rescued

If my heart is overwhelmed and I cannot hear Your voice
I’ll hold on to what is true though I cannot see
If the storms of life they come and the road ahead gets steep
I will lift these hands in faith
I will believe

I remind myself of all that You’ve done
And the life I have because Your Son

Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am Yours I am forever Yours
Mountain high or valley low
I sing out remind my soul
That I am Yours I am forever Yours

When my heart is filled with hope
and every promise comes my way
When I feel Your hands of grace rest upon me

Staying desperate for You God
Staying humbled at Your feet
I will lift these hands and praise
I will believe

I remind myself of all that You’ve done
And the life I have because Your Son

Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am Yours I am forever Yours
Mountain high or valley low
I sing out remind my soul
That I am Yours I am forever Yours

I am Yours
I am Yours
All my days
I am Yours

Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am Yours I am forever Yours
Mountain high or valley low
I sing out remind my soul
That I am Yours I am forever Yours

I am a very average musician; there is nothing special about me. But the way that God spoke to my heart through this song was extraordinary and I wanted to share it with you. Let the beautiful words of this song sink into your heart and penetrate your thoughts, words, actions and life! 

-aud

r e n e w

It's amazing to me that God knows what we need before we ourselves even realize we are lacking something. 

Yesterday the Holy Spirit refreshed me in a way that renewed my spirit and healed parts of my heart that I didn't even realize were broken!

I've shared with you all how frustrating the language barrier has been for me and how discouraging it is to be learning Spanish so slowly when I just want to talk to everyone I meet! Without realizing it, this last week I became intensely focused on this barrier in front of me. 

I also realized yesterday that I have been in Costa Rica for a month! I cannot believe how quickly the time has already gone and how much of a blessing this last month has been. I was hit with this sudden sense of urgency while walking home yesterday...I only have three more months to live in Costa Rica.

I do not want to waste my time here. 

As much as a blessing my new friends, family, culture and experiences are, I do not want them to become my main focus these next few months. My number one purpose for being in Bible College should be to grow in the knowledge of my Lord and Savior and drawing closer to Him every day! This should always be my focus. 

So fast-forward to yesterday afternoon. I'm reading through Numbers 13 (go check it out!!) and when I got to verse 27 my heart literally skipped a beat. My mind was moving a hundred miles an hour and I was immediately on my knees before the Lord. In this passage Moses sent 12 spies into Canaan to spy out the Promised Land. The men came back with giant grapes and a report of how the land was flowing with milk and honey. 

BUT (there's always a "but" with us humans, huh?) 

then the spies reported about the giant people and all the enemies that inhabited the land. The men had seen the promises of God, they knew He had called them to be in the land of Canaan, but they could only focus on the difficulties that they saw in front of them. 

They had forgotten the promises of God. 

And I found myself relating to this passage so deeply! The time I have God speak the clearest to me in my whole life was when He told me "Go to Costa Rica." And here I am! God told me to go, I followed, and now I just need to trust His promises that He will see me through this season of life. 

He knew there would be a language barrier.
He knew I was going to get frustrated.
He knows the plan He has for my life. 
He even knew that I would doubt this plan because I became so focused on the difficulties in front of me instead of the promises of His promises. 

Ha, I am such an Israelite!

The moment I realized this, I was simply overcome by the Holy Spirit. I don't know how else to describe it! I felt such a sense of peace, urgency and purpose in my heart. God's presence was so thick around me and for a moment I forgot that I was on my knees in my living room. All I could see was God's great love for me. 

You guys, this absolutely brought me to tears. 

God knew I needed to be renewed with a fresh anointing of His Spirit! I am so thankful to follow a God who intimately cares for the details of EVERY ONE of His children! Oh beloved friends, cry out to Jesus! Pour out your heart before Him! (Ps 62:8) He is so faithful to come upon His people when He hears His name on their tongues and hearts. 

If I can encourage you with one thing today, it's this:

Evaluate your focus. 

I realized that my focus was not on Jesus. It was on the obstacles in front of me! And the longer I focused on those, the less I could see the power of the Almighty God. Set your sights on the cross and the power that rose Jesus from the grave! God has given us His promises for a purpose...He knew there would be difficulties in our lives, so He made His promises even bigger than our problems. Cling to His promises that are all throughout His word and set your focus on His holy name that is Mighty to Save. 

I love you all and pray that God blesses and keeps you. May His face shine upon you and bring you peace. 

-aud

h o p e

Seriously, how great is the God that we serve? I am just blown away by His faithfulness and His promises that cause me to be a prisoner of hope. 

I read that phrase in Zechariah this morning,

"Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

today I declare that I will restore you to double."

{ zechariah 9:12 }

I had to stop and just think about that for awhile because it hit me so strongly! I am a prisoner of hope. 

God's promises are so perfectly true that I can be captured by them if I choose to place myself in His stronghold. And not only does He want to be my only refuge, but also He is offering me restoration inside this stronghold! 

I am just overwhelmed by You Jesus!

    So in Costa Rica updates, we have just finished our second week of classes and they are going great! I am really being blessed through the classes and all the different teachers. I'm always so amazed at how living and active the Word of God is! I'm also humbled after every single class because I realize how much I still have to learn about God's Word. He is so big and too marvelous for my tiny mind to ever fully comprehend! 

It's such a blessing getting to know the Ticos and continue to make our way around the town. Yesterday morning all the students and interns left the house at 6 am and we picked up trash at the bus stops in our neighborhood for a couple hours. It was so humbling but also really fun and eye-opening! We already stick out so much in this community, so we were especially obvious yesterday as we were picking up trash. I was laughing to myself thinking about how funny we must look to the Ticos...just a bunch of Americans picking up trash early in the morning must be so bizarre to them. 

But it's giving them something to think about for sure! I love how the school is working to make us known in the community, but not to be known for being Americans or white, but being known because of Jesus. 

Please continue to pray for divine appointments for all of us during this next week. God is continuing to bring new people to the Sunday night study, and last  week our Tico friend Anderson gave his life to the Lord! Hallelujah! God is so good! 

I love you all and thank God every time I remember you. Thank you for constantly encouraging me and blessing my heart. 

-aud