Blown Away!

Well, it has been quite a while since I last posted anything. Life has been busy and filled with lots of good challenges. I have been mess cooking the past two weeks, which can be draining. The Lord is ever faithful in sustaining me and upholding me through His Word and through cross-centered music. I have come to love the song by Aaron Shust, "My Savior and My God." I  would listen to that as I washed dishes and cleaned tables. God has greatly encouraged my heart with His love throughout the past several weeks...when I feel down and discouraged, He brings the Gospel to my mind. "Christ has died for me, He has made a way that I can have peace with God, I am clothed in His righteousness, and in Him I hide!" Preaching the Gospel to myself is a definite must to keep my eyes focused on the cross. I do have some fellow Believers here on the boat, but most of them do not think about the cross and live discouraged lives. It is only by God's grace that He has taught me that the Gospel is not just for unbelievers but for Believers!

Now that I am no longer mess cooking, I will be working back in Navigation. I am also taking two classes that keep me busy with homework and projects. I am doing well, though even if I don't have lots of down time...it helps make the patrol go faster. I miss all of you back home, and it encourages me greatly knowing that you are lifting me up in your prayers.

I suppose if I were to sum up the past several months and even the past two years, the lessons God has taught me all seem to derive from the book of Philippians. The joy we have as followers of Christ is not based off of circumstances and feelings, but off of Him. Situations, people, pain, suffering, and even sin can never take away that which is most imoprtant to me---Jesus! Oh how I love Him...sometimes I feel like I could explode with the joy in knowing Him...and to think I have only tasted but a small bit of it. I am comforted by the fact that I am not HOME yet! Someday I will be with Jesus...and I will see Him face to face. My faith will be turned to sight. What a wonderful day that will be! My fellow Coasties cannot comprehend my joy nor the reason I am so happy when I tell them why...because I know Jesus and He fills me with joy. It is a mystery to them, but not to me. How could I be anything but joyful in knowing and being known by the Almighty God who has saved me. Believers who do not think and rejoice in the Gospel daily will be robbed of joy, drained of strength, and conformed to the word around them. We must fight for joy...true, lasting joy in Jesus. Sometimes God's presence seems far away...maybe even gone...but we must not trust our feelings. When God's presence seems far away cling to His promises.

So here I am clinging to the promises of God, amazed by His love, and filled with joy in knowing Him. I am saved by grace and I no longer live but Jesus Christ lives in me. I am not home yet, but someday soon I will be with Jesus and until then I want to live life with all I have got for His glory. O that I may be spent and used up for Him and make it to my heavenly home all used up, spilled out, and worn out from serving Jesus...and yes, smiling as I cross the finish line.

My Savior My God

July 5, 2010

I have a new favorite song: My Savior My God by Aaron Shust. I absolutely love the words to it. The chorus goes like this:

My Savior loves, my Savior lives,
My Savior’s always there for me!
My God He was my God He is
My God He’s always gonna be!

My heart nearly explodes with joy as I listen to it on my MP3 player. I find it such an encouraging, uplifting song especially as I go throughout my day, working with unbelievers who do not believe in Jesus. They have their own philosophy on life and Christ is definitely not apart of it. They do not love Him nor do they think He’s real. But when I listen to this song I hear the truth from God’s Word spilling out. MY SAVIOR LOVES! It does not matter what any of my fellow Coasties think or say---I am a child of God and He loves me. Jesus loves me and has saved me. MY SAVIOR LIVES! Jesus is not a fairy tale or some prophet of long ago---He is real and true and the Son of God who died to set me free. He is always with me, He will never forsake me, He is my God who I will serve and honor.

The battle rages fiercely and my heart is drained of power and joy when I listen to the so called “worldly wisdom” my friends live by. They are looking out for #1, living for worldly pleasures, satisfying their own lusts, and seeking their own glory. I am bombarded with Satan’s lies that God will not satisfy me, and that He’s holding out on me that which will make me happy; but amidst it all the cross remains rock solid and unwavering. So I fix my eyes on the cross and I press on knowing that my Savior lives and He loves me. My heart is set free by this good news of great joy. I am so happy that Jesus loves me and that He has saved me and made me His! This is the joy that fills my being.

A New Adventure

June 28, 2010

I am at the beginning of a new adventure. Next week the Midgett shall set out for our South Patrol. We’ll be going down the West Coast towards Costa Rica…our mission is drug interdiction and training…and we will probably be gone for a good two and a half months or so. I am excited to be getting back underway, and to be going on my first south patrol. I am praying that the Lord will challenge and stretch me in different areas of my life and teach me more about Himself. I should be staying fairly busy, breaking-in in other watch stations on my boat, taking three college classes, boat lowering, and a whole slew of other things I don’t know about yet. I’ll be out of contact for most of the patrol, but hope to update everyone once I get the chance.

So fair well for now, and until we meet again!

Give Me Words To Speak!

June 25, 2010

“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”
--
Ephesians 6:19-20

This morning I read these verses during my devotions with the Lord. I think we place Paul on a high pedestal in the church, and sometimes fail to realize that He was just an ordinary guy like us. He was a sinner, saved by grace, and transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit. It is true that He knew God in a way that many of us cannot even begin to imagine, yet it was not because He was the “super apostle” or something like that, but because He lived a cross-centered life…He made Christ His number one priority in everything.

Read these verses again. Paul was afraid…he experienced fear when it came to sharing His faith. But He did not allow fear to hold Him back or keep Him from doing what Jesus Christ had commanded Him to do. So what did He do? He turned to the Lord for help…and he asked his friends---the Ephesians---to pray for him.

I feel so inadequate to share my faith here on the Midgett. Fears torment me and threaten to overwhelm me at times, and when I do find the courage to speak up when people ask me about my faith or why I am so happy, I feel like my tongue is tied in a million knots. I am Christ’s ambassador here on my boat, but I struggle having the courage to testify to the gospel of Christ, and finding the words to say to testify. So I turn to the Lord as Paul did, and I present my plea before the Father. “O give me Words to speak! Give me words to declare Your grace and truth to these people who need You and may I declare it fearlessly as I should!”

Pray for me, Lovers of Christ…that God would give me the words to speak when He brings opportunities into my life to share the gospel. And pray that I may declare the gospel here on the Midgett fearlessly as I should.

I'm Back!

June 22, 2010

I’m back! The irony of it all is that I’ll be leaving in less than two weeks for the Midgett’s South Patrol. Time seems to have flown by the passed several months; along with dry dock, my trip home to see my family, and my six-month mark here on my boat. God continues to teach me lessons on His faithfulness, demonstrate His patience in sustaining me each new day, and never fails to stretch and challenge me in my faith.

Today I sanded and varnished the “teak rail” on the bridge (I’ll have to post a picture of it sometime), then I took a walk through downtown Seattle, and then headed over to my favorite---Seattle’s Best! At times moments and days seem to blend into each other and I wonder where all my time goes. Oh that I would not waste my life frittering away the time I have been given! My aim is that every moment I spend on this earth, I would spend pointing people to Christ. I fail, but God remains faithful to me and picks me back up.

I so easily forget that Christ is the most important thing and the people on my boat need Him. They need the Gospel. I am to be Christ’s witness on my boat---His ambassador.

So I press on today, and the joy that pulses through me each moment is that I have been reconciled to God! Jesus Christ has taken my place and I have forgiveness! I have peace with the Father because of the sacrifice of the Son. I am so happy that I am a child of God. This is the reason I smile.

For Such A Time As This

Time has come to go back to work once again...my days off sure fly by! But I must not forget that it is for such a time as this that God has brought me to the Midgett. He brought me here to work and shine His glory as I work. I am not here by chance or by some mistake---He has a reason and I must surrender to His will.

How great and awesome He is and He is ever faithful to me each and every day. So today as I go back to work, I must remember that it is His hand that has placed me where I am at and that it is best. May I be His light on my boat and may I point people to Jesus in everything I do.

Here Rests My Soul

April 30, 2010

This I know is truth that God is good and He is sovereign. I see His hand at work in my life in every detail. In His goodness and by His providence, my leave chit was speedily approved, and by the same goodness and sovereignty my flight home was delayed. The same hand that sustains also inflicts; the same God who gives also takes. Through joy and sorrow, He teaches us that He is good, He is sovereign, and His glory is our joy. Perhaps I’ll miss time with my family, but the Teacher knows best, teaching me to be content in Him in all circumstances. He is teaching me that His love is better than life. So I rejoice that God is good and sovereign. I rejoice that I am going home, and that I am stuck in Seattle. I rejoice that God is my joy, and that is Him my heart finds rest.