lately i have been reading an amazing book. the story of how i came across this book is actually kinda funny...
what is the first thing you think of when you think of the word 'conviction'
id it a gutwrenching horrible feeling, because its not supposed to be. its supposed to be a tap on the shoulder telling you your supposed to turn the car around and start driving in the right direction.i think that most of the time our own self guilt is worse than gods conviction itself. that is most of the time the case for me atleast
many weeks ago i was confused about alot of things, God was asking me to do things that were bizarre to me. i didnt like it. i made a trip to the christian book store and said (at a time when i actually had 'extra money' *sigh*) ok God.... i obviously need a wakeup call, i need something which book do you want me to buy? (this is not a smart idea. just sit down in a quiet room and WAIT on God next time Chelsea...) regardless of how stupid of an idea that was, God is still working through that prayer in really mindboggling ways.
here is a quote i recently saw.. a good painful reminder.
"It's physically impossible for nothing to happen when you pray." -The Daniel Company
God has REALLY stinkin good memory :/ lol
i bought three books that day. a new bible to start this new season i am on, a devotional called spiritual java (see amazon link here) and a final book called 'Momentum: What God Starts Never Ends.' (see amazon link here)
the first book spiritual java was something that instantly struck me. earlier this year God had asked me 'give up coffee for 5 years and take up the nazarite vow' for those of you who know me, i work at a coffee shop and i've always loved coffee. i was really struggling with what that meant, and what nazariteship meant because i was getting far too caught up on the details. i was allowing it to emotionally upset me and take up every bit of my life at one point... when God gives a word that is not his intention, its supposed to be life giving. i had totally lost the fact that it was about being consecrated to God, growing in a deeper relationship to him. i have not read this book alot but it was as if God were showing me 'i CAN be your coffee...'
(the nazarite vow is in numbers 6 in the old testament of the bible, it was when men or women could take a vow to god and give up alcohol, give up cutting their hair to show that they stood out.... this showed in the world of sin that they lived in that they lived for God and had set a higer standard for themselves)
The second book i bought that day was called 'Momentum:' it is about spiritual inhertance as well as other things....(i think that every person in spiritual leadership needs to buy this book!!!!)
When i saw that this was what the book was about it really hit the hammer on the head. While i was in Vegas God began to grow in me a huge heart for 'generations' and much more in particular 'desolate inheritances.' Was this because i attended a church straight in the thug of Las Vegas and saw God move, saw God change people all the time? i don't know and i couldn't tell you.
If you have never heard the term 'desolate inheritances' thats ok. i never did either until God showed me this verse.. Another word you could use instead of desolate is: unused, abandoned, bare, destroyed, forsaken, isolated, lonely, ruined, uninhabited, waste, wild
the sad thing is that we often do use these words to describe people.. we forget OFTEN that everyone is God's child. We have made up this idea in our heads that 'God can redeem you but he can't redeem me.... God's grace is enough for you, but it's not enough for him..' There are some people in the world who can be saved, but there are some people who are beyond economic repair and that is how it is.
Well then that defeats the purpose of the gospel doesn't it?
Isaiah 49 (NIV)
During the many months that this picture of 'desolate inheritances' has been on my heart. It has been amazing how God has brought it up and even how it relates and goes together with the heart the base of Kona. This topic reminds me of how much God earnestly and truely does care for his children.... how he wants to protect them. How God truly is not a God of hate but of passionate relentless love and he never stops pursuing us. Even after all Israel had done he would still rejoice the moment they came to him. God does the same for us, whether we are 'a little lost' or way over our heads. Whenever i hear someones testimony i never hear it the same since God has shown me this. I truely recognize how God rejoices in heaven when even ONE prodigal comes back to him...
God has been going much deeper with this than i ever would have thought. I am in a season of restlessness that i really do not like, every waking moment that i have i think in my mind 'i want to go to kona and be in kona right now....' because i feel like i would be growing more there than i am here. I also know that the first few months being in Kona will probably be some of the most difficult not knowing anyone.
my prayer is that God would continue to grow me and help me to be present.
God is laying deep things on my heart that are very difficult for me to understand. things that my pride may be getting in the way of and helping me to simply accept-even if i dont understand.
i also hope that i would continually be restless for jesus and not the things of this world.
{so why the weird name for this blogpost? because jesus is starting to literally attack my heart in weird ways. ;) }
im attaching some prayer requests onto this blog, if you guys think of me please keep me on your prayers!
if you guys think of me at all, please keep me in your prayers as i go job hunting this week as i desperately need a new job.
my doctor still cannot find any answers for my migraines.. pray that the neurologist i have an app to go see in edmonton see finds something!
hebrews 12:28-29
-chelsea
{email me!}
{join my facebook group for frequent life updates}
what is the first thing you think of when you think of the word 'conviction'
id it a gutwrenching horrible feeling, because its not supposed to be. its supposed to be a tap on the shoulder telling you your supposed to turn the car around and start driving in the right direction.i think that most of the time our own self guilt is worse than gods conviction itself. that is most of the time the case for me atleast
many weeks ago i was confused about alot of things, God was asking me to do things that were bizarre to me. i didnt like it. i made a trip to the christian book store and said (at a time when i actually had 'extra money' *sigh*) ok God.... i obviously need a wakeup call, i need something which book do you want me to buy? (this is not a smart idea. just sit down in a quiet room and WAIT on God next time Chelsea...) regardless of how stupid of an idea that was, God is still working through that prayer in really mindboggling ways.
here is a quote i recently saw.. a good painful reminder.
"It's physically impossible for nothing to happen when you pray." -The Daniel Company
God has REALLY stinkin good memory :/ lol
i bought three books that day. a new bible to start this new season i am on, a devotional called spiritual java (see amazon link here) and a final book called 'Momentum: What God Starts Never Ends.' (see amazon link here)
the first book spiritual java was something that instantly struck me. earlier this year God had asked me 'give up coffee for 5 years and take up the nazarite vow' for those of you who know me, i work at a coffee shop and i've always loved coffee. i was really struggling with what that meant, and what nazariteship meant because i was getting far too caught up on the details. i was allowing it to emotionally upset me and take up every bit of my life at one point... when God gives a word that is not his intention, its supposed to be life giving. i had totally lost the fact that it was about being consecrated to God, growing in a deeper relationship to him. i have not read this book alot but it was as if God were showing me 'i CAN be your coffee...'
(the nazarite vow is in numbers 6 in the old testament of the bible, it was when men or women could take a vow to god and give up alcohol, give up cutting their hair to show that they stood out.... this showed in the world of sin that they lived in that they lived for God and had set a higer standard for themselves)
The second book i bought that day was called 'Momentum:' it is about spiritual inhertance as well as other things....(i think that every person in spiritual leadership needs to buy this book!!!!)
When i saw that this was what the book was about it really hit the hammer on the head. While i was in Vegas God began to grow in me a huge heart for 'generations' and much more in particular 'desolate inheritances.' Was this because i attended a church straight in the thug of Las Vegas and saw God move, saw God change people all the time? i don't know and i couldn't tell you.
If you have never heard the term 'desolate inheritances' thats ok. i never did either until God showed me this verse.. Another word you could use instead of desolate is: unused, abandoned, bare, destroyed, forsaken, isolated, lonely, ruined, uninhabited, waste, wild
the sad thing is that we often do use these words to describe people.. we forget OFTEN that everyone is God's child. We have made up this idea in our heads that 'God can redeem you but he can't redeem me.... God's grace is enough for you, but it's not enough for him..' There are some people in the world who can be saved, but there are some people who are beyond economic repair and that is how it is.
Well then that defeats the purpose of the gospel doesn't it?
Isaiah 49 (NIV)
The Servant of the Lord
49 Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor. ”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor. ”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”
5 And now the Lord says—
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am[a] honored in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength —
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am[a] honored in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength —
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
7 This is what the Lord says—
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel —
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel —
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Restoration of Israel
8 This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’
“They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up.
12 See, they will come from afar —
some from the north, some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan.[b]”
and find pasture on every barren hill.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up.
12 See, they will come from afar —
some from the north, some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan.[b]”
13 Shout for joy, you heavens;
rejoice, you earth;
burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
rejoice, you earth;
burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”
the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.
17 Your children hasten back,
and those who laid you waste depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your children gather and come to you.
As surely as I live, ” declares the Lord,
“you will wear them all as ornaments;
you will put them on, like a bride.
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.
17 Your children hasten back,
and those who laid you waste depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your children gather and come to you.
As surely as I live, ” declares the Lord,
“you will wear them all as ornaments;
you will put them on, like a bride.
19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate
and your land laid waste,
now you will be too small for your people,
and those who devoured you will be far away.
20 The children born during your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
give us more space to live in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who bore me these?
I was bereaved and barren;
I was exiled and rejected.
Who brought these up?
I was left all alone,
but these—where have they come from?’”
and your land laid waste,
now you will be too small for your people,
and those who devoured you will be far away.
20 The children born during your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
give us more space to live in.’
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who bore me these?
I was bereaved and barren;
I was exiled and rejected.
Who brought these up?
I was left all alone,
but these—where have they come from?’”
22 This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I will beckon to the nations,
I will lift up my banner to the peoples;
they will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their hips.
23 Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground;
they will lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who hope in me will not be disappointed. ”
I will lift up my banner to the peoples;
they will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their hips.
23 Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground;
they will lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who hope in me will not be disappointed. ”
25 But this is what the Lord says:
“Yes, captives will be taken from warriors,
and plunder retrieved from the fierce;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
and your children I will save.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine.
Then all mankind will know
that I, the Lord, am your Savior,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ”
and plunder retrieved from the fierce;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
and your children I will save.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine.
Then all mankind will know
that I, the Lord, am your Savior,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ”
During the many months that this picture of 'desolate inheritances' has been on my heart. It has been amazing how God has brought it up and even how it relates and goes together with the heart the base of Kona. This topic reminds me of how much God earnestly and truely does care for his children.... how he wants to protect them. How God truly is not a God of hate but of passionate relentless love and he never stops pursuing us. Even after all Israel had done he would still rejoice the moment they came to him. God does the same for us, whether we are 'a little lost' or way over our heads. Whenever i hear someones testimony i never hear it the same since God has shown me this. I truely recognize how God rejoices in heaven when even ONE prodigal comes back to him...
God has been going much deeper with this than i ever would have thought. I am in a season of restlessness that i really do not like, every waking moment that i have i think in my mind 'i want to go to kona and be in kona right now....' because i feel like i would be growing more there than i am here. I also know that the first few months being in Kona will probably be some of the most difficult not knowing anyone.
my prayer is that God would continue to grow me and help me to be present.
God is laying deep things on my heart that are very difficult for me to understand. things that my pride may be getting in the way of and helping me to simply accept-even if i dont understand.
i also hope that i would continually be restless for jesus and not the things of this world.
{so why the weird name for this blogpost? because jesus is starting to literally attack my heart in weird ways. ;) }
im attaching some prayer requests onto this blog, if you guys think of me please keep me on your prayers!
if you guys think of me at all, please keep me in your prayers as i go job hunting this week as i desperately need a new job.
my doctor still cannot find any answers for my migraines.. pray that the neurologist i have an app to go see in edmonton see finds something!
hebrews 12:28-29
-chelsea
{email me!}
{join my facebook group for frequent life updates}
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