NOTHING.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, my apologies. Things have been kind of all over the place for me the last 2 weeks. No need to go in detail, I’ll just say that the Lord and I have spent A LOT of time together sorting out emotions, asking Him His purpose, and daily laying down my life for the sake of glorifying His.

It’s been difficult, but the Lord has seen me through and has corrected all the lies and doubts Satan has filled my life with the past 2 weeks. He has proven yet again His Sovereignty, His Power, and most importantly, His Grace.

I have been given a lot to think about since I’ve gotten back to JMU: leadership team for CRU and the sacrifices, time and focus that go into it, thinking of new ideas for the prayer team, what the vision for my house is, and how God is going to use me this year in all of this.

Leadership Retreat on Thursday was such a great catalyst to the start of the semester. As we were told (and for the most part knew), as students we’re going to have a lot more responsibility in CRU than we did last semester. Knowing that we had more weight on our shoulders this semester than last, the staff and interns emphasized the most important thing that we CANNOT forget in all of this.

We must love Jesus. 

“for apart from me you can do nothing.” –John 15:5

We were asked to read and meditate on Psalm 127:1-2.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat – for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

If God is our main focus, our reason behind our ideas, our motivation…then we will see fruitfulness from our labor. With more responsibility comes more time and effort. More time and effort result in less free time/lack of sleep. Verse two specifically says that God will grant rest to those he loves. As long as we keep Him as our motivation, He will give us all that we need.

The opposite effect would be God not being included in our plans. Being a leader it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of going, planning, and doing. I am guilty of this. I have seen myself get so entangled in how effective or how powerful a certain event may be that I forget to include God at all. How easy it is to forget the ultimate source of the Power.

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I’m a pretty metaphorical person. So I look at it this way…as individuals, we make up the body of Christ. Just like different parts in a car make up the body. Each and every part of the car is necessary for it to work correctly.

You’re getting ready for a road trip with your friends. You of course, want your car to be spotless. Nice and waxed, engine and battery checked, oil and antifreeze checked, vacuumed and Febreezed…you make sure everything is working. By the time you’ve done all that, you’re ready to go. You can’t wait to get on the road. You pick up your friends, load in the luggage, turn up the music and you’re off. About an hour into the ride you notice your gas light comes on. Crap. So there you are, stuck out in the middle of nowhere, with a carful of anxious friends, a beautiful vehicle…with no power. I know that may have been a little lengthy, but I wanted the point to be made.

We tend to worry so much about the work that goes into a study, event, etc. that we forget to focus on the only real necessity that makes it profitable…the Lord. I won’t go into it much more, but just from saying that, it’s easy to conclude that by not going to the Lord and focusing on Him, we are telling Him that we can handle this _______________ (fill in the blank – study, event, etc.) by ourselves. We are capable of impacting people’s lives. We can change people’s hearts. False. Wrong. Yeah, right.

“for apart from me you can do NOTHING.”

This is one thing I’ve been really praying about and will continue to pray about throughout the year. CRU has to be Christ-centered in everything we do whether it is an intense theological discussion or a dance party. It MUST be because we love Jesus. That must be our motivation.

Are there things in your life that you may do without including God in?

Do you really believe and live in the truth of John 15:5?