But again, so much is happening and if it doesn't get written down and told somewhere, it's under threat of being forgotten. So, please brace yourself what's likely to be a very long, but exciting, post!
To begin...ugh! This is the problem I've been having!
I'll just start with SALT. What an incredible time we had with another 1,000+ college students, worshiping the Lord and laying their lives down for His Kingdom and His Glory!!! I've been to many SALT conferences over the years, both as a student and as a leader, and never have I ever experienced the move of the Holy Spirit of God like I did at this historical event. Not only was it the largest in attendance, but there was no denying that students were hungry to hear from the Lord and He was eager to speak. We took about 10 students with us and all were touched by the Lord. And some of the following stories are direct results of these few getting serious about the move of God on their campus.
Like I said, the students that went to SALT came back on fire and ready to see some things happen. They got serious about praying and about seeking the Lord. Because of this, some of their friends began to also get serious. Here's a story about one guy...we'll call him "John."John has been coming around XA for the last several years. He's never shown even an ounce of interest in actually walking with the Lord, but has continued to be faithful to show up to meetings and has even helped to lead worship on Thursday nights. We've prayed and prayed that he would fall in love with the Lord and that he would show some sign of emotion or excitement about the Lord, but we've seen nothing for several years. But something seemed to begin to shift in him after the Christmas break. He contacted Matt and asked if he could meet with him. They talked openly and honestly about changes that needed to be made and soon after we began noticing little changes in him. There was one Thursday night when Matt talked about hearing from the Lord and afterward, gave the students an opportunity for them to press into the presence of God. The worship team was playing and we were getting ready to wrap up the night. Since John was already up front leading worship and Matt was blocked from getting up front (because of all the students on the floor weeping and seeking the Lord), he motioned for John to close us in prayer to dismiss. John started to pray and then, suddenly without warning, he just broke down in tears...couldn't even finish praying. The Lord had obviously gotten a hold of his heart and has continued to draw him ever since then. Thanks be to God that He hears us when we call on Him and that He still speaks to us!!!
Another cool story from that same night about 2 of the girls:
Becca had been seeking the Lord in her private time in the weeks prior to this night specifically about hearing from Him. She wanted to make sure that what she was hearing was actually from Him and not her own thoughts and ideas...understandable, right? She also had been asking the Lord to give her the grace to be obedient to whatever it was that He was asking of her.
Nicole was in the middle of one of those transitional seasons of life where she was on the brink of graduation and therefore, needing to "figure out life" and what her next steps were going to be. She had several options before her and had such a desire to be in the Will of God and not be doing her own thing. But to know the Will of God for her life, she needed to hear from Him directly.
So, we come to this same Thursday night where Matt spoke on what it means to "hear from God" and why it's such a big deal that we hear from Him. He gave the invitation after his message to get alone and on their faces before the Lord and to cultivate an atmosphere in their hearts to hear from Him and receive what He was speaking.
Students were scattered all over the room. Becca was in the back of the room by herself, still asking the Lord for a confidence that what she heard, she would believe was from Him and that she would be obedient to it. He spoke a name to her and she began to question whether or not that was actually Him. He gently reminded her that if she was going to continue to question, then He would not continue to speak to her. She decided she'd better listen and asked Him what to say to Nicole (someone she didn't really even know at all.) All He showed her was an image of a lamppost.
Nicole was sitting alone and off to the side of the room. She was telling the Lord in her heart that she trusted Him completely and that she didn't need to know every detail of how her life was going to go, but that she did need to just simply hear from Him. She specifically asked that He use someone else to speak to her. Not even a minute later, Becca came and sheepishly sat down next to her. She told Nicole that she didn't know what she was needing from the Lord, but that He had put her on Becca's heart and had given her an image of lamppost. Becca told Nicole she didn't know exactly what it meant, but that it was for her, from the Lord.
How amazing is our God who really does hear what's in our hearts and speaks to us in ways that we cannot deny His existence!? He loves us dearly and so wants for our hearts to trust His word. He is a God of specifics and intimately cares about the details of our lives.
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