To know Jesus is to know Life.
To know Life is to experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Once we grow in and through our relationship with the Living Spirit of Christ we also grow in all these attributes I sum up as knowing Life, which ultimately refers to knowing Jesus: the author and perfecter of our faith.
All things exist in and through Him. Jesus is the faithful One.
He alone deserves all the praise, glory and honor.
One powerful way to exalt Him is through the art of music and song.
Putting words together through song to find a way to express best Who He is will not only make us worship Him, it also deepens our understanding of Him.
Oftentimes I've thought how I would love for there to be a place (I am not referring to one place) where we could go to at any given time of the day or night where continuous expression of worship would be happening. A place where you can join in at any given time. A place where His name is exalted at all times.
When I went to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City I found such a place.
Every moment prayers are lifted up through song and music. Literally 24/7.
I would sit 6 to 8 hours a day there reading Scripture, pray, journal and listen.
That maybe sounds like a lot of hours, but honestly I could have sat there even longer.
I had to remind myself that I was on a 82 day journey and needed my energy and sleep in order to stay healthy and rested =)
All anointing (a special grace, blessing or extreme unction) belongs to God.
However, in His mercy and goodness, He chooses to pour out His anointing on us.
I'm the last person to advocate that we aren't all able to walk in great measures of His anointing, however I do believe that according to our spiritual make up and the way He has made us with our unique calling we will have naturally certain aspects where we will operate in stronger.
I'm not sure how everything works and operates in the spiritual world, however I do know that when we receive a prophet in the name of a prophet we will receive a prophets reward (which are eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying). And so whenever we position ourselves in a way to acknowledge the unique calling on someone's life we can benefit from the anointing (grace) that is operating in their lives, and actually experience the same grace they have to do certain things.
When I was at IHOP I experienced an unusual love to read Scripture and to pray and to know Jesus more. Mike Bickle (founder IHOP) has given his life to the calling of God on his life, which is to set up a house of prayer that continues till the end of times, to fast and pray, to study the Scriptures diligently and teach His people. I was aware of the fact that I was tapping into the anointing that operates in Mike's life.
What a rich blessing to receive an impartation (= a passing on of what someone carries. To transmit) that gives you an even deeper desire to devour Scripture, to pray and to know Jesus more.
I spent a week at IHOP and honestly I wished I could have stayed for a few months.
I'll be back =)
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
NYC
And off to New York City I went...
Wow. Wow. Wow.
What a city!
Everywhere you look there is some sort of activity going on.
The title 'The city that never sleeps' is definitely appropriate.
Grand Central is a main train station on 42nd Street.
Just seeing the outside and inside of the building is a pleasure to your eyes.
A big piece of art!
I cycled Central Park. I loved it.
Wherever you go there is something happening; people are rapping, dancing, watching a movie, attending a concert, chatting, being romantic with their lover, going for a bike road, a walk, a horse ride and so the list goes on.
In the afternoon I visited Ground Zero.
Currently they are re-building this area.
There is also a memorial that you can visit.
At 6:30 I boarded a boat that would take me on a Twilight Tour. The sun sets while you are on the water and all the lights are on and you can see New York City in all its glory from the waterside. The boat ride took 1,5 hours. On our way back we came close to the Statue of Liberty and then we set sail to the shores again.
New York's attitude is quite different from that of Sunny California!
Wow. Wow. Wow.
What a city!
Everywhere you look there is some sort of activity going on.
The title 'The city that never sleeps' is definitely appropriate.
Grand Central is a main train station on 42nd Street.
Just seeing the outside and inside of the building is a pleasure to your eyes.
A big piece of art!
I cycled Central Park. I loved it.
Wherever you go there is something happening; people are rapping, dancing, watching a movie, attending a concert, chatting, being romantic with their lover, going for a bike road, a walk, a horse ride and so the list goes on.
In the afternoon I visited Ground Zero.
Currently they are re-building this area.
There is also a memorial that you can visit.
At 6:30 I boarded a boat that would take me on a Twilight Tour. The sun sets while you are on the water and all the lights are on and you can see New York City in all its glory from the waterside. The boat ride took 1,5 hours. On our way back we came close to the Statue of Liberty and then we set sail to the shores again.
New York's attitude is quite different from that of Sunny California!
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Phillips Blessing
After a great time with my new found friends in the UK I headed off to New York, Rochester.
To be more specific, to visit my sweet and beautiful (inside and outside) friend Chelsea Phillips.
Being a guest at their house felt more like being a daughter to their family.
The love and hospitality that was shown was beautiful.
I loved every moment of my stay!
Chelsea and I visited the Niagara Falls.
Honestly, that day we felt probably like the hottest women around.
We had these amazing flip flops on our feet (you better start feeling jealous!) and not to mention our raincoats.
TOO HOT.
Really.
In order to give some more of a visual idea of our dress that day I've added a picture. But remember, it is only to look at once :)
The Niagara Falls were so fun to visit! We stood under this waterfall and got pretty wet right there :)
It was such a joyful and freeing experience to stand under a waterfall!
So, if you ever need some joy and freedom go and visit the Falls. It will do you good.
Phillips Family: 'A thousand thank you's for blessing me in the way you did!'
To be more specific, to visit my sweet and beautiful (inside and outside) friend Chelsea Phillips.
Being a guest at their house felt more like being a daughter to their family.
The love and hospitality that was shown was beautiful.
I loved every moment of my stay!
Chelsea and I visited the Niagara Falls.
Honestly, that day we felt probably like the hottest women around.
We had these amazing flip flops on our feet (you better start feeling jealous!) and not to mention our raincoats.
TOO HOT.
Really.
In order to give some more of a visual idea of our dress that day I've added a picture. But remember, it is only to look at once :)
The Niagara Falls were so fun to visit! We stood under this waterfall and got pretty wet right there :)
It was such a joyful and freeing experience to stand under a waterfall!
So, if you ever need some joy and freedom go and visit the Falls. It will do you good.
Phillips Family: 'A thousand thank you's for blessing me in the way you did!'
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Celebrate Good Times!
The older I get the more I understand that there is one thing that is important in life; it is relationships.
Life is about family. I like to put it this way (with the highest respect, of course!) -> God is a Family Man. And He truly is. He is into people. He is into love. He is into restoration. He is into wholeness. He is into healing. He is all about Life. He is into family.
I try to open myself up to the people I meet in life. One of the things I try to keep in front of me is this: Who are you? Who are you to God? Who should you be to me? (Not who do I think you are, but instead who are you to God and therefor to me = key)
In Turkey me and my friend, Corine, met four people on our trip to Ephesus. Beautiful people. I fell in love with them.
The Story of how we met:
Early, I mean around 6AM (Is anyone awake around that hour?! Hello??) we are sitting in this tiny bus on our way to a touring bus, picking up people from hotel to hotel. Eventually we get to this one hotel and a guy is standing outside with a shirt on that reads 'Let's Go!' A little later another guy comes standing next to him. However it didn't seem they were making their way to the bus. All of a sudden the guy who stood next to the 'Let's Go!' guy walks off. So I thought 'Well, maybe they are not on this tour and are we waiting for other people'. (However, I wondered what on earth are they doing there + why would you be awake around this hour if you don't need to go somewhere?!) The guy who walked off came walking back with a plastic bag with some plastic bottles of water in it. 'Hmm, maybe they are on our bus?' But no movement. At all... Then a tall guy and girl are coming out of the hotel and the four of them start walking toward the bus. They are on our bus...
I cracked up laughing. This one guy is wearing a shirt with 'Let's Go!' written on it, however it took them ages to get to the bus (I mean a minimum of 5 minutes if not 10).
So off we go.
In the evening we officially met the 'Let's Go!' guy and the 'Water bottle' guy; Aaron and Serhan. We had fun together and I liked them a lot.
The next day we also got to meet Halil and Esmeralda. I liked them a lot as well!
As we are talking I discover they are from the UK. Better, from London! And where was I about to go on my first stop on my 82 day journey?! -> London.
WE NEED TO MEET UP!!
We all agreed on that plan.
In meantime we stayed connected through Facebook (Where would we be without Facebook? Thank God for Facebook! I think He likes it too!!).
A knock on my hotelroom door. I opened. I screamed. We hugged. We hang out. We had an amazing time. We drank tea. We ate stroopwafels (amazing Dutch cookies, ideal for bribing people). We made tons of pictures. And then the moment came we had to say goodbye. Sad face.
BUT we will be friends. Now and in the future.
Halil, Es and Serhan 'Thank you for an amazing evening. Thank you for your friendship!'
Life is about family. I like to put it this way (with the highest respect, of course!) -> God is a Family Man. And He truly is. He is into people. He is into love. He is into restoration. He is into wholeness. He is into healing. He is all about Life. He is into family.
I try to open myself up to the people I meet in life. One of the things I try to keep in front of me is this: Who are you? Who are you to God? Who should you be to me? (Not who do I think you are, but instead who are you to God and therefor to me = key)
In Turkey me and my friend, Corine, met four people on our trip to Ephesus. Beautiful people. I fell in love with them.
The Story of how we met:
Early, I mean around 6AM (Is anyone awake around that hour?! Hello??) we are sitting in this tiny bus on our way to a touring bus, picking up people from hotel to hotel. Eventually we get to this one hotel and a guy is standing outside with a shirt on that reads 'Let's Go!' A little later another guy comes standing next to him. However it didn't seem they were making their way to the bus. All of a sudden the guy who stood next to the 'Let's Go!' guy walks off. So I thought 'Well, maybe they are not on this tour and are we waiting for other people'. (However, I wondered what on earth are they doing there + why would you be awake around this hour if you don't need to go somewhere?!) The guy who walked off came walking back with a plastic bag with some plastic bottles of water in it. 'Hmm, maybe they are on our bus?' But no movement. At all... Then a tall guy and girl are coming out of the hotel and the four of them start walking toward the bus. They are on our bus...
I cracked up laughing. This one guy is wearing a shirt with 'Let's Go!' written on it, however it took them ages to get to the bus (I mean a minimum of 5 minutes if not 10).
So off we go.
In the evening we officially met the 'Let's Go!' guy and the 'Water bottle' guy; Aaron and Serhan. We had fun together and I liked them a lot.
The next day we also got to meet Halil and Esmeralda. I liked them a lot as well!
As we are talking I discover they are from the UK. Better, from London! And where was I about to go on my first stop on my 82 day journey?! -> London.
WE NEED TO MEET UP!!
We all agreed on that plan.
In meantime we stayed connected through Facebook (Where would we be without Facebook? Thank God for Facebook! I think He likes it too!!).
A knock on my hotelroom door. I opened. I screamed. We hugged. We hang out. We had an amazing time. We drank tea. We ate stroopwafels (amazing Dutch cookies, ideal for bribing people). We made tons of pictures. And then the moment came we had to say goodbye. Sad face.
BUT we will be friends. Now and in the future.
Halil, Es and Serhan 'Thank you for an amazing evening. Thank you for your friendship!'
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Here we go!
Last week it all of a sudden hit me.
I AM GOING AWAY FOR THREE MONTHS! Arghhh!
Breathe in, breathe out.
You might think 'But lady friend, haven't you traveled the world?!'
Yes I have. However, I have never traveled three months from nation to nation.
Which is truly quite a different thing than packing your suitcase and move to a nation to plan to stay there for quite some time.
But... Although I wondered for a moment what the heck on earth I was about to do, soon things started to ease and I thought 'Ah well, God is with me. He knows where we are going and I am going to enjoy my trip to the max.'
So yesterday, Friday September 30, I turned 32. A beautiful age, I may say :)
And today I celebrated the day of my birth with family and friends in a lovely overly sunny Holland. After hugging and kissing and saying goodbye's it was time to start putting my things into my suitcase.
Proud factor -> I packed my suitcase in an hour or so and I am fully ready to go.
I just love God. And how He orchestrates my life (true true, sometimes I am wondering why things go as they go and why we need to go through what we need to go through and lalalala). However, right now I feel blessed beyond words (literally, because I wouldn't know how to express the blessed emotions my heart currently experiences!).
Tomorrow evening I am meeting up with four new made friends in London. When I was in Turkey just about 6 weeks ago, me and my friend met some people on a trip to Ephesus. We connected and clicked. Well, tomorrow I'll see them again! Happy!
Itinerary for this week:
Sunday October 2: Amsterdam to London
Monday October 3: London to New York State, Rochester
Thursday October 6: New York State, Rochester to New York City
Saturday October 8: New York City to Kansas City
I AM GOING AWAY FOR THREE MONTHS! Arghhh!
Breathe in, breathe out.
You might think 'But lady friend, haven't you traveled the world?!'
Yes I have. However, I have never traveled three months from nation to nation.
Which is truly quite a different thing than packing your suitcase and move to a nation to plan to stay there for quite some time.
But... Although I wondered for a moment what the heck on earth I was about to do, soon things started to ease and I thought 'Ah well, God is with me. He knows where we are going and I am going to enjoy my trip to the max.'
So yesterday, Friday September 30, I turned 32. A beautiful age, I may say :)
And today I celebrated the day of my birth with family and friends in a lovely overly sunny Holland. After hugging and kissing and saying goodbye's it was time to start putting my things into my suitcase.
Proud factor -> I packed my suitcase in an hour or so and I am fully ready to go.
I just love God. And how He orchestrates my life (true true, sometimes I am wondering why things go as they go and why we need to go through what we need to go through and lalalala). However, right now I feel blessed beyond words (literally, because I wouldn't know how to express the blessed emotions my heart currently experiences!).
Tomorrow evening I am meeting up with four new made friends in London. When I was in Turkey just about 6 weeks ago, me and my friend met some people on a trip to Ephesus. We connected and clicked. Well, tomorrow I'll see them again! Happy!
Itinerary for this week:
Sunday October 2: Amsterdam to London
Monday October 3: London to New York State, Rochester
Thursday October 6: New York State, Rochester to New York City
Saturday October 8: New York City to Kansas City
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