This is His city

Shalom friends. I've been in Israel for a week now, & it has already stolen my heart (which I guess is a good thing since I'm going to spend eternity here with Jesus, eventually). I am staying in an apartment right in Jerusalem. I don't know how to fully describe this city or what I've felt since being here, but what I can say is that this truly is God's city. His presence is so tangible here & His voice so clear.

It just blows my mind that Jesus, this man that I've given everything to & everything up for, was here, walking these same streets, climbing these same hills to spend time with the Father. He was one with these people & still is. The Mount of Olives, which is right out my window, is where Jesus ascended into heaven & where He's coming back. I wonder how deep it can possibly sink in?

Goodness. This place. These people. The Jewish people. They really are the fullness of God's heart. They are the root of the olive tree we've been grafted into. The Lord put His firstborn, His chosen people, on the sidelines, hardening their hearts & closing their eyes to Him, so that the gentiles, that's me & a lot of you, could join the family & experience the God of salvation that they've always known. And now, our job is to provoke the Jewish people into jealousy by the way we love each other & love them. So if you want to know God's heart, know His people.

ps. just last week I was given $1,000 for outreach, so now I only need $425. The Lord is so good & faithful!

simplicity.

Goodness,it's been quite a while, quite the journey. I left for outreach two months ago, on september 22nd, and this morning I'm heading off to Israel for three weeks. Yeah, Israel. The question I've been getting the most, recently, is "are you ready (for Israel)?" Confidently, I can say yes. Why? Let me tell you.

Really quickly, here's where I've been so far: Boston, New Jersey & New York City, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Ohio, Washington D.C., and Nashville. I wish I had the time and motivation to tell you all the times and trials that have prepared me for this next adventure, but I'm going to make it very short and simple.

Before I even left for outreach, my prayer was this, "Lord, teach me how to love." He began by taking me through the fire of my desperation, exposing my deepest, littlest fleshly desires, motivations, and weaknesses, and burning them away. He brought me to the humbling reality that I need Him. God revealed Himself to me in that He is love, and so, it takes Him to love. It takes God to love others. Further more, it takes God to love God. That's how much I need Him. It was a rough process of purification, but a life changing one and a blessed one.

The next fire He took me through was the fire of His own desire for me. He filled my brokenness with His mercy and power. He showed me that though my love for Him is weak, it is true, and in the end, that's all that matters. He will always be more committed to me than I could ever be to Him, so there's no sense in striving to be good enough; I never will be. But that's where the beauty is-He loves me so deeply and unconditionally, that He chooses to use my weakness, more than anything, to give Himself glory. His banner over me is love. This love is what raised Christ from the dead, and it is what is living and active inside of me. It's the most humbling and empowering thing in the world. In Romans 13:10, it says that if we simply love, then we fulfill all the requirements of the Lord. So He started by revealing Himself to me-that He is love-and then next, He revealed the truth that that love is also in me, whether I feel it or not. Woah.

Thirdly, He's taken me through the fire of sacrifice. The way that God ultimately showed His love for us was the the sacrifice of Jesus. 1 John 3:16 says, "We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sister." Shoot. So I've learned that God is love, that I need His love, and that His love for me is everlasting-now it's my turn to love. Now, I can pour out my worship and my love on HIs feet all day, but the first commandment and second commandment go hand in hand-if I love God, I must love others. I love it! You have to have both; I can't truly love others if I don't love God, and I don't really love God if I don't love others. It's genius. Simple, sometimes hard, but genius. And since I'm living with nine other people who are all so different, but family, what a better time to live this out!

As soon as I told the Lord that I wanted to learn how to love this unique family that He's placed me in for this season, He began giving me His eyes for them, showing me who they really are and who they're called to be. He asked me to lay down my desires, plans, opinions, and my walls, and fully commit to lifting up and loving each brother and sister in the best way possible. Man, it has been hard, but when you're with a family who's all in the same boat-everyone dead to themselves and living for one another, then everyone's taken care of. It's the simplicity of sacrifice.

And now, I am ready, my family is ready, for Israel. In John 17:23, this is Jesus' prayer for His believers, "I am in them and you, Father, are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me." We plan to bring the revelation of Jesus as the Messiah to the Jewish people simply by the way we love each other. We'll let that love, His love in us, overflow into the ministry that we do. And so, to put it simply, I've learned what love really is and what it looks like. You've probably noticed that I use the words "simple" and "simply" a lot. That's because I've discovered the purpose of life, what everyone lives and dies to figure out-it's to simply love.

(and God is love. so you need God. boom.)

ps. is still need about $1,000 to stay in Israel. If you feel led to help me out, then awesome, you can use the donate button on here. thank you!