I'm a fan of the Colts, but I'm devoted to Jesus

I am a huge fan of the Colts. This is a common knowledge fact about my life. I love that people think of me when they see something Colts related. I get texts and pictures from random locations when people hear about the Colts or see Colts paraphernalia. People have even started supporting the Colts just because of my passion for the team. Friendships have been formed and deepened around my passion for the Colts.

Tonight I got many condolence emails, text messages, and facebook posts. It made me realize exactly how much I'm identified as a Colts fan. While it's great to be known as a Colts fan I hope that even more I'm know as a fan of Jesus. I'm not going to lie, it's a little bit convicting. It's easy to be identified with a team because I can wear my Colts jersey, necklace, socks, and shoes. It's harder to show your devotion without outward appearances. I'd love to wear a Jesus robe and rock some Jesus sandals, but that doesn't really work. My horseshoe necklace shows I'm a Colts fan, but when people see my cross it looks like simple decoration.

While I'm sure many people in my life will forever remember me as the Colts fan I am, I hope I will be remembered even more as being devoted to Jesus. He is my everything and my all. I hope I can love like He loves and live like He lived. I'm a fan of the Colts, but my whole life is devoted to Jesus.

How He loves us

Sunday at church Neil ended his message by having the worship team sing "How He Loves" by David Crowder Band. It's a great song and I have been singing it all week. As I was listening and singing one line in the song was particularly troubling to me. It says "And we are His portion and He is our prize." I read that and get upset. How could I be His portion? He is my portion. He is my future, my all. How could I be that for Him. He is enough for me. He is all I need. There was something about the idea of me being His portion that seemed so wrong to me.

I decided to do some research ready to write David Crowder and inform him of his theological inaccuracies. I went to Bible.org and entered "we are His portion" ready to be proven right. The searched returned Deuteronomy 32:9. "For the LORD’S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance." Wait. What? "The LORD'S portion is His people." How could that be?

Context is everything. Read around it. Surely you can still prove you are right. This verse comes at the end of Deuteronomy. The end of the second telling of the law. The end of the wilderness. The final words of Moses. This passage actually comes in the Song of Moses.

"One Old Testament scholar called the Song of Moses "one of the most impressive religious poems in the entire Old Testament." It contrasts the faithfulness and loyal love of God with the unfaithfulness and perversity of His people" (soniclight.org)

Verse 8 describes the LORD giving the nations their inheritance. He has given His people their portion. He has trusted them to care for what He has given them. "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel." (Deut. 32:8)

Then Moses goes on to describe us as The Lord's portion. We are His portion: His share, His part, His territory, His own possession, His allotment. We are His inheritance.
I am humbled. When I think of the Lord as my portion I think of Him as my hope, my future, my all. He is everything to me and all I could ever need. The idea that I could be anything like that to Him is overwhelming to me. Me- the Lord's inheritance? No.

Moses follows on in his song to describe how the Lord cared for Jacob. "In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye," (Deut. 32:10). Those are the tender words of how you would care for your inheritance. The rest of the song continues to describe how the Lord cared and protected His portion.

I know that God loves me. I've known that for as long as I can remember. I suppose there is a part of me that knows that with my mind, but somehow looks at His love as an obligation. Something along the lines of "I love you. I just don't like you right now." You can love without longing. You can love without placing true value on the object. That's not how God loves.

Most days I don't feel too loveable. I see my selfishness, my insecurity, my sin. How could that mess valuable? Yet I am valued by the King of the Universe. So much so that I am His inheritance. I am valuable to Him. When something is of value you guard it, you care for it. How He has treasured the nation of Israel and how He has treasured me. Oh how He loves us.

I don't know if this will hit anyone else upside the head like it did me. I encourage you to read through Deuteronomy 32 and think of how much you are loved by the Lord almighty. The way He loved and cared for Israel is the way He loves and cares for you. "What God has done in the past is a model and a promise for what He is doing and for what He will do in the future" (Dr. Allman).

He loves us, oh how He loves us.

He loves me, oh how He loves me.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJyW55AXJAk

An end is a new beginning.

I've been in seminary for 5 years now and it is quickly coming to a close. I will graduate this summer and begin the next phase of my life. It's exciting and a little bit scary. The whole world is open to me. I can go anywhere and do anything. Amazing and overwhelming. I'm starting the job search so if anyone has any thoughts or ideas please let me know.

For His Glory,
Rebecca

What is Destination Unknown anyway?

I've been talking a lot about Destination Unknown and realized that I haven't fully explained what exactly Destination Unknown is. Destination Unknown is a mission trip sponsored by my church (Northwest Bible Church) where we prepare for a mission trip and don't find out where we are going until the day we leave. We've been preparing as a team since November and leave February 15th. The purpose of the trip is to trust and serve the Lord with reckless abandon, joyfully serving Him and others wherever you go.
This is the second year my church has done this trip. Last year the group was divided into 2 teams. One team went to Memphis, TN and learned about re-neighboring and did a lot of work in the city. The second team went to Indonesia and spent time with missionaries there. They spent most of their time praying for the people there.
Not only do we not know where we will be going but we don't know what we will be doing. I'm excited for this step of faith and to see what God has in store. If you live in Dallas please come to Northwest Bible on Sunday February 15th at 9:45. We are having one service with a mission focus and that is when they will announce where we are going for Destination Unknown. We leave after the service. We will be keeping up with the trip at http://destinationunknown2.wordpress.com. Check it out.

Destination Unknown 2 - The stress sets in

So far I haven't experience nerves or tension about going on Destination Unknown. I've been excited about the whole process and ready for whatever was ahead. We had a great day of team training this past Sunday. We really bonded as a team and I am even more excited about going somewhere with these people. Then Monday happened and all the syllabuses started rolling in. I'm trying to get all my school work done early so I can go on the trip free and clear. I'm not missing anything big during the week I'm gone. It should be fine. I think the huge thing that is stressing me is that we don't know exactly how long we'll be gone. I could just be gone a week, but we have allotted 10 days. What if I'm gone the whole time? Will there be a point where the stress sets in while I'm on the trip? How far behind will I be if I have to miss 2 classes in a row? All that said, the Destination Unknown stress has finally set in. I suppose there should be some stress associated with going on a trip when you don't know where you're going. I'm still excited and ready for whatever God has in store.

Destination Unknown 2

Last year my church did this really awesome mission trip called Destination Unknown. The idea is that you sign up and train for a mission trip without knowing where you are going. You know the dates you will be gone, but that's it. They are doing it again this year and I am planning to go. We'll be gone February 15-25. I signed up for this year's trip.
We had our informational meeting today. I am so excited. I can't wait to train for everything and see what God has in store. It's the perfect timing as I am getting ready to graduate and embark on a life version of destination unknown. It's a great opportunity to just trust God and go where He sends me.

Psalm 143

Psalm 143
1 O LORD, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.
2 Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.
3 The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
4 So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed.
5 I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.
6 I spread out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O LORD;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD,
for I hide myself in you.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
11 For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life;
in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.
12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
destroy all my foes,
for I am your servant.