Get Up and LIVE

You know we're living in the church of Acts, right? Transformation and revival is happening NOW. All around the world. Get on board, don't miss being apart of the greatest story every told!

Just had to get a little radical on you for a bit. "Wake UP child, it's your time to SHINE. For such a time as this."

Jeff Reid is our speaker this week and he hasn't really taught us anything, he's been sharing stories of revival and that's what has been teaching us. God is just speaking through his stories like none other. I'm worn out after I listen to him for 3 hours, he just brings so much truth just by reading the Bible out loud. Monday he just starts off with a story of salvation and tells us, "The Kingdom is real. You're living in it right now." That's sooo TRUE. God's will is being done on Earth, He is still active and alive through us! Jeff shared his testimony and some other stories of evangelism and then had us pair up and tell the person we were with what Jesus has saved us from. Our generation doesn't use the word "save" anymore. You are probably sitting there saying to yourself, "Why is she using saved? She should say "born-again" or something else." NO!! We were SAVED when we accepted Christ as our SAVIOR. Ah, listing off what I've been saved from made things sooo real. I'm thankful that He has forgiven me, I fully accept the forgiveness, but to think about how He saved me from a life of destruction really hit me differently. Thank you for saving me from the trenches of this world! We were VERY late for lunch Monday.

Tuesday. We started off watching this video. It's about Heidi Baker and her Iris Ministries that she works with in Africa. Please tell me you watched that and were moved. I wanted to get out of my seat, fly to Africa, and help. I was sooo stirred. Children are who we see Christ in so much, they're who we should be pouring into. They hold the future! (We all hold the future in our hands, too, so go out and write a new part of history!) But ah that video was just so touching. "Love looks like something.." Love is actions! It's not just a word, it's an action. So Jeff basically read straight from the Bible to teach about Simple, Affection-based Obedience. What's your first thought when  you hear the word "obedience"? Something strong, something constricting, something not fun. At least that's what I think. But affection-based obedience is the opposite of those things! You obey God because you love Him and you love Him because you obey Him! I've always felt that God was so big and great that His word and everything about him had to be held so high and you could only use big words when you talked about God. I felt like understanding the Bible was out of reach and like you had to be really smart to understand God. NOT TRUE! It's called Simple, Affection-Based Obedience because it's SIMPLE. You just listen and obey. We read through John 15:1-17 about being branches that abide in the vine. I'm a branch and Jesus is the vine and God is the gardener. How many of you have a garden, had a garden at one time, or know anything about gardening? You have to cut/prune things in order for them to produce more fruit. God isn't going to cut you off if you aren't producing fruit, He is going to cut you so that you grow back bigger and full of fruit! Fruit Happens! For His glory. You were created for His glory, not for your glory. The better you get to know Him, the more your heart becomes like His. "If you remain in me and my words remain in  you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you." You're reading thinking, "Oh, so I can ask for that new Lexus and He'll give it to me?" Nope. If you remain in Him, the desires of His heart will become the desires of your heart. He will give you the desires of your heart because they're what He desires! Does that seem hard to you? It shouldn't. It's simple! So simple! It clicked with me that things don't have to be super hard and intellectual with God, it's so simple. You follow and obey because you love Him and He loves you. Go out and do His work! So that was just the lecture. We were late for lunch again. Kinda. I had small group after that and we started a booklet called the Big Ten. Basically, what 10 things you would leave with someone you just led to the Lord. We went through Evangelism and practiced giving testimonies, basically telling the Gospel real quick. Our leader Kristina would give us scenarios for what we might be doing on outreach then we had to give the Gospel like we would in scenario. My scenario was that I was at fashion week in NYC and I was leading Paris Hilton to the Lord. Awesome. Gotta practice sharing my testimony and the Gospel! Then I went to Tom and Becky's for dinner. I sure did miss being with the kids and Becky. Didn't get to see Tom, but that's ok, I'll see him around sooner or later....

Wednesday. Um, can you just say the word Crazy with me? Crazy. We start class at 9 and Jeff shared a story about saving a demon-possessed man in Cornwall, England. Weird story. Then we had a time of sharing of the Lord was doing in our hearts since we've been here. A girl talked about how she had disliked so many things about the church and how since being here she's realized that she can't deny God anymore, she can only deny religion. Religion keeps you disconnected from your relationship with God. Religion keeps you silent, kept in a corner, it doesn't save you. A guy was wearing a shirt that said "Religion Kills. Jesus Saves." SO TRUE!!!! So many people are so against the church because it's all about religion and good deeds, its not about the relationship with God, your daddy, your creator. It makes you apathetic to the ways of God and that's not what I want anymore!! (Please do not read that the church is bad. The church is Jesus' bride, He loves the church, not the religion aspect of it) Jeff confessed that the Lord told him a while ago that He wouldn't ever send him to people that weren't world changers. We are room filled of world changers. We had a radical time of just listening to music and declaring things over the mic to the whole room. Then we had a dance party! I wish I had film of us jumping around and praising God for creating us for His glory, giving us a purpose, and loving us. Oh my gosh, it was crazy. So Jeff comes over the mic and says, "I feel like God is calling us to have a baptism. In the old Jewish history, people got baptized whenever something new happened, like moving to a new place, or starting a new thing in life. It signifies new life. A lot of you are cluing into who you really are, you're something new, you're a creation of God. So let's go do some baptizing!" That was at 11:30. We went down to the pier in downtown Kona and had a massive baptism. Here are some pictures! There was a cruise ship in the ocean and people were coming off the boats to go into town and they were standing on the wall watching our baptism. It was insane! So amazing!  

That's my roommate, Staci, after coming out of the water. She was so elated!!

We missed lunch completely. We went to our electives (water, healthcare, or prayer room. media won't start for a couple of weeks, so we went to the prayer room.) We prayed over a verse for ourselves (like not all together, just separately, just time to be with God.) I read Matthew 5:13-16. Being the salt and light of the world. Adding taste to the world for God and lighting up the world for Him. Very good versus to read over for yourself, asking God to make you a seasoning for the world and light for the world. That's what I wanna be; salt and light. Then we went on community outreach  and I had an uncomfortable situation occur. My roommate, Staci, and I started talking to this homeless man, who said his name was Pineapple. I can't even tell you all the weird things he said they were so offensive. So I was so uncomfortable that I told Staci it was time to leave, so we said bye and continued to walk around downtown. She wanted to "deliver him right now" but it just wasn't right. That man had so many layers of things to work through that I think it's best to develop a relationship with him then lead him to the Lord. He was beyond scary, but Jesus loves him and he needs to know that! After community outreach we had dinner and now I'm here, finishing up this post to you all! 

This is how I walked around the streets of Kona for community outreach.

Get Up and Live RIGHT NOW!! You're royalty, you're destiny, you have been set-free, YOU ARE A WORLD CHANGER!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

p.s. A lot of you all have asked for my address and I can't remember who, so please send me an email or a text or a facebook message and I'll give you my physical address here in Kona! thanks!