Posts Tagged ‘Cru’

How to Know God and Have a Personal Relationship with Him

/ How to Know God Personally, Relationship with Jesus, Surrender Life to Jesus, The Journey / 17 Comments

The concept of knowing God can feel so abstract that it seems impossible to ever understand. Growing up, I went to church every week, but I had no idea that God wanted to know me. I had no idea that God wanted a personal relationship with me. I was missing out on the heart of Christianity. And because I was missing out on knowing God, I turned to other people and things to fill my emptiness. I was told religion would satisfy me, so I tried to be perfect. I thought being a Christian was about going to church and being a morally good person. As long as I was acting morally better than other people, I believed my Christian life was on track.

Lies. I believed so many lies because I never had the truth fully explained. Growing up not fully understanding the Gospel caused many problems in my heart.

As I strived for perfection, I failed over and over again. This view of “Christianity” was all wrong. Sadly, I think a lot of people have this view – that they have to be perfect and “good” people. Personally, I hate the phrase “good” Christian girl. (Read why). We are not good. I had to come to that realization in order to surrender my life to Jesus. (To read my full story, click here).

Lacking the truth – I had no idea that being a Christian was about realizing how broken and sinful we are, so that we realize how desperately we need Jesus. God had to break me in order for me to see my sinfulness. He had to bring me to my end, show me that I will never be satisfied in this world, and break my heart – for me to turn to him. As painful as those moments were, I can now say they were worth everything, because now I know and believe that Jesus is the only answer. A guy will not complete me. A perfect body will not give me hope. And a friend’s approval will not make me feel good enough.

Only through Jesus and the Cross will we ever find completion, lasting hope, never ending satisfaction, and eternal life. (more…)

The Power of Your Story (Part 2)

/ Christian in College, Relationship with Jesus, Sexual Abuse, The Journey, Your Story / 27 Comments

Last week, I blogged about how powerful our stories are. (Click here to see it!)

Our stories have as much power as Jesus’ death on the cross. If you are a believer in Christ and have a personal relationship with him, God can and will use your story to bring him glory. Your story is an extension of God’s power!

The second reason why your story is powerful is because our God has an eternal perspective. God knows how each event in our lives will be used to impact eternity!

Isaiah 55:8-11: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
 neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
 so are my ways higher than your ways
 and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
 and do not return there but water the earth, 
making it bring forth and sprout,
 giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
 it shall not return to me empty,
 but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
 and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

We have to understand that God is SO much bigger than our tiny little brains.

Our thoughts are smaller than his thoughts. Our plans are smaller than his plans. Think of eternity as a line. It is a line that goes on and on and on forever. We are just one dot on that line, so we only see our dot and a little before and after. But God, the Creator of the line, sees the whole line! He knows how one dot will impact the next.

Last summer, I had the pleasure of going to Miami for 10 weeks on Miami Summer Project with a ministry called Cru.

Before going on project, I prayed that God would bring one other women who had been sexually abused. I desired to use my story to help someone else heal. One day in Miami, I went on a walk with one of my friends. She was upset and said that she didn’t know why she was telling me this, but wanted to tell me her story. She had been raped her freshman year of college. I was the first person she had told.

God planned that both her and I would be in Miami that summer. She felt weird inside because the Holy Spirit was telling her to share her deepest pain with me. We cried and talked together, and I began to understand that God would use my story to glorify himself. That summer I got to help my friend begin a journey of healing, and I continued healing by viewing my life through God’s eternal perspective.

Later that week, I found out that 5 other girls on project had been sexually abused.

I prayed for 1 girl, God gave me 6. Before project, we each focused on our dot and our hurt, but God was focused on how our hurt could help others.

Here is my favorite part of the story! After project, one of the women felt called to share her story with other ladies, specifically the Greek women on her campus. She went to each chapter meeting and shared her story. She shared what she had gone through, how God redeemed her, saved her, and how now is experiencing real love in a relationship with God.

Later that semester, Cru at her college hosted an event called Girls’ Night Out by Marian Jordan. At the event, they witnessed 98 girls pray to give their life to Christ, most of them were women from sororities that my friend shared her story to.

Dear reader, my friend realized that God could take her story and use it to change women’s eternities! He can do the same with yours! Your story is powerful! I challenge you to stop focusing on your dot and focus on the line. Let God use your story to impact others eternities! Love, Joy

Check out: The Power of Your Story (Part 1) and The Power of Your Story (Part 3)

I hope this post has been encouraging! Be sure to add me on social media and share my blog with your friends! Thanks!