Let's Serve Lemonade

Life at Capernwray has already started picking up! Last week we were going through Isaiah and this week we went through Galatians and James.


In my personal devotions, I've been reading in Genesis, Judges, Job, Psalm, Proverbs, Isaiah, Mark, Acts, 2 Corinthians, and 1 John. I think that's 10. If not, I may have missed one. I thought that I'd share a little bit from what I've come across in my personal devos.

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act." - Psalm 37:3-5
- God has really been showing me the things that I have put my trust in aside from Him. Like, this past week, God showed me that I was putting my trust in His plans, rather than in Himself. Yes, I believe that God prompted me to apply for a job, but I've been putting my trust in getting the job rather than the Giver of every job; Himself. Be careful what you are really putting your trust in.

"The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble." - Psalm 37:39
- We receive our salvation from the Lord and the Lord only. We cannot get our salvation from anything else, including religious activity!

"So Joseph found favor in Potiphar's sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had... And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it." - Genesis 39:4, 22
- Joseph got sold into slavery, but God had amazing plans for him there. Joseph got wrongly accused of having sexual relations with Potiphar's wife and got thrown into prison, but God also had amazing plans for him there. Lesson to be learned: when life throws you lemons (or something more sour, because I actually kinda like lemons), God has amazing plans for the kind of lemonade He wants to be made! An analogy, of course, but I'm sure He appreciates a refreshing glass of lemonade.

"As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies - in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." - 1 Peter 4:10-11
- I have really come to LOVE this passage. This may be wrong or it may be right, but this was how this passage was explained to me: Paul split the spiritual gifts into two categories. Gifts of speaking and gifts of serving. How I view this is up-front gifts and behind-the-scenes gifts. So whoever speaks should speak as though they are speaking the very words of God. And whoever serves should serve as though serving with the very strength of God. That's encouraging, because I know what it's like to serve on my own strength. It's exhausting. If you have true faith in Christ, you are a vessel of His strength. But why? "In order that in everything God may be glorified."

So, those are a few of the lessons I've learned or been reminded of in the past two weeks.

The last thing is a prayer request from me to you. I've been having trouble with my sleep lately. I wake up tired all the time. I know it's not because of irregular routine or because of a lack of sleep, but the amount of sleep I get is unsatisfying. So just thought I'd pop that out at you all.

You should listen to this song. It's powerful.

- You Love Me Anyway -

[verse 1]

The question was raised
As my conscience fell
A silly, little lie
It didn’t mean much
But it lingers still
In the corners of my mind
Still you call me to walk
On the edge of this world
To spread my dreams and fly
But the future’s so far
My heart is so frail
I think I’d rather stay inside

[chorus]
But You love me anyway
It’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known
You love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me
How You love me

[verse 2]

It took more than my strength
To simply be still
To seek but never find
All the reasons we change
The reasons I doubt
And why do loved ones have to die?

[chorus]

But You love me anyway
It’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known
You love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me

[bridge 1]
I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas’ kiss
But You love me anyway

[bridge 2]

See now, I am the man that called out from the crowd
For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground
Yes then, I turned away with this smile on my face
With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace
And then alone in the night, I still called out for You
So ashamed of my life, my life, my life

[ending]

But You love me anyway

It's like nothing in life that I've ever known

Yes, you love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me

You love me, You love me
You love me, You love me
How You love me
How You love me
 How You love me 

- Sidewalk Prophets -

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! I went to a Passover celebration at a Messianic church in Montreal. It was really different, but really cool. Everyone should have the chance to celebrate Passover with a Messianic congregation. Gives you a new perspective on Jesus as the Passover Lamb.