The Monkey Business Illusion

Times in France are wonderful. Following up that incredible run the Lord has slowly stirred things up in the midst of this place. I always have a hard time understanding what is it that makes this place ( Europe) so unique to me or although i hate the word "spiritual".

Yesterday while cruising through the internet on my computer box i found this article and it was about how we as humans are unaware of a lot of things around us. Essentially through research and a clever video this scientist man did an experiment and the outcome showed that because you are busy looking for something else you miss a giant gorilla passing across the room...crazy. The result of the experiment clearly showed how little we notice. A second video was made and its even crazier how much we miss when we think we know what we are looking for ( the gorilla ). This video made me somewhat upset... in my head i claimed " i want to see the gorilla , i dont want to miss the gorilla in the room!!".

But the reality is that we all miss the gorilla in the room. This place is not more spiritual or closer to a place where God dwells. I believe here , it is just a little easier to spot the gorilla. I have not used a cell phone in the last 11 days , i havent constantly logged on to facebook and my ipod has been used to the sole purpose of listening to music about Jesus. I also am not in college, worrying about grades, assignments, being entertained, television and all that america offers me ( not a negative note ). Here things are simpler. I have replaced tv for prayer on the beach , cell phone texting to talking about Gods faithfulness , video games for actual exercise like running by the ocean. Life isnt more spiritual here , it is just simply more noticeable. It is easier to notice life . I wondered then if what we call our daily routines are simply a parallel image to that video, that we decide to keep counting how many bounces are being done and we watch the white players move back and forward and eventually we miss it.... we miss the big thing .... we miss the big picture and the big picture here folks is Jesus. Instantly that thought i had in my head earlier was  re-phrased , this time louder and a little more desperate
" I DONT WANT TO MISS JESUS IN THE ROOM!!!"

I kept rewinding the video before the end so i could know what i had missed. I watched it a couple of times just so i could absorb everything , so i could pick up all the elements i had missed, what had changed or when exactly it happened. I wanted to know how to spot the gorilla and everything else around it. Much alike walking with Christ it takes practice... it will take practice to know the things of Him and all that he has to offer. I have been learning that Jesus in His never ending glory is more than a bible and a poor prayer ... He is everything. Jesus came and lived and died not that we can be short sighted of the life that He has for us , He came to give us life to the full!! Life in everything with Him. God is more than a gorilla in the room , he is everything , he is life to the full , he is all the elements in that room and we are missing it... i dont want to miss it. I want to embrace all that the creator has made ... i dont want these things to go un-noticed. I want to see what Abba has made for me and delight in it.


Jesus let me see.   

         

Running fire

It has been quite a couple of busy days here in the south of France. Yet the Lord is sure to not take a vacation... As i mentioned before in the blog coming home always seems to bring peace and with peace comes clarity. The holidays or vacations present a certain challenge...it is quite easy to delight in the small pleasures of being on a break such as sleeping late, eating bunches,or just splurging in all aspects of life. Which brings me to think about my initial point, that our Creator knows little about the concept of taking a break...  God created the universe ( just about everything we physically know) only rested for a day ; the perfect conception of mankind and matter and a days rest was his only known break. Jesus was a pretty busy character to , he kept going from place to place and always with purpose. Side note to all this, i always wondered what kind of sandals jesus would wear today, or how many sandals he burned out because he walked so much. Coming back to the subject... our God is a god of purpose and intent, no man is left behind, he is faithful. Gods faithfulness is only limited by our own unfaithfulness and unbelief that he is indeed : faithful. Gods faithfulness never rests... and as it never rests it met me today here , in my place of rest, i may not have been looking for it but He was sure to stir a fire in my heart.

For more than perfect the day was something weird in me was stirring , i describe it as "something was with me or in me", this feeling that literally something is over your soul, not necessarily a bad feeling but that enables your ability to function, to think , to feel. Late in the afternoon Lauren proposed the idea of going for a jog. Feeling the way i was feeling i was highly opposed or simply just stubborn to get mooving. I ended up strapping some shoes and going at the last second and the outcome was unpredictable. I decided to listen to some music ( worship) while running so i strapped my ipod. As soon as the first notes hit a sudden energy overcame me , i prayed, i prayed that God in this time could deliver me of this "funky" feeling, that he could speak with me,  the first 3 minutes were of light jogging as i stared at a beautiful sunset...and then something kicked. Coming back a couple of hours in the day i was sitting at home  and watched a video about africa and mission http://vimeo.com/9071435. To fully understand this story know that my heart has had a desire to go speak the hope and glory of the good news of our lord jesus over that land... my heart once burned for africa, that fire slowly burned out with time. As the song played i was reminded of that video i had watched earlier ... of this calling to obey, to believe and go despite of our fears, about how much my heart craves the adventure of the unknown and dangerous gospel preaching. I was reminded of Jesus love for the broken in Africa, my heart burned again for them, as i ran the words of the video " who is going to love us" heavily resounded in my heart. When the worship song reached its chorus i found myself sprinting... full on power blasting through the sidewalk... a fire was burning in me. I wanted to run to Jesus... i wanted to run to where he will have me by his presence, i wanted to be free from all things and right then just go go go,  i wanted to be with abba. I never ran like i ran today... i held my hands in worship as i ran... jesus was running with me , working with me , speaking to me at every step. He told me how he loves me , how he loves those people in africa and if i wanted i could be the feet that carry the good news but that he loves me no matter what, He told me how he is faithful over all things like my family, relationships, comfort or even my own life. Jesus ran by my side, he even gave me push to run a little faster...

I want to run with Him... i want to run to Him. So today , tonight a heavy heart and a joyous heart is with me for i know He is at work as i ask  hard question like "where do you want me to run that i may find you?". I sure dont know where the Lord has his path written for me but i certainly look forward to reveal my love in faithfulness to His calling, its the least i can do for my Jesus.

So Jesus i am willing to go, please show me the way....

Europa day 1-2?

"I am home..."

At the arrival at the airport there was almost a childlike excitement as i glanced through the security doors and saw my dad.  Daddy was waiting at the door for me to come home. There is so much joy when you fly 24 hours and u remember the purpose of why you went through all that trouble... to me it is to get home to the ones i love , to find my resting place. I am very blessed to have this ; a loving home , a physical place to rest my soul. I think of the lyrics to the needtobreathe song " come lay your burdens down...come", to me home this is the place. It has been quite the adventure the past months and now i get to come home and i get to rest and lay my burdens down...no worries about the future, no appointments, concerns, duties.... i come to rest.
It has been a fun 24 hours and dramatic 24 hours due to late flights, British accents and mostly a tad of bad luck but we certainly made it. The journey continues to be interesting when you come to add the jet lag factor and im writting this blog at 5 in the morning local time...boy oh boy.
So tomorow or today or yesterday for those in texas the summer holidays will begin for me, the plan is simple for these 10 days by a routine i can only exemplify by a list.

-Food
-Exploring
-Beach
-More food
-More exploring
-Napping
-Snacking on french food
-Running
-Reading lots of books
-Eating while reading

that is the Mediterranean lifestyle diet... and i plan to practice it religiously.
And since this is 5 in the morning i will attempt to go to sleep and leave this as short and sweet.

( im here)

Europa

Today we leave to europe. hopefully ill get back to blogging again !
today i go to my place of rest... home. Thank you Jesus .

Tears from the saints ( Global day of prayer )

Yesterday all of mankind got to be part of something amazing. It was the day of global prayer and about 300 million people, 200 or more nations gathered together and cried and prayed before their creator. I was blessed to be witness to this , to the day the Lord gathered his flock and as a mirror of the kingdom to come , prayed as one body , worshiped as one people, praised with one voice to the God almighty. Yesterday was a big day for mankind. We as the people of God were given a glimpse into Gods glory, his kingdom and the hope of eternity with him.
One of the highlights of the night was particularly beautiful. Following hours of prayer and worship one of the pastors stood and started to pray and talk about the cleansing of our sins, how we ought to pray for God to wash over this land , our sins , the sins of our forefathers....we prayed for the broken , the lost, the hungry .... and all of the sudden this one big cloud, just above the hundreds of people in the stadium started to sprinkle rain. The prayer kept going and everyone as one looked up to the rain , this rain from heaven that poured over us. I could not believe it... the beauty of it all... i stood paralyzed to this beautiful act from heaven. One of the pastors said that it felt as if it was tears from heaven , that God along with the saints were weeping over the land... that those tears were washing over us. Yesterday all of us got to be part of something amazing , some of us embarked in a new journey with our savior , some re-newed their covenant with their father, others were simply citizens in Gods kingdom for a couple of hours. The Lord our God is well and alive and He lives in us , we are the church and we are the body, and we are called to live our lives radically for a kingdom that draws near, God is gathering his sheep and we may be the generation that comes to see the final closing act.  Yesterday was a day of change, of cleansing... and today is just the beginning of greater things to come !

The Zoo

"All creatures of our God and King..."

That song kept playing in my head as i walked around the zoo today. it was the first time i went to the zoo in fort worth and it was such an incredible experience. The zoo turned out to be a great place of worship. Hard not to stand before God humbly when we see all the creatures he has created.
Walking around i had a child like feeling of awe for the fathers creation. we live in this very secluded world where we may a lot of times forget the beauty of Gods creation, the zoo is a quick reminder. i thought it was funny how foreign and alien like the animals were to me. Looking at animals like a giant crocodile , or the rhinos in the park it was looking at mythical creatures... they seemed so unreal. What an amazing God... he has been in the business of making these wonderful creatures since the beginning of creation. Not only did he make the stars and the universe, the ocean and the land He goes on to make all these wonderful creatures one by one. God is an artist and with no short imagination... the more i walked around the more i found incredible that in this small spectrum of all gods creatures all of them were so unique. Even more amazing is that out of all these creatures He would make us the most unique of all.
So if you want a glance of how amazing of an creator we serve take a trip to the zoo... and maybe sing a little like i did :

"Let all things their Creator bless
And worship Him in humbleness.."

Lets go to the mall!

As i sat at the mall i couldn't help to wonder about the countless souls that walk this place. Malls are a great for people watching and one of my favorite things to do. there are just so many type of people running around ; i wonder about their lives , their identity , and if they know about the love that Jesus has for them. i cant help to wonder about salvation and about hell and heaven and lost souls. It suddenly become a little hard not to feel a little convicted... these are my sisters and brothers, they are 2 are the children of God and call him father. Sometimes i forget that Jesus is father to more than this broken child (me), He is father to all of us. He was the father of Moses and Jacob as much he is the father to all these people i see walking by me - He is a father to all whom he has created and to all who will call him father.

The simple understanding that we belong to one big family should compel us to have compassion towards one another. The homeless man in the corner of the street is not a stranger but a brother, these people in the mall are my brothers and sister, they are family. We don't learn to love strangers, we simply need to learn how to love our family better. Jesus is the father and as His children we have come to understand the best love of all , this same love should be the love we share with one another. this makes me think of the sorrow that this may cause to Jesus as he looks down and see his family broken,separated, fighting wars against one another , judging and hating one another.

This family one day will be united and we will stand before Dad and sing with our brother and sisters. That is our hope, it is our joy, but Gods kingdom is now and our family must get together now. We have something that unites us and it is Jesus the loving father.