One for the Other...

Terrace quickly became one of my favorite places here in Cambodia...not only because they serve REAL coffee (not NesCafe), but more so because it became the house of prayer and scripture reading for Dani and I. We have been going through Romans together, just reading it, out loud, cross-referencing, and discussing what we don't understand or what really stands out to us.

While we were going through Romans 4-7 on Sunday, one thing in particular stuck out to me:

"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey it's evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, BUT RATHER, offer yourselves to God; as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." Rom. 6:11-14

In general, I feel like the LORD has been showing HOW MUCH He is ALL ABOUT redemption!!! In all He does, He is working toward redeeming everything for His glory, back to what it was created for, to glorify Him. I really like how God is always giving us a way out. He doesn't just give us a list of do's and don'ts, but He gives us replacements, something ELSE, something BETTER!! In this passage, it is better desires, and a DIFFERENT, BETTER way to use our bodies as instruments (not for wickedness, but righteousness). He knows that He has created us with these desires, to serve a master, to use our bodies as instruments. He knows also that because of the fall, we want to follow evil desires, and use it for OUR good, and this is why He has given us a way out. He wants to REDEEM those desires. So, His commands are not just empty commands, but He gives us a better alternative. He gives us Himself, namely what that desire was meant to lead us to originally, before the fall. We also pulled this from Eph. 5:18 and 1 Cor. 10:13.....It has been INCREDIBLE though how much I have been getting to know the heart of God, and how the more I know that, the more what He does makes sense! He is just SOOOO loving!!! His plan of redemption is all over the place!!! (On this trip alone, He has brought me to Hosea and Ps. 107 too to show me His character of redemption!)...

Since the last time I wrote, Dani and I went on the Logos staff retreat in Koh Kong. This was such a great experience for me, but at times, I did feel very out of place, because the purpose of this retreat is to create unity within the staff, to get everyone on the same page, with the same goal, namely, to know Christ and make Him known. Obviously, not being a staff member, I tried to stay out of the way of Dani bonding with the other staff members. It was really hard, because I love being in the midst of God unifying His body. I did, however, attend the first and last session. The first session was on spiritual warfare. It was quite powerful and eye opening. The speaker, Jamie reminded us about the seriousness of this battle going on around us. He told a story (which I am trying to recall as best I can)of how his boss fell sick and he went to go visit and take care of him. All the people in the community knew Jamie was a Christian and began thinking that Jamie was making him sick with his prayers to God. Because of their spiritual awareness(despite the fact it was twisted), they came to the gate of the house, time and time again, holding their hands up and praying against Jamie, and Jamie would go out on the porch and hold his hands up, praying the spirits would stay OUT of his property, that they would stop at the gate. The people in the community would tie strings on posts representing prayers to their gods and set up spirit houses outside his gate, and Jamie would go cut the strings and knock down the spirit houses. Talk about LITERALLY fighting a spiritual battle...He also said, "We have got to be ACTIVE in this battle-the enemy is trying to blind those who we are fighting for to know the LORD." Then, he shared a story about sharing a verse with an unbeliever, but whenever he showed him the Bible, the man just responded that the pages were blank. He even held out the Word and pointed to the verse, and the man said, "All, I see is a blank page", and upon flipping through the rest of the Book, he could see no words on the pages...we are in a WAR, and we need to be ready, with our armor on, fighting back!

On the second day, we traveled to a waterfall. It was a bit of a let down, because the waterfall, was so small, but the boat ride there was fun, and just the sound of the waterfall and the jungle surrounding it made the trip worth it!!! Oh, and also, Dani and I climbed down the rocks to get closer to the waterfall, and got in trouble by the boat drivers, because we were too close. They also wouldn't let us climb the rocks UP the mountain...boo! On the last day, Dani and I rode home on the blue van. I am SUPER glad that we did, because Lyle knew of some hidden waterfalls off this dirt road, so we decided to check them out. They were WAY better than the ones we had originally seen, and this time, we could jump off the cliff into the water. It wasn't that high, but it was still TONS of fun!!!....It was a great day to be wearing a skirt, but that didn't stop me! :)

These last few days have been so precious to me, but also quite difficult. I long to be home, with family, friends, and my sweet boyfriend, but also, I know that I still have to finish strong here! Good thing we serve a Mighty God with inconceivable amounts of strength to give! Today is my last full day, and I am praying I can squeeze all the glory for the LORD I can out of it!

On the last day of the retreat, God spoke something so sweet to my heart, "Most of these people will probably forget who you are, but they won't forget what I have done through you." I think that is one of the BEST conclusions that anyone can have to any mission the LORD sends them on!!

This is how it was meant to be, "He must become greater; I must become less." John 3:30