nations feels more at home than anywhere else (sorry Mom and Dad). Everything felt right when I crossed the border. The US was only miles away, yet everything was different.

 

I love the differences. The different look of the buildings and houses. The different expressions of the people. The restaurants on the side of the road. The sound of a different language filling the streets. The new faces. The smells and noises. The people selling things in the streets. The unknowns of transportation.

 

 

God Reigns in Tijuana!

What is your view on prayer? I mean really meditate on what you believe. Is prayer something that you do because you are suppose to? Is it somewhere you turn when all else fails? Is it ongoing conversation with a friend? Do you pray with the conviction that something is being released in Heaven to change things on Earth?

Sometimes I think I pray because it's all I know to do. That's not wrong, but I think it is evidence that I forget God is actually listening and cares what I have to say. At times I'm even surprised when God answers a prayer. It sounds a bit ridiculous.

Unfortunately, I think we tend to pray without expectation. Maybe because we don't always see instant answers. Perhaps we have not encountered the reality that, as God's children, He chooses to partner with us. Maybe our earthly father has left us with a distorted view of our Heavenly Father. Unfortunately, whatever our belief is, it usually dictates our experience. The truth is God is on our side and He loves to give good gifts. 

I like to ask God how to pray in particular situations, so I can align myself with what He is doing. I also find it necessary to connect with the truth that I am seated in Heavenly places (Eph 2:6). Often I need to distance myself from the problem that seems to be swirling around me, and move into the place where I'm seated in Christ. This allows me to pray the solution and strategies of Heaven.

If you feel like prayer is a boring list of things you go through in the morning with little expectation, try looking at prayer in a new light. Ask the Holy Spirit to breathe on these promises and make them a reality in your life:

• The prayer of righteous man is powerful and effective.  - James 5:16
• Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and him who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! - Luke 11:9-13
• If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  - John 15:7
• Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.  - John 14:13-14

Lastly, there is incredible power in perseverance and thanksgiving. Often we have to persevere when it seems our prayers are fruitless. Additionally, I like to thank God for the answer I'm praying. When I'm praying from His heart, I know it has already been accomplished in His Kingdom and I thank Him until I see the answer come to Earth.

As believers, we have the incredible opportunity to change our environment. The Holy Spirit lives within us. Not only is the Holy Spirit power, but a lot of power. He is living in us so that we can be releasers of that power. He has put us here so that this world can have a power encounter with a heavenly God. I dare you to tap into that today.

Christmas break was over.  Early the next morning, I was headed to the airport to fly back to California.  My mom tried her hardest to convince me to arrive at the airport more than an hour and a half before my departure time.  I was not having it – "Absolutely not.  In case you forgot, I've traveled quite a bit.  I'm a pro at this routine.   And it's the Greenville airport.  How busy can they possibly be?" 

Somewhat peremptory, I arrive no more than 50 minutes prior to the departure time.   I insert my major credit card into the self check-in kiosk, and casually wait for my reservation to pop up on the screen.  To my slight surprise it comes back "Reservation Not Found."  OK, no worries, just try again.  I receive the same message a second time.  OK, now I'm a little concerned, but I'm a pretty laid back person, so I'll just talk to the counter agent.  She'll fix everything.  [Insert lesson number one: write down your conformation number (It's never important until you need it – profound I know).]  The minutes pass by as I dig out my computer, power it up, connect to the internet and retrieve my conformation number.  I give it to the counter agent and she begins to make phone calls to straighten things out.  The hands on the clock are moving closer and closer to my departure time.  Things are not looking good. 

Finally she confirms the flight info and sends me running through the airport as they hold the plane for me.  [Insert lesson number two: don't pack a lamp in your carry-on.]  Security requires a search of my bag, which seemingly takes eons.... And I've now missed my flight – Thank you TSA.  My parents are standing by, using every ounce of self-control to not say "we told you so."  With my head down, trying not to feel defeated, I head back to the ticket counter so we can somehow find a way to get me from Greenville to Sacramento today.

Now, would someone who looks at your life attest to your belief in these statements?  Would you say your daily life and thoughts demonstrate that you truly believe these statements?

Too often we let our mind train our spirit, though it should be the reverse.  How often does your personal experience, religious tradition or the cultural consensus stand above the Word of God?  I'll be the first to admit that this happens all too often in my life.  It is so incredibly vital that we don't allow our circumstances or personal experiences to dictate the truth of God's Word and promises.  I can't stress this enough in my own life.  Personally, I have to continually declare His promises when my experiences don't seem to line up with them.  I must until it becomes a truth at my very core.  And even then, I again, have to declare it.

For me, I would say I agree 100% with these statements.  Yet I catch myself thinking or acting contrary to what they proclaim.  In the next couple of blogs, I want to illustrate what this looks like in my life.  And perhaps this series will expose ways you respond to situations counter to the truth.

I hope you stay tuned.

I'm sitting in the LAX airport right now. I love airports....on most days. Today I love it because God is reminding me of where I was almost a year ago. I was on the World Race, and we were leaving Asia. We flew from the Philippines to Nicaragua, but this included a connection in LA. That was a semi difficult trip for me. We ended up staying in the States for 2 days due to confusion with dates and times. I must admit that I had a little anxiety about setting foot on US soil. There was a little culture shock mixed in with the fact that I didn't feel ready to see a familiar place. It was only 2 days, but I didn't want to slip back to where I was before the race. God was birthing things inside of me and changing me in so many ways, and entering the States didn't feel safe. I wasn't prepared for it. It felt like I was leaving the womb prematurely. In the end, I was fine. And when the race was over, God had truly made me ready to come home.

All of this reminiscing about where I was a year ago just launches me into adoration for God. Isn't it so beautiful that He doesn't leave us the way we are; He doesn't just redeem us and leave us alone. He changes and transforms us. He calls us into an intimate love affair. Just think about what has happened in the last year – How has He changed you? We are always in process on this wonderful journey. I just love it! Isn't He so good?! He cares so much about us that He continues to take us to new places. He takes us deeper. He transforms us. He calls us closer. He is always changing us and redeeming us!

I just finished watching Blood Diamonds...on Christmas night.  Not sure how those two events converged, but I wouldn't recommend it.  Or perhaps I would.

Now I'm thinking.  Movies like that – Human Trafficking, Invisible Children, etc – tend to have that effect on me.  I have questions swirling around in my head.  Those movies really mess you up on the inside.  My mind wants to fall into a pattern of thinking how can there be a good God when this is happening.  I know, that I know, that I know God is a good, good God.   So, really I'm just wondering how I could ever tell a person surrounded by constant war and fear and death that there is a good God that loves them deeply and cares for them intimately.  They would surely think I was crazy.  But still I know that God is good.  And, for me, the fact that He gives us choices and freedom is not enough to negate His inherent goodness.  I won't let the evil, that fights against us and attempts to steal our very lives, as evidenced by events happening  all over the world - Africa, Thailand, across town - dictate God's attributes.  He is always good and He is love.  That is truth.  My encounters and experiences in this world will not change what I know to be true in my spirit.  It's dangerous when we start to let our experiences tell us who God is or who we are.

So, what do I come up with?  Does it make sense for me to never buy anything again, to boycott $4 lattes, or to never eat out?  Probably not practical and it's of infinitesimal help to adopt this poverty mentality.  How can I change what is going on in Africa, a world away from me, as I sit in my warm home typing away on my laptop?  More importantly, should I even try?  I am met with an astounding YES!  How?  First, I think it starts with being aware.  Awareness is the beginning, but it's only as good as the action that it inspires.  For me, I choose to change things one person at a time by supporting stories like this.  Second, wherever I am, I believe I am there for a purpose, so I can start by changing things in my own community. 

The Holy Spirit brought two responses to the tension of why I have so much, while others are literally living in war.  First, thanksgiving and gratitude are to be my escorts through life.  Second, He gave me Luke 12:48 – "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more."  In this nation, despite what any economist says, we have been given much.