Christmas, Holidays and moving..

I don´t want to start to tell you how fast time is going, but time is going so fast :-)
The new year already began and christmas is over and my holidays are almost over as well! But everything was ok, I mean I had a good time at home with my family, christmas was wild but funny and I met some of my old friends which is always funny.

My new years eve was.. mmhh.. lets say I survived it. Actually I had a fun day with Julia, Arne & Aaron and we had a great tasty dinner and afterwards I went to work. My people there where tired and wanted to be by themselfs, but I had to stay up. Anyways; I was kind of sad and lonley on that night and somehow there is still of it in me. But I know life goes on and it will get better.. someday.

Now I try to preaper my "removal".. I really have a lot of stuff; I totally forgot that. But; God is good and he present me with vans and people who will help. And so I am totally confident that it will work out well. BUT nevertheless I am happy when it´s over!

Here some pictures from christmas and family-time..

Oh Christmas tree; oh christmas tree...
. ..and family dinner with turkey..mmmhh!!
Kyra and Lena! and me! :-)and don´t forget the dog; Willi!!

ends always bring new biginings..

This semester is over now. Time went so fast and it is weired because my life right now is just one semester after another; and one more is over.
It´s has been a good semester, maybe different but good for me. God taught me a lot; I feel I grew closer towards him. I had great times with friends and wonderful people; good and edifying conversation and off course I had fun!!
I´ve been blessed by all that and I still can´t believe how I God´s hand is so obviously in the past few weeks and month.
God is good, he always was and he forever will be.. the past semesters, right now and in the coming semester!!
But next semester will be different.. I am coming back, but not as a student, I will be on staff. I am excited about that and still amazed how God opened the door. I will move in a "normal" apartment and will live with Tanja together.
Everything will be different and it already feels different, but I know that God will be faithful and that he will bring me through the new begining.

So, now it is time to end right here; semester is over and I am thankful for everything; also the hardships- everything was God´s plan and he was in it. "Thank you for that!!"

Here some pictures of this semester!

Surrender (Devotion)

Every semester God taught me something special; but every time it had something to do with just coming closer to the Lord, know him better and let him be my everything. I had different verses which brought me through every semester and everything I had to go through that time.
My second semester was a lot about that he is my everything; and that all I need is he and his love; I learned this semester a lot about that I just will find my fulfillment in him and if I wait on him and in nothing or nobody else. And he asked me this semester what am I able to give and he brought me to this point where I could say, Lord everything belongs to you!

Than my long summer break came and I thought after such a good semester where I learned so many things this would be a hard time, this summer God would teach me to stay strong even without this incredible environment.
Even if I had to move a lot from one place to another during the summer or had not really a lot to do; he blessed me so much, beyond all my expectations. And he kept moving on to teach me about surrender; surrender everything to him. I read different books which really helped me to understand what that means.

Of course I already gave him my life, everything but he kept asking for little things in my life and than I read this example and I thought that fits perfectly what it is about:

We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a 1000 euro bill and laying it on the table „here is my life, Lord. I´m giving it all“
But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the 1000 for quarters. We through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there.
Loving roommates which are driving me crazy; listen to people I don´t want to; forgive people who didn´t deserve it and serve without expecting anything back.
Usually giving our life to Christ isn´t glorious. It´s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. And sometimes he would ask for a bigger portion a bigger amount maybe 50 bugs or more. The big decisions in our life, the future spouse, the next step.. what ever; but it seems to cost more.

This example totally reflected where I was at. I wanted to give everything at all and never have to do something with it. Like saying: “Lord my life is yours.. just do what you want but don´t ask me for all this little things... But he taught me that is not what he is thinking of. He wants all, yes, but often that means peace by peace; decision by decision, moment by moment, day by day.
This is a decision I have to make every day, every moment. I´ve never thought about like that, I thought to him my life belongs- I am fine; he can do what ever he wants. But that really needs more, it needs the absolute surrender.

And after this summer I understood, maybe still not fully, but a little bit more what that means. He still is asking me to trust and surrender in things which seems to be the hardest of the world.
He always uses those situation where we have to be totally dependent on him; to bring us more in to the perfect shape.. that we are more like Jesus. And often I think; Lord can´t you use another situation, I would be much better if you would not try to mould me in this or that situation. But either I surrender or I don´t.

luke 14,25-27 there he says: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sister, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Jesus called all of his listeners here to follow and told them that they have to take their cross upon them- it was not a weekend invitation for vacation.

To call him Lord means to say yes to his will, His word and his ways. We cannot call him lord and then proceed to run our own lives. If we think we can have a relationship with God by retaining control over our lives and somehow trying to fit Jesus in with everything else, we are deceived and still at war with God.

God doesn´t just want to be the number one in our life, he doesn´t want to be the top of our life pyramid, he wants to be the centre; the centre of everything.
The centre of our future, all our decisions, in all our relationships in our deeds; he wants to determined our ways, our future spouse, our next step after bible college; everything. But also the centre of the presents, right now; what or who is the centre of your thoughts?

Is the relationship with Christ the centre of our existence?

God´s call to lay down our lives on the altar of sacrifice means that we give him all that we are. Like it is written in Galatians 2, 20: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

So it is not me who lives in me, not if I really surrender. This verse makes no sense if I still hold on to things; if I still hold areas back in my life.

Our natural tendency is to hold on tightly, to try to protect and preserve whatever we think we can´t live without. We are afraid that if we surrender everything to God our health, our material possessions, our family, our reputation, our career plans, all our rights, our future. We have visions of God stripping us of the things we most need or enjoy, or perhaps sending us out to serve him in the most inhospitable place on the planet.

The fact remains that when we sign the blank contract of surrender, there are no guarantees about where God will lead us or how difficult our journey will be. But to surrender, to be a living sacrifice will involve all my time; all my possessions; my rights, my reputation, my desires, my future, everything that concerns my, all of myself and all my love and that I will not ask any questions.

That´s pretty hard, it sounds like I couldn´t do it, I wouldn´t be able to give everything to him. But what ever our fears, whatever the unknowns or the challenges in our life might be, God has promised to provide for us to share his pleasure with us to protect us, and to give us his enduring presence.
And yet we know the character of the One in whom we´ve placed our trust. And we know that Gods promises more that offset any risks or dangers or challenges that he may allow into our lives.

It is not always easy to surrender but it is for sure that there is no safer place than in his perfect will.

And after this summer I understood, maybe still not fully, but a little bit more what that means. He still is asking me to trust and surrender in things which seems to be the hardest of the world.

He always uses those situation where we have to be totally dependent on him; to bring us more in to the perfect shape.. that we are more like Jesus. And often I think; Lord can´t you use another situation, I would be much better if you would not try to mould me in this or that situation. But either I surrender or I don´t.

Luke 14,25-27 there he says: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sister, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Jesus called all of his listeners here to follow and told them that they have to take their cross upon them- it was not a weekend invitation for vacation.

To call him Lord means to say yes to his will, His word and his ways. We cannot call him lord and then proceed to run our own lives. If we think we can have a relationship with God by retaining control over our lives and somehow trying to fit Jesus in with everything else, we are deceived and still at war with God.

God doesn´t just want to be the number one in our life, he doesn´t want to be the top of our life pyramid, he wants to be the centre; the centre of everything.
The centre of our future, all our decisions, in all our relationships in our deeds; he wants to determined our ways, our future spouse, our next step after bible college; everything. But also the centre of the presents, right now; what or who is the centre of your thoughts?

Is the relationship with Christ the centre of our existence?