Who Are You Becoming? / Becoming

``And Ellen is is nearing the end of this life. It's something that's just so interesting when I was able to to sit with her and to see who she has become. Not because she has all this fanfare, not because she's the best talker in the world. In fact, one of the weeks I was days I was visiting with her, she said, well, I'm not really much of a talker so if you wanna go, you can go. But the sense of peace amidst the struggle, amidst the very ends of her life, That is who I want to become. I want to have that peace that comes from God. [00:23:28] (50 seconds)  #PeaceInTheStruggle

And it takes one simple step at a time, one day at a time. Being intentional about where we want to go and not only thinking and knowing and believing it, but actually step out and do it. What is God God calling you to be intentional about this week? What is he calling you? To be living with the Holy Spirit inside? What is he calling you to not mimic the behaviors of this world but to be set apart and different? Living in the difficult place, living in the world but being set apart and different from it because Jesus lives in you. [00:24:19] (44 seconds)  #OneStepAtATime

The world shapes people in ways that sometimes can be really good, but oftentimes is much more self seeking, much more power hungry, much more worldly by financial means. Ways in which when you when you read what Jesus was and who he was, he doesn't say separate yourself and and don't be a part of the world. He says, be different from the world. [00:07:18] (35 seconds)  #BeDifferentFromTheWorld

I have talked so many times over the last year and a half about how important it is to to get into scripture and to to understand and and if if even if not understanding but to consume the word of God. And yet, as much as I believe that and I know that to be true, it is still something that I have to instill in my life. It's still something that I need to practice and it set apart time. What do I need to give up so that I can do what I know is right? But yet I haven't given something up to make space for that. [00:20:16] (44 seconds)  #PrioritizeScripture

God's not looking for us to necessarily go from one direction and turn around and be a completely different person tomorrow. God uses us in the community around us to shape us and to to understand who we are becoming. To recognize that we're not just gonna be the same thing tomorrow, you're either becoming something that you want to be or we're slowly losing who we want to be. God is calling us into a life with him. [00:22:26] (35 seconds)  #ShapedByCommunity

He calls us to be his reflecting light. He calls us to to to be more and more like him as we go through our lives. Do we choose to be shaped by Jesus? Do we choose to be shaped by scriptures? Do we choose to be shaped by our faith families and friends? We choose to be shaped by the world. The world shapes people through pressures. [00:06:49] (29 seconds)  #ReflectChrist

But I recognize that while this decision wasn't mine to be made, I'm taking the moment to say, what is God calling of me? He's put me in a place now to to way beyond what I where I academically am, to lead a congregation of people to to be able to speak out of his word. We talk about this all the time. He uses people that are not what they should be, but what are are willing to work for him. [00:11:56] (37 seconds)  #CalledBeyondCredentials

So we have to make that internal decision but the hardest place especially for a guy, I personally can't speak for the women but I can speak for a man, it is hard to surrender. It is hard to give up of the things that I want for myself. It is hard to give up on the dreams that I desire. [00:10:01] (35 seconds)  #SurrenderIsHard