"HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER;
AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT,
SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.
"IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY;
WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION?
FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH."
The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" [And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."] And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea." Acts 8:26-40
I'll be honest... I'm a little overwhelmed at how good God is right now. I've been thinking about blogging for the past couple of weeks, but seriously, I just have to testify to what He's been up to lately.
Maybe you can relate to this: You know how you lose focus, you get overwhelmed with the details (big or small), you cry out in the midst of uncertainty, desperately holding on to that written hope that "He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes?" (Romans 8:28) That's where I was about two weeks ago.
There's a lot turning upside down in my life right now (again... I know, this is getting to be a broken record). I'm in a place where I need to make some big decisions, but the Lord has yet to set fire to a bush or speak as thunder from the heavens. But I'm reminded that He knows me intimately... The reason I know that is because He has been blessing me in ways only He can these past couple weeks, and reminding me how much He's doing, though I stand here waiting...
One of my deepest delights is seeing God at work in the lives of people around me. And every once in a while, I think He just likes to show off a little of His "eternal fine-ness," as I heard it described once. People are shocked and utterly bemused by the concept of something dead becoming alive. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, a man publicly tortured and killed, that days later, begins appearing to witnesses all over. This must be impossible. Yet Jesus said over and over that He was going to die and be raised up again, that He would lay down His life and take it up again, that the temple could be destroyed and He would rebuild it in three days. He continually showed us that our impossibilities were simply His play things. I've been seeing beauty rising from ashes a lot lately...
I just finished dinner tonight with a beautiful girl. She's been such a vessel of grace to me, and I'd like to share how with you. Two Wednesdays ago, one of my roommates wasn't feeling great, and I had gotten home early from work unexpectedly, so we agreed that I would take a snack she'd made to Aletheia VCU, a weekly meeting where college students gather to enjoy some music and food, study the Bible and learn more about Christ together. Since starting my new job back in June, I haven't been able to be on campus that much, so it was nice to know I could serve those faithfully laboring in a small way that day. I dropped off these platters of cookies, and as I was walking out, two girls were walking in. We started talking, getting to know one another, and I found out it was their first time coming to Aletheia. They shared where they were from, their majors, and ultimately that they'd come to check things out. One of the girls was a believer in Christ who was eager to learn more, and the other was a friend of hers that was raised in a culturally Jewish home, but not really committed to the whole religion thing. One thing led to another (thank you, Holy Spirit! ;) ) and we ended up talking about why we gathered there, and more specifically, what the gospel was, the truth of Jesus being fully God and coming into the world as a servant to die on the cross, taking the penalty for our sins and being alive again the prove that He had the power to give us life through Him after death through our repentance and faith in Him.
Well, I was supposed to go prepare for a Romans study with a couple other girls, so after about 20 minutes or so, I had to bow out as the meeting was starting. I said bye to my new friends and headed off to the Bible student's best friend, Starbucks. ;) I remember thanking God and being so encouraged that He had given me the opportunity to be used to speak of His love that night, and how encouraging it was to share the truth with others, and reaffirm it in my own heart. That could have been enough to bless me, but He had more to do.
Fast forward to that Sunday- We were closing out after the service, getting ready to go celebrate the baptism of five brothers and sisters in the James River. I'm on stage with the band, finishing our last song after the service gets out, and I see the same girl from Wednesday there, and then she walks up to me on stage, and whispers in my ear, "I need to get baptized. I'm not sure how this process works, but would you help me? I know I want to be baptized." Acts 8 started repeating over and over in my head. She and I go to sit down in the slowly emptying room, and I ask her to tell me why she wants to get baptized. She shares a broken spirit of repentance and a desire to acknowledge that only Jesus can save her. We talk about how baptism doesn't save us, but how it's an outward expression of what God has done in our hearts, being buried with Christ in His death as we go into the water, and being raised in the newness of life in Him as we come up again from it; that every Christian is connected by this. She affirms again and again that the gospel is truth and that this is what she desires to declare publicly. After talking and praying with Josh Soto as well, she goes and changes her clothes, and we ride down to the river together, rejoicing in the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
She was baptized that afternoon with five other members of our church, and tonight, I had the pleasure of sitting with her again, having dinner together and talking about what God's changed in her life and heart. Hearing her say things like, "I know that Christ needs to be the Lord of my life," and "It's amazing to know that He loves me even though I messed up so much," I admit I got a little teary eyed. But after that, she said to me that God had planned to have her there that Wednesday, that He had planned to have me there, and that she was able to see a joy and satisfaction in me that could only come from Him as we talked. That He spoke through my words to her, and that she was glad He had brought me to Richmond from my other job so that she could hear and see this truth and know Christ. I couldn't help but cry with joy over this beautiful new life and heart....
He is so great and worthy. He knows every moment, and He scripts every word. I may wonder where I am going in the future, but there's no doubt as to why I am where I am. May He show off even more of His majesty... He is so good.
I'll be honest... I'm a little overwhelmed at how good God is right now. I've been thinking about blogging for the past couple of weeks, but seriously, I just have to testify to what He's been up to lately.
Maybe you can relate to this: You know how you lose focus, you get overwhelmed with the details (big or small), you cry out in the midst of uncertainty, desperately holding on to that written hope that "He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes?" (Romans 8:28) That's where I was about two weeks ago.
There's a lot turning upside down in my life right now (again... I know, this is getting to be a broken record). I'm in a place where I need to make some big decisions, but the Lord has yet to set fire to a bush or speak as thunder from the heavens. But I'm reminded that He knows me intimately... The reason I know that is because He has been blessing me in ways only He can these past couple weeks, and reminding me how much He's doing, though I stand here waiting...
One of my deepest delights is seeing God at work in the lives of people around me. And every once in a while, I think He just likes to show off a little of His "eternal fine-ness," as I heard it described once. People are shocked and utterly bemused by the concept of something dead becoming alive. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, a man publicly tortured and killed, that days later, begins appearing to witnesses all over. This must be impossible. Yet Jesus said over and over that He was going to die and be raised up again, that He would lay down His life and take it up again, that the temple could be destroyed and He would rebuild it in three days. He continually showed us that our impossibilities were simply His play things. I've been seeing beauty rising from ashes a lot lately...
I just finished dinner tonight with a beautiful girl. She's been such a vessel of grace to me, and I'd like to share how with you. Two Wednesdays ago, one of my roommates wasn't feeling great, and I had gotten home early from work unexpectedly, so we agreed that I would take a snack she'd made to Aletheia VCU, a weekly meeting where college students gather to enjoy some music and food, study the Bible and learn more about Christ together. Since starting my new job back in June, I haven't been able to be on campus that much, so it was nice to know I could serve those faithfully laboring in a small way that day. I dropped off these platters of cookies, and as I was walking out, two girls were walking in. We started talking, getting to know one another, and I found out it was their first time coming to Aletheia. They shared where they were from, their majors, and ultimately that they'd come to check things out. One of the girls was a believer in Christ who was eager to learn more, and the other was a friend of hers that was raised in a culturally Jewish home, but not really committed to the whole religion thing. One thing led to another (thank you, Holy Spirit! ;) ) and we ended up talking about why we gathered there, and more specifically, what the gospel was, the truth of Jesus being fully God and coming into the world as a servant to die on the cross, taking the penalty for our sins and being alive again the prove that He had the power to give us life through Him after death through our repentance and faith in Him.
Well, I was supposed to go prepare for a Romans study with a couple other girls, so after about 20 minutes or so, I had to bow out as the meeting was starting. I said bye to my new friends and headed off to the Bible student's best friend, Starbucks. ;) I remember thanking God and being so encouraged that He had given me the opportunity to be used to speak of His love that night, and how encouraging it was to share the truth with others, and reaffirm it in my own heart. That could have been enough to bless me, but He had more to do.
Fast forward to that Sunday- We were closing out after the service, getting ready to go celebrate the baptism of five brothers and sisters in the James River. I'm on stage with the band, finishing our last song after the service gets out, and I see the same girl from Wednesday there, and then she walks up to me on stage, and whispers in my ear, "I need to get baptized. I'm not sure how this process works, but would you help me? I know I want to be baptized." Acts 8 started repeating over and over in my head. She and I go to sit down in the slowly emptying room, and I ask her to tell me why she wants to get baptized. She shares a broken spirit of repentance and a desire to acknowledge that only Jesus can save her. We talk about how baptism doesn't save us, but how it's an outward expression of what God has done in our hearts, being buried with Christ in His death as we go into the water, and being raised in the newness of life in Him as we come up again from it; that every Christian is connected by this. She affirms again and again that the gospel is truth and that this is what she desires to declare publicly. After talking and praying with Josh Soto as well, she goes and changes her clothes, and we ride down to the river together, rejoicing in the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore
She was baptized that afternoon with five other members of our church, and tonight, I had the pleasure of sitting with her again, having dinner together and talking about what God's changed in her life and heart. Hearing her say things like, "I know that Christ needs to be the Lord of my life," and "It's amazing to know that He loves me even though I messed up so much," I admit I got a little teary eyed. But after that, she said to me that God had planned to have her there that Wednesday, that He had planned to have me there, and that she was able to see a joy and satisfaction in me that could only come from Him as we talked. That He spoke through my words to her, and that she was glad He had brought me to Richmond from my other job so that she could hear and see this truth and know Christ. I couldn't help but cry with joy over this beautiful new life and heart....
He is so great and worthy. He knows every moment, and He scripts every word. I may wonder where I am going in the future, but there's no doubt as to why I am where I am. May He show off even more of His majesty... He is so good.
