After the masters

I knew Jesus.  I knew His character and most of the time I believed He really loved me.  I knew something had happened to me when Jesus died on the cross that brought me back into relationship with God.  When I would read in the Bible it said I was a new creation, I knew it somehow ......that it was real.  I knew that Holy Spirit empowered me to live this life now.

But there were things that still bothered me, held me in bondage and I knew I was not reaching my potential .....even with my chronological age!  I was still making decisions in my life that were hindering me from being all God created me to be.  It was so frustrating, but I did not understand what else to do.

The only words that kept going through my head was 'whole gospel.'  I sensed that I did not know the whole gospel, I knew there was  more and I wanted to learned.  I had such a desire to know more.

With this masters course that I am almost coming to an end with, I met the person that I knew, trusted and believed with all my heart; but I heard His story!  I heard the story of Jesus, the One I had known since I was 14 years of age.

Wow, I studied His story.  I studied the history of this faith I had believed for so long.  As we went through the history......I saw doctrine, theology, and fathers of our faith for the first time.  I wasn't scared about it any longer .....yes for some reason I had not wanted to look at all this when I was younger.  Maybe I didn't think it was necessary, maybe somewhere or sometime I was told just to believe what a pastor said.  I am not sure.

But through this course I met Jesus in a whole new way.  I saw His story starting in Genesis and moving throughout the New Testament.  You see I thought His story started at the cross; as amazing as the cross is, it started way before this life altering event in history.

I grasp more of the Triune God I am in relationship with and I now know I am participating with Him in His mission in this world in a whole new way.

I was always apprehensive to look at the end of time.  There were so many ways I heard how this was going to happen.  I just knew that I trusted God now and I trusted Him to handle the 'end of time.'  But now I understand I am bringing this future time into the very present when I am participating with Him with His work right now in the present.

As my pastor, David Chadwick, from North Carolina says, "the mission field is between our feet."  When we are living from that centre where we are united with God because we are linked with Jesus through the power and ministry of Holy Spirit, we bring the His kingdom into everywhere we go and with everyone we meet.

Are you struggling with only hearing parts of the story of Jesus?  Seek him, ask Him, He will show you.  Or maybe we can have coffee and talk!?  : )

I cannot credit these pictures, I did not write down where they came from.  Sorry about this and I am going to try in the future to always get the photographer.