We are nothing without it

Faith...it's what we do. The more my eyes are opened to my shortcommings and the down right confusing nature of this world, I am drawn back to the simplicity of knowing where I came from, who I am called to be, and the giant God I serve. Faith...it truly is What we Do. Sometimes I read the bible and think to myself, " Wow God, I could never be as cool as Moses, or as compassionate as Nehemiah, or as incredibly firm as Esther!!!! I am truly sarcastic most the time, I don't think I could randomly be expected to please some king I just met, and I'm not good at feeling bad for people!!!" Then a smile comes across my face...Do you ever wonder if God laughs? You know, like a gut laugh, the kind that makes you cry and hurt at the same time. The kind of laugh that makes you completely incapable of moving because all of the muscles inside of you contract at once because something has so struck your funny bones ALL over? I bet God laughs at that statement...not because He's making fun of me, but because So many people think like this...Like we have to be like moses or daniel to suceed or make some sort of difference in this world. The truth is that yes, those men are amazing absolutly incredible men of God and their character should be studied, but they themselves should never be idolized. God calls us to be like Jesus ( and yes I realize that that is WAY Harder than being like Moses who actually screwed up in life)...Anyway, my point is simply this: What made these men great was not what they did, but the reaction of God because of their FAITH. Faith, it's what we as christians do. Sometimes , people are going to ask you questions that you just can't answer outside the walls of, " Well, I just know." I can't tell you how many times this week I've sat and stared blankly into someone's face and said, " you know, I have absolutly NO IDEA how to communicate this to you, but I know God is real because I know...i just know."  The coolest aspect of Faith in and of itself is the incredible fact that it filters into absolutly EVERY area of your life.  The presence of doubt is the absence of faith...do we understand that? The presence of doubt in our lives in regards to the reality of God and the truth of the Word is the absence of faith. It's really tough sometimes when we don't have the answers, but understand that standing is SOOOOO worth it! Standing and saying, " Hey, I'm no afraid to live by faith...though none go with me." The bible says that it is by FAITH that we are saved; by grace through faith. With faith you have access to an entirely new level of God and His power. How can we look God in the face and ask Him for healing if we don't believe it will happen? How can we stand at youth rallies and cry out for a revival in our generation when we don't stand in the face of God and believe He can really do it? Don't get me wrong,  Faith is perfected, refined, and grown in time through the cultivation of an intimate relationship with God. God's hand is on your life; He's holding you steadfast. Do not be afraid to put your complete trust and faith in Him. God is waiting for us to utilize this faith on a daily basis. I can't imagine being a christian with no faith...someone who wakes up Sunday morning to attend church, but leaves just as empty as when they went in. Sometimes we go through dry times in our lives, but it's by faith that we can stand and look God in the face and say, " Lord, I am still here serving you despite the fact that I can't feel you here right now." Our faith is there for the taking, we just need to reach out and grab it! It is by grace that we are saved through faith and belief in christ Jesus our Lord. The truth is, we can do it. We can live lives sold out to Christ walking with holy fire in our hearts and enough Faith to move mountains. It's so there...so grab it. Grab a hold of your faith and don't let go. I think one of the most encouraging verses that has kept be afloat through a year of tragedy is this one; confessing it ( i've found) truly builds up your faith to and entirely new level!

Psalm 18

 2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
       my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
       He is my shield and the horn  of my salvation, my stronghold.

 3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
       and I am saved from my enemies.

 4 The cords of death entangled me;
       the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

 5 The cords of the grave  coiled around me;
       the snares of death confronted me.

 6 In my distress I called to the LORD;
       I cried to my God for help.
       From his temple he heard my voice;
       my cry came before him, into his ears.

 7 The earth trembled and quaked,
       and the foundations of the mountains shook;
       they trembled because he was angry.

 8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
       consuming fire came from his mouth,
       burning coals blazed out of it.

 9 He parted the heavens and came down;
       dark clouds were under his feet.

 10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
       he soared on the wings of the wind.

 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
       the dark rain clouds of the sky.

 12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
       with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

 13 The LORD thundered from heaven;
       the voice of the Most High resounded.

 14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies ,
       great bolts of lightning and routed them.

 15 The valleys of the sea were exposed
       and the foundations of the earth laid bare
       at your rebuke, O LORD,
       at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

 16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
       he drew me out of deep waters.

 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
       from my foes, who were too strong for me.

 18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
       but the LORD was my support.

 19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
       he rescued me because he delighted in me.

 20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
       according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

 21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
       I have not done evil by turning from my God.

 22 All his laws are before me;
       I have not turned away from his decrees.

 23 I have been blameless before him
       and have kept myself from sin.

 24 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
       according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

 25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
       to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

 26 to the pure you show yourself pure,
       but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

 27 You save the humble
       but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

 28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning;
       my God turns my darkness into light.

 29 With your help I can advance against a troop  ;
       with my God I can scale a wall.

 30 As for God, his way is perfect;
       the word of the LORD is flawless.
       He is a shield
       for all who take refuge in him.

 31 For who is God besides the LORD ?
       And who is the Rock except our God?

 32 It is God who arms me with strength
       and makes my way perfect.

 33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
       he enables me to stand on the heights.

 34 He trains my hands for battle;
       my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

 35 You give me your shield of victory,
       and your right hand sustains me;
       you stoop down to make me great.

 36 You broaden the path beneath me,
       so that my ankles do not turn.

 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
       I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

 38 I crushed them so that they could not rise;
       they fell beneath my feet.

 39 You armed me with strength for battle;
       you made my adversaries bow at my feet.

 40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
       and I destroyed my foes.

 41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
       to the LORD, but he did not answer.

 42 I beat them as fine as dust borne on the wind;
       I poured them out like mud in the streets.

 43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;
       you have made me the head of nations;
       people I did not know are subject to me.

 44 As soon as they hear me, they obey me;
       foreigners cringe before me.

 45 They all lose heart;
       they come trembling from their strongholds.

 46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!
       Exalted be God my Savior!

 47 He is the God who avenges me,
       who subdues nations under me,

 48 who saves me from my enemies.
       You exalted me above my foes;
       from violent men you rescued me.

 49 Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD;
       I will sing praises to your name.

 50 He gives his king great victories;
       he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
       to David and his descendants forever.

It is by the faith that God has already equipped us with and planted inside our hearts that we can have this kind of passion and prayer in our lives on a daily basis. It's all a matter of wanting more and realizing that basis of our lives is Faith. I have a pretty small concordance in the back of my bible and so far I have counted 99 verses alone in regards to faith! This week I have been inspired and challenged as to how much I want to excersize my faith compared to how much I am called to use it. Faith...it's what we do, it's who we are.  2 Peter is an incredible book to read , know , and understand that really has helped me re-establish where my faith comes from and how strong yours really is. What is faith? Faith is the ability to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your God is real, and alive. It's knowing that what the bible says is God's heart on paper for you to see. It's being able to make a godly choice even if you are walking alone....Faith is knowing God's love despite crap going on in life...Faith is what we as Christians are called to DO...faith should be a verb. It's an action word. Faith is all about waking up and chosing to follow God despite circumstances, and knowing that when you don't, forgiveness and a God who loves you are waiting just around the corner ( praise God for His unfailing love and forgiveness). It's there, and it's reachable. Let's grab it....Faith...and run with it. God bless

bri jensen

The supposed " secret" to divine hunger...

Proverbs 2:3-11 

    and ask for understanding.
 4 Search for them as you would for silver;
      seek them like hidden treasures.
 5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord,
      and you will gain knowledge of God.
 6 For the Lord grants wisdom!
      From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
 7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.
      He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
 8 He guards the paths of the just
      and protects those who are faithful to him.

9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,
      and you will find the right way to go.
 10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
      and knowledge will fill you with joy.
 11 Wise choices will watch over you.
      Understanding will keep you safe.

For the past few days there has been this intense burning inside of me. However, there is a difficult obstacle in my path: I can't figure out what it is! I awake in the morning and my heart aches for something...for anything. Day after day after day is filled with nothing but an aching and a longing for something deeper...something bigger...something better than what is here now. If I could paint a picture of what I look like inside my heart (maybe I will) I am standing at a door screaming and banging to be let out...or is it to be let in? Maybe it's a desperate cry for someone to hear me...to hear what I have to say. Maybe it's a desperate cry for Him to hear me...to wrap me tightly in His arms. That is the secret to Divine Hunger.

The infusion of this desperate hunger that God has implanted in my heart happened to subtly and quickly that I almost MISSED it! How could I miss such a phenomenal marriage between spiritual desire and a God who saves?! We are never so advanced in our walks with the Lord that things can't possibly ever cause us to stray from our written purpose (The pursuit of God). We constantly are faced with two choices (Yes that's right, only two) on a daily basis. WE can either chose to serve God, or serve our flesh. The past few weeks leading up to this revelation have been filled to the brim with the desire to fuel my flesh with gossip, self-pity, and laziness. In some instances I gave in. (Oh how stupid I can be sometimes!) Then when I thought my days could not get any more pointless (understand at this point in time I am completely aware that I am directly disobeying the commands of our Heavenly Father by fueling my flesh). It hit me; I am LOVESICK FOR JESUS! My heart is burning for intimacy with the Almighty and for a period of time I was trying to fill that void with the temporary ecstasy of pity...Praise Jesus that God illuminates His divine mandate over our lives. It is so incredibly easy to fall into a life of pity and despair (especially if you are a female). HERE is the sweet part: God is calling us out with His divine hunger. My heart was rudely awakened to the fact that this hunger existed but for a while I chose to not cultivate it. In order to successfully identify the emotional highs and lows, and the moments in which the Lord is calling out to us we must use our heads.  Proverbs 2:3-11 tells us in detail the importance and vital role wisdom and the pursuit of the knowledge of God has on our lives. We are to CRY OUT FOR and SEEK wisdom. Seeking the knowledge of God throws you into and intimacy with Him like you could never imagine! Knowing wisdom and knowing God are the benefits and blessings that spring from cultivating your divine hunger. God delights in you always. Remember that, but now it's our turn to begin to DELIGHT OURSELVES IN HIM. Song of Solomon (the greatest love note and illustration of the Lord's love for us ever) says over and over again, " I am MY beloveds and He is mine. Embrace your hunger and you embrace your Beloved. Use your head and walk through life with a solid brain upon your shoulders. When those times of intense testing come (you're guaranteed they will come. I'm not into watered-down Christianity), You will know both in your heart and your mind the way in which you are supposed to walk because you will have truly grasped the secret behind a Divine Hunger.

David understood this when he said in Psalm 27

Psalm 27:4 (New Living Translation)

 4 The one thing I ask of the Lord—
      the thing I seek most—
   is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
      delighting in the Lord's perfections
      and meditating in his Temple.

Divine hunger and a burning heart go hand in hand. Remember to:

* Identify your hunger (If you love the Lord then It's in there somewhere)

* Defeat your flesh by using WISDOM (wisdom is a blessing that comes from cultivating your divine hunger)

* Delight yourself in God and pursue Him. (Learn to LOVE His presence and every aspect of Him. Your hunger will only continue to swell and overflow!)

Though my words are scattered, I find clarity in the simple words of James 4:8

Draw Near to God and He Will Draw Near to You.

Be Blessed.

Bri Jensen

Currently Listening Abandon see related

Green tea and Jesus..

1 Corinthians 15:54-58 " Death is swollowed up in voctory. O' death where is your victory? O' death, where is your sting? For sin is the stin that results in death, and the law gives sin it's power. BUT THANK GOD! He gives us VICTORY OVER SIN AND DEATH THROUGH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. So my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know taht nothing you do for the Lord is useless."

In the midst of this broken owrld we are called to stand immovable in spite of Circumstance. No one is a stranger to pain to any degree. No one goes through life without being dissapointed or dissapointing someone else. Pain , however severe, is a temporarty emmotion while the true love of God is an eternal truth. As we walk through this life we have to remember that we always, in every way, mean something to God. Broken hearts, shattered thoughts, and weakend bodies must fall before the Lord and know that He brings the restoration and redemption that pushes us to continue running this race we were born to run. My advice to believers in this dying and decreped  world is to always know who you are in Chrsit Jesus and remain in the loving mercy and grace of the Ancient of Days. Death is the consequence of sin and sin no longer has the ultimate power over our lives no matter what. the constant pursuit of the Almighty and worship with our lives, keeps our spirit man in check and in shape. It's the tender , quiet nature of God that will become even more evident in the times of testing as you begin to walk through the furnace and your figurative nerves begin to be exposed. Remember, the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus Christ came to give life, hope, and a future. You are never outside the reach of the hand of God . In fact, most of the time you are in it. Be encouraged and know despite everything the world throws at you, you are strong in God. His strength works best in our weakness. Praise Him for that. Live life like a true worshiper and always pursue God, Pray hard, and Live strategically. I love you. God bless.

Isaiah 43:1-4

" But now, O Jacob,  listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO ME . YOU ARE HONORED, AND I LOVE YOU."

What if we as a generation chose to serve the living God?

What if instead of spending our time on the computer or tv we spent our time in the word?

What if we chose to take  every thursday to pray and fast specifically for a move of God in the United States?

What if  instead of  living from sunday to sunday we lived lives in passionate pursuit of the almighty God?

What if we did take to the streets a cry for morality and bombarded our government with requests to return to moral absolutes?

What if we as a generation chose to live with the resolve in our hearts that we want to fufill every single plan that God has for our lives?

What if we as a generation chose to have resolve at all?

We all have those moments during youth conferences or at a worship service  in which the holy spirit tugs on our hearts and makes us feel inspired, but our lives cannot be based solely out of spiritual highs, we need a move of the holy spirit in our lives on a daily basis and not just on the typical sunday. That move can be summed up in one word : RESOVLVE. The literal meaning of resolve is ," to come to a determination; make up one's mind; determine". The greatest example of a young man filled with resolve is Daniel ( the guy from the lions den but i'll get back to his story in a minute). Today I was sitting and watching people walk up and down the hallways in our school. I remember seeing the kids I used to know from church, and then seeing completely new faces on the kids who I've just never crossed paths with. All these people were pushing and clogging the hallways, you know, the usual congested traffic that plagues many highschools today. This traffic was different however, because as these people  were clogging the hallways and trying to move around eachother slowly, I began to view ( what was at the time) one of the funniest things I've ever witnessed. In the midst of the clogged senior hallway filled with football players, this young girl , no older that fourteen, was pushing her way through and straining towards her classroom just around the corner. The look on her face was classic; she looked like she was going to eat someone alive. As I sat and watched this girl successfully bash her way down the hall I chuckled until I felt a little nudge inside me. That is how our lives should work as Christians. In times like these, the " hallways" of life in which we have to navigate are filled with obsticles from the enemy meant to distract us and keep us exactly where we are at and you will stay there without resolve. BUT!!!! We are called as a body of believers to be like the skinny girl and resolve to get there, and when I say get there I mean get there! We have to resolve to make it through untouched, undefiled, and heading towards our purpose and eternity. If we do not retain the holy spirit inspired drive to live everday for Christ then we've got nothing. I'll admit, there are some days where we downright do not want to serve God, but praise Jesus that our flesh is not on God's agenda. Now is where I will impart the story of Daniel to you.

Daniel 1 introduces you to four main characters in the book. Daniel,  Hananiah ( Shadrach), Mishael ( Meshack), and Azariah ( Abendigo). Now immagine this, you and three of your buddies are hanging out down town when all of the sudden some barbaric tribe of people you don't really like grab you and take you thousands of miles away to a city known for it's immoral nature  and sin . Not only do they want you to learn an entirely new language, but they want you to read all their books! Now immagine that, learning a new language and having to read a book in that language at the same time. They also require that you become the ideal person, you know, the " model" type. Tall , Dark, and Good looking ( I would definatly be in trouble, I peaked at 5 foot 4). They expect you to do this by performing acts that are completely against absolutly anything you believe. So now that we understand the context to which Daniel's resolve occured, lets view what he requested.

Daniel 1 : 6-8 , " Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen , all from the tribe of Judah. The chief of staff renamed them with these babylonian names. Daniel was called Belteshazzar. Hananiah was called Shadrach. Mishael was called Meshach. Azariah was called Abendigo. BUT Daniel RESOLVED not to defile himself  by eating the food and wine given to them by the king."

The consequence for not performing up the king's standards was severe, but Daniel knew that taking and ingesting what the world at that time had to offer was wrong. His resovlve was his conviction. He consiously chose to NOT follow the crowd ( in modern terms). So how does this apply to us? Simple: we as believers are living in our own Babylon. On a daily basis we are fed so much garbage that we just take in, ingest, and then live by. We need to have the resolve in our hearts to live a life unadaulterated by sin and completely sold out in passionate love for the living God. Because of Daniel's resolve he grew in favor with the king! He and his buddies actually became the strongest , best looking, and the most intelegent. God will reward you for resolving in your life to pursue a life of Godliness, and purity, and to passionatly live a life for Him. The choice is yours. The ball is in your court. I see so many people that try and make excuses for their sin. News flash: We ALL mess up but there's always forgiveness. You can fufill God's purpose for your life and do everything He's ever planned for you if you live your life with resolve to not be defiled by the garbage that comes your way. Whether that be gossip, lying, or even sexual temptations make the resolve in your heart to always push through, perservere through the hard times, and make it around the corner to God's hand. God bless

Today is one of those days in which the God of the Ages impresses upon your heart something so deep that it reaches the farthest corners of your heart. From the dark country of China to the spirit-filled church in Colorado Springs, the Lord has taken me on an epic adventure of a lifetime this summer. I've learned so many things and have seen God work in so many ways, but as I sit here to type this all of the stories and blessings seem to pale in comparison to what I believe is the most monumentous concept I have begun to learn this summer and that is simply this: The love of God. God has taken every peice of my hardened heart and has redeemed it . He's molded it into His tender instrument to play a beautiful song to our deaf generation. The real story begins in June on a plane headed to Garden Valley Texas. I sat on the short flight from Central Wisconsin to Minneapolis early that fateful June morning. As I turned my ipod on the Lord began to speak to my heart. The sun was rising and the sky looked spectacular, but God had my eyes turned on something else. As I looked out the window, I saw my house. My home looked so small and insignificant but as I gazed at it's dark roof I began to think about all the time I've spent in my room. Something you should know about me is that I have this ugly red shag rug on my floor . It's my favorite rug in the entire rug. That is my secret place with God. I have gone through so many heavy trials in my life on my knees on that rug. I can't even remember how many times I would just curl up on the floor and cry  on that shaggy rug just so I could hear something from the God that seemed so distant at the time, or just so I could grab a hold of the healing God offered for my heart. God drew my mind to all of those times , and then my life seemed so small. As I was thinking about how insignificant my existance really is, God said this, " Brianna...everytime you cry out to me in the secret place I come down to meet you. I see you...and I step down from the heavenly place to curl up on your rug with you. There is no other place in the entire world that I would love to be than with you in those moments you spend in the secret place. Brianna I love you....I delight in every aspect of your life. When you cry, I cry with you...all those tears you have shed in pure desperation have not gone unnoticed. I wipe those delicate tears from your face and place them in My book...." My eyes began to water as I thought of the intense and intimate love  God has for us. My heart began to swell as God just let me soak in the reality of His love for us. The minute I recognized the immense love He had for me was the minute He took my heart into His hands. He took all the broken peices , all of the dirty and old fragments, and tenderly cried over them and held them close to His big heart. Then He placed the peices back together to create an entirely new heart, a heart that began to understand the true love God has for all of His people. The plane landed in Minneapolis, and then I was off to Garden Valley. I was in complete awe of His love the entire time I spent training in Texas. I would go through my days in silence just thinking about how vast His love really is...and not even His love but He Himself. But as God always does, He added something else to my newly aquired heart that I was soon to discover come commissioning night. As the lights dimmed and the screen came on that night at Teen Mania, natives from countries began to show up in pictures on the screens. As I gazed into the eyes of the people, my heart broke in a way it never has before. God has given the love He has for me, and had turned towards the people. I can't even explain to you the sorrow I felt as I looked at the people. They didn't know....they didn't understand the Love God had for them and that is what made me weep. It wasn't that they had atrocious living conditions or that they were orphans, what made my heart break so was the fact that they didn't know the Love of God . They didn't feel the warmth  of having the Lord cry over you, and take joy in the very sight of you.  Their hearts weren't complete...they weren't whole. All of the broken peices in their lives were still laying bare on the ground, dying...hurting. They didn't know...and for the first time, I wept over the spiritual death of this world like I never have before. This is the night when I truly understood the fact that GOD IS LOVE.

I want all of you to know that the cry of my heart for you is to know the Love of God for what it really is. I want you to know how much God loves you and delights in you. Every step of your day is orchestrated by God and He sees your every sorrow and joy. He will meet you exactly where you are at. Just like He expressed to me on the plane, God wants you to know this: everytime you cry out to me in the secret place I come down to meet you. I see you...and I step down from the heavenly place to curl up on your rug with you. There is no other place in the entire world that I would love to be than with you in those moments you spend in the secret place. My child, I love you....I delight in every aspect of your life. When you cry, I cry with you...all those tears you have shed in pure desperation have not gone unnoticed. I wipe those delicate tears from your face and place them in My book.

This is only a glimpse of the Love God has for all of this world. As soon as we begin to understand and accept the love of God, then He takes all of those broken peices and restores them into a brand new completely whole heart that He infuses with His character and truth. For God is Love and He will not turn His back on you. Psalm 48:14 says, " For God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide to the very end." David was a man who knew God and the true love of God. He says in Psalm 63:3 ," Because your LOVE is better than life my lips will glorify your name." With the love of God comes fullness that far surpasses even life itself. Seek God and you will know His love. With that comes a fullness and a restoration that God has called all of us to walk in because His love is His presence.

Just picture as you are on your knees, God stepping down from His heavenly place to come and hold you tightly in His arms and sing you to sleep. This is the God we serve: and intimate Father who loves us more than we could ever know.

Bri Jensen

Psalm 51:10-12

Create in me a pure heart Oh God,  and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the Joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirite to sustain me