this Love will ruin every fear

So I haven't stopped listening to this song since I first heard it a week or so ago. Spontaneous worship is one of the most beautiful things to me-- to simply sing out words on your heart.

A few things that scream out to me in this song:
-To have my eyes open to see you, to have my heart open to know you
-This love doesn't care if you don't think you can cut it
-This Love will ruin every fear
-There is no chain this love can't break

Living open to God... what a way to live. Eyes open, heart open-- all open to hear the voice of the Creator, all open to seek His Face. I read something the other day calling Christians out on not seeking 100% of Jesus, and how convicting one statement can be! We can't choose parts of the Word that apply to us, just as we can't choose when or where we follow Jesus. It's an all or nothing concept, and so often we may find ourselves seeking around 65% of Jesus' heart. We sit around a D-.
But one thing I do know is that Jesus didn't put 65% of himself on the cross so that we could live in freedom, it was all or nothing. Why, then, should we not seek ALL of his heart in return? Why, then, should we not put our entire souls into going to the ends of the earth so that every being possible can experience his boundless love?

Next line. This love doesn't care if you don't think you can cut it. YES. PREACH. YES.
I struggle so deeply with this. To hear a calling on your heart is one thing, but to hear a calling that makes you tremble with fear and a feeling of inability or paralysis... that's another. But in all honesty, I am coming to believe that God will never set a calling on your heart that does not put you in a position of complete dependence on Him. If you can complete a dream on your own, if you don't need the grace of God beside you every single day that you walk out a calling, then it probably isn't a Spirit-led dream. As terrifying as this sounds, this is the beauty of Heavenly Purpose laid out in real life. When we watch our lives fold out in front of us and watch our words go from, "How on earth will you make this work, Lord?" to "How on earth have you successfully completed this work, Lord?"... this is when the glory of God is shone brightest. He does not care if you don't think you can cut it, because He can ALWAYS cut it for you. God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.

Next one. This love will ruin every fear. Goodness, Housefires, you're doing it right.
Since the ISIS attacks in Paris, our world has been paralyzed with fear. We watch our backs and flinch at every noise, and though this may feel necessary in today's circumstances, fear is not a fruit of the Spirit. Let me repeat that...
Fear is not a fruit of the Spirit. 
Jesus was repeatedly threatened with people wanting to stone him, arrest him, kill him. Yet he walked fearlessly through the world, and this is one of the things where we must seek Jesus 100%. We cannot tiptoe through life with hesitancy when we have a Heavenly protector. I am not ignoring the fact that Christians are being killed. I am not ignoring the fact that ISIS is targeting the western civilization. I am simply confronting the fact that the love of our Savior ruins the fears that holds us back from completing our ultimate mission.

Finally, and the one that speaks so deeply into my heart for the people of Nepal.
There is no chain this love can't break.
The world is dark. The world is in chains. But any chain holding any person back from the love of Jesus can and will be broken. Those with broken hearts, those held captive in the trafficking industry, those suffering from loss, those with addictions, those looking for hope in the wrong places because of their culture, even those of the broken mindsets of ISIS members... they're all chains. And there is no chain this Love can't break. In a matter of five months, the chains of insecurity, of empty living, of constant mistakes... all of my chains were broken. And I can't wait to be a vessel to watch chains be broken in the nation of Nepal.

It's beautiful, the power of eternal love-- a love that casts out any fear and qualifies the most unlikely of people. We are the royal priesthood. We are the chosen people. We are God's special possession. And it's time to start living in step with that.

I will be spending June and July 2016 in Kathmandu, Nepal to spread the love of Jesus and open the eyes of the blind. I pray that you will partner with me, be it financially or prayerfully. Click here to support me!

from Him through me

Hello again, my friends!

I was so genuinely touched yesterday. By my church family, by the sixth grade girls I am able to disciple, by the students I am surrounded with on Sunday nights, and by the Word that is alive!

I hate to bombard anyone with a big chunk of Scripture, but what encouragement I found in this.

Yet I am writing to you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. 

1 John 2:8-11

How blessed are we to be able to walk in the light of our Savior? What grace is this that we are able to walk in the freedom of eternal and everlasting love? 

In this confusing and frustrating and fulfilling walk, I am finding more and more the beauty of the sovereignty of the Lord. We are given a truth, and that is the Word that lives in us. For a while I would always think, "What on earth does it mean that God's Word is alive? That just doesn't click because it is simply words on paper." But how wondrous it is to find that when you speak truth over yourself daily, when you speak Jesus's words of love and of peace over your heart, you feel those words living in you and through you. 

This sovereignty is overwhelming me with the fact that I can do whatever it is that I want. I can choose to do good for God, and I can choose to try my hardest to bring the love of God to others. I can put my whole heart into changing hearts and bringing salvation, but I am able to do NONE of this. This is all the doing of my Creator. It is only His power that works through my physical body. From Him through me. I love resonating in that. 

The next part of this passage touched me so deeply because of the brokenness our world is experiencing after the terror in Paris this past weekend. It pains me to even read the news and it breaks my heart to see humanity so torn over ideology, so desperate for something unshakable to stand on. And I am simply torn in half, for those apart from ISIS seem to have no choice but to stand stagnant until another attack is thrown at us. But maybe it is in these situations, in these times of tragedy and confusion and pain, that we must choose to throw Truth at our world. It is these members of ISIS who are the deepest darkness. They don't know where they are going. They have nothing to keep them from stumbling because their eyes simply have not been opened to the light, and because of this they are so filled with hatred and drive to kill that they seek only destruction. 

I want so badly to feel protected in my own country, and I would love the security of knowing that no attacks are coming to my city or my home. But there is no guarantee and, therefore, there is no time for us to sit on our couches and say "Go blow ISIS to shreds and be done with it." This is a time that we must bury our lives, bury our nations, bury our WORLD in unending prayer for light to finally be shed in every inch of the earth. 

Our world is dark. Our world is broken. And what a beautiful opportunity I am given to be a vessel for those sitting in darkness in Nepal. For those who are desperate for a hope that cannot be touched. Whether it be the nations threatened by terror or those shaken by earthquakes, the church must. not. sit. stagnant. Followers of Christ, I am discovering, are called into those darkest places, for light does not shine except in those places. And lies of the enemy, the ones that say there is no hope and no solution and no light at the end of the tunnel, can only be buried with truth. THE truth. 

We must stop shivering in fear and grasping for our safety net when there is so much of the world unreached. There is so much of the world untouched by their Only Hope. 

I pray that you will stand with me. I pray that you will help me to stand. I will be spending two months in Nepal this summer, and if you wish to partner with me in this, click the link below to help me spread the name of the Only Hope our world has left. 

PARTNER WITH ME HERE

a call too loud to be ignored

Hello all!
I felt the need to update you all on what's been going on lately. It's been a long while since I posted, and there has been great transition, and quite honestly, many 180 degree turn arounds in the past five months or so. Since about June of this past summer, I have been digging deep into God's Word and have begun serving in student ministry at Church of the Highlands. With no other way to put it, I have fallen head over heels in love with Jesus, and as a result, have changed my major and flipped my life upside down for the better. After months of going out, making mistakes and letting my grades drop, my Creator has shown me the meaning of surrendered life and my worth in Him. God has worked through me to be a light to so many people already, and having the opportunity to minister to and disciple my group of sixth grade girls has been a blessing beyond measure.

Then, about two months ago, something huge and terrifying and life-altering occurred. I had been thinking about mission work in Nepal earlier in the summer, and it had slipped from my mind for a while. For my birthday, one of my very close friends gave me a present that, little did she know, would be my word from God. I was given a notebook that was made in Nepal--and as crazy as this is going to sound-- as soon as it touched my hands, my heart raced. My hands tingled. I got this feeling.
Feeling the Spirit moving in me, I went home and did some research. What I found simply blew my mind: there was a trip to Nepal through the same organization I had been wanting to do mission work for for years now... and it took place the exact same dates for the internship I had been planning to do in New York...and I would be able to minister through art and creativity... and I would be working with women in beauty salons (two things I am incredibly passionate about). "Surely," I prayed, "God couldn't be calling me to spend two whole months in a nation halfway across the earth for my first mission trip." But the feeling wouldn't relent. As quickly as I wanted to say "THIS IS IT! I MUST APPLY NOW", I thought I couldn't do something so impulsive without some sort of confirmation.

I buried myself in Scripture every day for over a month. I prayed relentlessly over this call that weighed heavier on me every day. About two weeks later, my mom informed me that we would no longer be going on vacation at the beginning of June, and though I was first upset, that ended up being my first confirmation, as the dates of our family vacation were going to conflict with the dates of the Nepal trip. I kept praying. I kept reading.

I came across Luke 9:62 where Jesus says, "Anyone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit to serve the Kingdom." Confirmation number two. How could I have heard something so clearly from God and turn my back on it? How could all of these things be a coincidence?

About a week later, I wrecked my car. $500 of my savings was drained. Sitting at the repair shop, all I could think was, "You're not going to Nepal. There's simply no way now that you've let this happen." But I went home, and I settled in prayer. And, as clear as ever, the Lord said, "Apply. Trust me."
So I did. After losing nearly half my savings account, I applied for a $5,000 two month mission trip, surrendering and trusting with all I knew how to.

A few days later, confirmation number three occurred. Months before, I had volunteered to do some artwork for a close friend of mine, and for no reason at all, she paid me for it. I refused to accept it, but she refused to take no for an answer. In that moment, God moved in my heart to say, "You trust, I provide." What a blessing my friend was on that day.

Two weeks later, after numerous back and forth arguments with myself of "I can't do this" and "I can't ignore such a clear calling," I received  a most obvious confirmation: I was accepted! And I had two weeks to put down my $100 deposit. This was pressure. This was urgency.
As crazy as the next two weeks were, you all would get bored reading every detail, but I can tell you that nearly once a day I encountered something that had "confirmation" written all over it. From my boss telling me a story about living for God in the here and now, to encouragement from nearly every person I talked to about the trip, every arrow pointed to GO.

Telling my mom was nerve-racking. She's my best friend. She's the one person I so desperately seek support from, and I expected her timidity. I knew she couldn't be excited by any means because of the risk that this trip would be and the circumstances surrounding our family. But this was the one time that, though she wasn't necessarily happy about me going, I knew I had to lean on what I heard from my Creator. I had to look to Him for support and provision. This was, and still is, the most difficult part of pursuing this trip: being torn between honoring my mother's wishes and following a calling that was simply too loud to be ignored.
So I made my deposit. Every day, it is the prayer, "Lord, I don't know how You will make this happen, but I trust that you will." I came to the realization that I can pray for the ability to make the money and I can pray for the wisdom to touch the people of Nepal, but it is ultimately my God who does these things. He has put me in these circumstances that make this trip seem virtually impossible so that when my feet hit the ground in Nepal, I will have no choice to say, "God and God alone got me here. All the glory and praise goes to Him."

One of my best friends gave me an insight that she had from Scripture that gave me such encouragement. In the book of Matthew, James and John dropped EVERYTHING to follow Jesus with only the words, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Eleven words. Eleven words was all they needed to drop everything they had and everything they knew to follow their Savior. So why was it taking me any more than the initial call and numerous confirmations afterward to drop it all and simply follow? It was time for me to stop looking for the big neon sign and stop searching for yet another assurance because, as my friend put it, "Every search for confirmation is another opportunity for God to say yes, but it is also another opportunity for the enemy to tell you no." And that was my tipping point. I decided that I have to stop doubting and searching and simply follow.

So here I am! I am currently 1.96% funded, I am currently following God into complete darkness, and I am currently praying for a financial and spiritual miracle. I don't necessarily feel ready for two months in Nepal, and I don't necessarily feel qualified to minister to anyone, but I remember every day that God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called.
If you made it through this whole post, you rock; but laying out this timeline was necessary to see every detail of God moving so pertinently in my heart. I am so excited to spread the Good News to a nation that is earthquake shaken and targeted by human trafficking and so desperate for the love of our Creator. Nepal is only about 10% Christian, but the church is on the rise there. And with so many ears who have not heard the name of Jesus, I can't wait to be a vessel for God to mend hearts before my very eyes.

If any of you feel moved to support me in this venture, financially and/or prayerfully, I'm providing the link below where you can make donations to my fund. I keep telling myself that if 50 people donate $100 I will be fully funded! But any amount that the Lord may put on your heart to give is an absolute blessing.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE


Much love to all, I will be posting more often to update you guys on how God moves in this!

xo Savannah