I wanted to do what God wanted me to do, but I let God know that there were a few things I’d never do, even if He asked me! Not surprisingly, for the next 5 years I didn’t hear a thing from God about what I should do.

Then, sitting at the 2005 Sacramento ATI Conference, “Total Surrender for Total Success,” I finally did what God had wanted me to do all along—surrender everything to Him. Walking out of that auditorium, I could feel God’s pleasure.

Then I just “happened” to walk right up to the Oak Brook College of Law booth. The person handed me some information. I said, “Thanks”, and kept on going. Later that same night, I just “happened” to meet two awesome Christian guys who just “happened” to be Oak Brook College students. On the 35-hour drive home, God revealed to me that He had given me a dream: Law and Government Policy.

I was so excited to start that first year! After some initial challenges, I figured I had it cased with a few A’s on midterms. I was glad God had led me into Oak Brook, but I figured I could take it from there. That pride deadened me to God’s conviction in my life. By the time I got to finals, I was one very (over)confident law student. But when the grades came back, my pride was crushed. I began to hear God’s gentle convictions again, and I began to obey.

I had limited my relationship with God to “finding God’s will” instead of actually finding God Himself. Realizing how much I’d missed out on, I now wanted to seek and know God Himself. So after taking the First-Year-Law-Students-Exam (a mini bar exam), I came to the Journey. And I met with God! Continuing in my relationship with Him, God directed me in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Strange things happened. I got a full-time job and my grades improved, big time!

So God has used Oak Brook College of Law in my life already. Now, getting set to take the bar exam in less than a year, I look out and see that God continues to use OBCL in the lives of the graduates, as they practice in many different fields in jurisdictions across America and even in Canada.

So what are you going to do with your life? Have you totally surrendered yourself to God, allowing Him to reveal all the blessings He has for you? If you have, check out Oak Brook College and talk to God about it. OBCL may be in His plan for you!

~ Marty
November 2007 Journey

For more information on the Oak Brook College of Law, check out this post on the Family Support Link.

From day one of the Journey I was challenged to examine my heart more thoroughly than ever before. I looked into my life and I saw . . . myself. It was like going into a library filled with one subject—me. Shelves filled with volumes on my experiences and articles on my talents; walls covered with pictures of the things I’d accomplished and detailed schedules of my future. There were a few notes on what God had done in my life and a couple of pictures of the gifts He’d given me, but that was all.

To tell you the truth, I was horrified! I looked into my life and saw few evidences of real humility, Christ-like grace, or genuine love—enough to get by as being a “good Christian,” but not enough to be truly Godly. You might not have noticed it from the outside, but after discovering it, I knew, and the knowledge made me rather uncomfortable. One morning on my prayer walk around the lake in the Northwoods, I stood chewing my nails at the door of the self-library of my heart. Then I felt Jesus come up behind me and ask, “Do you believe that I can do a great work in your life?”

I said, “Sure. You can do anything.” But then God revealed one big area in which I had not trusted Him—my future. I realized that through desiring my own way for my future, I was taking it out of God’s hands and saying, “Thanks, I’ll handle this.” By being afraid of failure, I was failing to trust that He had a perfect plan for my life.

So I told God I would trust Him, no matter what. I told Him how it would be hard for me sometimes, and I asked Him to come alongside me and encourage me when I felt like I couldn’t trust Him any more. I asked Him to make His presence and love first and foremost in my mind so I’d never forget. It was so freeing, handing my future back to the Lord!

Immediately, He brought to mind part of a message Mr. Gothard had given us back at Headquarters on what a blessing it can be to give God a period of years while you are still young and single to focus on serving Him without distraction. God said to me, “I want you to give me the next four years of your life and dedicate those years to single service. I will use you fully for me, and you won’t need to worry any more about how your youth will be spent.” At first I thought, “Why? I gave you my whole life—now you’re taking any possibility of marriage within the next four years!” (Now I realize how ridiculous that excuse was . . . I’ll only be 21, after all!) But He convicted me to give Him the next four years in which to remain single, with no reservations.

I did. Once I placed that area of my life in His hands, I was filled with joy! I wanted to sing! (It’s a good thing I was alone on my walk, because I don’t have the greatest singing voice… <g>) I realized that through giving God the next four years, He would be able to create in me the person He wanted me to be. Every decision, every thought, and every idea would be placed into His caring hands. It was among the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made . . . four years is a long time! But I felt so blessed by the knowledge that He would always be there for me, I would gladly do it again if He asked me to.

Another one of the things that changed my life during the Journey was hearing God’s voice. I’d never heard Him like that before. He spoke to me personally, and I want nothing more than to experience that for the rest of my life. Psalm 25:4-5 says it very well: “Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” He speaks to us, teaches us, and shows us our way, if only we take the time to listen. I experienced His presence – a presence that I want to live in constantly.

Yet another thing that really convicted me was the message that my team leader, Madison, gave us one evening in the Northwoods. She spoke on praising God. How often do we ask Him for favors? When He comes through in small but miraculous ways, do we just say, “Oh, thanks, God!” and continue with our life? The next morning, I was reading Psalm 33:8: “Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.”

It was like God was saying to me, “Am I awesome enough?” So many times we throw that word around. “Oh, that’s awesome!” Is it really? Synonyms for awesome include breathtaking, astonishing, and overwhelming. Wow! Is God awesome enough? That morning, I told Him He was awesome enough for me!! I purposed in my heart to praise Him for every little thing.

I came home refreshed and encouraged. I came home with a humbled, purified heart. While on my Journey, my Lord and I cleaned out my heart’s library and washed it from top to bottom. Even now, as I continue to learn more about Him, He is filling me with His radiance and inhabiting my heart as His home. I’m far from perfect. I’m far from ideal. It hasn’t been easy. But I know it will be rewarding if I lived a poured-out life for His glory alone. I went from having a life centered on my own agenda to traveling the road of Christ-likeness—an exciting and continuous Journey that will take a lifetime!

~ Hannah
March 2010 Journey

Listen to an audio version of Hannah’s testimony:Download audio file (Testimony_201003_Hannah.mp3)
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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

When I was younger, there had also been a struggle between my parents in their marriage, which had caused me to cut off my spirit from them, to build up walls of defense, and to suffer asthma and nightmares from my fears. I had sought acceptance in other people and possessions, which had caused me to not only lack the trust I needed for my parents, but to hold back from fully trusting God.

The Breaking Point

As this realization dawned upon me, I broke down and wept on the floor where we had all knelt to pray in groups of 3 or 4. My team leader, sensing that God was doing a work in my heart, led me away to talk in private. Over the course of the next 2 hours, she helped me identify 30 lies I believed, 20 painful memories I was suffering from, and 5 different fears that were affecting my health.

That day my eyes were opened to the bondage that I had been in for so many years. I experienced a new freedom as I prayed asking God to take back the ground I had surrendered. I was able to fully forgive my offenders and to develop a new love for them, and a desire to serve and bless them!

Dying Leaves are More Beautiful

This amazing event set the stage for the rest of my Journey! I found that my heart was open to examination as I studied the different heart conditions. I was able to pray for others with a whole new love for them! I saw God use me to encourage and disciple many other girls throughout the time there, and to cry out to Him without fear of what others would think. There was a whole new awareness of His promptings, and the ability to hear His voice like never before! Most of all, I learned to understand the pain of others who were in similar bondage to what I had been in.

God showed me how to understand the hurts of another and to care for them! He broke me one night as I was spending time alone with Him under the stars. I wept for a girl I had known who was experiencing much more than I had ever experienced, but was held by the chains I had been in.

Throughout the week, as I observed the beauty of the colorful leaves on the trees, I was reminded continually by our team leader that the leaves were beautiful, yet they were dying! I saw that just as dying leaves are more beautiful than those that are alive, so we as believers are required to die to self and to be on fire for the Lord, in order to achieve the greatest beauty.

Just Three Days

As we prepared to leave journey and come back home, I was encouraged to go back and make disciples, to grow in the Lord, and to do great works for His kingdom. I could never have imagined just what awesome things God would do in so short a time!

The first full day back home, God brought a young lady across our path to meet with us regularly for discipleship. That same day, my sister and I decided that God would have us bring a team of girls we were discipling back to a journey next year. He has already provided several who are interested!

The second day proved to be a little more challenging. Mr. Garvin had taught us a valuable lesson on sharing the gospel with lost souls, shortly before the journey ended. We were at the park with some friends, when I decided to put to practice a little of what he had placed before us. In the past, I had always handed out tracts, and had actually shared the gospel with four little children and an older woman. Yet each time my conversation had never been more than just a few minutes long and I had always been so fearful during the whole presentation.

This time, however, I felt led to give a tract I had with me to a young man who was up on the hill smoking and texting on his cell phone. I was a little nervous, but I felt very strongly that God wanted me to do this. To my surprise, he was friendly and after handing him the tract and asking a few questions, we started a rather lengthy conversation. About 20 minutes later he started opening up and sharing about his life. He professed to be saved, but didn’t know much about the Bible at all, even to know if he was saved by works or by faith. I was able to share with him a lot about the Word, and to present 49 Commands of Christ to him. He became so interested that He wrote down the IBLP website so that he could check out some of the materials and learn more about the commands of Christ. He also showed much interest in attending our church!

I keep wondering what would have happened if I had disobeyed God’s voice and had failed to be a vessel through which His love could shine to someone so spiritually hungry.

The third day God impressed upon me this question: “If I don’t know the 49 commands of Christ and if I am not living them all out in obedience to Him, then how can I effectively teach them to those whom I am discipling?” That night I began to work on the first command and to apply it to my life.

As I went to bed, I prepared a passage of Scripture from Philippians 2 to quote and meditate upon. God gave me so many significant insights even as I was falling asleep that I could write down the next morning. He also showed me two books He wanted me to write concerning two areas of bondage that I have found freedom in.

As I went to sleep, I dreamed about a man of God who was competing in a race. And as he sought to do his best, God faithfully rewarded him by allowing him to win! When I woke up, there was a post on the Living the Journey website, about running our race successfully as a champion runner. It was like God reaffirmed to me that He has set the narrow way before me, and that now there is nothing holding me back from trusting Him fully and from running with all my strength to win!

When I was in bondage to bitterness, and when I chose to believe Satan’s lies, the chains kept me from running to win. But now I have been offered another chance to run without anything holding me back. God is so gracious and merciful! Even now He has already given me such a new heart for Him, so that when temptation comes (and it has been so less frequent) I can easily and victoriously overcome it by the strength of Jesus Christ!

Each person must come to a place where Jesus is everything to them. For me, this is just beginning!

~ Sarah
September 2009 Girls Journey

It was a dark, dreary day, but at the moment I cried out I truly felt God’s peace quieting my soul. As I looked up, a bald eagle flew right over my head and the clouds parted. Beautiful, golden sunlight fell on me. It was as though God was saying, “My face is shining upon you, I will give you peace, I will give you the grace to overcome this.” And for the rest of the time that I was on the lake, I was underneath the sun whenever the clouds parted. A beautiful blue sky guided me back to shore.

I vowed to God that I would never play a video game again, listen to rock music, or look at pornography. It was so freeing! Even though I’ve already had a great love for the hymns of the faith, God has increased it much more. When we were singing them on the way to the Northwoods and together as a group they sounded so beautiful to me.

When we had the hour of prayer on Thursday, myself and the other two guys with whom I was praying ended up praying for three hours. To me, it felt like maybe half an hour at the most!!! Near the end, I felt as though  it was just God and I, Him looking down on me with His pleasure.

Throughout the week, as God revealed things I had between members of my family and myself, I called them, and felt load after load being lifted from my shoulders. I called my father, and asked his forgiveness for leaving him out of my life, and I told him I truly wanted a closer relationship with him. I asked both him and my mother forgiveness for having a bitter spirit toward them, my brother for having a prideful attitude toward him.

And come Saturday night, when we were all praying together, I sensed God’s presence in a way I never imagined possible! I praise God for every single one who let God have His way that night!

I was impressed with the need to do whatever it takes to go all out for God, nothing held back. When we truly have that desire to do so, God will open doors before us and show us things we never imagined possible! (See Romans 11:33; 2 Peter 1:4.) When we truly seek His face, we WILL hear His still small voice leading and guiding us (Psalm 43:3; Isaiah 30:21).

It was that Saturday night that God really and truly broke me of my pride, and showed me that without Him I can do nothing, that through Him I am who I am, and when I labor, it is not in vain! (See 1 Corinthians 15:10, 58.) Through His strength in us we can bear fruit! (See John 15:8; Galatians 6:9.) Praise God!

When I saw others pouring out their hearts out to God and crying, I couldn’t help crying out with them (my spiritual gift is mercy, as well as servant). It was at that moment that we all knew in our hearts that God had truly knit us all together. We all exchanged long, tearful hugs, and gathered outside on the lobby balcony, talking about how awesome it was to feel God’s presence moving SO powerfull!! In Andrew’s words, “It was amazing to see all these guys choosing prayer over food for a time.” Yes it was, Andrew, for our true food is to do the will of our Father! (See John 4:34.)

It was SO incredibly awesome to see all of us to go from casual acquaintances to close, one-accord friendships with each other, and ultimately, with God, as the week progressed! Friendships built on mutual trust and a common goal of gaining a powerful, intimate walk with God! It was so humbling to see all these young guys putting their all on the altar, confessing their faults to each other!

At the beginning of the Journey, the radiant faces, the enthusiasm, the deeper spirituality, all of it seemed a bit foreign to me, and I had a jealousy and resentment. I felt like, “How can they be that way? What am I missing?” By the end of the Journey my resentment had turned into rejoicing along with them in the majesty, glory, honor and power and infinite wisdom and power of God’s never-ending love!

I cannot live without Him.

~ Jonathan
July 2009 Guys Journey

When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

God quickly drew our team together and every day there were profound insights shared that the Lord had given. One evening, a team member told how she had called home that day to confess something to her parents. That convicted the rest of us to make things right with our parents no matter how big or small the issue seemed to be. As we confessed our sins and yielded up competing affections and things we had held back from the Lord, He allowed us to focus on Him and to hear His still small voice.

Some of my fondest memories are the times of prayer we had as a team in one accord. As we cried out to God, He heard our prayers and answered in miraculous ways!

The times of laughter, singing, sharing, confessing, crying together, and examining our hearts were invaluable, but the time spent alone with the Lord and together bowed in His presence are what made the Journey for me.

God became very real and personal to us. We saw Him restore a marriage that at the beginning of our Journey was headed for divorce. He delivered a team member from an addiction, brought new love for family members, and made scripture come alive to us.

A few days into the Journey my physical strength was at an all time low due to lack of sleep and a health problem I’ve had for several years. Lack of energy had long become the focus of my daily life and I was always looking for answers and questioning why the Lord did not heal me. Now, I knew I needed God’s help to make it through this Journey.

I bowed my head and gave God unconditional control of my body and health, without expecting healing in return.

As the Journey continued, I was amazed at how little sleep I was getting and yet how inwardly refreshed I felt! God was giving me grace and strength for each day. I had been letting my health run my life, but now God was teaching me that He must have first place and that I needed to trust Him with my health no matter how I felt.

The Northwoods is a beautiful place to meet with the Lord. The messages we heard on the Journey and the counsel of the staff were a wonderful learning experience.

It is always humbling when God works in our hearts and uses us despite our failures and shortcomings. He heard our cries for brokenness and reminded us “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up” (Hosea 6:1).

~ Miranda
July 2009 Journey

I tried as hard as I could to stop sinning but I was attempting to do it in my own strength. My intellect was on the throne of my life. I thought I could fight off the devil by myself.

While I was on the Journey, I heard Paul Washer speak about how being a Christian is not only praying a prayer but living for the Lord and seeking first His Kingdom. That really meant a lot to me. That is when I truly gave my whole life to the Lord and first saw Him working in my life. As a result, I made several vows not to do the things that I was doing while I was in sin. I asked God to take back the ground in my soul that I had surrendered to the devil by believing his lies.

It was after this complete surrender to the Lord that He became real to me and I experienced a filling of His Spirit. Since then the Lord has kept me far from the sins that I used to commit on a regular basis.

On the “day of delighting in the Lord” God’s Word spoke to me: “Seek first My Kingdom, follow My commands, and go and make disciples unto all nations.” During the hour of prayer God revealed more of Himself to me. I was loving it so much that I prayed for two hours and was an hour late for dinner! This was after we had been fasting the whole day.

While we were singing that night as a group, I had the awesome feeling of actually praising God through my singing.

In the past, reading the Bible has been a lot like eating dog food—it was not enjoyable at all! But now, after giving my life to the Lord on the Journey, I love to read the Bible like it is really God’s Word. And I can’t wait to see how the Lord is going to use me. Praise God!

~ Stephen
July 2009 Journey

In previous months I had been convicted that the greatest hindrance in my relationship with God was fear, especially the fear that my brothers might follow in my cousin’s corrupt footsteps, making similar mistakes and thereby sacrificing their wonderful God-given potential to do great things!

Because of that fear, I found myself reacting harshly to my brothers and having a very difficult time loving them. I had surrendered my fears to God and given my brothers to Him in prayer a number of times before, but it was still laying as a heavy burden on my heart.

As I began reading Psalm 49, it was as if I had were reading it for the first time. Portions of the chapter seem to leap off of the page and my eyes filled with tears. “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil? None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)… But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah. Be not thou afraid…”

After this new reminder that He was so lovingly looking over those who are dear to me, I could again freely surrender all of my fears to Him, and trust Him with the future, because I know that He has a bigger purpose in mind than what I can see, and that He will work all things together for good!!

Since coming home, I have had a greater freedom to love my brothers and treat them in a Christ-like manner. I am truly thankful to God the eight younger brothers He has blessed me with, and through God’s grace, I am looking forward to continuing to improve my relationship with them!

~ Sarah
June 2008 Girls Journey

After working on staff for three months, I attended my second Journey to the Heart. I seemed fine to everyone around me but inside that battle was raging. I wanted my own way and my own plans, but I couldn’t argue with the genuineness of those around me. Their love for the Lord, their surrendered lifestyle, their true joy that only comes from the Lord, and their satisfaction in Him placed before me a choice: me or God. I couldn’t go any longer! I broke and surrendered. I confessed everything to my parents, which was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life! But it was worth it because the strength of sin is in its secrecy!

Confessing to my parents and turning away from my sin gave me a new humility, which I wouldn’t trade for anything! I have a new freedom and joy I never knew and now I love the Lord more than anything and am willing to serve Him with all that I am. I am truly satisfied, because He is all I need or could ever want!

~ Anna

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