Learning to Pray

The Lord has definitely been trying to teach me different things since I have been in Stoney Creek serving as a student for Gospel for Asia. The staff people had said that I (as a student), would have to learn to die to myself but I didn’t really think a whole lot about it until I was actually into the program. It was then that I noticed that God wanted me to give up everything! My plans, my ways of doing things, and my will is what I needed to learn to totally submit to God. Praise the Lord that He is working in my life in that area, not that I have achieved everything but I am getting there!

God has been teaching me that I need to pray more. I need to be a person that is totally devoted to praying for others and not just me. I need to be praying for the nations around me and for those in other countries. I want to have more of a passion and a burden for the lost souls around me. I never realized until I came to Gospel For Asia that there was so many people that have never heard the Gospel of Jesus being preached. They have never even heard of His Name! That’s something that was very shocking to me! I really appreciate at Gospel For Asia that they have so many prayer times together. They take the time to pray and stand in the gap for these nations. They are definitely a praying people! “Lord, help me to be more of a prayer warrior.”

Another thing that God wants to teach me is to be more encouraging to people. I have been a fairly negative person in the past but I am seeking to change that. By God’s grace I will seek to encourage others in their walk with the Lord instead of putting them down. I want others to lift me up especially when I am struggling and so I need to do that for others as well.

I believe that the Lord has so much more that He wants to teach me this year while I’m at the School of Discipleship here at Gospel for Asia. Please pray for me that I will be open to the Spirit’s leading and that He will work marvelously in my life. Pray that I will go home a changed person (for the better) and that I will become the man of God that He wants me to be.

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What Does Touching Godliness Mean?

When I first started reading Touching Godliness, it was kind of hard for me to grasp, and sounded like it might be kind of boring. But as I read I started to see that submission is an important thing in our life, and I started to understand it better. It pleases our Father in heaven when we submit, not only to Him but also to those He places over us. Whenever there is someone over us, God always has that person there for our own good.

I learned that submission and obedience are two very different things. I can be obedient outwardly in my actions, but my heart can be rebelling and complaining. Where submission is doing the right thing outwardly, AND is also having the right attitude in your heart.

Of course, we won’t magically be submissive all of a sudden. It takes time. But fortunately we have Jesus to help us live it out and learn it. 🙂

 “It is through our continual choosing of the way of the cross and the work
of the Holy Spirit that we are transformed to the nature of Jesus.” 
 – K.P. Yohannan

 


I really like this quote because it shows us that it is totally God making us more like Jesus. We cannot do anything on our own. But we can make the choice, with His strength, to die to ourselves daily and ask Him to work in us and make us more like Himself. And one of the ways He chooses to do so is through submission. So let’s ask Him to show us ways we can start learning it and living it out!

 

www.gfa.org/touching-godliness

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It is Spring Cleaning in Stoney Creek!

You know it’s spring when………

The grass starts turning green, temperatures rise, birds fly back from the south and flowers start blooming everywhere!!

These are all wonderful signs of spring and the Lord has given me a new appreciation for them, but they have nothing to do with the sign that I’m talking about. Everyone’s “favorite” sign of spring is when mom says “Guess what? It’s time for Spring Cleaning!! ” Groan!!!!!

If this has always been your perspective of Spring Cleaning then you should try it at the Gospel For Asia Canadian office! The whole family, aka “staff“, takes the afternoon off once a year to clean the entire office. You know what they say, ” Many hands makes light work.” This is such a true statement! We all cleaned our own personal spaces first and then it was off to help others clean the common areas in the office. We had a blast!! I even got to stand on the kitchen counter to clean in and on top of the counters!! It’s not every day that you get permission to do that, now is it?? I didn’t think so!

Now, even though the cleaning was a lot of fun, all good things still come to an end. So, instead of ending our day together with cleaning, we had a barbecue outside and more  Gospel For Asia families showed up for a great time of fellowship. The excitement didn’t stop there though, first we got blown inside and rained out by a surprise shower. After rushing inside it was time for some dessert and arm wrestling!! ( I may or may not have participated in those) Okay I did win a few arm wrestling matches, but who’s counting?

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Then, we watched Toy Story 2, enjoyed a few laughs and some hyper children, and went home to a comfortable air conditioned house. Praise the Lord for spring and a wonderful loving family at Gospel For Asia’s School of Discipleship!

I wonder what the sign for summer is, don’t you?

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Vive la Francais! Celebrating Our Own French Day!

Since being placed in the web department in January, I have had the privilege to work on some exciting video projects. Some of these have been connected with the French work here at the Gospel For Asia Canadian office, including a recently finished version of the “Power of the Meek” DVD.  This, along with a finished French translation of K.P. Yohannan’s “No Longer a Slumdog”, and a nearly completed French Bridge of Hope Sponsorship website, have all been great reasons to celebrate. So we as a web team decided to do just that. Complete with the appropriate attire and cuisine, we hosted our very own “French day” in honour of all of this finished work!

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The Best Easter Ever!

 

I got to spend my Easter Holidays with the people from Gospel for Asia this year! I was missing my family a lot this time of the year. I haven’t seen them since I came to School of Discipleship but I will never forget the experience I had this Easter.

I’ve grown up knowing that Jesus died on the cross for me, but I think knowing about it for so long made me get used to it so wasn’t really anything that special to me, I was thankful for what Jesus did to save me, but then I’d just think of hanging out with friends. This Easter was different. It started Good Friday, I spent “alone time” with God in His Word and everything I was reading was new to me, it felt like God opened, like really opened my heart. Then me and my friend (another student from School of Discipleship) went to church, the service was so good! I got tears in my eyes when I heard what Jesus went through for me.

On Saturday night two students and I watched “The Passion of Christ”. I had not seen that that movie before and I wasn’t sure what to expect. So I prayed and asked God to prepare my heart so that I would be able to see what He wanted to show me through this movie and it affected me so much! Just seeing a glimpse of Jesus as a complete human, suffering and giving His life broke me into pieces, how many years had I been taking this Holiday for granted? I wasn’t really remembering the REAL reason for Easter at all! It really hit me hard.

Sunday….Christ is risen!!  This day was AWESOME! At seven in the morning we all went to the lake for a sunrise service. It was a beautiful morning and I felt overflowed with Joy. It felt real that He had RISEN and now there was HOPE!! I know God drew me closer to Him this Easter and I thank Him for that. I will never forget this Easter and I hope there will be more like it!

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The Taste of Freedom

Does submitting make you weak or strong? Does it rob you of your freedom or give you freedom?

These are some of the points that K.P. Yohannan brings out in his book, “Touching Godliness”. We’ve been learning that when we submit to the authority God has placed over us, we will find freedom! It means giving up our will  in order to do what is being asked of us.  Submission is not the same thing as obedience though.  Obedience is doing what we’re told, if we want to or not. In other words, our heart’s not in it. Submission, on the other hand, is willing obeying, not because we have to, but because we choose to surrender our will to that of our authority.

God has been showing me that in order to truly live for Him I must submit, first to God Himself and then to the delegated authorities that He has place over me. I have also learned that submission is not giving up my own “strength“, but instead it is bringing that “strength” under control. Submission not only gives me freedom, it brings me closer to Jesus Christ! What more do I want?!

 

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