Depending On Him

It is three weeks until I marry the wonderful Michael Wheatley!

And I am currently in Nashville, TN for Mobilization Camp after spending several days last week in Ecuador for the Extreme Leadership Summit. To say that my life right now is a whirlwind would be an understatement!

And sometimes these days, I start to feel overwhelmed. I am thankful that I will have some time off in February for the wedding (and honeymoon), but I have a LOT of work to do. And it can be overwhelming.

Friday morning, one of the pastors at Hermitage Church of the Nazarene said something striking to us in our devotional time Friday morning: 

“We are praying like it’s totally up to Him. And we are working like it’s totally up to us.”

I feel convinced all over again how entirely I need to rely on God to do the work that He has called me to do. It is utterly impossible without Him, and I don’t even want to try to go at it alone anymore.

But I have a responsibility to work as hard as I can! And through His strength, I will.

Here’s the mobilization update: we still need one more Ecuadorian 40/40 guy for the team, and then we will be ready to shift our focus to Argentina, where we will begin mobilizing in April.

Keep praying for us!

Be Obedient

Last Sunday, Mike and I shared in a bilingual service at Monroe Nazarene Church (Monroe, WA). We took turns sharing parts of the message and translating for each other, and it was so fun! 

The title of the message was "Be Obedient," and we shared about the radical call Jesus has placed on our lives to be obedient disciples. He has called us to seek His will every day, over our own, and choose to be obedient to whatever He asks us to do. 

But Oswald Chambers said it better than I could, so I would like to quote here is devotional, called "It Is The Lord!"

Jesus said to her, ’Give Me a drink’ ” (John 4:7). How many of us are expecting Jesus Christ to quench our thirst when we should be satisfying Him! We should be pouring out our lives, investing our total beings, not drawing on Him to satisfy us. “You shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). That means lives of pure, uncompromising, and unrestrained devotion to the Lord Jesus, which will be satisfying to Him wherever He may send us 

Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him. We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles. Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?

This year, I want to live a life of PURE, UNCOMPROMISING, and UNRESTRAINED DEVOTION to the Lord Jesus. I want to be obedient in everything, and seek his kingdom and his righteousness every day.