Satisfaction Guaranteed

Last night marked the beginning of CBC's first annual Exalting Christ Conference. Although I'm only able to attend the two evening sessions, I'm looking forward to hearing God speak through the brothers who are teaching. Last night's session's speaker was John Sale, pastor of Valley Center Community Church. God used him mightily last night. He spoke on "A Satisfied Heart," and his main text was Isaiah 58:11:

"And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."

There are so many things that stuck out last night, but I'll limit my comments just to a few. God will satisfy us when we're in the midst of the desert - the "scorched places." When we're struggling, when we're undergoing trial, when we're feeling the stresses and pressures of life - the heat, He provides relief. He takes us through. He satisfies. He brings contentment. Despite all of the circumstances that are going on around us, He brings us peace. And look at the rest of the verse. He provides strength. He brings refreshing. He renews us. And He does not fail. And He will not leave us - He will continually guide us. What a promise!

Another verse that stuck out to me - Psalm 84:7: "They go from strength to strength, Every one of them appears before God in Zion." This passage speak of those who long to be with God - in His presence. When they are going through trials (v6 - the valley of Baca - the valley of tears), their strength is in God. And the strength that God provides is strength for the moment. God doesn't give us all the grace we ever need to overcome every situation all at once. We go from "strength to strength." He gives us grace to make it through the day. He provides just enough. But He provides just enough for each trial that we go through - as we need it. If He were to give us everything that we ever needed all at once, we would end up forgetting about God; we would boast in ourselves. Instead, God calls us to ask of Him and to trust in Him, and He is faithful to meet our needs. All the attention and the glory goes to Him, and rightfully so.

John said a couple other things that I thought were pretty profound. Some were by him and some were quotes from others. And these may not necessarily be word for word, but the same idea comes across:

-There's no better place to be than in the center of where God wants us to be. Better to be in the center of God's will (wherever that is) than in any other place.

-We never know how God is going to use the message we preach; just be faithful in preaching it.

-Sin makes you stupid. Think of all the stupid things that you've done because of sin. At the time, it may have seemed smart, but in the end, it was dumb.

-And lastly, the more you get to know somebody, the more flaws you see. You just knew that I had to have some sort of application in connection with my upcoming marriage to Cy. The more we get to know each other, I'm sure the more flaws we'll see in each other. After all, we are two sinners, and we will see that up close and personal. We will see each others faults, flaws, irritations, etc. But we can also see how God overcomes that, refines that, and makes us more like Him. I can't wait.

-But that last point, it doesn't stand true of Christ; it's just the opposite. The more you think about Christ, the more you think of Him. As you get to know Him more, Christ just becomes even more and more beautiful.

As I mentioned earlier, God really spoke during last night's session, I'm sure not just to me but to many others as well. I can't wait to see how God is going to use the other speakers the rest of this day and in tonight's session too.

Neglected

With the arrival of Route 129, I feel like the Files have been neglected. It's understandable. 129 is going to be a big day, and there's a lot of planning that's going to happen before we arrive there. However, life doesn't revolve around this one event, momentous as it is. Although I'm sure a lot of what I'm going to talk and write about will involve the wedding and my upcoming marriage with Cy, God will continue to teach more about Himself. The application will vary, depending on the circumstances or situation. Nevertheless, God's truth will remain the same, even if the application differs.

I was going to blog a little about the conference that I went to today, but the hour is getting late, so I'll have to save it for another day.

Route 129

As Cy and I approach our wedding day, we thought we'd share some of the decisions we're considering and some of the experiences that we're going through. You can find us on Route 129.

This Story

Ok. If that picture didn't paint a thousand words again, let me tell you how this story goes. We started off the day by visiting our friend, Susan, who was participating in a walk for breast cancer (you go, Susan!) in Sausalito. After we walked with her for a little bit, we may our way over to another part of Sausalito to a spot overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. We were actually a little further up from the spot where the bridge was, so we had a view of the Point Bonita Lighthouse. So we enjoyed the view, talked, and spent some time in prayer. After a little bit, I brought up the idea of playing a game that we played a couple of days earlier. This was a game that Cy came up, and it's basically a get to know you game by asking questions. So, Cy asked her question (I honestly forgot what it was), and so it was time for my question. I told her that I had just one question. It was a question that I had five weeks earlier (when we first started dating) and I was sure that I wanted to ask, but I couldn't ask it then because I just needed some time to pass. I told her that the question involved one thing, and as I reached toward my pocket, she gasped, "oh my gosh!" I pulled out the box, showed her the ring, and asked her very slowly, "Will you... marry... me?..." She told me that I already knew the answer, but I told her that I wanted to hear it from her mouth, and she told me that of course she would marry me. Woohoo! So I took the ring, slipped it on her finger, and it fit like a glove.

Pretty smooth, huh? Uh... not quite. I guess it took me a second (a brief second, I tell you) to figure out which finger was her ring finger. I had to take a look at her whole hand, find her thumb, get a reference point, and I think she pointed to where the ring finger was. So, not super smooth, but it was a moment that we'll never forget.

We spent the rest of the day in SF. We had lunch at a hawaiian restaurant which had some live entertainment. Then we went over to Ocean Beach and biked up and down the coast line.
As we made our way back home, we visited some dear friends to share the news, and then we went back to my place. My roomie had made plans earlier in the day to invite some people over to the house, so it worked perfectly. Little did he know that he was planning our engagement party. We got there, kept it hush-hush for a couple of hours, and once most everybody was there, I gathered everyone's attention: "I have an announcement. I asked Cyryl to marry me, and she said yes!" Lots of screaming and hugs of congratulations. As the news continues to spread in the days to come, I'm sure the screaming and hugging will continue.

Praise God for such a memorable day and for bringing us to this point. As we look forward to the wedding day and to our life in marriage, continue to keep us in your prayers. Praise God for the grace He gives - the grace that allows us to get through each day - day by day.

A Thousand More Words