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To Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever

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My time in Walvis Bay has been a time full of self reflection and alone time with God. It is much harder to build relationships with those that I work with here but there are still many opportunities to show Gods love to people.  Relationships at JP Brand were much easier because the children were so desperate for love and affection and returned it back to us abundantly. However, my time in Walvis has shown me that even those that are difficult to love, like the kids at the orphanage and even my own teammates at times, are just as special in Gods eyes.  This trip has been different from my expectations because I think that I selfishly wanted to have God do great things through me. I wanted to see lots of results and feel better about myself because I was making an impact. However, I am beginning to realize that God has mostly just used me to plant seeds throughout this trip.  We had the amazing chance to go back to the desert this week for a cultural exchange. The chief o...
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Fear and Love: Arch Enemies or Friends?

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Psalm 33:18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.  Fear and love have always been thought of as complete opposites, but in a way they also go together.  1 John 4:18 says there is no fear in love, but that perfect love casts out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The word that is used here for fear is phobos, which comes from the word to flee or withdraw, especially when one feels inadequate. So then, how are we supposed to both love and fear God at the same time?  A simple definition of love is that it draws us to someone or something, while fear causes us to withdraw. It is  most healthy to have a balance of these two qualities in our lives when it comes to our relationship with God because love causes us to be close to Him, while fear causes us to reverence Him and realize how holy and great He truly is.  Someone put it well when they used the example of two fathers. One f...
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Lonely Seasons

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This summer has been really hard. I cant say that its been bad, just hard. God gives us lonely seasons that he uses to help us grow. Rain is necessary but sometimes it is just not fun. I was reading Bill Johnson's book entitled, Strengthening Yourself in the Lord  and he said something that was very profound for me. One of the problems I have had during this season is feeling abandoned by the ones that I love. I call them the "I just needs" and the "I'm so's." Most of my complaining begins with one of these two phrases. I just need a friend to talk to. I just need a church that feels like family. I just need to get out of this or that situation. And the I'm so tired, I'm so lonely, I'm so frustrated etc. In his book, Johnson says, "for the sake of becoming mature and growing in favor so that we can bless those around us, God brings moments into our lives when we have to stand alone in difficulty and testing. God will even blind the e...
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