Circuit Riders- Day 2 (Jet Lag Met with the Power of the Holy Spirit)

     I woke up at about 6:30 am not feeling great; I was tired and having cramps. It was not how I wanted to feel on my first day, but I tried to make the best of it. Throughout the school, there was a general feeling of tiredness for about half of my time there. The cramps went away after the first day. I decided to look around before breakfast, but I stayed near to the dorm as I still did not know the campus very well that we were staying at.  

    I walked into the first session of the day feeling some excitement over the fatigue I was feeling. There were so many people around me. I was just wanting the first session to start. After signing some of the paperwork, I received three booklets. These booklets I had seen or heard about, and I learned throughout the week that they are very helpful resources for helping develop identity in Christ and shifting the culture of those around us. 

    

    The first session began with the leader of the message talking through a chapter of the Culture Shift booklet. The session was introduced as us all having our own individual culture within us that shines in what we do and how we live our lives. When we have a culture of growing in the love of Jesus, it can come out in a way that really shifts the atmosphere we are in. 

    A culture of Faith was talked about the first part of the session. In having a culture of faith, we are connected to the powerful almighty God, and our identity is received by faith, not unbelief. We are a child of God when we accept Jesus into our hearts. Our faith moves God's heart and God is powerful to move a mountain. I realize how big a powerful God's heart is alone, and when our faith moves his heart, he can work in ways beyond our understanding. Another important thing to realize in faith is that it is not a moment, it is a lifestyle. Having a lifestyle of faith opens the opportunity for God to move in your life throughout your life. When we go through life based on circumstances, our circumstances are always changing. However, when we live a lifestyle of faith, we have a faith that provides a firm foundation. Overall, a culture of faith within ourselves is going through life saying God does, God can and God will. When we were in sessions, I remember us just repeating this to ourselves. Having the faith that God will move is important in our walk with Christ. It is like Peter stepping out in the little faith he had; he may have been sinking, but he called out to Jesus believing he would catch him. 

    The next part of the first session talked about "A Culture of the Surrendered Heart". The truth is that many of us just carry things that are heavy and not meant to be carried. Many of us carry the weight of trying to figure out who we are when God knows our inmost being. The truth is that surrender asks us to lay down the things of the World (those things that in the end leave us craving for more) and to pick up what God has for us. I think of it like this: our hearts crave eternal love from somewhere (many try to fill this craving with things that never truly satisfy), but a surrendered heart allows an eternal God to love us. Our eternal-seeking hearts need the love of an eternal-loving God. When Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac, he was sacrificing the promise that God had for his generation. He believed that God would keep his promise for descendants from his family line. He removed the promise God had over his future from the temple of his heart and allowed God to reign fully in his heart. I realized that Abraham worshipped before sacrificing his son, and how much greater our worship be to the King of kings who sacrificed his son for us. 

Messenger Track

When we preach the Gospel to someone, we need to remember exactly what we are saying. We are talking about God who literally brought us from death to life. We should approach sharing the gospel with excitement and boldness. The message we are communicating is a message of freedom! 

Right away when getting into groups, we were asked to preach the Gospel to one another. I have been growing more comfortable with sharing the Gospel as I have done it a few times. Now, I am working less on memorizing it and more on integrating the passion I have for Jesus and what he has done in my life. 

While working on the passion we have for the Gospel, we described our favorite meal. I struggled to come up with a favorite meal, so I just tried to describe my dad’s cooking. My dad cooks very good food, so I was able to find a passion for the food he cooks. We had to try to get the person interested in eating that. 

The last thing we did was what is called “Pick it Up and Preach”. It is where someone just gives you a random item and you integrate it into the Gospel. For example, if someone says “Pick it up and preach using this napkin”, you might say something like “This napkin can clean up spills, and when you turn to Jesus you are washed clean through his blood. His blood covers all sins as he laid down his life for us”.

Worship Night

After dinner, we returned for a worship and prayer night called Greenhouse! Much of my life recently has been head knowledge of who the Lord is and who he called me to be becoming heart posture towards how I live my life. One of the ways I worship is through drawing images that come to me. I am not a master artist, but I love drawing. Not being a top artist does not stop me from drawing to images that come to me. One of the images I got during the worship night was of a cross, but since we are in this world and there are circumstances in life that are hard, different things can get into our view of the cross. I felt like the Lord really highlighted what often times gets in the view of the cross for me, and I drew it out. For this blog, I decided to draw the drawing again as I wanted to really showcase what can get in the way of our view of the cross. 

When I was in worship at Greenhouse, I closed my eyes to focus solely on the Lord. I had my eyes closed for so long during worship. At one point I opened my eyes and completely forgot where I was. It took me a minute to realize that I was in California. That has never happened during worship for me. I was just so focused on worshipping the Lord that I forgot about everything else happening around me.

Worshipping with Circuit Riders was also a beautiful picture of what I think the Kingdom of Heaven will be like. Revelation talks about the throne room being a place where the Elders and Creatures worship the King bowing down before him, saying "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty who was, and is, and is to come" Revelation 4:8. People in this community laid down what they came in with to worship the King. 

Cane’s (In and Out Milkshake)

After the worship night, we went to Cane's. I was not feeling great, so I decided not to get the fried chicken. I walked with one of the friends I met to In and Out. I was feeling like getting a milkshake. We both got our orders and walked back to Cane's. During our walk, I shared a little bit of my testimony and how God was in such little detail in my story. I realized if one thing had gone differently, I would not be where I am today.

The first day of Circuit Riders school was challenging, but so amazing. I was tired and not feeling well, but I was still able to enjoy the amazing teachings, time with new friends, and the worship night. I pushed through, and I wanted so badly to process through everything. I was so tired by the end of the day though. I tried to think about everything I had learned from just one day, but I knew I would need longer than one day to process through everything.