Friday, August 22, 2008

By the Light of a Thousand Candles

Wednesday night was our Candle Light Devotional here at ACU. It was amazing. I have no other word to describe it. All the incoming students (about 1500 of us) walked from Moody Colliseum to the ampitheatre while the sidewalks were lined with hundreds of upperclassmen, faculty, and alumni holding candles and singing worship songs. Once we were seated, all 1500 of us lit our candles (you know, the whole passing the flame along one by one). It was a beautiful picture. There were thousands of candles burning, and then the stars were just beautiful! It was really great.

The whole evening spoke volumes to me about unity, unity not only within ACU, but in the entire body of Christ. Seeing all those different faces and hearing all those voices just blew me away. God is so awesome (and I do mean that as in I am truly in awe of Him). He's an artist with limitless creativity. I mean, not only did He speak the beautiful stars into existance, but He formed and made so many people, each with their own specific gifting, passion, and purpose. Billions of people on earth, each different and each deeply loved. He's a Father with limitless love. God's devotion to us in His love truly blows me away, and I pray that by His grace and His strength in everything I do, every choice, every relationship, I would be devoted to Him. We've been talking a lot about revolution (our theme for Welcome Week is rLOVEution) and I had to stop and wonder as I saw all those candles burning: If we each have Christ's power in us, shouldn't revolution be a natural byproduct of our coming together as a body? More than that, (and to be honest, this is more of a comfort than a conviction) if God's Spirit (His Word, the sword of the Spirit) is living and active in me (as Ms. Beth Moore would say) shouldn't there be revolutions occuring daily in my own life?

I hear a resounding "YES!" echoing off the walls of my heart even now. And that is precisely why I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has some amazing stuff waiting for me on the horizon. I don't know what it is exactly, but I can hear God telling me to simply trust His limitlessness and say yes to Him daily. The truth is, whether we realize it or not, revolution does happen daily. Each morning when I climb down from my bed (haha.) and recognize the fact that it is the Lord's day and make the choice to "rejoice and be glad in it" even when there's really nothing special going on, that's a revolution. I pray that that will become my mindset once again, and that God will use that to make a difference somehow, and maybe, no definitely, that will lead to even greater things as I venture on this beautiful journey with the Lord of the Universe. Oh what joy it is to think that I walk each day hand-in-hand with the Lord of the Universe!

I love these times when the Lord ministers to me and I feel so confident and victorious in His Spirit. I'm still blown away when I think that the Lord of the Universe (I use that repetitively because to me it speaks power, grace, control, radiance, victory, and beauty) makes His home in my very heart. My Jesus conquered the grave and now He is living and active in me. How can I not embrace the fact, yes pure, unshakeable fact, that we are all "more than conquerors" because of God's amazing love?!

Oops. I think I started preaching there. Haha. I guess it's a good thing. It means I'm doing well right now. On a lighter note, I'm meeting tons and people and making friends really quickly. Last night was really fun, and refreshing. I was starting to feel overwhelmed with all the activities and information overload that is Welcome Week, but last night our whole floor got together in the hallway where we have some couches and just started sharing stories. It was really really neat and relaxed and I met some great people through that. It was the first time that a lot of people on our floor had really talked. I'm really excited to see relationships form. Good times!!!!!! I miss you all though. Really. Until next time, be blessed all!

More than a conqueror,
Stephanie

3 comments:

GRACEJOURNEYACUDAD said...

A journey from a coliseum to an amphitheatre seems to symbolize the beginning of a different journey. Yet these ancient building names and the text that follows reminds me of another journey, on the Via Dolorosa. The writing is beautiful and inspiring yet not like a sermon, more an "overflow of the heart".

GRACEJOURNEYACUDAD said...

A journey from a coliseum to an amphitheatre reminds one of another journey in ancient Jerusalem on the Via Dolorosa. Neat blog full of wonderful and inspiring thoughts; not a sermon but an "overflow of the heart".

GRACEJOURNEYACUDAD said...

Sorry about the double post. Did not think first one was accepted.