Joeletter 6.1

JOELETTER

Happy New Year! I and the rest of the students have returned to Deeper, and are currently involved in three weeks of class time. Our classes include cross-cultural training, Intro to the New Testament, and studying the gospel written by Mark.

As I was contemplating The JOELETTER, I realized that the subscript that I had originally included "The all Joel, all the time newsletter" needed to be done away with. As you probably guessed, I put that in as a joke at myself, since this letter started out being all about me, and what I was doing up here at Deeper.

But even though that was just a humorous phrase, I decided to take it out. The Joeletter isn't really about me anymore, but about the things that God is leading me in. It's about lessons that He's teaching me, and the opportunities that He is providing. So, this is really the "God working in Joel's life" newsletter.


I'm continuing to learn about a single-minded focus. Like I wrote last time, it's so easy to be distracted from pursuing God by things that are really good in themselves. (My room is still a mess, just slightly cleaner because I'm not there right now).

I'm also learning about humility. Quite a lot of my life has been driven by a desire for approval/appreciation from other people. God calls us to seek only His approval, not the approval of men. So this means that seeking approval from anyone other from God is sin. This is actually the whole point of Deeper, that we seek God only.

And, really, I was aware before Deeper that I wasn't seeking God wholeheartedly. I actually identified to myself that there were parts of me/my life that I wasn't willing to trust God on. Parts of my life that I just would not give up. One of the tools that God used to help me identify that was a song played over the Air 1 radio network (www.air1.com). The song is entitled, "Take My Life." It's asking God to take all of me with these words.

"Take my life, take my mind, take my soul, take my will, 'cause I'm am your's, Lord, I give it all to you."

When I heard this song on the radio, I realized that I couldn't sing it with my whole heart.

As crazy as it may seem, this desire for approval engendered a deep, hidden pride. I wasn't even aware of how prideful I was, and laughed along with everyone else at people who were proud of their humility. But in seeking God here at Deeper, I began asking Him to help me not depend on others for my approval. I want(ed) to only need Him, not anyone else for how I feel/felt. As I did this, He started showing me pride within myself. It was kind of painful to find out.

But God is faithful. As I was becoming aware of this pride, He also began showing me His Words during my Personal Worship Time that helped me to be reformed in His image. He reminded me that only because of Him is there anything good in my life. I am not the one who makes good things happen. He is the author of all good things. So, I really don't have anything to be proud about, since it isn't me who is responsible for any good. And I don't have anything to be jealous about, because it's the same Father of us all who gives His good gifts and makes good things possible.

Let me share some of these verses with you.

2 Corinthians 1:9
"Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead."

2 Corinthians 1:12
"Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are form God. We have not done so according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace."

2 Corinthians 1:21-22
"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

2 Corinthians 1:24
"Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm."

2 Corinthians 13:4
"For to be sure, he (Christ) was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him to serve you."


Do you see in each verse how it's God who is doing all the work? In this new covenant that He has set up, He keeps His end of the bargain, AND He keeps our end of the bargain. He gives us the ability and all the help that we need to chose and pursue Him. It's wonderful.

So as I was home over Christmas Break, I heard "Take My Life" on the radio again. I am able to mean it now.

In His Time,
~Joel~