encouraging stories =)

"Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens". The word 'once more' indicates the removing of what can be shaken- that is, created things- so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:26-29)

I know that as intercessors, we pray in faith, trusting that things are shifting in the invisible realm- but we also need to be fueled & just... encouraged, by stories of what has become visible in the physical that are glimpses of the invisible. I wanted to share what I've been witnessing as God HAS BEEN starting to shake all that can be shaken on our campus-

1. On Admit day there was a physics professor who we got into a spiritual conversation with. He seemed very interested in observing what students were tabling for etc. but it was pretty obvious what he thought about the idea of God, the Bible, etc- it was interesting though because even though his main claim was that he's a scientist, one of the setbacks for him to accept the God of the Bible seemed to be one less intellectual (about his impressions of treatment of women in the Mosaic laws... something I really don't know much about). What's pretty crazy is that we found out through the girl sitting next to us that he was the professor who had funded The Koala after recent events. Let's pray for him! (Today I saw him again on Library Walk, again, engaging in conversation with students flyering for orgs)

2. There is a lady in one of the ResLife Offices who I became friends with after I prayed for her broken toe. There wasn't instant healing but she was very open and encouraged, telling me that she definitely believes in healing through prayer because she was healed of a disease previously in her life through a group of people praying for her. I got to have few more pretty good conversations with her and prayed for her daughter. Few days ago she told me that since we prayed for her daughter, her daughter has actually been doing very well (mostly emotionally, life transition things) and that she thinks it's because of the prayers. She even opened up to tell me about her experience in the past of hearing the LORD speak to her about her life (she has a Catholic background but what I've sensed is that she hasn't been engaging in her faith as much, she says that she misses having 'that connection' with God a lot)- praise God!

3. God opened up doors for deeper conversations with few of my friends on different orgs on campus in March with the protests and responding the events on campus. Since then they've expressed more interest in InterVarsity (not that it's about IV... but to have successfully represented to our best ability the things that Jesus is passionate about is worth celebrating! woot!)... Couple nights ago these girls and another friend were literally outside my door in our suite and I heard them literally saying that "I want to take my faith more seriously"/I need to know God more... ;asldfjkal;djs.

4. Did you guys see how many people on library walk were surrounding the preacher guy that came a couple weeks ago?? Even when there were other things going on on library walk? Even if a lot of them were Christian, people are hungry for something more. They're hungry for truth, to be encountered by Truth.

5. Last but not least... Events like Heartbeat, the creation of Haiti Response Network... This is pretty extraordinary!! For persons associated with the MSA, the BSU, the LGBT, etc. to come alongside us, to become friends with us, ;alskdjf;lj... All these boundaries/reservations/walls to be breaking down... Definitely not on our abilities, and I truly believe that this is just the beginning.

He is uniting the body of Christ on campus, He is instilling deeper hunger for Him, He is starting to shake the academia/the administration/faculty, He is making what He thinks about injustice known, He is taking His Bride to deeper places of surrender, He is pursuing each heart fervently... and He honors and responds to our heart when we agree with His heart, His plans, His passions.

the heart of prayer

as human beings, we are wired in such a way where in everything we do, we want to see results. we want to know that the time and effort we put into any task will make a difference, something that would not be there had we not participated.

unfortunately, we bring with us the same mindset into prayer. we enter into prayer knowing that prayer is effective and knowing an infinite God hears and answers our prayer. had we not known that we would not pray at all!

so we pray. and we expect our prayers to make a difference, specifically visible, tangible signs. so we begin looking for signs and any evidence of change, any sign that our hours spent talking to an unseen God made any difference. we look around our campus, which, at a glance, appears to be just about the same, and we lose hope. we give up. we get angry and upset at God, frustrated, tired, weary, and we lose hope. we question our decision of being obedient to God, our ability to judge and discern and follow the leadership of His voice in the first place, and if we are even on the right track. suddenly we feel powerless, and incapable of changing anything. unfortunately, that is true. we can't change anything when we forget about who He is and we realize we have forgotten that it is not by what we can do, not by our power our might, but by His Spirit alone that changes.

it's times like these where we learn the heart of prayer itself. intercession. prayer not to see physical, tangible, immediate results. but knowing the season of prayer we find ourselves in. yes. a season of sowing. and honestly, it isn't the most glorious season, where we see the fruit, the splendor and glory. but we find ourselves riding on a wave. a wave of the spirit of prayer that has been stirring on this campus for years past. a wave that has only gotten bigger and is still growing even now. we find ourselves swept into the movement of sowing to see kingdom come at UCSD not knowing when fruit will be ready, let alone what they even look like.

yet we sow. we sow because we love to be in His presence. because we yearn for the things on His heart. we sow not for the sake of immediate, tangible results, but to respond and engage in a movement of a wave of His Spirit that has touched our lives. we sow in confidence, knowing that in His timing, He is faithful to the end, to finish what He started (phil. 1:6)

spring quarter

it's hard to believe that the hatred on campus was over a month ago. it's interesting that the title of this article on my firefox tab goes like this: "San Diego Campus Awakens to Uneasy Race Relations". have we not been asking for a great awakening on this campus? oh would you send it LORD!

much has happened over the past month. after spring break, the intensity of the racial tension feels altogether...gone? now we may be feeling...apathetic? disconnected? weary? the Daniel fast feels like...an inconvenience, if anything? as we look forward to the excitement of spring quarter, asking God to send revival to UCSD may not be particularly the number one thing that is driving us. oh how we ask for more grace!

oh LORD, would you fill us. Holy Spirit would You fill us. there is no other way we can go on until we are filled with the knowledge of the Father's love for us, which empowers us with boldness, passion, and fervency. so we aren't going to move on until we are filled. we must have You.

fill us anew, LORD.
and devil, we aren't done yet.

Don’t Forget

That you are a soldier of Christ. “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Ephesians 6:24

To “be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

To not check out just yet (even you seniors), “because the LORD has anointed us to bring good news to the poor, he has sent us to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” Isaiah 61:1

That when you feel like you can’t go on anymore, “we consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18

That God has prepared us for a time like this. Remember, “the LORD, my rock, trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.” Psalm 144:1

To be rooted in His love. The Bride of Christ needs to be firm in His love and know his affection for her, because the truth is, “the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” Psalm 147:11. It is only through being secure in His love that we can freely love others.

There will be those that proclaim peace when there is no peace. One of the enemy’s greatest tricks is to lure us into a false sense of peace, a lull, a feeling that everything is okay the way it is, a feeling of disengagement and apathy, “saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” Jeremiah 6:14.

To pray with an urgency, fast with a purpose, seek His face hungrily, purse holiness and righteousness eagerly, knowing that when God said “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” 2 Chronicles 7:14 He meant it, and this is a promise that God will not fail to keep.

That it is not because of anything that we need to or can do, it is not our performance that will make Him hear our cries, “for we do not present our please before [God] because of our righteousness, but because of [His] great mercy” Daniel 9:17

To “return to [the Lord] with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend

your hearts and not your garments. [To] return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” Joel 2:14; not only for your own sake, but for the sake of this campus.

God is on our side, so we have nothing to worry about! “For if God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

That when we die to our flesh and submit to the Spirit’s leading in areas of our ministries, He will do all the more. Because it is “not by might, nor by power, but by [His] Spirit” Zechariah 4:6

And lastly…

Don’t forget that God is definitely moving. It is undeniable. He is in the thick of things. He is pouring out His Spirit for those who will humbly receive it, so be in a posture of receiving. “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” Joel 2:29

Yesterday I was talking with a few others on campus about how we are anticipating a BIG move by the Lord after this season. We were asking Him for insight to see what seasons we are in (personally and as a whole) to be best prepared for what's coming. Hehe...

I received an image of a bridge and felt that He was telling us that we are going to need to be, as people of God, bridges. To connect the lower and higher realities on this campus, especially for the people who don't even know God, nor have a clue about what things are going on in the spiritual realm. They see the physical realities such as the racial tensions and the natural disasters, the interesting weather, maybe even the activities of Christians on the campus. But they don't really know what is going on... But our knowledge for the things that are going on in the spiritual realm shouldn't make us prideful for we only know what the Spirit reveals to us and because they are also His beloved who deserves to know them as well. I felt that He was emphasizing this posture of humility through the image of a bridge also- posture of bending down before Him, willing to be 'bridges' where we are ushering in His kingdom by allowing people to 'step on us' to cross to the higher reality (the spiritual, the invisible, the heavenly realm =)), as opposed to a posture of standing before a podium (not to say that that is bad but to emphasize humility).

We know that what's to come is big and we need to be prepared and care for others to be also and be ready to explain what is going on so that people on this campus will see God for who He is and be brought into the light. I encourage you guys to ask Him how it looks like personally for you in your given circumstances, community, relationships to be a bridge to bring His kingdom to them and His people to Him =)

I also felt that He was encouraging us to hold onto the 'rope' with both hands, steadily, at all times signifying the guidance of the Holy Spirit. (I think this imagery was used at IHOP sometime couple months ago). That it is going to be the Holy Spirit that will push us forward towards more of heaven day by day in the midst of so much going on and that we just need to be faithful and steady.

Can't wait to witness and be a part of His redemption of this campus =)

It was all worth it.

Worthy is He who is seated on the throne
and worthy is He who draws me to my knees
and calls me His own.

Daniel Fast

As God mobilizes His army, the enemy mobilizes his as well. But praise the Lord! He “trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle” (Psalm 144:1). One thing that the Lord has been consistently emphasizing is the importance of putting on the full armor of God. But more specifically, I feel like God is saying “the key to the battle is the breastplate of righteousness.”

Remember at the beginning of the year when we boldly prophesied that this is the year of the Lord’s favor? Well, this is the year of the Lord’s favor. He has anointed you to be the bearers of good news. He has anointed you to set the captives free. He has anointed you to release the prisoners from darkness, to be the light on this campus (Isaiah 61:1-2).

The Lord reminded me that this is not something that people can heal, but only God can restore. As the recent incidents bring to mind this country’s history of slavery, God has reminded me to look deeper, to see the slavery to sin that enslaves many people. I began to see an image of people marching the campus, shackled in chains. The Lord wants to break these chains! He wants to set captives free. But He reminded me, how are we to set captives free if we are captives ourselves? How are we to be the bearer of good news, to be the ones that release the prisoners from darkness if we are ourselves are enslaved to sin? If we fall back into the chains that we have been set free from, how are we to set other captives free? After a lot of self-reflection, I realized that many of the shows I watch, much of music I listen to, the jokes I crack, have a subtle hint of racism, sexism, or immorality. And my spirit has become accustomed to, even accepting of, this spirit of immorality that has subtly snuck into my daily life. If our lifestyles (the things we watch, the things we do) are not different, if we will not be a generation that chooses to pursue holiness and righteousness, how will we be able to shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation? (Philippians 2:15)

So I do believe that the Lord is calling us to take up the breastplate of righteousness and buckle it on tight. There is a nationwide 40-day Daniel fast that is beginning Monday, March 1^st and I don’t think it could have come at a better time-especially for UCSD. I’m emphasizing a media fast because I do think that our spirits are in a need of cleansing. Our minds are in need of a clearing to hear the Lord better. And I do believe that as we fast and pray and as we go through this period of ‘cleansing’ and ‘detoxing’, the Lord will come, and He will come in power. To be clear, I am not saying to just fast and pray and disengage from what is happening in an attempt to purify ourselves. One of the points of this fast is to simply remove the things that hinder us from receiving more from the Lord. I think the Lord wants us to pray and fast alongside whatever other action he calls us to. The Lord wants to revive and awaken our campus! “If my people who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14. So pray, fast, and expect great things from our Mighty God.