oh to live what I believe...

The body of Christ is such an amazing beautiful thing. I am completely in awe of God's completeness and perfection in working through the collection of believers called "the church." Tonight I went to a house church in family housing. Here I thought God had placed me out there to reach the nations, but tonight the nations reached me.

Olivia and Gilbert are from Cameroon, Africa. Every Friday night, they have worship and praise and prayer and Bible study and teaching right in their living room. They have three little girls, Shiloh (4), Precious and Praise (twins, age 2). During the whole time I was there they were jumping up and down singing praise songs and shouting hallelujah! It was one of those things that makes your heart say mmm!

I guess I saw tonight for the first time in my life, exactly what I want my life to look like. I have never met a couple that I would really say I would want to model my life after- but tonight I did. These two people love the Lord so deeply and passionately independently of one another that the combination of them is extraordinarily powerful. It is really an amazing thing to witness. They live their life like God is really real and really hears their prayers and like Jesus really did die for them and like they should do something about all of that, namely praise Him and let the knowledge of Him permeate everything about their existence.

I want so very badly to glorify God. To know Him intimately and surely. To tell people about him. To make my life count for more than an oxygen conduit. Olivia said to me that for every step I take toward the Lord, he takes a hundred toward me. She said that as much as I want to glorify Him, He was me to glorify Him even more. She reminded me about Zacheus. How he was short, and he knew he wouldn't get to see Jesus past the crowd, so the climbed up in a tree in order to see Jesus better. Jesus saw his heart and its desire to seek, and what did Jesus do? He walked over to Zacheus up in that tree and said, I am coming to YOUR HOUSE for supper tonight. Zacheus took a step and Jesus ran to Him. I love that Jesus reads hearts. I'm not real good with words sometimes, so it works out good..

Layne and I were talking the other night ago and came up with this analogy, so I am giving credit where credit is due.. I didn't come up with it on my own...
Sometimes, in life, there are waiters walking around with plates of Hors D'ouvres.. they walk past and your head turns and you rubber neck- sayin, "mmm, that looks GOOD, can I have one of those.. " Little do we realize that there is a chef in the kitchen who knows what we like and love and knows it even better than we do, and he is preparing a beautiful gourmet exquisite dish specifically for us and he will come before us and presenting the work of his hands and say, "this is for you." I would like to avoid filling up on Hors D'ouvres so that when the main dish comes, I'll be good and hungry cause everybody knows food always tastes better when you're hungry...

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart...
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied...