To Know Your Name

Something that I've been thinking about a great deal lately is knowing God. My relationship with Him didn't really become personal until almost two years ago. I was raised in church and knew a lot about God, but I didn't really know Him. Joining Pulse and seeing the passion for God that so many of the students had really pushed me to a new level in my relationship with God. I began to want what He had planned for my life, and through some circumstances that were my own fault, I learned to find my identity in Him, and depend on Him as my best friend, Father, and Provider. But the thing that's been foremost in my thoughts lately is this: If we want to go anywhere in life, accomplish anything for God, we have to know Him. Not just know about Him. The word "know" has several different meanings, but the definition I like is "have developed a relationship with someone through meeting and spending time with them." We want to seek God's will and live it out, but it's kind of hard to accomplish anything if you don't know anything about Him. It would be like someone you're really close to, in my case, my mom, asking me to buy her a drink from Starbucks. If I don't know her very well, I won't know what to get her. I'll have to guess. I'll be stuck in front of the cash register, frozen in indecision, wildly trying to pick a random drink. But if I know her, I can walk in, order confidently, and save myself a catastrophe.


Paul talks about how knowing Christ is greater than anything in this life in Philippians 3:8-11. "...I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him..." Everything. He takes everything this life has and basically says it is worthless if he can't know Christ and have an intimate relationship with Him. That kind of passion and dedication is amazing. I'm making that my goal: to know Christ and be found in him. If that is in order, everything else will fall into place. It's not as easy as it sounds. But no one ever said following Christ with everything you had was easy. 


Mallory

412

This past weekend I was given the opportunity to help out with my church's youth camp. One of my favorite parts of being home is being able to go to my church, and see all the wonderful people there again. I just love my church so much! And Pulse (the youth group), especially, since being there really changed my life. This summer, I get the opportunity to play keyboard for the youth worship band, and do whatever else, really. So last weekend, in the middle of a quite frightening storm, we packed everything up and drove up to Larkspur to get ready for a really long weekend! And let me tell you, it was fantastic. I hope the kids got a lot out of it as well. I know I did. Being on the other side, having the focus being on them instead of myself, really taught me how I can't be selfish about God. And playing for worship...well, that was incredible. And I honestly had this moment while playing where I thought, "I could really do this the rest of my life." Worship is such an important thing to me! And worship is definitely more than just singing songs or playing instruments...everything we do should be an act of worship. But the musical aspect of it is something I really have a passion for. And being part of the worship band, being able to work with people who are just as passionate, and extremely dedicated, is more than I could ever ask for. When you're doing something God has designed you for, it just fits. So like I talked about in my last post, what are you passionate about? God has placed those desires in you for a reason. And when you pursue what He has, He will open all the doors you need.


Also, last night on the way to band practice, Ryan (the worship leader) had a lot of good things to say. He really made me think. Honestly, the leaders I have in my life are such a blessing and encouragement. I hope you guys have leaders or mentors in your life like that too!

P.S. The title for this post is from 1 Timothy 4:12, which is the theme verse for our youth camp, Camp 412.

I Have A Dream

We all have dreams for our future. Some may be huge and some may be very very small. Some are very specific. But sometimes, we lose sight of our dreams. Lately I think I've been so focused on what I need to accomplish this summer, right now, that I've forgotten some of the things God's promised me for the future. There are still things I need to find out and a huge future for me that's full of possibilities! I don't have a 5 year plan. I don't like to plan my future. But having no direction, no purpose for my future is just as bad! I want to dream bigger. I want my life to be incredibly full and rich and amazing and miraculous. I hear amazing stories from people all the time. But I want to have my own stories. Things that I would have never thought possible unfolding before my eyes. It takes dedication. It takes hard work and perseverance. But I'm the only me that has ever lived in this world, and I'm the only one with the specific gifts and talents given to me. Won't it be worth it to live a life so undeniably not boring?


I started working on this post at the end of May, but I'm glad I didn't put it up until now! Yesterday morning my pastor preached about possessing what God has promised you, and taking the turf that is all your own. It was one of those sermons that you just know is directed at you (thanks God!), if no one else. (I love when that happens.) In Joshua 1, God tells Joshua exactly what the boundaries are for the nation of Israel, very specifically. And, as my pastor pointed out, God does the same for us. He gives us a specific plan that only we can fulfill. But first you have to know exactly what you're going to possess, and get rid of anything standing between you and what God's promised you. Once you're in your turf, your calling, you will flourish.


So that has a huge part in fulfilling dreams you may have! Understanding that makes it that much easier. You have passions. You're good at the things you're good at for a reason. Find the place where that all comes together. And never forget to dream big.
P.S. One of my dreams is to go to Hillsong Church in Australia. I'd probably cry from happiness if I could go there. If I could meet Hillsong United, even better.