"Character and Nature week"

Well, we've reached the end of week 3 on DTS and also the end of January. These past few weeks have been crazy, to say the least. We've met loads of new people, experienced things we wouldn't have otherwise in Canada, we've seen a new side of God, and we've started to become a weird little family. We've all seen new things and joined together in the things we haven't experienced before.

This week's lectures were on the Character and Nature of God, aka Character and Nature week for most YWAMers. This week, for me anyway, started off on a pretty negative note. The lecturer we had this week is so incredibly intelligent (like he has a doctorate kind of intelligent) that sometimes I felt like he has trouble dumbing down the thoughts in his head for the rest of the people of normal intelligence. However, on wednesday, things clicked for me.

The main focus for the week was on the Fear of the Lord and how we need to have both the fear of the Lord and intimacy with Him to have a solid relationship. Going a little more in depth, he asked us if we thought that we were created in the image of God's nature or God's character. Nature being the things about God that cannot change, such as His power and His wisdom, and Character being the things that can change, like His love and His goodness (more on that later, don't freak out yet). The answer was character, because we can't have the wisdom and power of God. His illustration of that was asking one of us to float upside down with your foot on the ceiling for 5 minutes, and us saying we couldn't do that. Which makes sense. So then, someone asked if God's love was part of His character or His nature, and this is when the discussion started. We as humans want to think God's love is part of His nature, because we want to know that it's always there, etc. Our speaker raised the point that if it's a part of God's nature, that means that He has to love us, which we didn't like either. However, God's love would actually be a part of His character. He chooses to love us every single day. So then of course, we asked why. Why would God choose to love us and choose to be good to us? We are such failures, and we can't even comprehend why on earth He would want to love us and would choose to every single day. Somewhere in his wisdom He knows that it's best to love us, but where? That question stumped the lot of us as we left class. And then at lunch, while in discussion with some of the leaders, one mentioned that how she got through that question on her DTS was by realizing that God is a relational God (which we went over last week), so in His infinite wisdom He knows it's best to love us and have a relationship with us. It was a good feeling to realize this. In 2 Corinthians it says “my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” He loves us and wants us even when we fail really hard, and He can still be glorified in our weakness.

So then yesterday, the one idea/thing that I really took out of lecture was this: We need to live in a way that honours the price that has been paid for us. Jesus gave His life for us and we need to live to glorify that ultimate sacrifice.

So then that takes us to now, 2 pm on Friday January 31. It's a good day. We had base intercession this morning where the Holy Spirit moved like crazy, and in half an hour we leave for the beach.

I am blessed.

I am blessed.

I am blessed.

Our speaker challenged us this week with the idea that blessings actually come from being obedient to the Lord. I really hope i have been, and that's why i am so in love with my Creator.

I hope today that you live to honour the price that was paid for you on the cross.

In Him, our powerful and loving God,

Cailey