Permission to be Zealous.

Hello Friends and Familyyyy....
I haven't been blogging in some time but that is because normally I have nothing to blog about, however; in this season of my life I am sure it will be filled with all kinds of extraordinary events.

So my Mom, Lacie and I drove up to Colorado less than a week ago. It was a good drive.. my car kinda fell apart just driving though. We arrived to our hotel in Abilene and Lacie tried to open her door and it would not open from the inside. So like good hobos that we were with all of my belongings stuffed into my volvo Mom opened the door for her from the outside. This process continued the rest of the drive up. :)

Anyway so I get to Colorado Springs and meet Kristina Colander and Brittany Brown at New Life Church cause they were going to help me move in.. the ironic part was that as we were driving to find my house (which is seriously one street away from the church, soo lucky) they actually knew where it was and i got lost. They called me and were like where are you we are at your house haha. Whoopsss..

So we move in and the house is AWESOMEEE. hah I mean I guess it isn't a mansion, but it is definitely wonderful. The walls are painted red and brown, accent walls. The girls who have been living here in the past had good taste. I got lucky and I have my own room, and I love the color as well. It is a suttle teal green? I have a strange passion for specific color names!!! I wish I could think of something more creative. I will name the color. Uhm... Suttle Summer Green. not great but better than teal green. ugh.

Enough about colors.

So this DLA business does not mess around. Orientation was good. It consisted mainly of the rules.
But that evening it was worshippp timeeee.

So for those of you who are familiar with New Life Church, DLA is mainly located in the World Prayer Center. The architect must have strategically placed the windows facing.. west because it is a panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak chilling in the center.
Seeing this view while worshiping definitely makes you realize God's magnitude. And that He Loves us more than all of creation. Awesome.

So then David Perkins kinda set the tone for the year with his talk. The title for the talk was "Permission to be Zealous." Legit.
So main points covered on Permission to be Zealous.
p.s. the words inside the ( ) marks are my commentary on the points.
1. Any time you are passionate about something people will conflict with you.
(You will butt heads with those who do not agree with you if you are passionate, be it sports, politics, you name it, favorite music artists, everyone has an opinion and people voice things they are passionate about)
2.If you control that passion it is safe.
(No one will conflict with you.. pass through life easy and have no chance to be rebuked)
3.What does God want you to be?? Not what you feel, it doesn't matter if you don't feel like you want to be Zealous for Him.
(It is not about us. We are called to spread the Gospel and put ourselves into vulnerable situations)
4. Zeal if pushed down because it creates Awkward Moments. "Jesus was captain Awkward"
(If we want to look like Jesus we better start getting awkward and not fitting in what is "cool" in this world. There is no such thing as cool, that is something humans have created. The only thing that is true is righteousness and unrighteousness.)
5. GOD'S ZEAL WILL ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL.
Luke 2:52? Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
(Jesus should not always be pictured as humble and meek. He was not always holding and Lamb and looking all cute. Which flows into the next point.)
6. Jesus has no toleration for things that do not look like His Father.
John 2 Jesus clears the temple.. and is like what have you done to my Father's house! He was whipping people with a leather thing.. (No Toleration)
7. Romans 12 Never be lacking in ZEAL but keep your spiritual FERVOR in serving the Lord.
(Never is a strong word. as in Never. haha I don't know how to make it clearer.. never.)
8. Definition of Zeal: enthusiastic devotion devoted to a cause idea or cause and tireless diligence in its ferverence.
9. Humble Zeal, not Arrogance. Dont confuse it, or be accused of it.
( Don't feel arrogant for being so passionate about God. It isn't to compare yourself to others saying I am more on fire for God than you are.. it is just what God wants, and stay humble in knowing who you are and the God that you are worshiping.)
10. Praying accelerates your pursuit of God.
(True haha)
11. You bring the INTENSITY.
(God is always the same. He is always in your presence, it is up to you to acknowledge that. If you draw near to God he will draw near to you.)

Ohhkay, so for those of you who are still reading ;) here is how you GROW IS ZEAL.

1. DO NOT be content with where you are with God.
    - Satisfaction is the enemy of pursuing God. (true true true)
    - Don't compare yourself to others.
    - As the deer pants for water.. not the cute little deer, not a t-shirt, a DEER in the DESERT about to Die.
      "I need more, I need water, and I need it now." (True thirst is not quenchable.) quenchable? word? idk.
    - You either take ground or you lose it. (You aren't stagnant. In the world we are living in thereare
constant struggles. We are not living in God's world this is the Prince of Darkness's world. That would be Satan.)
    - Satan wants to DESTROY you. Fight back. (He hates you and wants to crush you. Turn to God)
    - Content with your earthly state, but uncontent in your Spiritual state. Philippians 3:7 (You can break that
       down in many different ways)
    - Exterior content, Interior Unsatisfied)
    - "To have found God and still pursue Him is the paradox of Love." "Holy discontentment"
   - Not spiritual arrival, but spiritual discontentment. (If you think you have arrived to being spiritually mature
      then you have missed the point. God is too vast and majestic to ever being to know the extent of His
      Love.)
2. CULTIVATE ZEAL.
    - Do not underestimate the power of friends. (Amen.)
    - Encourage each other to go after God. Constantly Pressing.
    - Make people act like you. (I thought this was funny. If you have Zeal for the Lord, make your friends
      have that same Zeal, encourage them.)
3. NARROW your Interestes. Zoom in on Jesus.
   - Fix your eyes on Jesus. It is like a map, if you type in Colorado Springs or Dripping Springs into google
     and you aren't zoomed in you get distracted by the world. Only once you zoom in can you see the
     intricate details, the mountians the hills the rivers. It is the same with God. (If you focus on Jesus and begin
     to narrow your thoughts and focus on Him you can see Him better.)
  
Transform yourself every single day. Make today the day that you fall in Love with the creator of the Universe. That is something I will go into on Day Two.. maybe it won't be so long. Who knows though. The ZEAL of the Lord is uncontrollable haha. Let him consume your thoughts and your mind.

Love you guys .. hope you enjoyed that really really long Day One. :)