First off, let me just take a moment to say how amazed I was with the turnout to the launch of our Tuesday Night service this week. We, as the core team, have been planning and praying for months for this service and even through this I had some doubts about what we were working toward. I feared that our efforts would be fruitless, but I really think this was the devil trying to discourage me. God came through and delivered more people than I could have ever imagined- 160 for our first service. I nearly broke down and cried during worship just from seeing His plan accomplished and a people thirsty for the message. It was incredible and reignited the excitement I had for the service initially. The worship and teaching was so empowering and I could really feel God's presence and hand over us. I can not wait for next week! If you're in your 20s or 30s you need to make it out to Hope at 7:00 on Tuesday. (Hollering at you, Sarai :)) Follow us on Facebook (Hope Young Adult Community) and Twitter (@HopeYAC #tuesdaynights) for more info and upcoming events.
This leads me to my second reason for this post...
God has really been revealing to me the importance of recognizing the devil. It is pretty natural for me to think of the battle over sin with God to be attributed to solely myself, and after discussing it with a few people far wiser then myself, I am certain that this must be part of how the devil gains footing within us. A few of these people enlightened me to plan for doubt and temptations- ways the devil stakes claim- for when we feel like this the devil is trying to reclaim us from where we stand close to God. I am currently reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. It is written from the perspective of the screwtape (devil) to his nephew and through his advice to claim the souls of his clients (us), one learns more about his/her own human nature as well as the nature of the devil. It is pretty difficult for me to interpret honestly, but I have been breaking it down and learning a lot.
I have been so blessed as of late to be surrounded by friends who have been building me up and encouraging me. I feel like I have learned more and grown spiritually in the past few months than I had in the past year. Also, just in- Hope has also hired on a full-time pastor just for our community (who will start in a few weeks) which is another answer to our prayers. God is SO GOOD. :)
You guys have a good weekend!
Lucy
