Kaleo Ministry S:2

Wow oh wow I really don't realize God's character.
I am nothing, so are they.
I am human, so are they.
I was created so, so were they.
God GAVE me life, and to them as well.
God GAVE me the ability to be like him, and to them as well (Gen 1:28).
Now it is GIVEN to us at Full, the Spirit (not just the spirit, but just the spirit)
Questions:
Life or death? Spirit or sinful nature? Rom 8:6
But really what is there all to know about sinful nature? I do not fully know! The question of Alex arises again, "Is Jesus enough for me?" Well, Paul must have figured it out, he says, "I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, weather well fed or hungry, weather living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who GIVES me strength."(Phil 4:11-13)(Important to keep in mind everything God wants, not me). I say to myself, "God I'll do anything for you, take my life", well do I really realize what I’m asking? I don't believe I do. If I had no mother, no father, no sister, no friends, no bicycle, no food, no water, nothing, could I see Jesus as everything? Would Christ alone be enough? These are important questions I believe I should ask. Perhaps God would GIVE me that extra faith in Christ in that time? We are called as disciples to put God before everything in our life (Luke 14:26). Yet Paul urges us to love people more and more (1 The4:10), that they would receive the crown of life (Philip 4:1). Running that race for the crown that last forever (1:Cor 9:25). Fighting to win people, longing for them to receive this joy and the crown. It must be a love that keeps growing, this is really quite insane! If I persevere trough this it will get ugly. There is going to be pain and suffering. I have experienced some already, but things are always growing and advancing with God, isn't that what it's all about with him? I hope God teaches me more about this. He GIVES all things. The question is, will I in real love and in humility of myself, accept, take and use that which he GIVES to me and use it for the Kingdom? Do I believe enough that he would GIVE me desire and joy for this?

Kaleo Ministry S.2

This week at youth I met a lot of the youth's parents. We, well mostly Amanda, told them about what we do and what its all about. There is some concern for members in our youth, I'm hoping that the ones we are concerned with will make it to the lift off event Feb 1,2. Hopefully I'll get the chance to hang with them and share some quality moments. Today at church we talked about Jonathan. "Jonathan became like one in spirit with David, and he loved David as he loved himself"(1 Sam 18:1). That is quite a remark right there, the word "as". It makes me question myself again, do I love myself, am I happy with what I'm doing? Am I able to look back and see myself growing, looking for the best in things? Can learn to love myself, and I believe loving the things God is growing in me? Things like deeper love for people, and more desire to live with God through the Son. I hope Jesus continues to reveal himself to me, so that I can learn to accept each person, as Christ has already has. Also in accepting these people that I would accept God's words. To hope that I would continue to search for meaning and understanding like a hidden treasure. But really do I? really will I? To really truthfully dive into all this, I do not fully understand how. I wish I had all the answers, but really I cant, so should I seek what I can't have? So I begin to think gradually, gradually may God show me the way that I might understand better as days go by and months, and years, decades. "One in spirit," that is something for me to think about, but please show me God!
(Pro 2, Romans 15:7)

Kaleo Ministry S-2

So it is semester 2 and we just studied the Pentateuch. I really like these first four books It can really reveal to you more of the story in the Bible. Also it can give you more of a understanding of why things are the way they are. In Deuteronomy it talks a lot about the heart and how people were either serving God or rejecting God depending on were there heart was at. There is this idea of Jesus coming to fulfill the law, which is amazing and I'm working a little on trying to figure out the difference between what the patriarchs and Moses experienced as appose to what we can now experience as we have Christ and the Spirit. Little words with huge meaning like, love, friendship and being with people, I am learning more about. These words are all separate yet they all sort of need each other to be fully at work, fulfilled in their work, or something like that. I'm working on the idea of caring for people, I'm realizing more about how I alone cannot care enough.
Hairy Unger has been doing sermons on friendship lately and that has been really good for me. (John 15:12-17 and I Samuel 14). God chose us first, and he is looking for someone to fight for “them”. Yeah I’ve heard it so much but I do not fully understand.
My prayer is that God can show me how to really love, care and live life in a way that would please him. Through time more understanding can come. I hope I do not waste this time. So God keep revealing more about you to me!! There is hurt, pain and confusion, misunderstandings, anger and yet there is something beautiful about this.

LOVE

So I have been dealing a lot with the topic of LOVE and finding deeper meaning about it. If there is one thing to really grasp about God it is that he chose us first! This relationship we can have with Christ I would like to describe to the extent of one that you might have for a significant other. God did choose us first, and it is amazing, but this doesn't make it complete. Now we also have to choose him. This is the only way for that real and true LOVE to work; both peoples poring into each other, this is the key, but you must know it in your heart! Yes I have known this for a long time, but there is something about knowing it in your head, and knowing it in your heart. There is a great difference. I believe God is working more on my heart, and it's is not always comfortable, in fact it is crazy hard at times, so hard.

When you grow to love someone in a way that some would say "more than a friend" it is a very special thing. Something to be cherished, something you greatly do not want to let go of, or have things go wrong. Yet I truly believe Christ’s love coming from God greatly exceeds even such a love as this. So when you love a person in such a way and then destruction happens, and things go wrong it is crushing to the soul. It hurts. But think, God loves us so much more! Imagine the pain he must go through when we do not choose him! Life can be so hard and yet through this I at times have such an urge to show others real love that only could come through Jesus. My heart is being stirred as it so feels, perhaps being molded? It is a suckey process, I feel like I hate it at times, yet at the same time deep down I feel that this is good, soo good.

Love is such a huge topic and I know that there is so much more for me to "get" or understand about it. Today I had communion and I finally felt like I wanted to take part in it, like I was feeling "this sense", or just a little more of what Jesus did and what it was all about. It is one thing to hear folks, but it is something so much more and so much "better" to know in your heart meaning, understanding. Communion today was in a way a big deal to me as I have struggled with taking part in communion for about the past year. Of course things are not totally fulfilled "within" yet, never be totally. I am growing, yes I believe in Christ growing.

Humans can be such a blessing yet they can be so hurtful, and sometimes they just unintentionally hurt, or they make a decision that may be best for them. Regardless it still hurts so much. I'm in a process of trying to heal over such a hurt, and it is so hard! So hard! I love that I can know God/Christ/Spirit is with me at this time. I also love that there are people who can help.

God help me at this time, it is like I am emotional and cry often. I have often thought to myself lately Love is patient, it is just a process that takes time, living, breathing, tasting, doing, thinking this is life!........

LOVE LOVE LOVE, HARD HARD HARD, GOOD GOOD GOOD, LOVE LOVE LOVE