I love how God brings various pieces of our lives together. I noticed this was happening for me last week when I was scheduled to write this reflection piece for ECSW, I was also asked to come and shoot a two minute video for my church. They asked me to share why I believe someone should consider joining a Life with God group forming this fall.
I took the opportunity to sit with the Lord and name what has meant the most to me regarding that community. These are the words that came:
- For me, participating in
Life with God has been a place to discover and live in three awesome realities. The first is how much God constantly loves me and wants an interactive relationship with me.
- The second is how critical it is to be in a loving community of believers seeking God together. We need each other as we discover for the first time or remember anew God’s revelations about Himself. We especially need each other when we struggle to trust those claims and live into them.
- And lastly, it’s an awesome privilege to participate in loving others as they pursue God and welcome God’s pursuit of them. We help each other see His loving invitations towards us. In a
Life with God group, we interact with the Lord about His matchless love and His mission to reconcile and restore us. We look out for our tendency to do life on our own and God’s desire to turn that upside down. He’s always inviting us to do life with Him.
- While participating these last two years, the Lord has changed my heart in many ways, and I've watched the Lord change the hearts of others too… and in ways that have been beyond my imagining.
After writing these words, I wanted to share with the other members of the Life with God group the changes that have occurred in my relationship with God during the last two years and to thank them for their part in it. Below is how I described the changes that I’ve noticed:
- I believe in the Sovereignty of God in a much deeper and trusting way.
- I believe in the faithfulness of God from our first breath to our last.
- I believe that accepting the life God has given, is giving, and will give me is necessary for living free in Him.
- I believe in letting go of earthly identities in exchange for being identified with Him. It’s happening more and more.
- I believe that the better way is to walk with God in and through everything.
- I believe that listening to God and one another is a loving and good way to live.
- I believe humility and hospitality are the ways Jesus lived, and I'm excited to grow up more into this way of living. I have much to learn.
- I believe more than ever in God's abundant, reconciling, and restoring amazing grace.
I believe with God's wisdom and help, we can walk through anything together… including what is messy. We do not need to be afraid. Grace and truth together are provided by God.
I am in awe. I am thankful to the Lord of heaven and earth and the community around me.
How about you? Who has been your community the last couple of years? How has being in community changed your soul? I’d love to hear your story and celebrate with you! You can reach me at cheri@ecswisdom.org. May God provide each of us the communities our souls need!