You are His.

What a blessing. What an honor. What a joy. What makes each of these truths so sweet is more than you being His. As children adopted into the family of God, we receive a Father. Not only are you His, but He is yours.

Last week we saw that when we are His we a kept safe and secure in knowledge that He is in control. But it is more than that. How does being His look practically? That’s what I want to know. It’s what I need to know if I’m going to live what I believe.

Practically, Christ being ours means we have an advocate. We have One on our side who is fighting for us, encouraging us, and loving us.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mervy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16

The truth that He is yours matters because we have a Savior who, as the unknown author of Hebrews states, knows exactly what we are going through. We are not drowning out at sea with God in Heaven wishing He knew what we were feeling. The difference between us and Christ is not that we are tempted. It is not that we experience hardships. The difference is that we sin, and He did not.

This means that we struggle and fail, and Christ struggled but was victorious.

“‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the vitory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Cling to this, my friends! Find rest knowing that where you are and the struggles you are facing are not unknown to Christ. Approach the throne of grace with confidence! Receive the mercy offered to you by Christ and find help in your need. Christ is sufficient. His grace is sufficient, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

God promises through Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are temped, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

The verse in Hebrews talks about receiving mercy in your time of need. What is your ‘time of need’ right now? What is plaguing your thoughts and causing you to lack trust in God’s goodness? In God’s plan?

You are not alone. Surrender your concerns, your fears, and your situation- your ‘time of need’- to the God who watches over you. Cling to the promise that you are His. And because of that, He is yours.

It would only be fitting to begin a journey such as this with one statement:

You are His.

What this means in your life is powerful and unchangeable, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll save the practical stuff for next week. Right now, I
just want you to pause for a moment and think about that truth for a moment.

You are His.

Everything we will talk about or think about over the course of this summer hinges on this one statement. It’s one you must be sure of and I assure you I’m
not making a big deal out of something that should be a little deal. In fact, this is the thing that becomes a little deal way more than it becomes a big
deal and it NEEDS to be a big deal.

It needs to be a big deal because if you aren’t already His none of this will matter to you.

It needs to be a big deal because if you are His and you’re not living like you’re His you’re missing it.

You’re missing the point. Because the point is that when we are His we are taken care of. It doesn’t mean your best friend won’t die of cancer. It doesn’t
mean you won’t fail a class or get dumped or get in fights with your mom. It doesn’t mean your dad won’t leave and it doesn’t mean you’ll be financially
secure for the rest of your life.

It simply and wholly means you are His.

And when you are His you are kept safe. You have the promise that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called
according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) That is the holy, sovereign God working things for YOUR good in HIS way. That is sweet, my friends.

We were once lost in utter darkness with no hope of finding the exit. But “He has rescued us from the dominion f darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)

We have been saved from death and saved for the purpose of proclaiming the name of Jesus to the world. If we had no purpose on this earth God will call us Home right now, I’m certain. But there is a world around us – beginning with your friends in your town – that are literally on their way to eternal death unless they hear the truth. You have the truth! Don’t be plagued with silence. Speak!

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are” … “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” (1 John 3:1, John 10:28)

I can remember hundreds of times during my childhood and teenage years where a group would gather to play sports. Maybe it was kickball at recess, soccer with friends, or Frisbee after church. Team captains would be picked and everyone else would stand awkwardly in the middle waiting. Waiting to picked. Waiting to be wanted. Waiting to be chosen.

There was nothing better than being picked first. “They want me!” Yes. What a feeling! But equally to match the joy of being picked first is the pang of being picked last. “Why even play if no one wants me?” I would think.

If you feel like a kid being picked last, unwanted and purposeless, cling to the promise that you are His. He has chosen you, called you by name, and ordained your every day before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). There are few things so worthy of celebration than this.

I know how easy it is for you to read these words, yet not let them truly affect you. So my challenge to you this week is simply to believe this. Believe that you are His and that He is in control. I invite you to think about the things that are keeping you from believe that you are His and to surrender them.

Lord,

It’s so hard to remember that I have been called out of this world and into Your Kingdom. It’s so easy to see what is right in front of me and believe that it is better than You. I’m sorry for forgetting this promise that You have called me by name. I’m sorry for forgetting that I am Yours, and living like I am not. Please help me to remember that you have ordained my every moment. Help me to live out each day in the truth and promise that I am Yours. I love you.

Amen.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:23-24

Lately, my heart has been burdened with the thought that summer should not so much be a time to take a break and do nothing, but a time to find new
ways to minister, encourage, and serve (even if I’m far away from anyone and everyone!).

SO- Welcome :) I am thankful for the few minutes you’ve given even just to check it out. My desire is that every week this summer I can challenge
and encourage you with the living, active, and holy Word of God.

This week I began reading In Real Time by Mike Glenn, the pastor of a church in Nashville that I hope to visit during my short time there this summer. Pastor Glenn talks about “you are” statements and the power that they have over our lives. If, when we were young, our parents or other significant adults told us “you are smart” or “you are beautiful” or “you are worth it” we would walk forward in our lives believing these things. However, if we were instead told “you are stupid” or “you will never amount to anything” or “you are a failure” we will carry these words with us and sadly, we will believe them.

Unfortunately, I feel that the struggle that plagues most girls is that we believe lies from Satan over the truth of God. We don’t have to look
far to see that this has been a struggle from the beginning. In Genesis 3 the serpent goes to Eve and says the tantalizing words, “Did God really say…?” (vs.1) Initially Eve rightly rebukes him and says, “but God did say” (vs. 3, emphasis mine). However, after just a slight twisting of the truth, and a giant doubt of God’s goodness, Eve was deceived (read on in chapter 3).

It is my prayer, hope, and desire that this summer you will fight the lies of Satan with everything inside of you. In an effort to “spur you on
toward love and good deeds” I will be challenging Satan’s lies with God’s truth in the form of “you are” statements.

Every Wednesday morning I will post a new “you are” statement. Packed with Scripture, challenges for the week, and perhaps a guided prayer or
two, I simply want to equip you with truth. After posting a “you are” statement one week, the next week I will expound on how it ought to look in our lives. What you are and why it matters!

Read it once, or read it every week. My only prayer is that you will allow the Word of God to capture your heart and sweep you away. I promise
lies will come. Fight them. Believe truth and run after Christ with all you are.

((p.s. Please never hesitate to send me specific prayer requests. You have my word that when you send them I will pray.))

Be blessed, dear girls!

:),

 Jennifer

I have to remind myself frequently that I am not learning Greek for fun. Sure, it can be fun at times, but more often than not these days it stresses me out and frustrates me greatly. I think I would like to imagine that learning a not just foreign, but DEAD language would be easy and enjoyable. Quite the contrary is true. There are endless forms, root changes, and things that straight up cannot be explained. My professor frequently answers our questions of ‘Why?’ with, ‘Well, why do we call a car a car? We just do.’

I must remind myself that I am learning Greek so that I can more accurately teach the Word of God. I am learning Greek so that as I study and write and teach, as I believe God has so strongly called me to do, I can do it to the best of my ability. That I might be able to look at the original text and determine the meaning for which it was written and the implications that can only be seen in the Greek.

And there are days, though fewer than I would wish, where I am awakened to an insight I would no have known. May I share one with you?

As I am learning the 38562947 different forms of verbs I am learning why they are different and what the endings and extra letters mean (because they always mean something!). I learned that the Perfect tense “describes an action that was brought to completion and whose effects are felt in the present.” So when Scripture says, “It is written.” If this is in the perfect tense it means that it was written in the past but has implications applicable to the present. The word is alive, my friends!

Alright, almost done! This is the most beautiful thing I could possibly share… In John 19:30 Jesus says, “It is finished.” The word is tetelestai ((τετελεσται)) and it means “to complete” and it is in the perfect tense. Jesus is saying that the work He did for us in receiving full payment and punishment for our sin was not just finished. It was surely completed and perfected in the moment but it also carries an ongoing meaning! The beauty was not completed at His death to stop there… It is ongoing and alive right now, that we might receive the gift of salvation and walk in Him all the days of our lives. We will live with Him forever! Hallelujah, “it is finished.”

I’m humored at the inconsistency of my own thinking and the quick changing of my desires from one thing to another. One thing I can say I have confidently held on to is my passion… I suppose I’m just trying to find where it belongs and how it should look in my day-to-day life. There was a pretty significant time recently where I was utterly convinced that the Lord was preparing me to go overseas for an undefined amount of time. I had arranged these thoughts to fit right after undergrad when I would have the free time that I thought was necessary to peace out of America…

But things are different now. For a reason I don’t quite know I have feelings I just don’t understand. I can’t define it. I just know that there is something inside of me telling me I must stay. I know the something is really Someone and I know it’s conviction and not just fleeting feelings.

More than ever before I feel like the Lord is commanding me to stay in America. I have battled Him on this issue time and time again. I want to go! And yet every time I hear Him say, “Wait. Be still. There is still work in this country that I have designed you for.” I’m still trying to discern what that is and how it will look and where it will be. But I do know that I won’t be content until it’s all complete. I’m going to be restless as long as I am not doing the things He has asked of me. I’m realizing that I would indeed be discontent overseas because there is more to be done right here. Right now. With what I have and who I’m with.

He has revealed that there is unfinished business. I will not- and for that matter I cannot- stop until I do all I can by His grace and in His name to get it done.

Maybe these thoughts are not too far off from the ones that I have recently been sharing, and I’m sorry if I get a little redundant. I think (actually, I know) that the Lord usually has to tell me the same thing several times before I really get it. I’m a slow learner and I’m trying real to hard to change that and listen intently the first time He speaks, but it’s a process.

Two summers ago when I was reading through the Bible I stumbled upon a verse I had not yet read. And if I had read it I somehow must have had a lapse in thinking because it seemed new. Anyways, this verse literally brought tears to my eyes, as it often still does. It talks beautifully of the power of God’s word.

Jeremiah was in the midst of serious persecutions and was being rebuked by the people who God has sent Him to. In fact, in chapter one of this book Yahweh tells Jeremiah that no one is going to listen to him, but that he should keep preaching anyways. Not the best job description if you ask me… But faithful Jeremiah went anyways. At the time he wrote this verse he was basically questioning whether or not it was worth the trouble, worth the hatred that he was receiving. He was complaining to the Lord about the trouble he was facing, then this is what he says,

“But if I say, ‘I will not mention Him or speak anymore in His name,’ His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”

Woah. Friends, I don’t always feel that way about Yahweh’s words. More often than not I am all too content keeping my little mouth shut tight as I pass people daily who are likely going to die and spend eternity apart from my precious Savior. Is there a fire there??

At the beach today I was walking out of the water and I met eyes with a woman who smiled at me. My very first thought was, “She needs Jesus. You have Jesus. Share!” As I walked past her she asked about a jelly fish in the sand and that led us into a 30 minute conversation about life and religion. Samantha and I just listened as she told us of the places she has been and the ways that she has been hurt. She was so open and so longing to just talk to someone. We got to share with her the truth of the gospel and the simplicity that’s found in just believing in Jesus. He is life.

His word is a fire in my bones that I often quench. Today, I let some out, but I have a long way to go and a lot to learn.

I don’t quite know what has ever made me think that life in America will satisfy my heart. To think that I could live my life in a pretty little world and never long to go and tell the nations about Christ kind of breaks my heart. Why are we okay with that? Why do we think that the command to “Go and make disciples” doesn’t include us? Why do we think that we will be his witnesses HERE instead of “to the ends of the earth” like He said in Acts 1:8? How can I know and process the fact that billions of people are living and dying without ever hearing the name of Jesus Christ? What’s even worse is that I’m okay with it! I haven’t been moved to drop out of college and move to Africa. Well, I’ve thought about it…

It’s hard for me to balance the thought of completing my education and getting a degree instead of just getting out there. Who needs a stupid piece of paper? I know this thinking is borderline irrational, which is why I haven’t yet acted on it. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to receive a Christian education and use that to serve the Lord in the future. But sometimes it’s too much for me. People are dying RIGHT NOW and I’m sitting in an air conditioned house. And I have the fan on. I’m using my cell phone and typing on my personal computer. What is wrong with me?

Man. I feel like I’m all over the place, and I know that I am. But God is stirring something in my heart and I’m not quite sure what to do with it. What about the people that never hear the name of Jesus? They live and die just like us but are without hope. They’ll someday die (as millions before them have) and they’ll stand before a Lord they never knew. I’ve often wondered what they’re going to say and what their eternal outcome will be. “God will give them grace for having never heard, right?” I hate both components of the new answer… They are still sinners and still receive the punishment for that.. more so, it was MY responsibility to tell them. I’m going to have to answer the Lord on their behalf because it’s my fault they’re not hearing!!!!

I just want to go. I don’t really care where. And I don’t care for how long. I just wanna tell the world about my Savior and my Best Friend. And I want to do it until I die. Until I finally meet the Lord and hopefully hear those precious words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

I pray your heart is challenged as much as mine has been.

In David Platt’s new book he discusses ultimately the mediocrity that has over run American churches. It’s an incredibly challenging book that is very well written and to be honest, I find myself sickened along with him. What in the world has happened to Christianity? When did it become okay for believers to live like pagans? Where does a sense of false peace come from when we sit through a service on Sunday morning and live the rest of the week like NOTHING has happened. Like the King of the Universe didn’t walk on this earth and die a brutal death that we might have life.

We live in our comfy houses and drive our pretty cars to a job where we make more in a week than most people will see in a lifetime. And we see nothing wrong with this? Who needs a giant house or a brand new car? I have more clothes in my closet right now than the 30 Chinese girls I shared life with for two weeks combined. What has happened?

Forgive me for not understanding. And forgive me for not accepting it. I just don’t see how this comfortable little American life can satisfy me until the Lord returns.

May we all be challenged and urged to live a Radical life as Dr. Platt so beautifully suggests.

This morning I went to the beach at the crack of dawn with two of the great girls in the youth group. We sat in the sand and read the Word as we watched the wonder of the sunrise paint the sky. What a joy. It is sweet to know that I have precious brother’s and sister’s on the other side of the world that watched it set as I watched it rise. Such different worlds. Ya know, there’s just something about the sunrise that stirs in my soul a longing for the day unlike anything else. As much as I dread hearing my alarm go off so darn early in the morning I have never once regretted the beauty of watching the day begin.

Anyways, this finds me Virginia Beach where I have the great honor of serving as the summer youth intern at First Baptist Church of Norfolk. I drove up on Saturday and have since been getting settled in as I started work. FBC is jammin’. The students are awesome and I’m pumped for a summer to serve them. I work full time both in the office and hanging out with students (best job ever). I help plan summer camp and other various summer activities which means this is yet another job in which I will sleep very little but laugh very much.

Anyways, I am thankful. I am blessed. And I am looking forward to a great, great summer.

Thank you, Jesus :)

Well. I’m home! Praise God for safe travels.

Three weeks goes far faster than one would think. I can speak with much more freedom now that I am home and I can tell you that God did INCREDIBLE things through my team in Inner Mongolia. I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of this ministry. Here’s what happened:

9 students came to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior and are pumped up about it.

25 Bibles were distributed to the new believers and other interested students.

33 students lived with my team and daily saw and heard the passion of Jesus in our lives.

500 students heard us sing “Might to Save” as we praised the Lord by a bonfire.

My team laughed a lot.

Angels rejoiced over the repentance of the Chinese.

A Buddhist temple was prayed over in the name of Jesus Christ.

Eternity will never be the same because of these 3 weeks.

PRAISE GOD!!!!

Continue to pray for the students that committed their lives to Jesus. China is not an easy place to be a Christian.

I pray the Lord will bless you all for your committment to praying for me. Thank you. Praise the name of Jesus Christ. I love you all.

:)

Jennifer