Serve because we have been served

Matthew 16: 24-25 "'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.'"

If I had to summarize what God taught me on the water last summer, it would be this. Deny myself. Pick up my cross. Die to myself. Daily. The Son of Man came to this world to be glorified and our lives need to reflect that. MORE of him and less of me. We need to worship our fully human and fully God Savior for who he is, not for what he can do for us. To lose our life is to humbly set aside our wants and desires knowing that God's plan is the absolute best for us. On the water this can come in many different forms. Less talk about ourselves, more talk about God. Less trying to do things our own way, more stepping aside and allowing God to direct our every move.

Another verse that stuck out to me was Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom to many."

This reminds me of when Jesus washes his disciples feet. Jesus, THE Son of Man, knows exactly who he is. He knows the full extent of his might power and that he, of all people, deserves to be praised and served. BUT, the God who is worthy, chooses to willingly love and serve US - and we are certainly not worthy!! He gets on his hands and knees, and washes the feet of his disciples, an act reserved for the lowest of servants. He does this as an example for us all: we serve because The Son of Man has served us!

Oh Peter

Ok so my favorite part of this study was from Matthew 16:13-28 when Peter is glorified because of God and humbled because he is, well, Peter. When Jesus asks, "Who do you say I am?" Peter gets the answer right and says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus then says, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven." In other words, "You are blessed not because you came to this answer on your own, but because this truth was revealed to you by God." Literally sentences later, Jesus is looking at Peter and says, "Get behind me, Satan!" WHAT? Where did that come from? One minute Jesus is giving Peter the keys to the kingdom of Heaven, and the next he is calling him Satan. This is me. I find this passage so uncomfortably humbling. I can't tell you how many times I feel like I get the answer right in life, only to mess up so badly to hear Jesus say, "Get behind me Satan." This is life. Thank you Jesus for being so amazingly perfect in ever way. We worship you. I pray Jesus rebukes us and humbles us time and time again over the summer, to see more and more how beautifully wonderful he is with each wrong answer we give. One time I was talking to a friend about the comparison of life to a multiple choice test. There is no arguing with a teacher about what your grade should be. You either get the answer right, or you get it wrong. I said something about how Jesus' death erases our wrong answers. She said instead that he fills in the right answer but keeps our names on the test. He fills in. He steps in. How lost we would be this summer without Him.

looking at the way Jesus refers to himself as THE son of man reminds me also of the way he refers to himself as THE way, truth and life, THE vine, and THE light. There is only one way to eternal life! through Jesus. That is special because the only value that has meaning is the one we find in Jesus and what he's done to make us new. 

The bread of life points me to the Lord's prayer. "Give us today our daily bread." He is so necessary for survival on a daily basis. The great thing is that I know in looking forward to tomorrow, that he will again be the bread of life then as he is now. so there is not much reason to be anxious or stressed, but be mindful of the meal that Jesus has put before me today.

Not Manna, JESUS!

Jesus, the Bread of Life:
This was SUCH a beautiful reminder that ALL WE NEED IS JESUS! Not sleep, food, a great banana run, or a camper coming up to us on Thursday nights..JESUS. I get so distracted by good looking, good sounding things of this world, and Jesus is always wooing me back and saying "Come to the living water, the bread of life. You will never grow hungry, and never be thirsty AGAIN." He met the 5 thousand where they were, and FED them their FILL. He will do the same for us!

THE Son of Man

The thing that really stuck out to me in this week's devotional was that Jesus is THE Son of Man. I mean when you think about it, we are all sons (and daughters) of man. We are all human and imperfect. But Jesus is THE Son of Man. He isn't just an ordinary human, (although he fully was) he is God in human form. Perfect and wonderful because he is God. Like Allie said, I like how Jesus calls himself THE Son of Man. He showed humility by admitting and showing his humanness, but yet he was still perfect, which is just incredible!

Praying for you all!
Amanda

humility confession and service

 I have read the visions before, but have never thought about the importance of why Jesus does not bow or instantly confess His sins to God (Ancient of Days) as Isaiah did when he caught a glimpse of God. Jesus does not have to bow, because He is sinless, and perfect...even as a HUMAN!

It also discusses how Jesus came, in human flesh, to serve, not be served. The SON OF MAN in all his majesty came to serve us. So, why is it that even though I am called to live like God, I am prone to selfishness, and look to be served. This is not how it should be. Jesus is the only one whoever used the title of THE Son of Man, He alone is perfect, He does not need to bow.

When Isaiah was in Gods, presence, HE BOWED, and confessed his sins humbly. I have been struggling with being selfish, forgetting that Jesus is with us TODAY, in every situation, we are always in His presence. Because of this, my days should be lived in humility, in confessing my sins to Him, and in service. in other words, its time to bow

It's so SIMPLE!!!

Jesus is the SON of MAN! Just like Harrison said, it's amazing how simple yet complex Jesus being the Son of Man is.

The Son of the Heavenly Father sent down to earth, to be a HUMAN... HUH? Jesus a 100% flesh and blood human!?! God's Son walked the earth as a HUMAN??? To come down to my level and see what it is like...

JESUS, the flesh and blood, was sent down to this earth to live...          a human life?    THE PERFECT human life... 




Why am I so quick to forget this? To forget He knew what it was to be abandoned, broken, bloody, beaten... to die on a cross.  The Son of Man did this... for me??? WOW!

Just putting it out there

Okay so I'm writing a research paper and that's not the important part of the story, I just want you to get the context. So everyone once and a while Pandora surprises me with a great song, and a song just came on that I just love the lyrics of, you might have heard of it "You are more" by Tenth Avenue North.

The lyrics go:
You are more than the choices that you've made/ You are more than the sum of your past mistakes/ You are more than the problems you create/ You've been remade/ 'Cause this is not about what you've done/ But what's been done for you.

I think this just goes great with the idea of Baptism. It no longer matters what we used to be because we are Dunked in God's love, mercy and grace on a daily basis. Let's go into the world and proclaim this wonderful news so that when we see those campers on the other side of the levee we can immediately start the process of leading them to be Dunked!

-RB

Get on my level

Hey guys, so something Iv always had trouble understanding is who Jesus is because when ever I asked I got answers like he's your king and he's the saviour of all. But I found that its really hard to relate to a king or the saviour of all when your an 18 year old kid. So while I was reading I found it interesting to know that the meaning of The son of man is, simply human. My mind was blown because for some reason I just always thought of it as he is the over lord of all mankind which when I think about it now is kinda ridiculous, even though its partly true. I found today, that God sent his only son to be THE son of man, a mere human, just so he could get only my level and relate to me.

fully human and fully King

I think it’s easier for me to relate to Jesus as the one with all authority and glory, the one Kingdom is never threatened and never destroyed, the one who will never pass away but will always be in reign and control forever. This almighty, omnipotent God who rules over all is something that isn’t difficult for me to believe because He created everything and has control over everything. It’s almost easier to view Him as this distant, yet all-powerful being that we cannot see nor will we ever understand. What really struck me was how Jesus is fully human and that He also recognizes that and reaffirms to his disciples 76 times His real full humanity. It’s like He was saying 76 times “I stepped down from heaven to become human and to humbly serve all of mankind. I am here, with you in the struggle, as your fellow human companion.” As a human, He still is tempted by the same sin and presented with the same struggles, but He, by the will and grace of God is able to overcome all temptations and live a perfect life. The Son of Man stepped down from His throne to be obedient to the Lord’s call of being the sacrifice for mankind and to offer humanity hope again. HE DID NOTHING TO DESERVE THIS: He was obedient to the Lord because of how much He loved us. Shoot dang. What? Jesus, you are TOO GOOD. Thank you for following and accepting the call of becoming fully human so that we can imitate your life on earth and know that our Father understands our burdens and our struggle for sin because He lived on this earth and was tempted just as you and I are today. So now the Lord isn’t just this far-away, almighty being whose Kingdom will never perish, but He is the Son of Man who became fully human so that I can live and have hope today, following the example He set on earth.  

Baptizing with the Holy Spirit & THE Son of Man

Hey y'all, I am sorry I missed last weeks devotion, so I am filling it in this week.

When we are baptized, the water finds every nook and cranny and cleans it. Nothing can hide from the water. In the same way, nothing can hide from the Holy Spirit when you enter into the covenant with the Trinity. Same as the water which washes away all the dirty filth off our bodies, the Holy Spirit forgives all our sins.

I think that it is a very cool thing that Jesus refers to Himself as "THE Son of Man". It is the same as Jesus saying we can be a peer of His if we choose to be. As Christians, how can we elevate ourselves in our own minds above other Christians when Jesus, the God whom we follow, brought Himself down to our level? This is something that I will definitely have to work on and pray about.

the ONE who baptizes

Again we read John's testimony for the second week. This time I noticed something I really hadn't ever before, and that's a lot of times of hearing, reading, and studying these verses. What I found is that when John is asked who he is, he does a great job of humbly admitting that he is not the 'who' to be wondered about. When I read the response of "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness" I read it in my mind as "I'm just some guy who is calling in the wilderness". I find that much like our testimony's should be, John admits that he has the littlest and least significant part in the answer. Immediately he points to Jesus. He states that his actions are nothing in comparison to what Jesus will and has done. It's a struggle to get together the idea that the 'great' works I do and the shameful things I do have no significance in comparison to the ONE who baptizes. Jesus came to baptize, and baptize he did, a baptism that is eternal and unchanging, no longer a baptism of symbolism but a baptism of actual Grace and Forgiveness, a baptism truly of God Himself. This is the unchanging Truth of Jesus, that we try to learn every day.

Until next week.
-RB

Who do you say that I am?

While reading this week's devo, this question kept popping out at me. In the account in Mattew 16, he starts a discussion about all the names and titles that the people give Jesus. I found this really interesting, because his focus was not on how wrong everybody is, but on where their hearts were. When Peter answered "you are the messiah," Jesus re-affirmed his identity as "peter on whom I will build my church." He later goes on to criticize him for being led by satan, and that "you do not have the concerns of God but merely human concerns."  Jesus is after our hearts. Not what they are saying about him, not about how wrong they might be, but he cares about where their heart is-in that very moment.  This reminds me of the story of the thief on the cross. Jesus says "today you will be with me in paradise" to a man who lived his life as a criminal. Why? because in that moment, His grace was larger than that man's sin, and Jesus saw an opportunity to save a lost soul. 

 I feel that the Spirit has been roasting me with the question of "who do you say that I am?" every day. While reading the word, studying for tests, grabbing lunch with friends, even driving in my car, am I aware and filled with Christ? am I living in the truth of "It  finished?" right here, right now?

On a side note, I am typing this at starbucks, and the song "losing my religion" has come on the radio twice.  Its quite ironic, but at the same time, it is an example of Jesus asking every one of us "who do you say that I am?" Is Jesus limited to a religion and a book of rules? or is he the Son of Man, bread of life for us all? (sorry, I may have read ahead to next weeks blog...)

The Word of My Testimony

Reading through chapter two I kept hearing the I am statement " I am an overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony". I am not entirely sure why, but it was probably because of the way John continued to use His life and testimony about Jesus to continually point to Him rather than to himself. I think it was Ms. Chelsea Goza who really challenged me on the blog about the need to keep pointing campers to Jesus rather than to ourselves.

I LOVE that John when asked questions about himself just keeps giving answers that cause people to ask who Jesus is rather than who John is.... what if thats what we did this summer? What if while we answered the questions of "how old are you? where are we going? why would a college student give up a summer to serve? where do you go to school?... the list goes on and on.... but what if we took those questions and rather than giving our life story we showed campers how God fits into that?

I know that doesn't answer those two questions. but I was totally overwhelmed by John on that first page.

61 days to driver week!
-Haley

Drenched

Being baptized is such an extraordinary thing, but growing up in a Christian home, I don't think I really got to know the true meaning of it until even after I was baptized. I think we look at baptism as just another check off our Christianity list sometimes. But it is just so much more and such a huge, pivotal moment in our own walk with God. I love the word drenched. I love the depiction it gives. To be drenched, there is no part of you dry. You are completely covered. To live a life drenched in God means absolute coverage of our old lives, and a complete new feeling. As if you're being drenched with water, you still look the same, have the same clothes on, same appearance, but you feel different. You know you are soaking wet, you can feel in through your clothes, on every part of you and though your clothes are the same clothes, wet clothes look differently than dry ones. This is our new being. We may look the same superficially, but when the Holy Spirit overwhelms our hearts, there is no hiding from that. And once we experience that, yes our appearance may be the same, but the joy that beams from our hearts will outshine any superficial appearance any day. Once we are drenched we go through a transformation, one that is meant to be shared! There is no sorta kinda in what we proclaim when we get baptized. But who wouldn't want to live a life in of praise and proclamation after being given this new life! To be drenched in life with God, wow what a gift!

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable.

After i read this weeks devotional i felt kinda dry  as if this devotional didn't phase me, almost numb to the words and it wasn't until today when i reread this that God really spoke to me. recently ive been torn between two things one being going back to sonshine and staying home due...to the fact  that if i go back to sonshine i wont be able to work this summer and  afford rent along with the fact that i need to get some dental work done asap and its going to cost a couple thousand to get done. this small conflict has been consuming my every thought today as ive been in prayer and talking to other people for encouragement and prayer  God really revealed this phase to me TRUST ME. and it was then when i realized that God is calling me to so much more than i can imagen. here i am worried about tomorrow not not knowing how im going to afford what i need done when God is striping me of my worldly identity. trust me. trust me as you trust landing in the water after you  jump off that house boat. i am your provider jump  into my arm as im going to create you anew. God lavishes us in his spirit. he is our safety net, our so called worldly safety net can so easily  tear and leave us with empty promises of what the world finds fulfilling when God is calling us to be baptized in the spirit to walk in the spirit and its not a one time thing it is a daily choice to take ourselves out of our worldly identity and to be raw and real as we walk in the identity of being his child.

this devotional has really rocked me this week as i find my self in the fear of trusting him and wanting my safety net of work in school, God really opened my eyes to the fact that he is calling me to leave behind what i think my identity is and what i think it best and to die to my self to pick up my cross and follow him. its a daily thing i so often ignore 

im so stoked on this weeks devotional and i am so excited to be know and trust that God is calling me back to sonshine and that tomorrows worries are in His hand as i trust in him and follow His will and not my own.

love you all and cant wait to serve with you this summer
rachel

Lions

Hello all!

I wonder what it would be like to see the spiritual realm of angels celebrating a heart being claimed in baptism of the Holy Spirit. This was a thought that occurred to me when reading through this week's devotional. I think that often we can get caught up in our routines and forget that WHAT?! THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE LIVES IN US?! Oh man! If only we knew the authority that we held in our true identities. I see this as a lion that cowers in the corner from a mouse. A lion that doesn't know it is a lion might do that. If we only knew that we were lions and that evil, sin, death, and the lies of the enemy are truly just little mice. How exciting though that God is bringing us to knowing such things as certain truth.

Blessings!
-Kev

Dunk and Drench...

It wasn't until recently that I actually began to enjoy water.  I mean I always enjoyed swimming in a pool and stuff, but I was terrified of jumping off of house boats. While being a Barney last summer I jumped off many house boats, and finally began to enjoy it.  I was even baptized by jumping (or being dunked) into the Delta. I feel like being dunked is equivalent to being shocked, or reminded in a shocking way just how much we need Jesus, and being drenched is the second part of being baptized for you are then able to shake off the water (God's love) onto those around you.

Now I know how to react to being dunked, for it's happened a lot to me, but I don't tend to handle being  drenched very well, I really do need to shake off His love onto those around me more than I am now. But hey, I'm a work in progress.

I am a Child of God

This devo really reminded me of the I am statement, I am a Child of God. The fact that Jesus is saysays ing that he is The Son of Man, and he was claimed that title and was proud to be The Son of Man, why is it so hard to accept that we are children of God?

The one thing that does really stand out to me was the verse Mark 10:43-45

It really stood out to me how it says that Jesus did not come down here to be served, but to serve and to give His life for others. It just really reminds me about what our lives, not just this summer should be all about. Yes, we serve on the water and that is why we are dedicating our summers to be out on the water, but Jesus dedicated His whole life to others, and gave it up for our ransom, so why can't we do the same?

Pure Joy

            There are always a ton of excuses I tell myself to not sit down and have my quiet time first thing in the morning: I’m too tired, I need to get started with work I have, I need to go for a run before it’s too hot, etc. These things seem so important at the time, but the truth is I have never regretted waking up a little earlier to sit down and spend some quiet time with God; in fact, it often makes my day go a lot better, allowing me to align myself with God at the very beginning of the day. I find myself attuned to God and filled by His spirit, which in turn fills me with joy only attainable by having a relationship with God.

           

            That pure joy that we experience when we are filled by God’s spirit is incomparable to anything we can possibly experience through the world, but it takes work. It’s an active, daily choice to commit to be immersed in God’s spirit, but it is totally worth it to not only experience that joy for yourself, but to share it with others too!

            Also, imagine it from God’s perspective: He’s not sitting there going “Well it’s about time you came around”, He feels incredibly joyful when we choose to be immersed in Him, “He loves to dunk and drench His kids any chance He can get!” Our relationship with God is so unlike any relationship that we ever get to experience in our lives because despite all the times we put other things ahead of Him and no matter how long it’s been, we have a God who gets so pumped to spend time with us!

-JDK

Overwhelmed

This week I found myself a bit overwhelmed with the circumstances I found myself in. I came home and picked up the devotional. Whoami! What really stuck out to me this week were the words overwhelmed and immersed, and how they were used in the context of the continual process of be dunked in and drenched with the Holy Spirit. 

"And just as those who went into the Jordan River were thus overwhelmed with water, so those who Jesus baptizes in the spirit are overwhelmed with the spirit. Or, to put it more graphically, Jesus the baptizer dunks us in and drenches us with the very life of God." (Johnson, 28)

A lot (well, most times really) I find myself overwhelmed with some particular circumstances in my life, and I willing choose to immerse myself with the circumstance rather than the person of Christ. This week really hit home that what, or rather who, I need to be overwhelmed with is Jesus. Who I need to be immersed with is Jesus. Our God is bigger than any circumstance we find ourselves in, both on and off the water. When I am overwhelmed with Jesus, all else falls by the wayside because I know that when I allow myself to realize the significance of what it means to continually be dunked in and drenched with the life of God, there is no trouble that can overwhelm me because I am already overwhelmed by something so much greater and so much bigger than any problem, the person of Christ. There is something so powerful in that truth, that we are called to be overwhelmed and immersed in the person of Christ, that I find myself just desiring more of who He is, and less of who I think I need to be. 

As we prepare for the summer, and if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, don't be overwhelmed by the circumstance, be overwhelmed with Jesus. If you must immerse yourself in something, immerse yourself in Jesus. It is always something beautiful when you find yourself dunked and drenched with the life of God through the simple action of being overwhelmed and immersed in His son. 

I'm getting baptized, again

This is one of those posts where I really don't have some super in depth reflection from the devotion this week because really I was just hit with one line towards the end of it, "I have come to understand that being dunked IN and drenched WITH the life of God is not a one time thing." I can't tell you how many times the idea of being "rebaptized" has crossed my mind because I have felt like not until about the last two years have I begun to grasp and truly pursue a relationship with Christ. That line totally hit me though because it's so true! Just because I'm not in a pool with people standing around watching as my pastor dunks me under water, God is constantly renewing my mind and filling me with Him and with life. Then when I go out and live the life he has called me too, that's my public display to people that I am choosing to live a life for Christ. Have a great week guys! :)

Stronger than Water

There were many times during my time serving as a barney last summer that I found myself sweating in the kitchen, working over a hot stove scrambling to make five pots worth of food on four burners for burrito night and stressing all the while. At those moments I wanted nothing more than to run through the boat and off the back deck into the refreshing water to restore my physical and emotional energy and rejuvenate myself. I was seeking my own solution for my my fatigue and weakness, when God holds in store something much more powerful than water. With each dunking we receive in the Holy Spirit we come back renewed and given new life through a power much stronger than we could ever hope to possess on our own. God picks us up and throws us into his pool of mercy of the Holy Spirit and if we're lucky our splash will be big enough that we can make waves and those ripples can overflow and we can share the Holy Spirit with those not yet testing the waters.

ME, ME, ME!

As I reflect on last weekend (Easter) and the sacrifice that the Lamb made for all of us, I am reminded of Jesus' incredible humilty.  As he laid dyring on the cross, he asks God to forgive his executioners for they did not know what they were doing.  Even though he lays in utter humiliation, brokenness, pain, and torment, he still has one desire: for all to be dunked in the blood of his sacrifice and the freshness of the Spirit.

 I think about houseboats and how I see this same desire played out week-after-week.  Campers come on Sunday/Monday yearning to be physically dunked in the waters of the Delta/Shasta, yet come Friday/Saturday, they cry, sing, shout, and eagerly desire to be dunked with and in Jesus' desire.  But why?  It is because they got to ride in a ski boat, sleep on top of a houseboat, or play Egyptian Rat Slap?  Or is it because their driver encouraged them to keep trying to stand up on the wakeboard, their youth pastor got to finally sit down with them on the roof and ask them about their family life, or their barney taught them the meaning of service through the warming up of baked beans? 

As we daily immerse ourselves in the Holy Spirit, we are filled with the blood, water, purity, freshness, and love of Christ in order that campers may be dunked with His holiness.  It is not us!  If we woke up every morning and the first thing we did was walk out to the ski boat, check oil, quickly make some coffee, then wake camper up, YET fail to spend time in the Word, then how can we expect to pour out His love onto others when we were never filled with it to begin with?

 I remember those weeks as a driver when I completely failed to spend time with the Lord every morning.  Those were the most tiring, stressful, and draining weeks I may have ever lived through.  I ran off my own energy and everyone saw it.  I failed to act in humility.  I failed to give Christ the glory.  I wanted everyone to see my good works, how tired I was from the hard work I had put in, and how much I was doing to make sure the campers had a good week.  Yet, I was unable to serve as effectively and work as hard because I relied on myself. I was so concerned about campers seeing ME, not JESUS!  I pointed campers to MYSELF, not to JESUS. I thought it was more important to get five more minutes of sleep than it was to get five more minutes in relationship with Jesus. 

I need to remember that it is important to dunk/immerse myself in the refreshing love of the Spirit every morning so that others can be dunked in Christ's love being poured out through me. 

Where am I pointing?  To myself? Or, to Christ?

Cannonball!

I'm not sure about you guys, but coming around to week two of these devo's have been incredible. Not only am I being encouraged and challenged to grow from all these posts, but I can't stop thinking about Jesus, no matter what. It's worse than those Svenhard's, guys.

Jumping off of that, and literally into what it means to be dunked IN and drenched WITH the life of God, I love the image of kids jumping off the houseboat. On a hot day when you've got access to a swimming pool or even a slip n' slide, you are more than happy to jump right in-it feels so good. I SO relate to this when thinking of serving this summer: "Man, I can't WAIT to worship on top of those houseboats and be totally submerged in the Holy Spirit!" etc, etc, because I look forward to the times when I know I'll "for sure" need to be dunked in the Holy Spirit. But what this devo has really pointed out to me are the times that I think I don't need to be baptized with the Spirit; when I think I've got control on the reigns of my life. But Jesus is standing there, ready to push us off the houseboat (sooo against protocol) when we least expect it! And that's when I feel incredibly overwhelmed by His baptism. When I'm pushed in when least expected, I don't have time to prepare for the breath I'll need to hold or the position to hit the water painlessly. And when I do hit that water, it's not just my clothes and hair getting wet-I inhale that water and come up gasping. I'm totally dunked in and surrendering all of myself to Him, inside and out!

To finish up and dry off, I love how we're able to receive this baptism every day. I have full access to being baptized by the Lamb of God, in every moment of every day. I can allow him to wash over me and place in my heart His love, peace, and joy. And when I allow our Yahweh-to-the-rescue to dunk and drench me with the life of God, the Spirit overflows in me and pours out onto everyone I am surrounded with.

Love you guys and am so pumped to cannonball into the Holy Spirit with you this summer!
Julia :)

Jumping.

Hello all!!!
Oh man I miss all of you and cannot wait to be serving with all of you this summer!

I am so overwhelmed by these devotions. They are reminding me just how vast God's grace and love truly is.
This week the idea of being drenched just stuck with me. "In Jesus, the long awaited hope of Joel's prophecy of God pouring himself out onto mankind is beginning to happen." Ahh this idea of God pouring himself out on us is just such an amazing pictures. He wants to drench us with his love.  On the other hand we have to allow ourselves to be poured into. We have to jump into the water. I love that picture of a camper jumping off the houseboat leaving behind all of their inhibitions. We can't just test the water we have to fully jump off the houseboat into the refreshing water below. I so badly want to be drenched. I want God to surround me as if I was underwater. The funny thing is, that He does. That's the best part! AH! Like what the heck why do I deserve that?!
I hope all of this kind of makes sense I am kind of a rambler :).
I love you all and am praying for all of you all!!
Campers are coming!!!

Overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit

Two things that stand out about John from this reading. First, when asked what he says about himself by the priests and Levites his response directly stems from his identity in Christ. He responses not about himself but with who Jesus is [and who Jesus has made him to be]. See the theme here people?!
Secondly, John flat out declares his unworthiness in comparison to Christ. He uses self-deprecating language when seen in comparison to Christ. He declares that even he, one who has been marked as the forerunner of Christ to baptize by water, is unworthy to untie Jesus' sandals. Think about Jesus' feet for a second...Those guys are probably have layers of dirt caked on them, a wicked sandal tan, might possibly smell from the extensive walking Jesus did, heck he probably has long toe nails too [we don't read about Jesus stopping to trim His big toes!]. With even quite possibly the gnarliest of feet, John submits to His Lord and claims himself unworthy.

The story continues and we see Jesus, the one who baptizes in and with the Holy Spirit, come alongside John. Jesus comes and He begins baptizing in the power of the Holy Spirit. From this moment, believers are being submerged, immersed, and dunked in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus overwhelms us with the Spirit. He doesn't just dip us in, he fully dunks us. We have the power of the Holy Spirit living and dwelling inside us that is continually accessible to us. If you know anything about the Holy Spirit than you know the power that it has. I never fully understood what it meant to have the Holy Spirit living inside of me until I began college. That could be a whole separate post so I won't go into it just yet, if you have questions you I'm here, but just know what great responsibility and opportunity that gives you. When we recognize the power of the Holy Spirit lives are changed, transformed, and renewed. I am daily wrecked by the Holy Spirit when someone prays truth over me that is directly from the Spirit or when I hear God encouraging me to speak a certain truth over a friend which just so happens to pertain to their life without my prior knowledge. [In fact, I was so much so wrecked by the power of the Holy Spirit that when my old Lifegroup leader freshman year prayed over me a prayer that was so specific to my life - which she knew nothing about because I had just met her that day - the Holy Spirit renewed and redeemed my life from that day on.]

When I read this devotion not only do I see the rich ways in which God saturates us in His love and mercies but also how he submerges us in the power of the Spirit. Each of us, after accepting Christ, have the power of the Spirit living inside us and are thus co-partners with Christ in administering His grace and truth.

[sorry mine always end up being so long!]
Blessings to all,
Hope Frankian

ps. all these post reminded me of this throwback...... Steven Curtis Chapman anyone?!!!

life to the FULL with Jesus

Hello friends!

I could not be more thankful or excited to get to serve with all of you again this summer and see how the Lord moves in incredible ways again! I’m a little behind with the blogs but I will hopefully be fully caught up now! J I’ve been SO encouraged reading all of yours and cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for all of us this summer!

Week 1:

I was definitely very convicted by this study of whether I KNOW who Jesus is or if I just know a lot about who Jesus is – I feel like if I could somewhat grasp who Jesus is right now in my life even though our words are SO incapable of describing all that He is now… my life would look dramatically different than it does today. I loved learning what the Greek meaning of “takes away” – Jesus didn’t just end all sin in the world, but rather, He took up all of the sin of the world, the wrath of God was poured out onto Him, He carried it as His own sin even though He lived a perfect, innocent life, and carried it off, removed it from us, WASHED US CLEAN by the blood of the lamb. His grace active in my life NOW is something I so easily forget about – that Jesus nailed my shame, guilt, pain, regret all on the cross and He died on the cross so that I wouldn’t have to feel this way anymore but could live in the freedom and truth and light of His love and goodness. We have hope; we no longer have to live stuck in these chains of our sin – He has broken our chains and we now have to choose to step out of these chains and into a life of freedom and hope with our Savior. Thank you Jesus for that incredible, undeserving gift.

Week 2:

I was baptized a little over a year ago and I will never forget the feeling of being submersed under the water with the pastor saying “you are dead to your sin” and then rising up out of the water and him proclaiming, “you are now alive in CHRIST.” It was the most joyous moment of coming up out of that water, knowing that I had just made this statement to all my friends and family that I was living my life for Jesus and that He is the reasoning that I am standing here alive today. After reading this study, I think I’m realizing how I treated baptism like a one time thing. But, what I’m realizing now is that choosing to be alive in Christ is a daily commitment, something that we get to decide each day – choosing to let go of our sin and being embraced by our full and complete life with our King. It says in John 10:10 that Jesus has “come that they may have LIFE and have it to the FULL” – THIS is what He desires for His people and we are completely missing out on a life being dunked in and drenched with the life of God and His truth if we live in our sin and forget all the life that God longs for us to have. So today, I’m choosing a LIFE with Christ, being fully submersed and dunked into His love and freedom today. J

Hey everyone Aaron here sorry for the lateness,

These devotions have been great. Thought it was interesting how we usually refer to God by his actions and what he has done rather than who he truly is. I never really thought seriously about who God is. I loved what John said, "The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." So awesome and I can't think of anything that describes God in a better way.
As for being dunked in and drenched with, I often put things in front of God in my life and I take him for granted. Reading this devotion this week made me realize that I need to make God the center of my everyday and that he wants to drench me with all of his love and blessings.

Under the Waves

This week at the youth group I volunteer at in SLO, the speaker talked a little bit about something that I thought fit perfectly with this weeks devo. I wanted to share it and my thoughts with you guys.

The speaker shared how following Jesus was like getting caught in a wave while surfing. (I don't surf...but maybe you surfers can relate!) When the wave crashes over you, you have no choice but to submit to what it's going to do...you are at the mercy of the water. There's no way you can escape the wave, you are completely immersed in the eternity that is the ocean.

Jesus wants to baptize us like that, all the time. He is baptizing us like that and he will continue to do so.   He is drenching us with His life, overwhelming us, and he's the one who's in control of the wave. And the waves never stop coming, no matter what. He keeps baptizing. A lot of times, the waves are scary and sometimes painful. We don't want to them to crash on top of us. It's going to hurt. But that's what Jesus calls us to. Darrell Johnson says this in his book "We fear the baptism because we're afraid we might get swept into something beyond our control." The waves freak us out because they could easily sweep us out into the ocean (at least they freak me out). Jesus' baptism is sweeping us into Himself, and guess what? He's beyond our control! But there is no place I'd rather be than in His arms. (I swear I wasn't trying to write song lyrics...it just happened!) So why fear?

Let the waves come and baptize you. Let them keep coming. Jesus wants to keep giving His life to us.

Dunk Tank... with a remote control

This week reading about being dunked and drenched reminded me of a dunk tank at a carnival.  My church in Orange used to rent one for all the youth leaders to take turns sitting on the plank so kids could use tickets to get their leaders DUNKED.  Some kids would use ice cubes to "make the water feel more refreshing."

I thought about being DUNKED in and drenched with the life of God.  I thought that each time I read my bible, devotional, had a "Jesus" conversation with friends I was seeing myself on the plank getting ready for that target to be struck anticipating the cold water.  OUT OF NO WHERE (daily) Jesus remotely operates the lever that plunges me in and soaks me to the core.  He does this each morning as I wake up- as Alyssa said just a few posts ago.  His remote control (His bigger plan) is what I need EVERY TIME!  He hits that remote switch all the time!!!  So cool, So refreshing!  Just what I need!

Andy

Rescuer

Hey amigos, Happy Friday! Hope everyone is having a good week!

Since being at school and a part of a new church, I've seen a lot of different perspectives about baptism. Everyone has a different idea about when you should be baptized, what it means, how it should be done...all that. But when John is describing Jesus he says he is "The Lord, the one who Baptizes you in and with the Holy Spirit." Jesus is the ultimate baptizer and He is constantly drenching us with his life, with his Spirit, and with his love! It's about allowing Jesus to fill up our lives with His. I love how Alyssa put it, that we were baptized this morning when we woke up and every day because Jesus continuously gives himself to us completely.

In John 1:23, John says "I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'" Too often, I put things in front of Jesus in my life. I block his path and I push him away. But John says make straight the way for the Lord. Our God, Yahweh-to-the-rescue, has come to save us! He's here to rescue us from our brokenness, from our pain, from our sin, and all we have to do is make straight the way for Him! If we are hurting and someone is coming to rescue us, why would we ever let anything get in the way?

Today in my Third World Studies class, I had the opportunity to talk to three Muslims from the mosque here in Santa Barbara for about 2 and a half hours. We talked about everything from the basic beliefs of Islam to what they believe to be true about Jesus. It was honestly really hard sitting there and listening to them call my Lord a simple prophet, who was not crucified, was not God, was not resurrected. Basically just want to say thanks be to God for this study. I got to end my day on a study about who Jesus really is, bringing me back to reality.

Some thoughts on this weeks discussion of John brought me back to my own baptism two summers ago on the delta. It was my first week as a barney, and I hadn't felt such a strong pull from the Holy Spirit to get baptized as I had on that day. I didn't even think twice about it. I'm so glad I made that decision, because I get to look back on that moment as the moment that my old self and all my sins were nailed to the cross. Sometimes it sinks in deeper than others, but this study about Jesus' baptism of us, daily, relentlessly, lovingly, and completely definitely reminded me of the wonderful consequences of being His sons and daughters. I was baptized two summers ago, but I was also baptized when I woke up this morning, given a new day and new mercies. All this talk about water and dunking reminds me of my favorite worship song right now. Oceans by Hillsong United. I've been mediating on this song for the past week, just soaking up and drowning in His love, listening to His call to trust and submit. Here's the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw

God's eternal love

Before I go into my blog for the week I just wanted to show you guys a picture that my 9 year old cousin Jayden posted a few weeks back.

I don't know if you can read the caption but it says God's promise! I was not expecting that to come out of my little cousin. Sometimes I forget that God's love flows through everyone, no matter at what age and I just found it really encouraging to see that.

ANYWAY,

What stood out to me most in this week's blog was definitely how being baptized is described as being DUNKED into God's love. When I think of being dunked into something, it almost sounds intimidating at first. I think of it like being pushed into a pool, at first you are kind of nervous about it and not quite sure how to feel about it, but once you are in, it is the most refreshing swim you have ever had. I definitely feel that way about God sometimes. I feel like His love is too good for me and I almost feel intimidated by it, but it is so encouraging to know that He is willing to constantly shower me and drench me in His love. He is completely giving himself to me, all of us, our campers, my cousin, and everyone! No wonder it is the "ultimate self-giving-sacrificial-servant-love"! He is constantly pouring his love into EVERYONE ALL OF THE TIME! That is so encouraging to think about!

HOPE YOU ALL HAD A GOOD WEEK :)

life in response to the spirit

Jumping off the boat was always a highlight of my houseboat trips as a student. When I jumped, got that adrenaline rush, and plunged into the water, I wanted to do it again and again. Students don't usually jump once and call it a day. They usually come back time and time again to leap off the boat!

I love the image that Jesus loves to continuously pour his love out on us and dunk us fully in his spirit. It is not a one time thing, but something that happens over and over again. The life that we live in response to this generosity shouldn't be an occasional picture of grace and love. Rather, our life should be a constant testament to the change we've experienced and the baptism we've received.

So encouraging!!

Jane :)

Yahweh-to-the-rescue!

What stood out to me from this week was "Yahweh-to-the-rescue." I thought about how when I was little and got hurt my parents would come to the rescue and help me and make sure I was all right. They came as many times as I needed them. They didn't say one day, "Oh this is the 50th time she got hurt, she's all right." They came to my rescue every time I needed them. Mommy-and-daddy-to-the-rescue.

But how much more powerful is it that we have Yahweh-to-the-rescue? When we are hurting from sin or separation from him, and we call out to him, he comes to the rescue. He comes to immerse us in the spirit and life of God. And like the devo says, its not just a one time thing. Jesus wants to baptize us in and with his love and life every chance he gets. He WANTS to come and rescue us and pour out his spirit on us. Yahweh-to-the-rescue!

Praying for you all!
Amanda

God's love

Well to be completly honest I've missed my quiet times the last couple of days and I've felt pretty sick both inside and out. But this morning when I woke up with all the worries and doubts about the day ahead I felt called to sit and be present with God. I told Him all my fears a doubts that have been holding me back from living my day through His eyes instead of my own. He took my worries upon him self freeing me from the bonds of stress. So I guess I found that when I waver from being dunked in and drentched with God's love he always takes the opportunity to lead me back to the ocean of his love and throw me back in. For I am a child of God, and God loves to find his lost and lonely children and throw them    back into the ocean of his love where we belong.

Lamb of God.

Hey Guys!

hope you all had an awesome Easter!

what really suck out to me during this devotional was not only how convicted i felt (in a good way) about how easy it is for me to look at Christs doings and not his being when i think of who Christ is. its so easy for me to describe what he did when i think of the question who is Jesus but the title of this devotional really just sums it up, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is one hundred percent man and a hundred percent devine which is so awesome to think about. He is the God in flesh its a simple as that. 

another thing that really rocked me was Isaiah 53.  SO GOOD. for me it was just an encouragement and reminder to live an authentic genuine life. Christ wasn't this  man of beauty that attracted others he was despised and rejected. He was humble and he took our sins to the cross to give us life like verse 5 and 6 

 "But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

⁶ 

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

    each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all."

it just rocks me every time. 

and all he asks is for us to love him and follow him, to deny carry and follow.

its so good. God  the creater of the universe created us.... he didnt need to but he did.... and he loves us his heart breaks when he sees us hurting to turning away from him and yet he still wants us to be with him in eternity so he sends his one and only son to die for us to take away our sin to live a life to glorify him. yes we mess up cause like any human we arent perfect but God lavishes us in his grace because of what Jesus did. the Lamb of God who took away our sin.  

The Lamb

For me this devotional was awesome. What I mean by that is it met me where I am and have been for a while now. The understanding that Jesus has taken away my sin is something that I often find hard to accept, however the people God has put in my life and these devotionals have been making it abundantly clear that my lack of understanding and ability to accept fully what Christ has done to me, does not make it any less great or any less true. No actions of me can ever diminish what was done on the cross. Christ has done away with sin, it's not my choice to make whether my sins are forgiven, Christ has already done what is necessary to do away with them.
I love the first line asking what Jesus' last name is because I think it's a huge point that a lot of people look over. Christ is not a name it is a title and a great title in that. It states his power in one single word, all of the Godliness, redemption, miracles, love and justice of Jesus in one title "Christ". I just love it all, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and celebration.

-RB

Slam Dunked!

Hey Guys! Alex Here,

Continuing with the journaling I can already begin to see myself develop a more disciplined character through his teachings and prayer time. When I am dunked IN and drenched WITH the life of God, the rest of my day reflects that Gods glorious power is at work in my life. Being dunked in the power of God is so generous, and as the journal stated it's "the ultimate self-giving-sacrificial-servant-love!", a true testimony for how we should be serving on the houseboat! He is preparing us to serve and showering us with blessings. We have been given second, third, forth, and fifth chances and still God showers us with his love and life. To finish my thoughts, Matt Redman sings a great song 10,000 Reasons saying, "Bless the Lord, Oh my soul", and truly I will being blessing and praising the Lord with all of my soul.

Happy Easter!!!

Last week it was so cool to go through the devotional and be reminded daily that Jesus was the LAMB!  Not just the little lamb that I saw next to the fluffy bunny's on the Easter Egg dying kit at my in-laws but the LAMB who suffered.  The Lamb who pulls the spotlight onto Himself.  He came to replace all the sacrificial lambs and (all) sacrifices forever.  He defeated SIN not sins but SIN itself.  WOW! Our all powerful God walked this earth as a gentle sacrificial Lamb knowing full well His end. Death on a cross.  The most humiliating way to die.  Being at our grandma's house this weekend, the topic of Jesus' death on a cross came about and grandma said "I don't like to see the drama" (her church does a re-enactment of the scorning and crucifixion of Jesus).

Who likes to see the Lamb being sacrificed?  Nobody... I haven't met one person who has seen The Passion of the Christ and thought... "suffering couldn't have been that bad", or "I enjoyed that movie."  Jesus the Lamb walked the earth sharing about His Father's love. Jesus took our place! NOBODY wants to see a lamb die, especially not Grandma Lancaster!   "He is the one great final sacrifice- who fulfills all that is foreshadowed in all the sacrifices! (21 Johnson, Darrel Who Is Jesus?)"

"Ask John the Baptist- Who is Jesus? "Look", John says.  'Jesus is the lamb of God!  He is the one who takes away the sin of the world.  He is the one who is sacrificed before God instead of you and me!  He is the one who takes away SIN- yours and mine.'" (Staff Devo pg 3 Chapter 1)