Post-Monark

I feel like I'm not the only one who gets the post-Monark blues. For me, at least, Monark is essentially the greatest time of the year. It's a refreshing time to come to the Lord and seek to have His will in my life. Certainly, God was faithful again to meet me at every point where I needed help. Monark encourages, instructs, leads, and boosts us -- but it's only 10 days long. Make no mistake, it makes me tired, but those 10 days go by pretty quickly for me.

Every year I struggle with the battle of finding help and encouragement at Monark and then proceeding to allow the cares of life to get in the way and limit the blessings I receive once Monark is over. Every year, it seems, I purpose to ward off those hindrances, but sometimes fall short.

God has done very special things for me this Monark. He's met me in places where I was too afraid to go before. He illuminated my needs in a way that made them appear as though they can be conquered. I believe that's not just an appearance, but a reality. God does have victory for me. He showed it in the meeting. It's up to me, now, to have faith that He really DID meet my needs and to continue to live in that faith. I was reading in Colossians as I reflected on some of the notes I took during the messages, and I stumbled across Colossians 2:6-7, which says:

"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: [7] Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving."

The first part is interesting. It talks about receiving Christ. As I pondered the verse, God opened my eyes that there are more ways to receive Christ than simply to accept His offered gift of salvation. We can accept His will in many other ways. We can accept a walk of humility. We can accept a walk of longsuffering. We can accept a walk of patience. Likewise, we can accept Christ in His various dealings in a meeting. There was a lot of altar work at Monark, and many young people sought help there just like I did. We can accept the help we get there. That's how we can receive Christ. Being receptive to His dealings is vital to our success as a believer. Receiving Christ isn't limited to a one-time work of salvation. We must receive from God all throughout our lives.

But, the verse doesn't stop there. We've received Christ, so we must walk in Him. That can be tricky. What does it truly mean to walk IN Christ. In my feeble understanding, it signifies embodying the traits and characteristics of Christ -- and making a practice of the things He has revealed to us that we have received. If God deals with us about being more patient, walking in Him is to live that out, as Christ did. Walking IN Christ means conforming to His dealings -- not just receiving them intellectually -- but to live them out. That's something I struggle with. Most messages I hear I understand from an intellectual standpoint. I recognize the instruction God wants to give through them, but I struggle with part two -- conforming my lifestyle to accommodate Jesus' principles in my everyday walk. This part of the verse challenges me to that end.

The next verse begins by instructing us to be "rooted and built up in Him," which is a remarkable metaphor. A tree has roots, and the deeper the roots go, the stronger the foundation and the more sturdy the tree becomes. In the same way, the more we are rooted into God, the better our defense against the storms of life become. If a tree didn't have roots, it would blow down at the slightest breeze. So we can be carried away at every "wind of doctrine" if we aren't rooted down (Ephesians 4:14).

We must be established in the faith. An established business is one whose presence is well-accounted for. We want our lives to be accounted as Christians and something not easily moved. It also mentions that we're established as we have been taught. For the most part, we have all had a wonderful education in the things of God. That is especially evident at times like Monark. We have been taught truth and we have been taught life. That teaching is essential to our establishment as children of God. We can't neglect that blessing.

The last part of the verse is something I really feel like I need to work on. It says to be abounding in thanksgiving. I thought of the word abounding. It means active and plentiful. Our praise and thanksgiving needs to be characteristic of that passion. God has blessed us with SO much. He continues to bless us more than I can imagine. The simple fact that He cares enough to teach us lessons like these is truly incredible. As Bro. Darrell explained, God wants more for us than a religious rules and regulations. He desires to give us revelations and a living gospel. I am so thankful God revealed these verses to me in a special, personal way, and I pray it can be a blessing to you all as well.

Listen, I know these next few weeks are going to be tough. I've already battled with things God dealt with me about at Monark. It's not going to be easy to move on from Monark, and we can be sure the devil will be right on our trail. But let's take the same energy we put into Monark out of it. It's not the beginning of the thing that matters, it's the end. Let's be encouraged to receive Christ in whatever capacity He chooses to reveal Himself and then walk in Him. He has a special blessing for all of us.

I pray to see all of you next year at Monark (and hopefully sooner!) with a testimony of God's faithfulness and keeping power. I need those same prayers that I can have the same testimony. We're God's church, let's be faithful to Him with our lives.

Keep encouraged!

Reaching Out

From Aubrey Sorrell:

Hi everybody! I thought I might share something that the Lord has been talking to me about for a while. Since the Guthrie campmeeting in May, the Lord has talked to me a lot on reaching out more. By reaching out I mean being a friend to those who are visiting the church, to those who don't really have a lot of friends. I'm not sure if I can quite put this into words the way God showed it to me, but I'll do my best.

During the Guthrie meeting, Bro. James Bell preached a message about being a first responder. He said something that really stood out to me: "Preach the gospel, and use words if necessary." Powerful, right? Our ultimate goal as Christians is to lead others to Christ, and one of the best ways for us to accomplish that goal is to be an example to others in what we say and do. But we have to take the first step (reaching out and being a friend) in order to be that example. If we will sacrifice our preferences, our excuses, our comfort zones, and reach out, we can then be an example and shine our light so that they can see Christ through us.

Philippians 2:4-8 is one of the passages that has really challenged me. Verse 4 says,

"Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."

Reaching out and being a friend to someone you don't know can be really hard. I've found myself making the excuse that "I'm not very good at talking to people that I don't know very well" or "I'm really bad at making conversation" or "I'll just make it awkward, and someone else is better at welcoming others anyways." It can be really hard sometimes to ignore the excuses and to step out of our comfort zone.

But, to be completely honest, being a Christian isn't about staying in our comfort zone. We have to step out of our comfort zone in order to make others feel comfortable sometimes. When the Lord asks us to do something, that's the time to act, not later when we feel it will be more convenient. Maybe you don't feel comfortable reaching out to those you don't know, but if you'll do your part, God can then do His part and help you to know what to say.

Put yourself in their shoes. They could really need a friend, and maybe God wants YOU to be that friend. Don't let your own feelings get in the way of reaching out to them. Look for those who need a friend and ask the Lord to help you to be willing to reach out to them.

I'm not sure if I got this out exactly how the Lord showed it to me, but I hope that this was a challenge to someone else like it was to me. I definitely don't have this completely mastered, but I pray that the Lord will continue to help me grow in this area.

Isaiah 6:8
"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."

~ Aubrey Sorrell

Above All

Sometimes a thought the Lord gives can be very simple but still very encouraging. That's the way this one is. There's a song that eloquently describes how God is "above all" things on earth, all wisdom, all power, etc. It proceeds to explain despite all of that, Jesus chose the cross and thought of ME above all else.

It was a great encouragement to me. Jesus is infinitely more powerful than even the most intelligent minds could comprehend, and yet, Jesus thought of my salvation above all else in the world. While it is an encouragement, it's also a challenge. Jesus put everything on the line for me, and I don't want his death to be wasted on me. I know that He would have died for anyone even if there was only one person to save, but I don't want to waste the opportunity He gave me. I want to serve Him and love Him with all that I have.

There's a passage in Ephesians where it details how we in times past were full of lust, "fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind," and in general were displeasing to God. All of these sins separated us from the Father. The story doesn't end there. Ephesians 2:4-5 says:

"[4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, [5] Even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved;)."

He thought of me above all. He knew our fallen state but loved us enough to come to our rescue. We owe our whole life to Him.

I know this thought is simple and may not resonate with some as it did with me. But, it's a blessed thing to realize that God is above all of the earth. He's above all of our problems and hurts. Despite His majesty and ability, He chose to come down to earth in a lowly manger and die a horrific death to save us from sin, from troubles, from hurts, and ultimately from ourselves. I don't want His sacrifice to be in vain.

Another verse he has recently inspired to me is Joshua 23:14. This verse is Joshua speaking near the end of his life. He had been through all of the miracles God had performed during his life and had experienced incredible things God had done during that time. It reads:

"And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof."

Even after all of the things that assailed him in life -- the Israelites doubting, the Jericho walls, and the battles, Joshua's testimony was that the Lord had not failed of ALL the good things He promised His children. He also reminded the Israelites that they knew in their hearts and souls that this was true. It's easy to get caught up in the times of disappointment or doubt. The Israelites doubted Joshua and Caleb's report that the land was theirs for the taking. I'm sure they were weary of marching around the walls of Jericho. They might not have had faith that they could come through to the other side of the battle victorious every time.

Yet, as Joshua pointed out, they KNEW that God had always been above all of those things and had been faithful to keep His children. I'm thankful that I, too, can cling to that promise. Maybe I get tired at work and feel like nothing is going right. I know that God is above all. And when I'm old enough to actually look back on life and reflect, I will also be able to testify of the Lord's faithfulness to me if I stay saved.

I never want to forget that God's power and wisdom means He is above all in this world. This story is a needful reminder of that.

Here are the words to the song:

Above all powers
Above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began
Above all kingdoms
Above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There's no way to measure what you're worth

Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose, trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

Above all troubles
Above all hurts
Above all problems we have here on this earth
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Crucified
Laid behind the stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose, trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsgdU-9I_YI

Keep encouraged!