Living the Journey

Ever since my baptism last August, I had been striving to draw closer to God on a daily basis. Yet, at that point, I didn’t realize that I had allowed some affections to creep into my life and compete with my love for God. It wasn’t until this past September when I went on a Journey to the Heart that I was able to get alone with God and hear His voice as to what He had in mind for my life.

In Bill Gothard’s Basic Seminar, he describes a new perspective on fully dedicating your life to Christ. He uses the illustration of a room with everything inside representing the things that you do in your life. This might include each activity you have become involved in or every subject that you’ve mastered. In this illustration, when you become a new Christian and dedicate your “life” to Christ, it is like you are  inviting Him to come into the room and allowing Him the freedom to have control of all the aspects of your life. Let’s say there is a box in the room for each of your accomplishments. If there is something that you want to hold on to and don’t want you new Roommate to know about or take away, you might build a closet, put the box on the top shelf out of reach, and lock the door. Then, you really aren’t giving God everything because you are still withholding that one little box in your closet!

As I was searching my heart, trying to figure out if there was any particular area in my life that I had not yet surrendered to God, He revealed to me an area where I had allowed myself to be in control. At first, I was unwilling to give this up because it wasn’t all bad. Just some of it was, so the good outweighs the bad and makes it ok to live with, right? Wrong!

I argued back and forth with God about it, and finally agreed to give it all to Him. I was able to discover that God wants to be the center of my life, and I need to be willing to let Him be in control of all aspects of my life, including my future.  The Lord showed me that He is my fulfillment; He is all that I will ever need to be happy. He also revealed to me that now is the perfect time for me to focus on serving the Lord through my current responsibilities.

I Corinthians 7:34-35 says – “The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.”

These verses prompted me to rededicate myself to focus on serving the Lord rather than pleasing myself. That alone has been life-changing for me, and now I am able to fully trust God to care for everything I will ever need or want! As challenging as it was, after I completely surrendered everything to God, I was finally able to experience true peace in my spirit.

In closing, I will just share one of the verses that suck out to me during this time of my life: Psalm 126:2-3: “Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting; then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad.” Yes, God has done an awesome work in my life, and I am very glad!

~ Grace
September 2009 Journey

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The beautiful and tranquil setting of the Northwoods  removed all distractions and enabled me to wholeheartedly focus on God. I had not expected Him to work as powerfully as He did. There are just so many ways He touched and changed my life.

In the middle of the week I felt discontent, restless, and frustrated. My team had completed all the ungodly heart conditions, but my own cold and distant one had not broken yet. My guilty conscience tried to tell me that I’d already been changed and broken. However, I was to meet God in a powerful way later that night.

After dinner, we watched a video called Father’s Love Letter. God revealed Himself to me in such a loving way and showed me how needy I was spiritually. Consequently, there wasn’t one moment where I was not crying! Two particular verses stuck out to me: Ephesians 3:14-15 and John 1:12-13. These can be paraphrased: “I have always been Father, and will always be Father. My question is . . . Will you be my child?” Sadly, they spoke of my own spiritual condition.

I realized that I had been seeking God’s love from everything else except Him. I sought people’s acceptance over God’s, and had developed fears of rejection and man as a result. I looked to people for approval and guidance, while ignoring God my Father who loved me more than anyone else. This understanding broke my heart and filled me with shame and grief.

After the video ended, I got on my knees to pray, overwhelmed with the truth of the above verses. I cried out “Father God” and suddenly His love flooded my heart like never before. The rest of the week, I experienced such closeness with Him as I had never felt in the past. Only now do I understand how incomparable God’s love is. I love this paraphrase of Romans 8:31-32: “I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love.”

Through the encouragement and direction of my team leader, I developed a habit of daily devotions and journaling. At the beginning of the week, she instructed us to have an hour of quiet time—something I was unaccustomed to—and I groaned inwardly at the thought of losing one whole hour of sleep. However, through the example set by the other girls and God’s grace, I instilled this precious habit. This alone has been more of a blessing than I ever could have imagined, as God has given me new eyes to see His Word and a fresh love for the Bible.

He also blessed me with godly friendships with my teammates. I came home with precious memories, a contrite heart, a yearning for God, and a joyous excitement to follow Him. God has truly changed my heart and given me a stronger desire for Him.

~ Annalise
September 2009 Girls’ Journey

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Before I went on the Journey, I felt myself dying. I saw the road I was on, and I knew where it was going. Pain was controlling my entire life. I was helpless, struggling, and losing myself. If I continued down that path, I would have become a monster. I could not live with myself if I ended up like that. That’s what broke me. I had no control over the pain and the lust. I begged God for the answer. And I have it now! He gave me another chance. After the way I abused Him, He still loves me. I know He does!

Every time I’ve been tempted since getting back, I’ve sought Him for deliverance and grace. He’s giving me victory! I haven’t been such a free person since I was a child. This is the greatest thing that I have ever experienced! What’s amazing is that this is only the beginning! I have the rest of my life to live for God!

~ David
March 2009 Guys Journey

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I joined a team of young ladies from all over the country this past week, who had gathered in Oak Brook, Illinois to begin a Journey to the Heart. It was a week of seeking after God and learning to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

On Sunday we enjoyed a day of fasting and prayer as Mr. Gothard shared Biblical principles that would help us prepare our hearts to seek our Savior. Monday morning, everyone packed their bags to take the seven hour trip to the Northwoods of Michigan. Each one of us was filled with joy in anticipation of what God was going to do!

I can testify that the presence of God was experienced throughout the entire week! Despite wide differences in ages and backgrounds, each of the girls came together and felt the rich blessing of a one-accord spirit.

While enjoying the great outdoors and taking in the splendor of God’s beautiful creation, we studied and learned to recognize seven sinful heart conditions (e.g. a fearful heart, a prideful heart, and an adulterous heart). We were amazed and convicted to see the sinfulness of our hearts, but had great rejoicing as we repented and looked to the Lord for His freedom, fullness, and joy. Confession of sin and a desire to make life-changing commitments brought deep rewards in many of the young ladies’ hearts. Times of memorization, prayer, singing, and crying out to God were very special.

Midway through the week, we set aside a special day to delight in the Lord and took time to fast and humble ourselves before Him. As a result we experienced the richness of God’s abundant grace!

We left the Northwoods with a song in our hearts, a perseverance to follow Christ’s commands, a freedom of repentance, and a deeper love for our Heavenly Bridegroom.

Upon returning to Headquarters, we worked through the commands of Christ with Mr. Gothard and learned what it is to become “fishers of men” with Mr. Garvin. There was also an opportunity in the evening for many of the young ladies to receive a verbal blessing from their fathers. God’s presence filled the room during this special time of prayer.

It was a Journey to be remembered for a lifetime! Not only did we come to know God in a more intimate way but special friendships were developed that will never be forgotten.

Praise be to Jesus for His love for us in doing exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think!

~ Sara
March 2009 Girls’ Journey

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If you wanted a walking definition of a “good kid” it was me. I grew up in a Christian home, asked Jesus to come into my heart when I was 7, and went to Church twice a week. However, something was missing in my life! Reading my Bible was a struggle and giving in to peer pressure was not something new. The only difference between me and my friends was that they were cold and I was lukewarm. Something needed to change and I knew it.

That is when I decided to go on a Journey to the Heart. This was the best decision I have ever made. It was a “launching pad” and the real beginning of my walk with God. I rededicated my life to Him and gave Him the next 10 years to do whatever He wanted with it. The small coal of my spirit was alive and the next couple months proved this as I encountered major struggles and the devil threw all the fiery darts he could find at me.

At this point, my relationship with God can be summed up in John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Loving God is the only thing that matters. This is a simple applicable truth that I am and will continue to apply on a day to day basis for the rest my life.

~ Philip
July 2007 Guys’ Journey

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After returning from the Life Focus Journey, Nathaniel joyfully shared how God took the knowledge he had in his head and brought it down to his heart.

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