Impossibilities?

A summer like this summer has been has so many incredible benefits. It is a growing experience where you learn how to live for Christ in every aspect of life. You are convicted of sins within your life, areas the Lord wants to work on. Then the accountability in the close-knit group of brothers and sisters allows opportunities to be called out and continue to change for the better. The presence of the Lord is felt throughout each day and in every relationship that is built. The summer is like a spiritual greenhouse, and yet an experience that lasts long enough that the challenges of every day life come into play through work and interactions with those around you. Though there are so many benefits, every summer has a let-down. The let-down to this one is the end.
With one more week to go we are all seeing it clearly. We are coming to the point where we begin to reflect, to look back on the goals we set at at the beginning and analyze our progress. We continue praying fervently for God to continue his work in our life as the school year begins. Saying goodbye to some friends and excited to continue to see others back at school. We especially hope that those great lessons that we have learned and changes we have made will stick. It's easy to become discouraged when we realize that although we are moving back to a wonderful Biblical church and going back to a strong Christian presence at our University, the spiritual greenhouse we have come to know here will no longer be quite the same. We realize that the difficulties we experienced in our lives last year will not go away. That we will be expected to handle experiences in life differently this coming year. That the Lord will hold us accountable for what He has shown us this summer.
When anticipating and thinking ahead on the coming weeks and months it is easy to fear, to worry, to forget God's promises. This morning at church Gray Gainor wisely pointed to the Ten Commandments. They were given to the people, yes, as guidelines. But even more so, they showed us that it is impossible to follow God's Laws. Ten simple yet important rules which point us away from all of the things we do on a regular basis that grieve the Lord's heart. To always follow every rule laid out is impossible for any of us, even the strongest Christian. God shows us through these commandments that the only way to even come close to pleasing him is not on our own strength, but through his grace and mercy.
As the summer comes to a close, whether we are coming out of a spiritual greenhouse or a summer of struggle, a summer of hard times or a summer of fun, we are entering a new year with new possibilities and new opportunities to live our life for the Lord. We can go into this year afraid of failing God or even with hope in ourselves to be the person we want to be. Or we can go into it realizing that without Christ we are nothing and the only way this year will be a success in our lives spiritually, personally, relationally and academically, is if we put our full hope and trust in the Lord. Worry is just that, not trusting in the Lord, not having faith that He is going to be there for us and do what he promises. Self-reliance and self-confidence are just as bad, putting ourselves on the throne of our hearts and pushing aside the creator of the universe. Let's put our faith and trust in the one who created all things and knows all things, the one who sees the big picture.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Prov. 3:5-6
"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

With the Horizon in Sight

One of the most common comments heard by our group lately has definitely been "Wow, we only have three weeks left!" It really is incredible to think that three more work weeks and a few more days after that SummerLink will come to a close for 2008. Our first prayer is that the growth, relationships and the impact that we've made will last for eternity. Our second prayer is that we will not be so focused on the small amount of time we have left that we forget to make the most of it. Several mentioned tonight in sharing time at prayer and praise how much we need to continue to be intentional at work to share, in our outreaches, continuing to build relationships everywhere we go. Our chapter this week has been on stewardship: making the most of the time God has given us, whether it be short or long. That is our hope for these last few weeks.
To update on the past weeks, there is nothing that could sum up how amazing God has been. It continues to amaze me how surprised we are by God's magnificence despite the fact that he shows us faithfully over and over how wonderful he is. And yet he continues to impress me with his awesomeness. Not to say that every day has been all fun and games. Each of us have definitely been through struggles and doubts, that's what Satan does. But in my life especially, God has taken and every doubt, every discouragement and turned it around for his glory. He's used them for growth, sanctification and even encouragement to others.
To be more specific about what he's been doing I'll touch on this morning's preview service. It was the third preview service of Crosspoint Bluffton. Despite running behind and several other difficulties the service went smoothly and Carl Martin brought a wonderful message on humility to the congregation. The Lord packed the movie theater with so many people that we thought we were going to be sitting on the floor. Praise Him! We had a wonderful group of children, coworkers came, people from neighborhoods we canvassed, etc.
I could go on and on about how good God has been and what he's been teaching me personally. Please continue to pray, especially in these last three weeks as we have a temptation to just continue in our routines and not reach out to others like we should. We have a midsummer newsletter published that I will try to email all of you, my supporters. =)
Thank you for your prayers! God bless!