My Spiritual Suitcase

" i want to have an even better devotional life, reading my bible first thing when i wake up." follow me here: http://devojuice.blogspot.com/ i'll probably still post here, once in a while, but i guess 2012 will be there!

"its all over and done" its done. we finished it. almost exactly 24 hours ago, i gave my last cue, turned on the house lights and ended our annual Saturday Night Alive. I cant believe its already over. All day yesterday at rehearsal, it NEVER hit me that SNA was that night. So many things happened yesterday that has showed me God's power, that has taught me lots and has helped me push through this final stretch of this amazing journey. I miss it OH SO MUCH. SO much. SO SO MUCH. Lets start with what im feeling at this second. I wanted to post last night, but i was too tired, and besides i had to let things settle in first. Right now. 10:08pm Dec 11th. Im in SNA withdrawal. Post-SNA-Depression. Im so sad that its all over, i miss it SO much and i just cant.. i feel like someone just stole a giant piece of my life and there's an empty hole there. Thinking back to last night, i think it went rather well and im extremely proud and happy for my teams. For their hard work

"the time has come" its in a day. its in less than a day. to be exact, almost 16 hours left before those doors open. Yup, its almost 2 in the morning the day before but i had to post. i had to. Today was our final rehearsal date. tmrw is the real deal, and its now or never. Tonight i had a great time. i actually LOVE doing this. its fun, its different, its a lot of work, but its something i'll treasure forever. After i got home, by around 11:30, i started to catch up, tie up the loose ends, but i really have been able to use this time and reflect on this amazing journey that we call Saturday Night Alive 2011: The Orb of Avaskus. I remember starting back in LATE August. Meeting at Kelly's house, having ravioli, having ideas from the digital age, to a family of lemurs. Building on ideas, and just having fun. Then EARLY September, first week of school, meeting up with my all-supporting, wise and experienced co-head to start writing the script. I remember not sleepin

"its becoming a reality" oh dear goodness. Just about a month ago i posted my one month reflection and within a blink of an eye, here we are just 10 days away (9 to be exact). I honestly cant believe it. And to be honest, im a bit scared. Its been one heck of a ride, and November was a whirlwind of practices, film dates, and a whole bunch of stuff. From having flashmobs, to crazy intense filming set ups. At this moment, im kinda unsure of whats going on. I feel like there are so many lose ends, so many things left undone, small things here and there. And we have less than 240 hours to wrap it up, polish it, and execute it. Im really anxious. I can feel the stress/pressure piling on, again with our ambitious minds and ideas, we really want to pull this off well. But relying on God. Thats the lesson this year. I dont know if i've fully learnt it yet.. but.. we'll have to see. There are 10 more days and im ready for Him to work his magic. Not sure if i talked about th

"The Orb of Avaskus" WOW its been a long time. I hate having these crazy giant breaks. Anyways, one month. Today marks a big day. One month until SNA hits. Dec 10th, RHCCC, 7pm. At this time in one month, the lights will probably have just dimmed and we're live. This journey has been intense, rough, and fun. I remember early september, having our first meeting, having to complete the script within a month's time, with all our crazy schedules, and after the intense casting sessions, now we've dived into the crazy routines of filming and practicing. We're one month away. The stress is ON. I can feel it under my skin and i can feel it in my bones. We have OH SO MANY things to do and practice, working with props, timing, lights, i can rant on and on but thats not the point. Although there's been SO MUCH STRESS, SO MANY CHANGES, AND CONFLICTS, we're pushing through. Day after day. week after week. From the start, knowing our three month time period to

"resist temptation" I know i havent posted in a while, but i have been doing my devos every morning before school, i just havent written them down. But yesterday something came up that was a mind-blowing kinda thing. Temptation. Everyone deals with it, may it be big or small, may they fall into it or not, everyone goes through this, day after day, week after week, and year after year. And again, for those reading, temptation isnt a sin. Desiring something is fine, we all have those feelings and God made them for us. But its when we act upon it and fall into Satan's trap, thats when sin comes into play. Christ came from heaven to be born as a human, tempted and trialed. He knows exactly how it feels. Everything we go through, he can relate to. But the thing that hit me was, that Christ was perfect, sinless. But just as myself i can personally say that as time passes, temptation gets more and more intense, more and more difficult, until sometimes you weaken and fall in

"because we're already perfect" A few weeks ago, i know i haven't posted ever, but i was again reading "Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die" by John Piper. It started with the following line: "one of the greatest heartaches in the Christian life is the slowness of our change". I agree with that 100%. I also look at myself, and look at other Christians and i dont feel any different. I see others and they're all like, "Amen brother, you preach your word" and they're COMPLETELY indulged in our Lord, but i dont feel that or see that. Sometime as simple as raising your hand during worship, i remember how awkward it was when i tried doing that at TC (teens conference) when everyone else did it. Change. Its been 10 years i've been a Christian and i havent felt any significant change yet. This reason in the book focused on Philippians 3:12. It says: 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to

"validation" 5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. 2corinthians2:5-11 i think i've struggled with this all my life. Validation. I've said before in many many many different posts, how i've talked about how i dont feel loved, i dont feel important. On the topic of having the spiritual gift of caring, mums and i have both agreed that having th

"struggling with sin" 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. romans7:15-20 I've encountered this passage before, but just now i really took the time to dive in and really break it down to figure it out. The whole passage is Romans 7:7-25, entitled, Struggling With Sin. After reading the passage above a few times, i've figured it out, but before i want to get into that i want to briefly explain my thoughts on the passage around this o

i must confess, these past weeks i havent really been indulging in His Word as much as i did earlier this summer, and i really need to get back into this practice to help develop and build my faith. Tonight, i've decided to tackle the book of Jude. Lately, i havent really had the motivation to fight against temptation, and after being assigned with these bigger roles in the church, i've kinda put my other issues aside, not to forget and give up, but to have other things that i can take care of first. But flipping through my bible (since i never know how to start reading), i passed Jude (the one page) and saw these two titles; The Sin and Doom of Godless Men, & A Call to Persevere. I thought to myself, maybe if i scare myself i'll get motivated to stay away from "the punishment of eternal fire" (v. 7). Here it is below: Judgment on False Teachers 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to wri

"help, im stressed!" wow. its only the first day of september and im already stressing out like no tomorrow. This year, in my final year with university applications, stress for marks, and final goodbyes i've piled on another heaping of commitments from church. I commit to them and i have so many because i really do love serving in the church. It keeps me grounded and its a great way to give back and use and practice God's gifts for me. Here are the commitments i've signed up for. Grade Representative for my fellowship Doxa Worship Band Member SNA Head Those are all pretty big roles, and im really stressing up. Our first program is in 8 days and i feel like nothing has been prepared yet. But im trying to focus and rely on God more. Through reading his Word and prayer, i hope to really learn to cast my worries on Him. I feel like this is something he's/he'll teach me this year. But at the moment i really cant let go. I am also a person who has very

"Frogs arent bad enough" "I have heard it said, "God didn't die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans." This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled or treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren't bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it." - Fifth Reason, Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die - John Piper verse of the day: Romans 5:7-8 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

"How Great is Our God" Back again, in reference to my missions at OJ, we learnt a bit more about worship, and one of the most important things that stuck to me was the depth. We have to understand how far apart we are from God, how great he really is, how small we are, and how almighty he is. Just look at the image above, the people are microscopic, that waterfall is huge, God made that in that size. Personally, i dont see it yet. I still feel like The Lord and I are rather close together, but we need to realize just how big he is in life, in the world, and in the universe. The past four days, i went camping, and sometimes going out into God's creation is one of the best ways to see this. At home, in civilization, we are pretty much in control of everything, from the computers and TVs, to our food and water consumption. Not only are we in control, but we're literally the biggest thing there. Everything around is small, in fact the world is making everything smal

"make it count" if you're lucky, you might live 100 years, but in life, there are no guarantees, the Bible describes life as a vapor, a flash in the pan, a precious but fleeting gift. Fact: You will spend a lot more time dead than you will alive. and when your life ends.... there are no second chances. which means that life is too short and too valuable to waste. but you're in luck, today is a very special day because you're still alive which means you have 1 more day to make this count one more day to change the trajectory of your life one more day to stop chasing empty promises and focus on the only things that matter loving God and loving others there is no guarentee of tomorrow, but you have today it is a gift make it count. We saw this video at overnight camp, and while i was walking to my friends house today, i really took a thought about it, and i think its gonna be something i live by, something worth getting tattooed on. Make it Count. Thats my ne

"so many kids, too many goodbyes" The past four days, i've spent full 24 hour days with 100 kids and 25 counsellors. Honestly, at first, even monday morning, i was in no mood to do this camp. I wasnt excited, nor was i against it. But as time went on, things changed. First and foremost, this camp consisted of grades 4-6. I've dealt with SK-Gr 3 the past two years, and the 7&8's the past few years, but this age group was in the grey. I didnt know how to deal with them. I wouldnt baby them like the SKs, but at the same time, i couldnt really talk to them like the 7s and 8s. I was honestly stuck and i was pretty scared on how i would transfer from the younglings to these kids. These guys are the type that are somewhat mature, but can still be inappropriate, the time where they can be selfish but with Christ, they've learnt to think about others as well. I honestly praise God throughout this camp. So many things have happened that i've just been aw

"united in Christ" This should have been posted on sunday, but here i am now. Anyways, the past sunday, i had to chance to attend my first ever softball game with my church's gr 11-12 team, "The Cord". And what surprised me the most was the support i saw in the sport. The team was united in the most i've ever seen anyone. The support was just mind-blowing, and it truly showed me what true fellowship was. Being able to see them help out Matt when he was injured bleeding, seeing team-mates rush to his rescue with the first aid kit and all. Also, the fact that they did devos in the rain. How committed they were to each other and to Christ. That they could praise and glorify God in all circumstances. I just couldnt comprehend. I think this was what i was looking for. This kind of support. This kind of love and this kind of unity. This is true fellowship, this is why God made people. I wish i could see it more everywhere. At church, at school, at home, at