Light in the Depths

“Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”” ‭‭John‬ ‭6:29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ As I've been going through the book “We Would See Jesus” the Lord has been showing me so much about how I need to truly just look to Him and no one else. A little bit ago I had a person from church ask me to read through Isaiah 35 because it was something they had been reading through. And when I read through it it was such a blessing. It was amazing to just see Jesus jump off the page as I was reading that passage. The entire passage was wonderful, especially when Jesus is referred to as the “Highway of Holiness”. And how true it felt in that moment of reading it. How much joy it gave me realizing that all we have to do is just see Jesus and God’s grace is enough for us. But that's the thing, throughout my time here, I wasn't always looking to Jesus in this way, as the way. I was looking to Him as my king and savior, but I had been falling into a h...

“So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”” ‭‭II Kings‬ ‭4:2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ This story of Elisha has come up a couple of times in my life recently, but yesterday I finally saw what I feel the Lord has been trying to reveal to me through this message. The full meaning of the container in this story isn't just supposed to be any jar of oil, but a jar of anointing oil. And not just any jar, but a flask, something small. Uganda has been absolutely amazing and I have grown so much here spiritually. But even with all the love I have for this place, I still have been so tired and I have been dragging a lot this last month. The Lord has remained my strength through it all, but at times I'm just so drained, I feel as though I have so little left in my tank. In this story, I see Elisha’s voice as the Lord’s, asking me what I have to continue on for these next three m...

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” ‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ As I've spent my time here in Uganda I've come to really see the Holy Spirit working through me and overpower my fleshly instincts. I never saw it so clearly before, but for me personally, when I've been in fear about certain things or thoughts, it's because I'm choosing to remain in a fearful mindset instead of a righteous one. I’ve come to realize that fear is just an act of the flesh. Instead of thinking on the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy, Heavenly things, and trusting in my all-powerfull God, I, in my flesh, decide to think on the things that are without light, hope, or joy. When I'm acting in the flesh, I fall so easily into those worry some moods, and if i continue to stay in that mindset, I will fall deeper into the pit of fear that Satan hopes to keep me in. And if I'm frozen in worry and ...

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1:3-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ I feel like God has really been trying to bring great joy into my life through these few verses. I've been going through Philippians a lot lately and I feel as though every time I come to this set of verses that I am driven to prayer for my fellow believers. And I am not just driven to prayer, but I'm driven there through a sense of faith and joyousness. See when I read this verse, I think of my friends, family, teammates, and many other believers that I have become acquainted with over the past year. And because I know that like me they are also believers, I know that they are saved, and that the have the same hope in Jesus Christ that I have. ...

““He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him, And the shout of a King is among them.” ‭‭Numbers‬ ‭23:21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ How amazing this word from the Lord is. Now this verse is from the perspective of people who are outside of the nation of Israel, and I think it is a great depiction of how I at times feel about myself. See the preceding chapters before chapter twenty-two are all about Israel’s complaining and failing to remain faithful to the Lord. Every time the Lord punished them for their sinfulness, but soon after the people would repent and God would continue to bless them, although there were consequences for the decisions they made against God, including being kept out of the promised land. From the perspective of Moses and the Israelites they seemed like such a disobedient and disgraceful group attempting to follow the Lord. But from an outer perspective looking into the country of Israel, God considers them a righte...

“Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭12:25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ While being in Montana, the Lord has truly been growing me in understanding how He wants me to use my giftings. It has been something that has constantly been in my prayers and He has definitely been answering those prayers. Encouragement has been something that He's really been trying to grow me in. It's amazing to see how much He's been my encourager and through that I have been able to learn how to encourage others. But at times it honestly isn't as easy as it sounds to simply encourage someone. Encouragement is just like any other gift of the Spirit, you have to be Spirit-filled in order to minister with this gift effectively. It's so easy for words that have failed to be completely selfless and Spirit lead to just bounce right off of people and be completely ineffective. At times they can even impact the person negatively and sink them deeper into wha...

And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen. 2 Timothy 4:18 NKJV The fact the Paul makes this statement at the end of this letter is truly glorifying unto the Lord. This letter was written at the end of Paul’s life and at the end of his ministry. And if we know anything about Paul, we know that he suffered for the sake of the gospel. Aside from all the physical hardships that he suffered he also suffered endless issues from churches and fellow saints. So many issues that he felt responsible for and so many people that needed to hear from him. Not to mention all of the false teachers that not only tried to teach different doctrines but also tried to twist his. We also see how just several verses before this one that Paul even had fellow saints abandon him in perhaps his most desperate hour. These were Paul’s brothers, one of which was Titus, who received a letter from Paul that was placed in the...