Fragile and Forgiven

This week has been a tough week. I felt like I was completely drained emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Thursday I went back to lectures. Our topic was Repentance & Forgiveness-not light stuff.

"We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves." 1 Corinthians 4:7

As I spent time alone with God, Thursday afternoon, I felt like I was a fragile clay jar. Almost as if someone could tap me and I would shatter into a million pieces. But then I remembered the treasure that was inside me, the Holy Spirit, Jesus. Because of His power I am no longer totally fragile. For...

"We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed." 1 Corinthians 4:8-9

Because of God's power I will not be crushed, driven to despair, abandoned, or destroyed! But that was just the beginning of this special time with God. Then He started pointing out to me things in my life I needed to repent and ask His forgiveness for. Things I need to lay at His feet once and for all.

"The cross before me, the world behind me. I will follow you. NO TURNING BACK!"-Hymn

Then came today...
We started out the morning talking about forgiveness.

"Forgiving doesn't mean you have to forget the sin, it means you won't use someone's past against them. Sometimes that means you choose to live with the consequences of another person's sin."

"Forgiveness is a choice.
1. Will
2.Mind
3. Emotions
Forgiveness happens in this order. If we forgive based off of emotions we will never feel ready to. Or if we forgive based off the mind we will think of plenty of excuses. BUT if we forgive with our will (which should be in line with God's Will) we make the commitment to the CHOICE of forgiving. God will take care of your emotions and mind."

Awesome stuff! After that we had Application Time. This can also be called Repentance time. We came to the front of the room, prayed out loud to God asking for forgiveness for the sins we knew He wanted us to lay at His feet, then our speaker and mentor prayed over us. It may sound totally weird but it was a really incredible time of not only coming before God but also learning what it means to be vulnerable with this team/family. A lot of growing happened in the 5 hours (not including breaks) it took for everyone to be prayed over. I cant believe it but 5 hours passed in the blink of an eye. Today was one of the scariest things I have ever done but I feel like my physical, emotional, and spiritual cup that felt so empty this week has been completely filled by God :)

Outreach Location:
I really wish I could give you all the name of the country but they postponed the announcement until Tuesday. I will post about it as soon as I find out!

Prayer request:
-Since being sick I haven't handle Thai food as well (especially chicken and rice). Please be praying I become okay with the food again!