As you've seen, Made for More is the message we want to emphasize and encourage each other with. The meaning behind this phrase is fairly simple: there is so much more to being a Christian than just receiving forgiveness for your sins and believing in Jesus as your Savior. That's only step 1!
Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."
I believe God laid this verse on my heart for a couple of reasons.
It goes to show that there is joy and peace that comes from believing in God!
It communicates that what I believe about God will directly impact the amount of hope I have for the present and the future!
It emphasizes that the power of the Holy Spirit is what keeps hope alive within me - despite the ups and downs of life here on earth.
So when we put all the puzzle pieces together:
- A lack of true joy and peace is the result of a lack of deep belief in God.
- As I lack belief in God, I begin to lack hope for my future.
- As I lack hope for my future, I begin to strive and toil in my own strength to make my own way in this world, establish myself, and pursue a life that I think will make me happy.
After striving and toiling for awhile out of my own strength, my own knowledge, and my own ideas -- I suddenly will have a come to Jesus moment and wonder: why am I here? What am I doing? Why is nothing fulfilling my desire for joy and peace?
THIS IS WHERE THE GOOD NEWS COMES INTO PLAY!!!!
We know that God's word says true joy and peace will come from believing in Him - but we also need to remember that true joy and peace will remain when we give ourselves over to the Holy Spirit - absolutely surrendering our lives to His work and His will - so that we can overflow with HOPE in the present and the future!
This is why we are Made for More!
We are made for MORE belief in God & MORE cooperation with His Spirit. As we learn to cooperate with His Spirit - He will certainly lead us into MORE prayer. MORE conviction. MORE humility. MORE confession. MORE repentance. MORE selflessness. MORE healing. MORE deliverance. MORE reconciliation. MORE grace. MORE understanding. MORE community. MORE mission. MORE kindness. MORE love. MORE desire for holiness!
So what does it look like to have MORE belief in God & MORE cooperation with His Spirit?
The biggest thing we can do to cooperate with His Spirit is surround ourselves with other people that are also working to cooperate with His Spirit.
This is why God designed the Church! Not so that we can go sit and get a "good word."
He designed it because He knows that we will grow to have MORE belief in Him when we are surrounded by people who are also experiencing His goodness, feeding themselves truth, and seeking His kingdom DAILY.
Obviously, this generation is spoiled with social media and the ability to stay connected with Christian community virtually. (There are pro's and con's to this - but if we are mindful of the con's, then it's not necessarily bad to take advantage of the pros;)
The goal is to continue meeting next summer to humbly come before God, as sisters, leaning into the Spirit for for His intervention in the Church & in our communities!!
For now though, we want to stay connected in small ways!
To do this, we have to be an eager to learn AND eager to share community!
We will share things we are learning, but please know that if you are a part of this community then we are counting your revelations and encouragement as equally important to be shared!!!!
If you have a testimony to share - DM us!
If you are learning something that you want to share - let us know!
If you have questions or ideas or thoughts - we are here to hear them.
We are the Church! All of us! In it together now and forever!
If you've made it this far - thank you for caring enough to read!
Be praying with us that God will use girls in our community to take His love, truth, and light to the ends of the earth!
Much love!!!
Kira