Becoming a Servant

~ Jesus called to them and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be the first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." ~ Matthew 20:25-28

Here I am rounding out the first month of my internship here in Pasadena and God has truly been teaching me so much! Going beyond growing in Discernment and Intercession, as well as the Prophetic, these past few weeks the Lord has really been showing me the value of being a servant and why that is truly one of the greatest roles in the kingdom. One of our staff members here at the prayer room has been an incredible example of this and is truly one of my heroes with her willingness to sacrifice time and even sometimes sleep to make sure that the needs of our internship are being met. Unfortunately, her family was hit with some tragedy a few weeks ago which took her away for awhile to Haiti to be with her family, yet even in the midst of that her heart was fixed on loving Jesus and loving others. When Valerie left, it opened up a door a door for me to step up for awhile and walk out my heart for serving others as well. I never realized the weight of what I was signing up for until Valerie had officially left Pasadena.

I knew that I would be sacrificing time and dying to myself in many ways, because that is what it requires to be a servant. I had already told one of the girls at our internship who is from India that I would give her rides to and from the prayer room for a few days while her room mate was out of town getting some medical tests done. I had also told her room mate that I would take her to and from the airport so she could go and get these tests done in Canada where she is originally from. Half of the girls at the Internship are from out of state or out of the country somewhere, and the other half are from right here in California. In my mind, I thought I would be doing this for a few days until Rebecca got back from Canada, along with some other small tasks afterward until Valerie came home. My Indian friend Bimla, however is a very tenacious woman and requires a lot of patience so I found myself being tested of that only a couple days into this process.Yet the more time I spent with Bimla and heard her stories of India and how she came to know Jesus and grow in relationship with Him, the more I found myself truly loving this woman and understanding what a treasure she is!

~ Bimla (Center) and Rebecca (Lower Right) with a few of the other Pulse girls! ~

Just as I got to be at peace with helping out Bimla, Rebecca returned from her medical tests in Canada, where she also had to get a biopsy while she was there, so she still needed help for a few more days. I drove both Rebecca and Bimla for the next week and as that slowed down over the weekend, God had other things  in store for me in this role yet! On Monday, Rebecca had received the results back from her surgery and medical tests. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and was told that it was aggressive. It was heavy news that hit us all very hard. Rebecca is a sister in our Pulse Internship program and feels just as strongly as the rest of us that God has called her here. I was one of the first to receive the news and from there I became a point person to encourage and help her in anyway I could. I believe with all my heart that God has given me the gift of mercy, so naturally my heart goes out to those that are hurting or in need. Rebecca was no different! As I watch Rebecca struggling with the news in the days that preceded, I also watched a woman of incredible faith in God's character and His word. Surely God wouldn't call her down to the House of Prayer in California from Canada just so that she would die! As she put it, "Lord, your name is on the line here! But let your will be done! All for your glory! No matter what happens tomorrow, I will praise Him, because He is worthy!"

I have been amazed at how God has been working in and through Rebecca in this season. God has certainly been working through my heart in all of this as well! One thing I have watched God working in Rebecca's heart is how to receive love through this process. After hearing her testimony and the things she has gone through it makes sense. She continually thanks me for being there to listen or give her rides or whatever and says she feels bad that I have to do that. I began weeping one evening while I was with her at the realization that as I have been serving and loving on her, I have felt the weight of God's love for her and how He has been using me and others in our group to reveal that to her. I shared this revelation with her as well and she began to weep in the understanding that God cares infinitely more for her- or for any of us- than we even realize! It has been a powerful experience to understand how being the hands and feet of Jesus, even in the most challenging and mundane tasks, can grow our hearts in tremendous love for those around us in which we serve. As Jesus tells his followers in Matthew 25:40, "Truthfully, whatever you have done for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

What a beautiful call that is for us as his followers as well! This is one of the many facets that Christ's glory is revealed through us as Christians unto the world! God's heart is that His fullness is put on display so that all the world will be pointed to their Savior and Lord. Truth is, I have always had a tendency to want to serve. Some may call this a servant's heart, but to tell you the truth it has been more of an obligation to performance based on the way I was raised. Don't get me wrong, being raised to serve others is a gift which I am thankful for, but if it's based on performance alone, then we miss the real blessing. It is not until our hearts are completely lined up with God's heart of love that we can serve out of that overflow. Then God is most glorified and the true gift of having a servant's heart is revealed! We are truly blessed to be called servants!

On another note: I have been encouraged as well through Rebecca's faith. God has been teaching me through her to believe for greater things and I am completely believing for a powerful testimony through her life on God's power and His healing touch. Rebecca has received a few prophetic words from people of strong prophetic gifting and conviction, some of which know very little about her, concerning her healing. She has another MRI coming up this Monday, which we are believing will confirm God's healing. We would all appreciate any prayers for God's hand on this whole journey and above all, that He would get the full and complete glory through it all! Even so, we will praise Him for His goodness and His love that He is constantly pouring out and revealing to all of us here at Pulse! Thanks for the love and support of all my readers through this journey with me as well! Greater things have yet to come! :)

"A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." ~John 13:34-35