Spiritual Warfare

Big things are happening.  Huge, actually.  It is crazy.

As big things are happening, I expect the spiritual warfare to pick up dramatically.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ~Ephesians 6:12

Satan is not happy that we have at least 10 new brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, just this last week.  But we have authority over him.  Not only that, we do not even need to be afraid of him!

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love ~ 1 John 4:18

Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!

Do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated!

You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;

you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment ~ Isaiah 54:4

No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;

you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you.

This is what the lord will do for his servants --

I will vidicate them, says the LORD ~Isaiah 54:17

I repeat, be strong and brave!  Don't be afraid and don't panic,

for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all that you do. ~ Joshua 1:9

As this movement spreads and gains momentum, please pray against the attacks of the enemy. 

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one in the world. ~ 1 John 4:4

Pray also for unity and likemindedness among the workers.

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. ~1 Corinthians 1:10

God is able.  God is willing.  Why not ask him for help?  Expecting HUGE things.

If my people who are called by my name will pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear their voice from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ~ 2 Chronicles 7:14

Big  HUGE things update

• Last week 10 students accepted Christ through Cru alone.  I am still on a high from that.

• Our church has 200 seats.  Second service, there were 272 people.  Altogether across three services, there were about 650 people (3 services, 200 chairs/service -- you do the math).  I am asking God to stir the hearts of all who were there to reach out to their individual spheres of influence to win people to Christ.

• Two students contacted me about three different faculty members that they had been praying for. I am believing God for a harvest among my colleagues.

• One of the most difficult folks I work with has a student who has committed to praying for him/her.  This student is in the inner circle with said colleague, which is by no means insignificant.

• I had a student reach out to me for help, telling me he struggled with alcohol and wanted to start going to church.  Wow.

• I have been praying about a ministry for graduate students for awhile now.  There is just a HUGE hole when it comes to reaching this incredibly unique, unministered to, strategic group on campus.  Last night things lined up to start a Bible study for graduate students.  Awesome!

Ten

Ten lives have been changed this week.

Ten students have accepted Christ.  

In one week.  

Through one ministry.  

On one campus.

I prayed for 10.  The organization's goal for the year was 50.  Last fall semester, there were 14 and that was a success.

This week -- one week -- there were 10.

Some people dismiss numbers -- but behind each number is a person, and a story and a life.  Please pray for each of our new brothers and sisters in Christ.  He who starts a good work is faithful to complete it (Phillipians 1:6).  We can rest in this promise.

Now praying for the tidal wave to spread.  Across organizations.  Across campus.  Across the SEC.  Across the country.  To the nations.

I am expecting big things.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.  ~ Ephesians 3:20-21

Acts

Yesterday, we had our first department prayer meeting -- basically, 2 staff members, me and 6 students all gathered to pray for big things we were believing God for.  It was awesome -- to reconnect with some students I already knew, to meet new students, and to hear what God is teaching them and what He's asking each of them to do.  It was so encouraging.  God is moving not only on campus in general, but in industrial engineering in particular.

Leading up to the meeting, I felt impressed that I should read Acts.  So I started it.

Man, Acts is intense!  God was really moving in that book.  It was incredible -- Pentecost, incredible healings, intense community, boldness in sharing the Gospel, intense persecution, blue collar men wowing judges with their ability to be great orators.  God was obviously behind it all.

It got me thinking.  Why are we settling for what we have now?  We are told

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ~ Hebrews 13:8

Jesus gave His disciples all His authority to cast out demons and heal people (Matthew 10).  Jesus says all authority is His, and He will be with us until the end of the age -- that we should use that power to go make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).  God says He has made us complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10).  Basically, God has given us the Holy Spirit's dunamis -- His miraculous power.  Why don't we use it?  Why do we pretend like it doesn't exist anymore?

As I was reading the first part of Acts, the following two passages just jumped off the page and into my spirit.

When the people heard [the Gospel], they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" ~ Acts 2:37

Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ~ Acts 4:29.

I am praying that these things become a reality at the U of A.  I going to continue reading Acts, and praying for things that the early church experienced to be a reality in our movement at the U of A also.  It is fueling me to see what it could really look like if an entire group of people rose up and banded together for a common cause: the Gospel.  It is starting to happen already, and I believe it will continue to happen here at the University of Arkansas.  I am also praying this for my youth group girls and for my specific niches at U of A (my class, and my department).  I keep asking God not to let my view of what "big things" are be too limited.  He is the God of the impossible!!  Praying for an Acts 2.0 to happen on our campus.

Big things update -- Please continue to join us asking for God to move on campus and in NWA.  Here are some updates.

• Our prayer meeting yesterday was awesome.  There were 10 of us, and there are some really big things we are believing God for together -- specific people, the entire sophomore class in IE, pivotal leaders, students' careers.  It is exciting.  We are praying for each other.  God will answer us.
• As of yesterday, again just through Cru, there have been 9 students since school started that have accepted Christ.  I am praying for the tenth to happen today.  I believe she will come.  Please pray for her, whoever she is, whereever on campus she is, whatever she is struggling with.
• StuMo, one of the other big student ministries on campus, had about 700-800 students in their weekly meeting this week.   When we put the numbers of Cru and StuMo together, we see significant impact -- between 5-10% of undergraduates attended one meeting or the other.  That is incredible.  Praying for them to get involved in community there and to recruit others who do not know Christ.

Psalms

I struggle with depression.  I think my first big bout of it was after my dad's arrest when I was in college, when I came to realize that my entire upbringing was a facade and any claim to spiritual leadership that my father had over our family was an absolute farce.  For awhile, I could not do anything besides the absolute essentials -- get out of bed, go to class, do homework -- and even those essentials were hard.

When I moved to Arkansas, I had a rough transition.  I've written about this a bit on my other blog, but the bottom line is that depression is something that I have to be very careful to manage and that can immobilize me if I am not careful.  This summer, I had another bout of depression and was reminded anew just how much that can suck.

Depression is not something it is generally ok to speak about in Christian circles.  I mean, we have joy in Christ!  God will deliver us!  God is faithful!  He is awesome!  All true.

But also, we have an enemy is the prince of this world and who is actively seeking to steal, kill, and destroy us.  We are promised that in this world, we will have trouble.  Not to mention the whole biological basis for depression...

Anyhow, this summer I really came to appreciate the Psalms and their brutal honesty.  If you are discouraged or depressed, read Psalms.  They are balm to the soul.  David called it like he saw it.

How long, LORD?  Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me.

Look on me and answer, LORD my God!

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

and my enemy will say "I have over come him,"

and my foes will rejoice when I fall.  ~ Psalm 13:1-4

David was a man after God's own heart.  It sure wasn't because he was perfect!  He committed adultery.  He had someone murdered to cover it up.  He certainly wasn't perfect raising his kids.  And as we see above, it wasn't because he proclaimed the rainbows and butterflies happiness that comes serving God all the time.  He admitted when life was hard.  He talked to God in a way that even appears sort of rude and whiny!

Despite all this, he was a man after God's own heart.  Why?

Because he was honest.  His emotional honesty was at the core of who he was, and it was brutal.

Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD; Lord hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. ~ Psalms 130:1-2

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

A broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. ~ Psalm 51:15

May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame;

may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay. ~ Psalm 35:4

David admitted when he was sad.  He didn't rationalize it.  He didn't question himself or God, but he said "Dude, this sucks."  He asked for help from God.  He admitted when he was wrong, and asked God's help in fixing his sin and cleansing him.  In short -- he took everything to God.  EVERYTHING.  The joy and happiness and praise, yes.  But the yuckiness, the sadness, the hurt, the anger, and the shame too.  He knew God knew anyway, and he talked it out with him. I came to really appreciate this this summer.

Why do we sanitize our prayers so much?  I mean, do we think God doesn't know how we feel?  Are we too prideful to admit to others we're struggling?  Do we think it is sinful to feel things if they're not G-rated?

God created emotion.  It is a gift.  Ignoring it or muting it won't cause it to go away.  In fact, pushing down emotion can cause things to fester and ultimately burst in a gross, big scene.  I've been working to follow David's lead more and be brutally honest with God.  Not only can he handle it, he desires our honesty.  He desires our whole hearts, even the broken, nasty, hurting parts.  He wants to expose the dark places in our hearts to His light.  Only when we have an accurate appraisal of the real state of our heart can it be molded into the kind of heart God wants us to have.

Though being honest with God is only one step to being a woman after God's own heart, it is something I have become very committed to.

Big things update

• Last night we had youth group.  The topic was radical obedience.  One student said with regards to the topic, "This is really resonating with me.  I know exactly what you are talking about."  She committed to work to be radically obedient by not being so "sharp" with her words at home. Another who rarely engages and who actively works to disengage even contributed to the conversation and committed to working to be radically obedient at school.  They are opening up and asking me good questions.  You can tell they think I know what I am talking about.  Huge answers to prayer.
• So far, just through Cru, 4 students have come to know Christ at the University of Arkansas.  I am praying for an average of three students/week.  Two were Razorback athletes.  Praying for a bumper crop this year!
• Last night, again just through Cru, 225 freshmen attended Bible studies.  Just freshmen.  That was one in 20 freshmen!  At one ministry!  Praying for other ministries on campus (StuMo, Navs, etc) to experience record success as well!
• After a dearth of input from older spiritual leaders in my life, a (new) friend has agreed to meet with me twice a month.  I am looking forward to this a lot, and am certain I will learn a lot from her.  Huge answer to prayer.

Expect big things

Sometimes, I feel the Holy Spirit whispering something to me over and over.  Often times I wonder if it's just me or my imagination -- "Is that something I want?  Or is that truly something the Holy Spirit is telling me?"  Usually I ask that if it is not of God that it go away.  If I feel like it keeps coming, I believe it's God trying to tell me something.

Leading up to the semester, I've felt God asking me to expect big things.  Over and over, again and again -- expect big things, expect big things, expect big things.

To ask for them.  

To believe that they will happen.  

To take risks for God.  

To believe He will deliver.  

To know He is bigger than my colleagues or my fears.  

To be still, and know He is God.  

To know He loves my unsaved friends, students, and colleagues more than I do.  

To know He is able.  

To believe He is willing.

Sunday I told Him, "Let's do this thing.  Use me however you would like.  I'm in.  I am expecting big things."

I am asking for Him to do big things in and through me.  I am excited to see how He delivers.

I am asking Him to use me in the lives of the girls in our youth group.  I am asking Him to use me to show them a fuller and clearer picture of who He is, and how to follow Him.  I am asking for a true sense of community among all girls in the group, and for us to be intentional about bringing the Gospel to people in our lives.  I am asking or us to be open and welcoming to new people.

I am asking Him to use me with my class.  There are 4 Iranians, 2 Turks, 3 Chinese students, and 2 Americans in my class -- only one knows Jesus.  I am asking for a chance to share the Gospel with all of them this semester to give them a chance to decide for themselves whether they will follow Jesus.  I am asking for all of them to say yes in their lifetimes.

A group of us at work (students, staff, hopefully a couple faculty) will be praying for our department.  I am asking God to use us in the lives of each other, and in changing our department.  I am asking for all of my faculty colleagues to come to know Jesus in their lifetimes, and for 5 to come this semester.  I am asking for the lives and hearts of the students in the department.  I am asking us to catalyze a change in the profession of industrial engineering.  I am asking industrial engineering to be a profession where the name of Jesus is known and proclaimed.

I am asking for God to use my church to reach this campus and this corner of the state.  I am asking God to help make the hearts of each person who attends the Grove willing and excited to do whatever He asks us, and for Him to reveal His plan for each of our lives.

I am asking for this to be the pivotal year at the University of Arkansas.  I am asking for an outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord here.  Last year as I was praying for the campus, I felt God whispering Matthew 5:14 to me -- "You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill that cannot be hidden."  I am praying this for the U of A: that we are a city on a hill that cannot be hidden, and that people would see Jesus through all of us at the U of A.  I would like all U of A students to know Jesus personally, and take Him with them when they graduate, and pursue graduate degrees and jobs throughout the nation and the world.

I am believing that God will use me to help graduate students know that they can pursue Jesus in the world of academia -- that they can share the love, hope, peace, and joy of Jesus in their careers and interactions with students as graduate students now and faculty members in the future.

I am believing He will change the lives of my brothers, and that they will do mighty things to advance the Kingdom of God on earth.

I am asking for Him to do big things in and through me.  I am excited to see how He delivers.  So far -- two days into school -- He has already begun to show me some fruit.  Last night, there were 700-800 students at the Cru meeting; that means 1 in 34 students on campus was at Cru.  I have been connected with a Christian graduate student in history who is pursuing her PhD when I wondered how God was going to connect me with the right grad students.  Last night we had our first HS small group.  I was expecting two girls to come, but I prayed for four; four came.  It was fun and everyone had a good time.

God is faithful.  God is ready to pour out His spirit.  He will answer us if we ask Him with pure motives.  I am praying that my motives are pure.  I am praying that God will expand my view of what it means to expect big things.  I am praying for Him to change me to be more like Him.  I am praying for my view of Him not to be too small.

I am expecting big things.  I am ready.  God is willing and for sure He is able.

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.  ~ Psalm 27:14.

What should I write about?

Yesterday, I had a particularly good day.  It was the start of school.  It's not like I taught (I do Tuesday/Thursdays this semester), but still - the energy on campus was palpable, and the traffic on campus was markedly different too.  I also had my Monday night community group.  I have never been a part of a community group that is anything like it.  I don't what to say other than that it actually embodies community.  It's not a Bible study, it's not a social gathering -- it is a community, in the true sense of the word.  I love it.

Anyway, I came home tired -- it was almost 10, and I got up at 4:30 -- but joyful.  Excited.  Hopeful.  Grateful.

I posted this on Facebook.

It was true.  It IS true.

A friend from HS posted "Keep writing, Sarah.  You express the thoughts of many!"

Really?  I express the thoughts of many?  Huh.  Maybe I should give this writing thing a go.  I love to write.  It helps me to process -- now, what to write about?