Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (NAS)

This is not a new discovery for me, and I’m sure it’s not for you either.  I’ve heard this verse taught many times as a teenager, and what I’m conveying to you today is nothing deep or profound.  It’s just that I’ve had this thought after reading this verse; Wisdom, very rarely, seeks us out; Wisdom, instead, must be pursued.  In Proverbs 1, it’s made clear that God is willing to pour out His heart and make wisdom available to us, but we must be in pursuit of Him.  Prov. 1:23 says:

Come and listen to my counsel.  I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise. (NLT)

If WE would come and seek Him out, then HE is willing to share and give.  The pursuit is our responsibility, the revelation is His promise to us.  As I read over Prov. 27:17, I think of the many teenagers that I watch pursue relationships and friendships.  It’s amazing how a connection with another person begins to change our character and standards.  Wisdom tells us that we become like those we connect with.  If you consent (Prov. 1:10) to give yourself over to the evil intentions of “friends,” then you will become like them and share in their fate. (Prov. 1:15-18)  However, if you choose to connect with those of a higher thought, a stronger discipline, a passionate resolve – likewise, you will become like them and together you will make each other stronger.  Remember, we are products of our environment – for good or for bad – so iron sharpens iron – but play in the mud and it makes you dirty.  Be mindful of the path you put your feet to for it will determine much of who you are to become.  Pursue wisdom and wise friends and you’ll be better for it in the long run.   Prov. 27:11

Likewise, God’s command’s for us to sabbath in our spiritual walk are for our good.  Here’s what I’ve found to be true in regards to sabbathing.  First, God commands us to sabbath so that we will REFLECT.  He wants to take this time to reflect on the week we’ve had, to reflect on His goodness, and grace.  He wants us to worship Him.  To remember what’s He’s done.  Sabbathing also REFRESHES our spirit.  To spend time with Him causes us to know Him. (Ex.31:13)  It’s a break from the norm.  It’s a rest from the battle.  It helps us gather our wits and regain our strength.  Even God, after creating the heavens and the earth in six days, took the seventh day to rest…and was refreshed. (Ex.31:17)  Taking the time to sabbath also allows us to REFOCUS on our purpose.  As we reflect, we remember what He’s done – and also what we are tasked to do.  This time of refocusing helps us to strategize and plan for the week ahead.  It’s spiritual preparation and empowering.  As we connect with God, we taste the beat of His heart.  Failure to sabbath encourages selfishness and self-pity in our inner man.  We become aware of how tired we are and we lose sight of God’s heart.  Lastly, once we’ve reflected, refreshed and refocused, we can RE-ENGAGE with a new week and new awareness of our purpose - ready to advance His Kingdom. 

Sabbathing really has become lost today.  Many pastors fail to teach it, and many believers just don’t do it.  But we have to remember:  God commands us to sabbath…because in sabbathing, we know Him.  It’s about time we remember our First Love…when was the last time you dated your Creator?  *Cease striving and know that I am God.  Psalms 46:10

In the morning, we’re giving the group a chance to sleep in a bit and then we’re loading the bus and heading for Sedona.  I’m excited because I believe Sedona to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, but even more than that, we will be baptizing 5 of our students in the river.  How incredible will it be for those students to be baptized in a place like a Sedona.  It will be an experience they will never forget and will be a step of obedience that will launch them into the next season of their spiritual walk.  After hiking in Sedona, we will return to our hotel for some worship together and then packing up to head home the next day.  It has been an amazing trip and we have seen God move in incredible ways.  I can’t wait to see how these students will take the change, the fire and passion inside of them home or to school and revolutionize the world around them.  These students are hungry and I am confident that God is using them.  What an honor to walk beside them!  Thank You, Father!

The group has done phenomenally well at working together…there is such a unity among the students and leaders.  It’s obvious that God is building upon their hearts and is meeting them in their pursuit of Him.  Currently, we just finished an incredible worship service for our group.  God has been amazingly faithful to pour out His Spirit on our group.  Tonight, students sang and shouted.  They wept and prayed over each other…in ways that only happen when the Holy
Spirit falls.  Our experiences on this trip have far surpassed my expectations…in other words, God caught me completely by surprise.  He has spoken so strongly, and our students are responding.  A.W. Tozer says that God is simply waiting to be wanted…I believe this is true and our weeklong experiences have been the result of His response as our group has sought after Him. 

There is still much to do before we return home.  Tomorrow morning we leave bright and early to visit the Grand Canyon.  We will spend several hours hiking into the canyon and visiting some area attractions.  We will then make the long drive back to Phoenix.  Thank you, again, for praying for our group.  God has blown my mind this week and I am overwhelmed as I watch our teenagers experience levels of worship that I have prayed and hoped for.  We’re tired, but we’re excited to have the next few days to rest and see some epic sights.  We look forward to seeing NC soon!

And speak He did.

This morning, while the leadership started the day in the Word, God began to move in our hearts.  His urging and call spoken so strong in my heart that I knew we had to act.  The leadership came together, and in brokeness, we began to weep and pray over our students.  Feeling so confident that God was moving, we postponed breakfast and pulled all of the students together.  Surrounded by the mountains and huge expanse of the desert around us, the Word was shared and the students then seperated invidually to chew on what was spoken.  Students began to weep, pray, examine their hearts.  Three of our students committed their lives to Jesus right there as the sun rose behind us.  Let me say that again…three of our students gave their hearts, committed their lives, are forever changed because of Jesus.  Our worship times have been intense.  God has used our group to influence a group of local Navajo teens.  One indian girl even testified that during a prayer time she attended with our group, God spared her life as she contemplated suicide this week.  God is doing some no-joke, authentic, Spirit-filled things through our students and I am praying for increase.  Thank you for praying with us and please continue to do so.  We have several days left and many more opportunities for God to move in our group and through our group.  The group is having a blast.  We’re working hard and we’re bonding together.  Praise God! 

Please lift up two of our team members:  Heather and Stephanie Underwood.  They found out that their grandfather passed away yesterday and have left our group to fly home to be with family.  They are obviously brokenhearted and our group has been moved by their loss.  Thanks for lifting them up.

P.S. – Want to hear the Word that God spoke…?  Come to Crossover Community Church next Wednesday night and hear as our students share what God has done. 

• Pray for God’s anointing over everything we touch and say as we strive to communicate His love
• Pray for the Navajo and Hopi people – that their hearts would be opened to receive God’s truth
• Pray for the church in Dilkon, AZ…that we would be used to strengthen their influence and impact on the reservation
• Pray for God to completely destroy any strongholds of the enemy within the Navajo people
• Pray that the enemy’s attacks would be powerless against our group or the people we will serve
• Pray that the Holy Spirit would move in powerful and undeniable ways in and through our group
• Pray for our group…that we would be like-minded and our attitude would be the same as Christ Jesus (Philip 2:2,5)
• Pray that our group would move and flow as one Body…the Body of Christ
• Pray that we would become less, so that Christ would become more (John 3:30)
• Pray for safety over our group as we fly, travel, serve, work and eat
• Pray against homesickness for our younger students
• Pray against pride, selfishness, entitlement, complaining, comfort levels and laziness
• Pray that our group would come home radically changed…glowing from experiences in the presence of God
• Pray that our group would return with testimony of God’s work in them and through them
• Pray that we would see the greatness of God in these days
• Acts 2:16-21

All day today, I have been able to hear the opening lyrics to “Under Pressure” ringing in my ears, because that’s how it’s been.  “Pressure…pushing down on me.”  Between the sale and purchase of houses, a wife that’s 9 months preggo, the in’s and out’s of student ministry and leading worship, not to mention just living life and all that that brings…I’m starting to feel it.  I would say that normally, I’m a decently care-free guy, but lately I’ve felt the pressure – or the weight of the season – bearing down on me. 

I’m sure that my “burdens” may not compare to the weight you carry.  The “pressure” I feel is minute when put up against someone dealing with the ravages of cancer or the pain associated with job loss.  But in every season, I KNOW God to be faithful.  Big or small, God walks with us through each circumstance, helping us bear the burden – even reviving our hearts.  Psalm 69:29 states the burden – “I am afflicted and in pain…”  Psalm 69:32 states the result – a heart revived.  What happens in verses 30 & 31 to change the tone?  WORSHIP.  Psalm 69:30 – “I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving.  31 – And it will please the LORD better than an ox or a young bull with horns and hoofs.  Can there be a sweeter song than the one that is lifted up to God during our season of burden?  I have felt my heart today feel weary and anxious, yet I have also felt my heart revived as I lifted up my song of praise.  It’s great to know that in all things He is our great High Priest, helping us to shoulder the weight, because in all things, we are to bring Him glory.  “You who seek God, let your heart revive.”  In all things, worship Him and may His salvation set you securely on high.  In all things, worship Him and experience a heart revived.

“Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and it’s smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.  When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered Him with thunder.  Ex. 19:18-19

Upon reading this, my mind was filled with so much visual imagery surrounding this verse.  What did it look like to Moses and the Hebrew people as they stood at the foot of the mountain and watched God come down?…the Holiest of holies touching down on our soil.  I picture something like the scene of the alien arrival in the movie “Independence Day;” a burst of flames and smoke as God entered our atmosphere and His presence sat down upon the top of Mount Sinai.  The sight was so overwhelmingly powerful, the people stood at a distance and refused to draw near. (20:18, 21)  They even requested that only Moses speak to them for fear of dying if they heard God’s voice. (20:19) 

We, the NT believers, have full access to the throne room of God because of the sacrifice of Jesus.  He died, bearing our sins, and created a way for man to commune with God – the veil tore from top to bottom – an invitation for us to come and abide in Him.  In Exodus, Moses received this invitation from God.  The mountain quaked as it’s peak erupted in fire and smoke, yet Moses gathered his courage and entered the thick cloud where God was. (20:21)  Is this not a picture of our churches today?  Many gather near the presence of God, yet few actually enter in.  We feel the drawing into His presence, yet we also feel the fear of allowing God to consume us – to invade us.   But it is those who enter in that are changed forever – that will see the greatness of God in this life.  We closed out our night together with an invitation to enter in – to conquer our fear and step into the cloud where God is.  We should be careful not to approach the throne room of God casually – the presence of God is truly powerful, explosive, and invading, yet He invites us with love and grace to enter in and abide in Him.  And we will be changed… 

Jordan Wilson stood in front of the group and shared about what it meant to set the example in the area of speech.  To encourage instead of tear down.  To speak wisdom, instead of foul language.  Parker Love shared with the group about setting the example in life – to use every area of your life and conduct to bring God glory.  Meghan Proctor shared examples from her own life about setting the example in love.  She used examples from 1 Cor. 13 and talked about we should show the world how to truly love one another.  Ryan Spencer talked with the group about purity in relationships, motives and life and being an example for those younger to look up to and follow.  And then our leadership shared testimony about setting the example in faith.  It was amazing to see the Word come alive and speak for itself.  As ministers, many times we feel that we have to manipulate the Word, or make it flashy or entertaining.  But the Word is able to cut straight to the heart all by itself.  Our students were more nervous than entertaining, but the Word was powerful through their teaching and testimony.  God used them, despite their inexperience and young age.  He used them because they were willing. 

I’m incredibly proud of students, who are leading at a level beyond their years.  They are passionate about God and about their group.  They have a desire to grow and to learn – and I believe that’s all God needs to take them places where He can glorify Himself through them.  It was a great night in which God moved through the student leaders as they led their own age group.  At the end of the night, the leaders saw God use them in a great way, our entire group was given a strong word and an example to follow, and one teenager chose to give their heart to God and make Him their Lord. 

In my opinion, it doesn’t get any better than that.