Monday 22 August 2011

Update on Aussie life

Hello again! How are you? I hope great! I am doing pretty well myself. Another week has gone by just as quick as ever! Lectures last week were over Spiritual Warfare. Before this week started, I was really nervous, especially after Holy Spirit week. In my mind, spiritual warfare was driving out demons and such. Which in one form it is, but most of us don’t live with that on an everyday basis. Last week focused more on how Satan attacks us through our thoughts, attitudes, choices, words, etc.  We talked about the armor of God in Ephesians 6 and how with those things we are ready to stand firm against the attacks of the enemy. We talked about how to recognize the tactics of the enemy. One question we were told to ask ourselves was this “What would I do to me if I was the devil?” and then “What is he doing to me right now that is working?” Well, looking at things from this perspective I could see quite a few areas where Satan was at work in my life! Good news is that as the Body of Christ, we have authority over the enemy (Matthew 16:18-19 “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.  And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”)! This was something that I knew in my head, but I am now able to really feel as heart knowledge! Even though we do have authority, there are still ways we let Satan in to work in our lives. Some examples being: not guarding our hearts from negative emotions and attitudes, functioning in the ways of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”), not controlling our mouths and failing to recognize the power of words (Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.), and divided relationships. In Matthew 17, Jesus prays for future believers to be united as one, so when we become bitter towards one another and settle for unforgiveness we become divided and this gives a pretty power foothold to the enemy. It’s like before last week, I knew all of these things were bad and ways Satan uses to bring us down, but for some reason it never clicked in my head that this is all spiritual warfare! We are at war daily!  Are you prepared?......J
Last Thursday we had a fundraiser for YouthStreet! It was held in the Warehouse where YouthStreet is held. It took a lot of work but we all were able to get it looking pretty nice for the big night! So Thursday afternoon got here and our house was crazy! Everyone was getting all dressed up-it seemed like we were all getting ready to go to prom or something! It was pretty funny. The night was a lot of fun and they ended up fundraising around $30,000 for YouthStreet! Yeah God!
Sunday a group of 5 of us went to Sydney to watch the Australia Football League (AFL). It was so much fun! It took us Americans a while to get the hand of what was going on. The rules for AFL are like a mix of American football, soccer, and basketball. It was intense! We had so much fun though and it was so neat to experience rooting for the Sydney Swans! Yeah, Go Red!
So, something hit me Saturday night. Four of us girls were all snuggled on the bottom part of a bunk bed and just talking about life-what we’ve come from, our lives over the past year, what we hope to be doing after DTS, stuff we are scared about, how God is working in us…etc. It was a late night! But when I finally crawled into my bed I realized it is going to be really hard to leave these wonderful people.  I have been so looking forward to coming home (which I still am), but haven’t taken into consideration who I will be leaving behind. I pictured me walking out these doors for the last time, dry eyed and with much anticipation of just finally being home. I realize it won’t be so easy! We have grown so close in 7 weeks time. My family here in Newcastle is definitely from God and is a big part of what gets me through the really hard times. I am so thankful for them! Before I left,  I remember thinking how crazy it was to think that God had this time set apart for all of us to come together, go through this journey together, and we didn’t even know each other! Now I know them, and it amazes to me that God knew we would be so perfect together for this time in our lives. Great reminder that God knows what He is doing and His timing is always right. When He calls us to something, He will always provide exactly what we need <3

Happy birthday to mom and Sarah this week!!! You know how much I wish I could be there to celebrate with you both :) Love you.


                                                     Cupcake display for the fundraiser
                                                                Transformed warehouse
                                                                   Favorites :)

                                                                          Aussie football!!
                                     Ali, me, Michael, Danielle, and Daniel-we had too much fun!

1 comment:

  1. So earlier when I referenced Matthew 17 when Jesus prays for future believers to be as one....it is actually John 17. Sorry for the mix up, I guess I should have checked before I posted it!

    ReplyDelete