God's Little Affirmations...

Along the journey of the next season of our lives, I want to set mile markers, if you will, to highlight the faithfulness and affirmation of God. All to often in life, we are so focused on the future, that we overlook God's working in the present and consequently, we forget His working in the past!

Here are a six ways that God has clearly shown Himself thus far:

• As I was praying about the possibility of church planting, with the organizations in mind who are now partnering with me to do so, I was speaking with a brother whose wisdom I greatly value and respect. The conclusion of my conversations with him was that it would be beneficial for me at this point to be a part of a true gospel centered community and there was only two ways of really doing so: 1.) Get involved with a church planting residency program at church in the area 2.) Take an internship with a current church plant and engulf myself within that community. Twenty minutes after coming to this conclusion, I received a phone call from the pastor of OneLife Church, a three year old church plant, offering us an position which would include both of the elements that I had previously discussed with my dear friend. God gave us the opportunity to join a church planting residency program where we would have four benefits that most church planters do not have: 1) Partial Funding and Insurance 2.) The Opportunity for gaining weekly experiencing in all things Church Planting 3.) Weekly Coaching and Training from Experienced Church Planters 4.) Time to lay the theological foundation for the future church the Lord leads us to plant. I was blown away!

• The week I read my resignation letter to our church was a very tough and emotional week for me. I was struggling not with the decision I was making, but rather with standing to tell people whom I dearly love and have loved us greatly that we had to leave in order to do what the Lord was leading us to do. Usually on Sunday mornings I teach Connect, which is our children's worship service, that takes place during the main worship hour of our church. Every week I pull the next lesson from a curriculum that we've purchased and use it as a template for that week's lesson. I don't go looking for different topics within the curriculum, but I just turn to whatever the next scheduled lesson is and that's what I teach for that week. Get this: That same week I ended up reading my resignation letter to the church, the main point of that week's lesson was, "I Will Go Where Gods Leads Me!" I couldn't believe it! It was a little thing in the big scheme of things, but God's timing and encouragement amidst my struggle couldn't have been anymore precise!

• In John 14:13-15, the Jesus tells us: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, 'The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.' " In the short time that we've been walking down this path, we've seen that there is nothing easy about walking by faith! There are no shortcuts or ways to avoid the emotional toll that is part of the journey! We just simply have to take one step at a time, by God's grace, as we try to trust and obey Him in a world that doesn't understand why we're doing what we're doing and even looks down on us with pity. I cannot tell you another time in my life, however, where I've had a peace, confidence, and even joy like I do at this moment, while taking each step along this journey. When Jesus said that He would send His Spirit, the great comforter, and that He would speak to our hearts according to what He has heard from Him...I'm telling ya, I've never experienced the reality of that promise like I am now. Although it's not easy, my heart is bursting with a joy, a confidence, and a peace that truly surpasses all understanding. I've been waking up all throughout the night over the past couple weeks with a boldness and a confidence that's unexplainable and unquenchable. It's this presence and power of the Holy Spirit which is enabling me to greatly rejoice along this journey even when it hurts.

• On March 5th, since we did indeed know our moving date would be April 16th, we decided to go ahead and reserve a Uhaul in faith that God would somehow provide the funds to pay for the whopping $600 price tag that it cost to get truck these days! Wow! Two days later, we received a call from the pastor of OneLife, who's been working so hard, trying to make this transition for us as smooth as possible. He told us that the North American Mission Board provides $1000 in moving expenses within the support package they're giving us. Praise the Lord!

• We were invited to a leadership conference called, "Unleash", in Anderson, SC on March 8th, simply because some friends in TN had extra tickets and an extra hotel room. So we prayed about it for a little while (Get outta here!) and WENT! Little did we know, the Lord had sovereignly placed us at that conference in order that He could speak directly to us through the pastor there named Perry Noble. We might as well been the only two people in the room because everything that he said applied directly to where we are in this season of our lives. We weren't even planning on going to the conference, but God had a Word for us and He made a way for us to be there at that precise moment and place in time. Some bullet points from the conference were:

1.) You've got to let go of the things God had previously annointed, and follow Him where He's leading right now at this moment. Place God-Given Dreams over Memories.
2.) Don't you dare apologize for the Big Vision that God has given You!
3.) Focus NOT on worry, but rather Focus on God's presence with you!
4.) God is calling you to take a step of faith...Remember that God specializes in "I don't think that can be done!"
5.) In ministry, you will be tested by God. Are you wanting gain without any pain?
6.) If you're in the middle of pain, you're probably closer to Jesus than you were before.
7.) So many times we go to God for permission and not submission.
8.) God tells us sometimes to close our eyes and run!
9.) "Jesus said to her, 'Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?' " - John 11:40
10.) Jesus took the best shot the world had to offer and He walked away having overcome the world. That same Jesus lives inside of us, through the person of the Holy Spirit, and as a result you too, can overcome anything that He places before you.
11.) His promise is greater than our problem.

• The last, but certainly not least of the affirmation of God is that of Support Received. Since we made the announcement, two weeks ago, we have received $3,675 in support including the $1000 in moving expenses from NAMB that we mentioned above. Now, do we still have a long way to go? YES! Would I have liked to have the $20,000 that we need to have been wrapped up in a pretty gift at the end of our resignation speech? Absolutely! However, God's timing is not my timing and through this journey of faith, we are learning to depend on Him as He takes this situation and drives us closer and closer to Him. Satan is at work and He would love to take our eyes off of the abundance that God has provided thus far and put them on the $17,325 that we still need, just as he did in the garden, taking Adam and Eve's eyes off the abundance that God had provided and putting them on the one tree God told them not to eat from. We are so thankful, however, for what the Lord has provided in just 2 weeks and through the financial support of very few people that have been the first to say to God I'm all in. GOD IS GOING TO PROVIDE! I'm so thankful for that certain reality. I'm not sure whose hearts He going to stir in order to do so, but I'm thankful for the opportunity, the great privilege, and the incredible honor to be used by God to make Him known to all who are looking on! Does God want to use you today? If so, you can join Him by going to onelifeknox.com/jr

In Christ,

JR