Be Made Available to the King

In the most painful moment of Jesus’s death, where he drew his last breath, that was when we found most, our joy, our freedom.

God is love (1 John 4:8). His love, completely contrasting to the world’s dying love, is unfailing, steadfast, faithful, committed, and eternal. Jesus loved, so he sacrificed, he suffered. God loved, so he sacrificed, he suffered.

Today, as our heavenly Father is calling your name, engraved in the palm of his hand, calling you to open up your heart, your wounds, so that he may dwell in you- will you open up your heart to him? Are you ready to dive deeper into God’s love? And if you are ready, if you are willing, he is just as ready to dive deeper as you are. He is always ready to unconditionally love you.

Availability; capability of advantageous use. Because of Jesus, who is abundantly enough, you are capable and enough to serve for his purpose.

Let’s take a moment to be available to him right now.

Lord, thank you for always working in us. For gently tapping our hearts to show us your faithful love. Today, we lay down our selfish desires, our brokenness, our hurt, our anger, all down, so we may fully experience your glorious presence. You are our redeemer, our helper, our military aid, our rock, our foundation, and we look up to you in these troubling times. Let us be made willing to love you deeper today, to be surrounded by your love. Amen.

P.S.

Thank you from the deepest depths of my heart, Meadow Glade Church, for opening up your hearts to accept the word of God and what he had put in my heart. My prayers go out to each and every one of you.

love,

—Amy Akeda

A New Normal

May God bless you wherever you may be reading this. First, I want to thank God for inspiring me to give this past Sabbath’s message. I also want to thank the incredible pastoral staff at Meadow Glade Church for allowing the youth to be so involved.

This past Sabbath I spoke on Psalm 23 and how God calls us to walk through our valleys, not sit, but walk. This Biblical teaching brings to mind the story of the Israelites; they were a people who literally had to walk through a valley or a desert. Scripture tells us that the Israelites hated the desert so much that many of them would have preferred returning as slaves to Egypt than enduring the desert.

God gave the Israelites what they wanted: freedom. Why then were the Israelites now dissatisfied with their freedom and desiring their chains once again? I recall that some of the things I was praying for God to change in my life changed amidst the pandemic. God did what I asked Him to do, but then, I found myself missing the things that I asked Him to take away. The Israelites complained because it is truly hard being uncomfortable. It is truly hard being removed from what we are use to in our daily lives and being removed from our comforts.

I have found myself wishing that everything could just go back to normal. It is really easy to look back. However, as Christians, I think it is important that we should keep looking forward, not backward, to a new normal. Just like the Israelites, what lies ahead is better than what is behind us. There is a promised land ahead and the Good Shepherd walks with us along the way.

My prayer for all of us is that we may endure this desert, endure the discomfort, that we may keep walking, walking forward to a new normal.

—Josue Mendez

Protecting God?

When I was at Walla Walla, I met someone who had a unique perspective on certain concepts in the Bible. It was like, everything you thought you knew, she looked at with an alternative lens. One thing in particular caught my attention. She said, "People try and protect God when in prayer". I was confused until she explained further. She said, "How many times do we pray for the clearly possible, but not the necessary impossible?"

This brought me to a piece in I Kings 3 verses 4-15. This is the story where Solomon was told by God to ask for anything that he would want the Lord to give unto him. Out of all the things Solomon could have asked for - fame, wealth, a perfect life, etc - he asked for wisdom.

Solomon asked for wisdom so he could lead his kingdom in a prosperous and righteous way. Because of that request, God gave him great wisdom. But, God also gave Solomon great wealth and honor. Solomon's cup was overflowing with the riches of God.

Like my friend said, I think we often pray for the little things, the manageable things, the things that are just annoyances. But, when it comes to the impossible things, we think there is no way - like they are too big for God. For Solomon, he probably thought it was impossible to run the nation. But God is a God of the impossibles. God can handle it. We don't need to protect God. Like Solomon, let God work powerfully in our lives.

—Mitchell Powers

Let Go

While I was at Walla Walla, I worked at the Center for Humanitarian Engagement. This was a student-based team focused on engaging WWU students in local service opportunities and initiatives. I had started working there at the beginning of the school year. As each month went by I grew closer to the staff and soon there was a real sense of family within the team. When Christmas season arrived, we celebrated together with a party and dinner. We went to a restaurant in downtown Walla Walla, sharing stories and engaging in good laughter. We had all carpooled in different vehicles. As we said our goodbyes and began to leave, a random stranger walked through us, opened my friend's door to his car, sat in the back seats, and locked the car. As you can imagine we were all a bit confused and shook up. We talked with her and, after a long time, convinced her to get out of the car.

It was so surprising, so out-of-the-norm, so circumstantially changing. Now, months later, I still think about that incident. I think to myself, "What if, when God tries to enter our lives, all we do is try to convince Him to get out"?

In John 15:5 it says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit". We all want to stay connected to the Vine, we all want the Presence of God, it's in our nature as human beings created by God. So what is it that, at times, makes us think that we should pull God out of the "car"?

1. Control over Uncertainty

Do you ever try and control everything? I do sometimes, especially in my walk with God. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm sure I'm not the only one. When God takes control of our worries and fears, we have to let go of control and let God handle it all. Sometimes, we get so obsessed with the control, that it's more important to us than God and we convince Him to "get out of our car".

2. Distractions

Do you ever feel so good and spiritually connected that you hit a "high" with God, but then forget Who even brought you to that place? Satan uses distractions in our lives to make us create idols out of anything and everything. Phones, media, errands, workouts, "me-time", have-to's, sports, just to name a few. Thus, we kick God out of our lives.

3. More Room

I struggle with space and maybe you do too. As soon as I give God the go-ahead in my life to make a change and bring me restoration, I feel as if I'm in another episode of Extreme Home Makeover. But, instead of shouting "move that bus" to a new creation, I ask for my old space back and for God to put down the hammer in my life.

4. Not Enough Time

In my life, I say "there's not enough time" constantly. As a result of the society we live in, I imagine you do the same. We are hurried people and say "I'm too busy for a devotional", or "I have a meeting, I can't have a time of prayer right now". This cycle, sooner or later, pushes God out of our lives and throws us into the depths of this world.

Here is my prayer for you:

That the Spirit of God may be with you and may guide your steps. That you may let go of control and let God take your fears, your anxiety, and your doubts. That you can keep a focus on God and His purpose for you in this world. That you back up, and make room for God in your life, and make God a priority over anything else in your life. When God jumps into your car, don't ask Him to leave, but rather jump into the driver's seat and ask "Where to now"?

—Mitchell Powers