Sweet Tea, Diamonds, and Intimacy

Hey friends!

Wanted to write about a subject today I have wrestled through in my own life and in some ways I still am. I am focusing on college age students in this entry, mainly because well...that's where my heart is. I think there is a nugget for each person of each age group.

I have been prayerful in the way I have wanted to share because in the end, I want to offer an invitation. One that I keep hearing from the voice of  the Father. If there is one thing I have learned about Him it is that He loves to invite.

Real Sugar

I am a hot tea drinker. Not a real serious one, but whenever it hits me...well, I need it.
Blueberry, Earl Grey, Mango, Apple...I'll try it. I'm also a sweetner. One cup of tea, oh maybe six sugars.

What? I'm from the South.

But I want the real stuff. I have friends who use all sorts of artifical sweetner and I'm not judging. I just can't do it. This Southern girl cannot bring herself to put something that is not authentic into my tea. Changes the whole taste. It looks like tea and smells like tea, but if it isn't real sugar I'd rather drink water.

Over the past few months I have begun to learn about authenticity. I have an insatiable hunger for what is real. Tea is the tip of the iceberg. I like real everything.

Real people, real homemade dinners, real scenery...just real. I think we can all agree that there is something of value in what is real.

A real diamond is worth far more a cubic zirconium. Because the real diamond is worth something more. It is rare.

One of these things is not like the other...

What the is problem with a cubic zirconium? The problem is that is looks the same. Distinguishing a real diamond from a cubic zirconium takes a jeweler or a microscope. It is a counterfeit.

What is the definition of a counterfeit?

A counterfeit is: made in exact imitation of something valuable or important with the intention to deceive or defraud.

Now we are close to the meat of what I want to communicate...

In our Christian faith we want to reach people (hopefully!). There is a signficant gap of people between the ages 18-35 in our Church doors so if we are paying attention naturally our hearts are to reach this age group.

We want to offer something! In our sincere attempt to reach them we ask ourselves,
"What are young people doing these days?"

Let's do that! We invite in a hip band, watch the lastest T.V. shows and make references, wear brand names, drink brand name drinks...and you fill in the blank.
It is an attempt. A sincere heart felt attempt.

Now hear me out, I'm not against any of the things that I just mentioned. I like hip bands just as much as the next guy.


What I am saying is that I fear somehow in all of the effort to reach the next generation as a church we have failed to offer the only thing that will satisfy: intimacy with Jesus.

We may look, smell, and seem relevant and comfortable. Entertained and dressed up. Looking like the world. Packaged perfectly.The lastest techonlogy.
And still lack the presence of God....
We don't need just another gathering. We need the presence of God. We need the power of God to return to the church.

This is not a rebuke, it is an invitation.

Voices...

What the church and the next generation really needs is to develop a voice.

For example, John the Baptist.

"³ A voice of one calling:
'In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God. 
⁴ Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together. 
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'"

John the Baptist spent most of his life in the desert being prepared to be a voice. He literally pointed the way to Jesus. John wasn't bought by the praises of men and he wasn't concerned about being relevant. He lived and spoke by the Spirit of the Lord. How was he able to that?

He cultivated intimacy with God.

That was what made him relevant.

John learned the value of the secret place. The value of his relationship with the Lord. The value of intimacy with God away from the eyes men. When the moment came, John's mouth was full. Not of dressed up eloquence, but with powerful revelation.

"And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. "
1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Only men and women who have spent time getting to know their God can offer that kind of substance. They cannot be bought by man's opinion or popularity.

They have heard the Father speak over them, "You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."
That kind of identity cannot be manufactured of produced. It is birthed out of revelation of who Jesus is in His fullness and His passion as a Bridegroom for His Bride.

We are not training a generation to be movers and shakers in the kingdom of God by entertaining their minds with culture when they can be captivated by the beauty of an eternal Creator.

The next generation is powerful. They will cling to something. The question is will it be counterfeit or real? Will they be echos of the culture or voices of God? Will they influence with the wisdom of man or out of the counsel of the Lord?

If we embrace intimacy with God, when we lead we will do it from the wisdom of God. The fruit we bear will last. We will model for the next generation well. We will have something to pass on.

Sitting at His feet, we will receive. Encoutering Him will produce lasting change. It will turn Sauls into Pauls. Denying Peters into fierce proclaimers. A doubting Thomas into a believer.

And no man can do that.

Only the Savior.

Practicing being a voice,

Stephaine

Write the Vision, Make it Plain!

Hi friends,

Hope you are all doing well during this beautiful time of year! I wanted to write you today because I sense the Lord is the doing something new in our region--the Shenandoah Valley.

Most of you may know that I have taken a position with 24/7 Virginia which is apart of the Fredericksburg Prayer Furnace.The prayer furnace has broken VA down into regions to begin to establish 24/7 prayer all over the state of VA. I am the Regional Coordinator over the Shenandoah Valley. I included a map which you can click here to see where the region touches. My region is highlighted in yellow.

I wanted to share with you some exciting vision that Lord has laid on my heart for the Valley!

Praying Pockets

As long as I can remember there have been praying pockets scattered throughout the Valley. These remnant prayer groups have been asking the Lord to send revival and crying out for more revelation of Jesus. The Lord gave me a vision several months ago that there were burning coals all over the Valley that were scattered. He also showed me that if these groups will come together in unity and pray together that these coals will turn into a fire.

Every parent loves it when their children are getting along. It pleases the Father to see His children come together in unity and ask Him to His will so that they may receive.

In John 17 Jesus prayed ,
²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." 

Jesus highlighted specifically in verse 23 the reason for unity--that world will know that the Father sent Him and has loved Him us even as the Father loved Jesus.

The purpose of Solomon buidling the temple in the Old Testament was that the Lord would have a place to dwell with His people. That His people could come together and meet with Him. In the meeting with Jesus powerful things happen.

It was in Acts 2:4 as people waited in unity in the upper room that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church.

In Psalm 133 the Word states the the Lord's commanded blessing is upon unity.

It is the desire of our Father to come and dwell with His people. The most exciting part of the story of the temple being built in 2 Chronicles is when they bring the ark of the convenant into the temple. The ark represents the presence of God. This temple would be known as a meeting place between God and man. This would become a place where the high priest would stand in the gap for the people of the nation of Israel to ask God to forgive the sins of the land. This was a place where His presence dwelt.

24/7 is a call to come together. We know that we are each temples of the Holy Spirit now (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are each carriers of His presence. The Lord speaks to each one of us and we carry a part of what He desires to do through us as Body. Just as the human body cannot function properly without its different parts, as the Body of Christ we cannot experience the fullness of God without each part coming together.

The Lord desires to do something that not one church or organization can contain. Each of us play a vital role. We need each voice, each expression of the heart of God, each denomination to come together and agree that the Lord would heal our land. Each of you carry a piece of the beauitful tapestry the Lord is weaving together and as the Body of Christ in the Valley and
we need what you carry. Each person holds a piece of the puzzle. Once together, the puzzle shows a greater picture of His heart and who He is.

Not that we would just pray, but we would do it together.
Not that we would just worship, but we would worship together.

The Lord desires to establish places and times where we can block off time our of our schedule to come together and seek Him. As we are hungry and burning  with desire to know Jesus more the swell grows and grows in our unity.

In Genesis 18 Abraham and God have the well known conversation about Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abraham is petitioning God on behalf of His city.

³² Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

What the Lord was desiring to see in this verse is a remnant. The Lord always has a remnant group of people who know His heart and will stand in the gap for their cities and communities.

You and I are apart of this remnant group who will ask the Lord to visit our Valley. Many of you have already been praying for years and I am simply stating what you already know. I would like to ask us as the Body of the Christ in the Valley to consider coming together in worship and in prayer to seek His face and see healing in our land.

"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

How do we accomplish this?

Regional Gatherings

One way we can accomplish this is by hosting gathering throughout the Shenandoah Valley where we invite each praying group (whether it be churches, praying families, students, etc.) to come together for nights of prayer and worship.There we will continue to ask the Lord what His heart is for the region and pray for the things the Lord places on our hearts as well as continuing to ask for revival. I would love to see different churches host these nights at different times, each with the open invitation for all Christian praying groups to join in.

Campus Unity

The Lord has called the campuses in our region to play a significant role in what He is doing. I have traveled to different parts of the state and have met students all over VA who are hungry for a move of God. During the year we want to host gatherings that will encourage students from each Christian organization on our local campuses to unite and seek the face of God toegether. We would also like to host a bigger gathering at JMU for students representing different campuses all over VA praying together and asking the Lord to encounter the campuses. There I believe the Lord will mark these young students to be voices for the Lord to their generation. There is a fire that these students carry and we want to be apart of bringing them together and fanning the flame of wholehearted love for Jesus in their hearts.

Night Watches

Another aspect is beginning to pray through the night. An all night prayer meeting can seem intimidating, but if we can come together and each take an hour or two at different times it is more managable. There is the saying "many hands make light work". The Lord is calling people all over the state to pray through the night as well as the day to see the Lord move. From June 4-July 4
24/7 VA is hosting conference calls that you can join. For more information click here.
After July 4th, we don't want to stop! We want to continue to host night watches and weekends of prayer and fasting for the region that people can be involved in.

Justice Movement

As an out flow of the prayer time, I also see the Lord raising up a move to bring healing and freedom to captives. Many of you know I am involved in the Shenandoah Valley Justice Initiative which fights to see the ending of human trafficking and healing to victims of trafficking. The Lord has begun to raise up a chapter on the campus of JMU to fight trafficking and we are beginning to see other college campuses  show interest in raising up groups to raise awareness and be modern day abolishsionists. I believe the Lord will call some of these students to fight trafficking in a long term way. We are continuing to move forward in our fight to see the ending of trafficking in the Valley, on the campuses, and abroad. We pray, give, share with our community locally, and work to bring education and awareness to every person and part of society in our region.

What can you do?

Now with all of the information you may be asking yourself what can I do?

Pray

Begin to ask the Lord to move in our region and that He would bring revelation of Himself. Pray for me as I travel and share the vision. Pray for the 24/7 Virginia team. Pray as He directs you.

24/7 VA has a calendar of praying groups all over the state. Perhaps you or your group would like to join with several others in taking a spot of time and pray for our region and VA. Click here to see the 24/7 calendar, who is already signed up, and where you can!

Invest

You can directly invest in this vision in our region by giving financially. If you desire to partner with the vision of the Lord to establish 24/7 prayer in our region click here. Just simply write my name "Stephanie Grant" as an intercessory missionary and select the best amount you are comfortable with.

Or, if you can mail your support to:

Fredericksburg Prayer Furnace
P.O.Box 4117
Fredericksburg, VA 22402

Simply indicate that the support is for me by writing "Stephanie Grant" in the note of the check.

Share

If this vision rings true in your heart tell someone! Invite believers that you know to the regional gatherings and let us know if you have a group that is praying, Share the vision and begin to bring the praying groups you know of together.

My e-mail address is stephgrantm@yahoo.com. I would love to help you get involved and come out and serve your group in what you feel called to pray into. I am available to come and speak and share with your praying group or church the vision that the Lord has given us and also to pray with you. Let me know what way I can serve.

Let's work partner together and continue to raise up prayer in the Valley!

Grace and peace to each one of you,

Stephanie Grant

To Everything There is a Season

Hello to you my friends!

I have decided to write a blog on this season as a way of updating each of you on the recent events in my life. I want to start by saying I know many of you have been praying for me during this time of transition and I want to say that I am extremely grateful for each of the prayers. You are each very dear to me and I so value having the gift of your friendships.

As some of you may or may not know I have been sensing in my spirit since February that the Lord has had me in a season of transition. I spent several months seeking the Lord and asking for wisdom and direction. The word I continued to hear was that it was time to step out of the boat.
I wasn't sure what way the Lord meant for me to do this. I recently took a trip to Kansas City to visit some friends. While I was there I spent the week continuing to research opportunities and to seek God for clarity. I felt the Lord prompting me to stay in the Harrisonburg area and to leave my current job at First Assembly as Associate Pastor and Chi Alpha Campus Pastor. I thought I might wait until my lease for my apartment was up in March, but received a job offer that will cover my rent exactly through the end of March almost as soon as I returned from my trip. 

There are many things the Lord has laid on my heart to pursue during this time. My heart to see justice continues to grow daily. I will continue to be apart of the Shenandoah Valley Justice Initiative and would request your prayers for us as initiative as we partner together with Him to bring freedom to captives of human trafficking. There are also a few other areas I feel the Lord asking me to pursue that have been on my heart and I will continue to seek His direction as I take steps.

This transition has been exciting and at times difficult as I have so loved my time here at the church.  I want to publically honor and state how much I have appreciated getting to know each of you. The friendships and relational connections I have made during my time here have been priceless. I have grown so much as a person under Pastor Jeff's leadership. His intergrity and father's heart make him an absolute stand out leader. The board here has also always been very gracious and giving to me as a staff member and I am grateful for their vote of confidence in the call of God on my life.
I would also like to publically honor and thank Stefanie Chappell for her leadership and insight over the years. All of the Chi Alpha staff at every university that I have been to have always been quick to share encouragement and wisdom. They have been treasures to run beside.

I want to express my love and pride for our students of Chi Alpha and the young adults here at First Assembly. I see the Lord in each of your lives and working with you has been the joy and pleasure of my life. I am excited to see a continuation of the things the Lord has birthed in each of your hearts and the leaders He is calling and molding you to become.

These past five and half years have meant the world to me and I will always remember this season with fondness and thankfulness.

The Lord asked me a few months ago if I wanted to stay where I felt safe and comfortable or if I would follow Him out into the unknown.
I have learned following the Lord at times does not feel safe, but it is an adventure.
He is certainly worth it.

Blessings to each one of you. Feel free to contact me if you would like to chat more. I would still love to keep updated on your lives and hear your stories of what Jesus is doing in and through you. I pray each of you has a blessed year in 2012 and He does exceedingly and abundantly above all you can ask, imagine, or think according to the power that works within you!

All my love,

Stephanie

The Power of Focus

I love to have conversations with people. If I had my way I would sit down and have a cup of coffee with each person individually in Harrisonburg. Mostly because I watch people and their lives are so different. Everyone has their own unique callings and giftings. There is something is inside of each of us that jumps when we think of the word destiny. Getting lost in a picture of something so much bigger than us is exhilarating.

I've recently picked back up Bill Hybel's book "Holy Discontent". In the book it talks a lot about that one problem or issue that really gets your blood boiling. The kind of thing that even if only for a moment you think you could give your time, your money, your energy, and perhaps even your life to.

Each and every person has a calling. There are many things in life God desires to do through us. Some of us search for the big "thing" out "there". Then there are some who are always content and satisfied with the little things He asks us to do. Sometimes He just wants us to give someone a hug or that person begging on the street our lunch money. The point really isn't whether it is big or small. The point is what has He created you for?

Howard Thurman once said, "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who are alive."

Only recently do I feel I have on some level discovered what is alive on the inside of me. To be honest, the process took far longer than I thought it would. I remember when I first started working at the church and I thought I knew myself so well. I was a 5 year plan kind of girl. God has changed me so much since then. I see glimpses of things, but I realize it is much more of a faith walk than I ever realized.

Now that my heart has been awakened more I realize I have come to a completely new season. Once you find a dream, you begin to realize that there are enemies in the camp. I have heard it said that anything in life that is worth having is worth fighting for. I must say I agree. Dreams do not become reality overnight and there are 100 voices that always want to pull you off of the wall.

The business administrator at our church talks a lot about Nehemiah. Nehemiah felt led to gather the Israelites and rebuild the city of Judah. Now, Nehemiah was not a man without passion. He spent days weeping and fasting before the Lord about the condition of the hearts of the Israelites and himself. It was his desire to see a place where his nation could gather and dwell with God. We read his passionate cries to God in Nehemiah 1. So he cries out to God and receives favor from the king to go forward with his plan to rebuild Judah.

The story takes another turn as Nehemiah begins to build. In chapter 3 everything is going smoothly seemingly. He has assembled his team. Each person is aware of their job and is working hard to perform it.

Until chapter 4...Chapter 4 introduces the enemy of Nehemiah's dream. You can read the insults in the voice of Sanballat (Nehemiah's enemy) when he says, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish--stones that are burned?". As if having someone like Sanballat in the picture were not enough, the people begin to cry out against him. They came to him complaining and Nehemiah had to expose the fact that they are actually involved in usury. A chapter later Sanballat is back with a group of people and they plotted against Nehemiah.

Sound exhuasting? So what was Nehemiah's response to all of this? In chapter 5, in the middle of all of this, we see him being extremely generous to the people. He did not buy land as the governer and did not lay heavy burdens on the people. He actually continued to work.

When Sanballat and his gang came to speak with Nehemiah his response was, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?"

There is a principle here. Nehemiah didn't become bitter by those who were against his dream. In fact, he continued to give generously. He also continued to work...

Many times the enemy will use people or circumstances to pull us off of the trajectory God has us on. Instead of responding or focusing on the criticism of others our main goal must be to stay on the wall.

Knowing what you are called to is the beginning of your journey. To be sure the enemy is afraid of that.
It does no good, however , to have a dream, but lack focus. That is chasing a fantasy.

At the end of Nehemiah life, he was able to look back and see the things the Lord has accomplished through him. The walls of the city stood as tangible fruit of a dream that made it into reality.

I encourage you, once the Lord has given you a dream or you discover your passion do not let it be aborted by distraction or daydreaming. Keep your eyes on Jesus and you will partner with Him. Peter only sank when he took his eyes off of Jesus.

Once you step out the boat, keep your focus on the One you are walking toward.

Warmest Welcome

Hello everyone!

In deciding to make a public blog I decided instead of starting over completely I would just make public what I have already been writing. There are some old entries here that represent where I was in my journey at the time. I also have written several notes on Facebook that fill in some of those in between gaps of time.

I am really writing as a continuation of where I am in my journey today, but also just to share a few things I have picked up along the way. Following God feels a lot like David going to the riverbed and picking up the 5 smooth stones. We are always searching for more nuggets of truth. We believingly put our hands out into the river of God and ask for truth that will bring the victory. In all reality we already have victory because of Jesus and He is the one who leads us to the river anyway. He just loves to do things together. He takes simple ordinary people and does tremendous things through them. Life is really about Him.

I suppose these are snapshots of what I am learning...these entries may come as a song, a letter to God, or a verse. Mostly it is about knowing Him. Welcome to sharing parts of my journey and I pray for the blessing of God to overtake you on yours.

Seasons

My friend once told me that I didn't want to a skinny cow looking into my next season unhappy about where I was. She told me I wanted to be a fat cow that had sucked all of the glory out of the season I am in so when I go to the next season the only thing I would be greiving was how sweet the season was even though I would be moving into something even greater. From glory to glory. 

One would think I would have learned my lesson by now. I look over this season that I am in now. I feel that I am coming to the end. I am enjoying resting right now and just being comfortable. For once I don't feel a huge hurry to get out or move. I feel like laying down in the grass and soaking up the sunlight. Like laying on the ocean shore, with the sand under my feet, feeling a warm breeze, and taking a deep breath. The kind of breath that says, "I am so content here" I just want to soak this moment up for all it is worth. 

I know God has many things planned for the future. I am excited about each and every one of them. It is a happy time. A time to rest. A time to recouperate. A time to take in. To drink deep. To feel the breeze. To be calm. To meditate on His goodness. To be by His side. To rest on His chest. To hear Him laugh. 

It's also just a fun time. My goodness. I have had a blast these past few months. Granted, there has been some heartache, but I feel like I'm coming out of all that. Like that Lady Antebellum song...."Just like driving on an open highway"...that sensation when the whole world is ahead of you. And best of all God is with me. He has been with me before and He is  going with me this time. He makes everything worth it. I can only imagine what heaven will be like. To stand before Him. To worship at His feet. To finally hug the one my heart longs for more than anyone else in the world. I'm in love. "In love with the One who created love" and understands it best. And me best. Nothing is better than serving Jesus. It is true because ultimately we gain Him. I just watched a music video where a guy blindfolds a girl and leads her to a huge toy pile full of fun stuff. Isn't that just like God? Out of the goodness of His heart He leads us to great blessings. I want to remember always that it is Him that does everything. Thank You God. Thanks for bringing Pastor Jeff into my life. Thank You for letting me rest. Thank You for helping me grow. Thank you for loving me. This much. I am so thankful for You. What a great Dad You are. Happy early Father's Day! My heart is full and I can't express exactly how I feel. I know I want to cry. Cry because of Your goodness. I love you so much. You take my breath away.

Eternally Yours.

Simplicity

They say it is the simple things in life.

It's funny because simpliticy was actually God's idea. Jesus told us to become like children. Children do not worry about much.

Life for a child is pretty simple.

It reminds me of the movie Amazing Grace. William Wilberforce is going to a church to consult his old mentor when deciding whether he should go into politics or pursue a life of solitude. His mentor, John Newton, says, "When you were younger you used to ask God for advice."

Not thinking William replies, "Then I grew up," and then realizing what he just said says, "and grew foolish."

Everyone chooses their attitude. Some people are old far beyond their years and some people who are much more advanced have more twinkle in their eyes than some adolescents. I suppose it really isn't the age that matters. It is the attitude toward life.

I find when my life begins to feel complicated I have usually taken a turn somewhere toward the foolish complexity of reasoning.

I think that is why God told us specifically His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not His thoughts.

"Trust in the Lord from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure everything out on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
He's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give Him the first and the best. 
Your barns will burst, 
your wine vats brim over.
But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline;
don't sulk under His loving correction.
It's the chid He loves that God corrects,
a father's delight is behind all this."

Prov. 3:5-12

That pretty much sums it up doesn't it?