consuming thoughts

Most of the time that I am down here my head is filled with random thoughts. Things that God is doing in my life. Intriguing conversations about practically everything. Prayers for my Mexican friends. Prayers for the States. Spanish words and phrases I am trying to learn.... I´m sure you all get the picture.

The funny thing is that when I come here and try to tell them all to you, my mind becomes blank. Either the thoughts all disappear, or they all mush into one thought that is completely undescernable I am not sure, athough I would probably perfer the later. I have decided that my thoughts come out best in conversations with others, and well, a computer screen doesn´t quite cut it. Hopefully we will all have opportunities to have those conversations when I come back to the States, because I am realizing more and more how glorified God can be when we share life with eachother.

But until then, here is a little peak into the thoughts that consume my mind most of the time.

First, let me just warn you that God is moving in some crazy ways in my life. Sometimes I don´t realize how much I have learned and how much I have grown down here until I think about who I was before I came here. So far, God is teaching me about three main things... prayer, the Holy Spirit, and faith. What is really cool is that I realized the other day those were the exact things I asked God to teach me this summer in a prayer I wrote before I left for Mexico. God is good.

I see the Spirit of God moving so much down here, and it makes my heart break when I realize that so many believers in the States have not claimed the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We are reading a book called the Blueprint down here by Jaeson Ma (I´m not finished with the book yet, and normally I don´t recommend books to people that I haven´t finished, but I´ll make an exception this time. Read it). In the book their is a quote from a Chinese pastor who visited a megachurch in L.A. The quote said this,"It is amazing what your American churches can do without the Holy Spirit." Talk about a heart-breaking quote. We can do a lot by our own power. But it is nothing in comparison to what the Holy Spirit can do in and through us when we allow him to consume us. I pray that the power of God would be at work within all of us more and more. Just check out Ephesians 3:14-21 if you want to know what I am talking about.

Since I am here, and learning about missions, I am learning how much this all is a part of that. I want so badly to see the people of Tlaxiaco come to know and love and live in Jesus Christ, but I cannot make that happen by my own power. I can spend years and years here, I could have the best intentions in the world, I could even spend all of my time talking to people about God, but if it is through my own power, nothing great can come. The battle we fight is not one of flesh and blood, but a spiritual battle. Because of this, we cannot fight the battle by means of the flesh, but by spiritual means. By means of prayer and faith and the power of the Holy Spirit.

We´ve also talked a lot about the Church, which means that I have also thought a lot about it. How much of what I see as Christianity is actually cultural? How much is actually Biblical? I have more questions than answers, but at least right now I think that is an ok thing. I want to dig into the word and probe the heart of God to find out what the Church should look like. I want to know the commands of Christ, nothing more and nothing less, because down here I have seen what becomes of a church that isn´t that. We cannot plant cross-cultural churches that conform to Western culture. It doesn´t make sense. I think the most glorifying thing for God would be for all people of all nations to learn how to be followers of Christ in the context of their culture. Lord Jesus, use me.

Well, enough with my thoughts...

-Que Dios les bendigo-
God Bless,
Elizabeth