The Fathers Heart

It's the end of another week... an incredible week I must add. This week our topic was Father Heart of God. Can I just say my heavenly FATHER is AMAZING!!! Since I have started DTS I have started realizing more and more that Jesus is my Father, Hes not just the Jesus that loves me and died for me and is Holy and Magnificent. Don't get me wrong He's all of those things but above all He is our Father He is my Father. I am His daughter whom He delights in, I'm not just one of His followers "A Christian" but I am His daughter. This hit me really hard, above all else I am His daughter. I have always been told this but I finally had a heart revelation of how precious I was to the Father.

Last night we had an epic time of Evangelism. I shall share this awesome story with you all: My friend Tori and I had just finished praying for God asking for His Holy Spirit to lead and guide us when we decided to find a toilet. Now we found a toilet, but one of those public sensor toilets where you touch a button for it to open and close the door and another button for it to flush the toilet and so on. Anyways, Tori had already gone into one and I was trying to figure out how the door locked and I was super confused by the sensors and as I was trying to figure it out that the door shut and locked me out. It was now locked and wouldn't open for another ten minutes because it thought someone was in there. Now as I was super confused this lady was laughing at me and in total agreement with me that these sensor toilets weren't very convenient at all. So we started talking and Tori came out of the other toilet and the lady and I took turns using that toilet. Then after that incident  she started asking us where we were from what we were doing... so we starting sharing with her about ywam and Jesus. About an 40 minutes into our conversation two other girls from ywam walked past so we invited them to sit down and then for the next two hours we listened to her story and shared with her our testimonies and prayed with her. She was really open to hearing about Jesus and was so touched with the fact that we cared so much. She said that nobody had said such nice things about her in such a long time and was very touched by what we had to say. She couldn't believe our timing! It was totally God's timing!!!! We also prayed for her hearing in one ear which she said she has always found it hard to hear out of that ear and she said she could hear much better than she did before! PRAISE the LORD!

Nothing else to exciting has happened this week!

Thought I would take a second to acknowledge these cool cats... From Monday to Thursday 3:30-5:30 I wash widows with them. They make washing windows so much fun!

Lecture Content:
The Father Heart of God. Man on man what a powerful topic. If we know that Fathers heart for us and if we truly grasp that everything the Father does for us is out of love and compassion for his sons and daughters then we would truly have nothing to fear. I have been struggling with the verse "Perfect love drives out fear" 1 John 4:18 because I knew God was perfect love so why was I feeling fearful? But this week my head knowledge really became heart knowledge. I love this song its called Good good Father - It talks about how God is a good good Father, that is who HE IS. And we are loved by Him, that's who WE ARE. I found myself getting so caught up in what others thought of me and finding my identity in that rather than looking to my Heavenly Father. I am loved by Him that is who I am. Ahhh what? What gets me the most is that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Nothing we could do could make Him love us more and there is nothing we could do that could make Him love us less. His love is constant, never changing, never failing, long suffering, patient, gracious, deeper and more genuine than any persons love could ever be. My favorite verse of the week was Psalm 37:23-24 The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Heres the URL to my video for my walk-a-thon fundraiser tomorrow 29/08

https://www.facebook.com/nataliefox302/videos/vb.100001719872661/934807649919889/?type=2&theater&notif_t=like

Walking on Water

Well its nearing the end of another week here at YWAM Perth I cannot believe it! We are now past the half way mark in lecture phase... where on earth has the time gone!?

This last week has been a very challenging week for me. The Lord has really been challenging me in the area of trust. He has definitely been highlighting things in my life where I don't trust Him. Trust is a difficult thing... I mean putting trust in a God you cannot see can be really hard at times especially with the big things. I feel as if I need to be in control of the big things... but that's really silly because when I'm in control I worry and fret about things all the time. I worry about how everything is going to fit together and about making mistakes. Jesus commands us in His word not to worry or be anxious about anything! I have always worried about things and been anxious about lots of different situations in my life... that indicated to me really how I wasn't trusting God with those things because if I did trust Him there would be no need to worry. But my God is so much bigger than my fears!!! He is a limitless God, however, quite often I put him in a box and limit Him in what I think is possible for Him. The Lord has just been revealing to me just how trustworthy He really is. God is the creator of the universe, He knows whats coming... and we do not... so why would we not want to trust Him with our lives? This week He has really been challenging me to step out on the WATER and trust him... (Like Peter) To not look at the storm raging around me... to get caught up on the millions of things I could be worrying about but to fix my gaze on Him and to not limiting Him in my mind of what I think is possible for Him. When I step out in faith I need to be trusting that the Lord will catch me when I fall and will walk with me every step of the way. Sometimes I feel as if He is not there and I'm sure you could identify with this feeling at times, but as my leader reminded me the Lord promises to never leave us nor forsake us. He never lies, His word is flawless and His ways are perfect! He is always with us, He promised us that He would be so He will be. Faith is not a feeling! It's believing in something we cannot see.. and sometimes we cannot feel God, and that certainly doesn't mean Hes not there because He is there!

My mothers dear friend gave me a verse this week which spoke right to my heart and that was Isaiah 41:13 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, "Do not fear; I will help you." Ahh I love this verse! The creator of the universe is holding my hand through it all, He asks me not to fear because He will help me!  How great is that?

I unfortunately don't have any pictures of this week. Hopefully I will be able to get some for next weeks blog post! Last weekend was the nicest weather, we went to the beach on the Saturday, and the temperature was about 27 degrees which was perfect! This is winter time in Perth and It honestly felt like a New Zealands summer day! They had really nice food places by the beach that we went to that weren't expensive which was really nice. We stayed the whole afternoon then watched the sunset! Ahh It was so pretty! I wonder sometimes how can we possibly see so much beauty in the world and not believe it was crafted so beautifully by a divine creator? It cannot honestly have formed over millions of years, it is truly so stunning and complex that it's just not possible.

My little sisters called me on the phone the other day which totally made my week! Charlotte was telling me that she prayed for me every night before she went to bed that God would protect me and Katie was telling me how she puts her trust in God and its really good to do that. I very much enjoyed my awesome conversations with them. Ahh I love little children so much! We can learn so much from them! Oh to have faith like a child! They worry about nothing, knowing that Jesus, mummy and daddy have everything under control. Complete trust!

Lecture Content:
This week our topic was on fear of the Lord. I always kinda wondered what that really meant... should we be afraid of the Lord? No, thats not what it meant. It simply means to seek God's approval above all else and to care about His opinion more than anyone elses. If we fear the Lord in everything we do we will hate what He hates and love what He loves. We will also really desire to be Christlike and follow by His example! In saying that we cannot beat ourselves up when we do make mistakes and do something Jesus would not do, because we are indeed human beings! Jesus knows we can't be perfect! And that's when His amazing grace comes in! He just loves that we try to do whats right! He delights in our efforts to be like Him and to follow Him with the best of our abilities!

Prayer Requests:
I would love it if you could pray for me that I would just keep learning and growing lots in my faith, and with applying all these teachings to my life. Also outreach is coming up soon and the Lord has asked me to step out in faith with my finances and trust Him. I am trusting Him for $2100 NZ dollars and I was wondering if you could partner in prayer with me to see that come in. 

If any of you would be willing to financially support me in my medical mission trip, that would be really cool too, I appreciate any support. Whether it be prayer or financial support or both, it all means so much! Thank you to all who have been praying for me already, It makes such a difference! Theres immeasurable power in prayer! I love that we serve a limitless God who hears and responds to all of our prayers! It's truly so very amazing!

Thank you very much for reading my blog! Bless you all!

Time to Write a Blog!

I have been thinking of writing a blog since I have started my DTS but haven't got around to it :P However it is week six and I have decided its about time I wrote a blog! This way I can keep all the lovely people at home (and my Canadian family) to up to date with what I'm up to here at Youth With A Mission (ywam) Perth!

So what is a DTS? A DTS is a Discipleship Training School. My DTS is a medical DTS therefore we focus is on medical missions and healthcare. This school equips young people to go out into the nations and share the gospel using healthcare to share the love of Jesus. Ywams mandate is "To Know God and to Make Him Known". The first three months of DTS is called lecture phase which is at the ywam base in Perth Australia. During this phase we have five lectures each week with a different topic and speaker. We also have medical workshops, worship sessions, street evangelism, work duties, morning workouts, small groups and do other fun things. The last three months of DTS is called outreach phase which is when we go out and share the gospel and setting up healthcare clinics amongst the people. This is when we can put in to practice all the amazing things we learned on lecture phase.

I'm not going to lie when I got here I was very homesick for at least a week. I hadn't been nervous about coming here at all. I explained to mum it was like jumping into a river or a lake - Its a really hot sunny day outside and you really want to jump in but you know that when you jump in initially its going to be really really cold, but you also know after you have got past that initial shock of the cold water it won't feel so cold anymore. When you jump into the water you can't dwell upon the initial icy shock of the water because you might not jump in. However to enjoy the water you just have to jump in! That may be a silly analogy but that's exactly how it felt for me coming here! Before I came here I didn't think about the icy cold water even though i knew it was going to be tough. When I got here it was really hard man I felt like such a baby I seriously wanted to go back to my mother! I felt far to young for this. Here I was an 18 year old girl who had only ever been away from home for no more than 6 days at a time... not even a whole week! It finally sunk in, I'm actually here for like 167 days that's insane! This is madness! I'm not ready for this! However God confirmed that I was not alone and He was my comfort through the initial shock of being away from home. That’s the cool thing about God, he's always with us no matter where we are in the world. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Doesn’t mean its not hard! But man is it nice to have Jesus – The Prince of Peace on your side through the difficult times.

                                                           Leaving Home!

After a week things started to get much better, I started making friends! I must add that the people on my DTS are amazing amazing people! I'm so blessed to be put with such an incredible group of young people! We have 37 people in our DTS from 13 different nations including Denmark, Norway,  Australia, Austria, Malaysia, South Korea, Germany, South Africa, Singapore, Canada, Romania, and the United States. And guess what? I am the only Kiwi representative in my class. I was actually very surprised when I found out I was the only New Zealander! Heres a picture of some of my class!

I have done some exploring since I have been here! I have been to the beach which I thought was incredible because I have never seen a white sand beach! Ahh it was so beautiful, and the water was so clear, you can pretty much see through a wave as its coming down! That was amazing to see! I also got to see a kangaroo and koala! And pet them both… this was another very exciting thing! I have also been to Kings park which is this botanical garden type of place with a wonderful view of the city and the beach! It was a stunning view!

So far since I’ve been here I have learned so much but I cannot possibly write it all out so i'll just try sum up the main thing God has been revealing to me, and that is his incredible unconditional, undying love for me. I knew Jesus loved me but I am beginning to understand more in depth of his love for me. Jesus loving me was something I’ve always known and believed to a certain extent, however, I have been coming to a deeper understanding of his desire to have an intimate relationship with me. He truly wants to speak to me and to use me to further his kingdom! How cool is that! He wants to use me to help him out with furthering his kingdom! He wants me he claims me as his own! It doesn’t matter how many times I fail him he will never fail me. My head knowledge of who God is, is beginning to connect with my heart more and more!

We also found out our outreach locations at the beginning of this week which was very exciting for all of us. First we are going to India for 7 weeks then we are splitting into two groups one going to Nepal and the other going to a closed nation.  I am not going to Nepal so I'll be on the other outreach team. I hardly know anything about the country so it shall be a great adventure!

Lecture content week six:

This week our topic we are learning about is Lordship! Goodness me its been a challenging week! The question I need to ask myself is Who is Lord… or Lords in my life? What do I hold onto so dearly that I do not want to give to Jesus? These things are hindrances in my life preventing me from living whole-heartedly for Him. Some examples of this are like “God you can have everything in my life but you cannot have my plans or my money, everything else but I cannot plans or my money.” Than that’s obviously a Lord in our life. God is not a mean or a selfish God, he does not ask us to give these things up for the sake of it. He does it out of love. Us giving up things is showing him that we love him in return and that we trust him as well. He carries them for us he sees the bigger picture and knows what’s coming and he also knows us better than we know ourselves. He’s just saying “My child, let me carry that for you, do not let your heart be troubled, let me lead and guide you, let me help you”.  It’s a lot less scary for us to place it in the hands of an almighty God who is trustworthy than to carry it around with in our hearts, worrying  about how its all going to fit together and work out. Most importantly Jesus is Lord he is the King of Kings that is who he is, he deserves to be put above all things. Because he is worthy! That is His rightful place! Holy Holy Holy is the Lord Almighty who was and is to come! He is King!

Another thing the Lord has been speaking to me about recently Is to have childlike faith, to trust him and to trust his character. Sometimes God asks us to do things that seem silly or crazy almost but His ways are higher! “faith makes a fool of what makes sense” – Here Now (madness) Hillsong.

There you have it! My update for week one, two, three, four, five and six … and I will try and update my blog weekly from now on!

Prayer requests:

It would be awesome if you could stand with me in prayer for more breakthrough in my life and more revelation of the things the Lord wants to teach me.