WEEK TWO: Notes on the Nature and Character of God

Hey Friends & Family!!!

I am so incredibly blessed by all of your prayers, love, support & ultimately the outpouring of the Spirit in & through you that has impacted me so greatly!!

I wanted to dedicate this blog to catching you up on the content of my classroom lectures for Week 2. YWAM employs a modular approach to learning. Instead of a number of parallel courses running through the week (the traditional approach) each week is dedicated to one topic. International speakers who are expert in their field come to share their lives with us for the week. It’s an “immersive learning” approach. Very transformational!

The Adventure of Knowing God

The whole second  week was dedicated to the topic of the Nature & Character of God. I’ll be honest & say that I thought I knew how much God loves me– (because I have two loving parents who showed me what it means to be deeply loved.) But after hearing the teachings of this week, now I’m not so sure I even know the depths of His great love for me!!!

In Ephesians 2:18-19 Paul says 

“This way, with all of God’s people you will be able to understand how wide, long, high, and deep His love is. You will know Christ’s love, which goes far beyond any knowledge. I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God.” 

My knowledge of the triune love of God is just a speck of sand on one of the millions of beaches on this earth– let alone just a speck on one beach here in Kailua-Kona. The idea that He sent Himself to die for my sake, just out of His pure love and radical kindness to me is something I will never be able to wrap my mind around in this lifetime. It is infinite, unconditional, & abundant. His mercies are new every morning & His grace never runs out.

Introducing the Teacher

The teacher for this week was the most AWESOME. His name was “Sun-Oh” & he’s a Korean-American whose life was radically transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sun-Oh shared His testimony: how he used to be a drug dealer, making about 20K a month just selling drugs, partying, and sleeping around with multiple women. You can see in his eyes that the Lord really placed him here for a time such as this & picked him up from the pits of selfishness to sit him upon a throne of complete grace & mercy. He bubbles with the joy that comes from the Father heart of God & you can just see the physical embodiment of God’s love shining through Him!! We were all so completely blessed hearing his heart.

He talked about the Nature & Character of God throughout the whole week (a total of 5 days of 2-hour teachings each day).

One of the lessons was about “Seeing Him Rightly.” When talking to others about God, I would always mention how He is such a good father!! I was so blessed with the best earthly dad, but when Sun-Oh was speaking: I felt so convicted. I used the Father aspect of God to show how loving, kind & gracious God is & has been in my life—when for some people, it might have just pushed them further away from God because they had terrible earthly dads as an example.

For me, a dad has always symbolized who Jesus is because my earthly dad was a physical embodiment of what I picture Jesus to be: loving, intelligent, steadfast, thoughtful, gentle, etc. But for a lot of people, dads are not any of these characteristics. Earthly dads can be rough, abusive, short-tempered, etc.

When Sun-Oh was speaking about seeing Him rightly– he was explaining that in order to even get to know ourselves ( which is the only way to know ourselves deeply) we need to know the Creator.

In order to know our Creator, we need to see Him rightly!! We can’t see Him as someone who is abusive, holds things against us, or withholds love from us. We need to see Him for who He is: a loving, kind Father who delights in pouring out His endless abundance over His kiddos.

Sun-Oh shared a quote from AW Tozer to bring into perspective the importance of this topic. The quote went:

“What comes into our minds when we think about GOD is the most important thing about us. Worship is pure or base as the worshipper entertains high or low thoughts of  God”

Romans 12:2 speaks of the constant need for the renewal of our minds. It says that when we renew our minds we will be able to “determine what God really wants– what is good, pleasing & perfect.” Renewing our mind isn’t just taking captive every thought, but involves changing our thoughts to center on what is heavenly.

Back to Eden

To be Kingdom-minded in our thoughts creates such a drastic change in our physical life here on earth & miracles of God’s grace begin to flow.  This comes from a place of deep intimacy with the Father. Knowing His character– Who He is–draws us closer to Him & helps us understand His original design for us!! We were originally called to walk in the cool of the day with Him in the garden of Eden– but it was ripped away from us due to the chasm that sin created. What too many of us don’t know is this: Jesus brought back Eden!!

Eden has been restored!! Because of the price paid on the cross, we have the absolute honor & pleasure of walking with God again in the cool of the day!! Our thoughts centered on Him, His relationship with us & what His heart (& our hearts which are linked to His desires} results in radical life change. When we see Him rightly for who He is, taking off our “human” glasses & putting on our “heavenly” glasses– we are able to walk in the abundance He had originally designed for us. We are able to live in the prophetic, in a culture of Revival, in a constant state of prayer & communion with the Lord, in an in-depth love for His word, & an abiding love for His body which is the church.

These are some of the things that I’ve learned in week 2 of DTS!! I cannot express how much of a blessing it is to even be here. His endless mercy, grace, love & favor flood my life and He keeps me coated in the sweetest honey and the warmest blanket I’ve ever felt. His genuine love for me which is expressed through His Word, pictures, dreams, visions, & the beautiful people He’s placed in my life (yes!! I’m talking about YOU) is something I will never get used to.

His love is deep, endless, & given unconditionally to a quirky short 4’11ft, blonde & blue-eyed Mexican cultured girl who loves to dance in the rain barefoot & laugh at the silliest things. He loves me & He loves you. No matter the situation, He loves you openly in the greatest mountains and in the deepest valleys– He walks with us everywhere we go & just wants to know us from our perspective & wants us to KNOW Him & His abiding love.

From the core of my heart to yours!!