As I was preparing for this summer I wrote in my journal a list of things that I wanted to accomplish by the time school started again. This list included things such as half-marathon training, learning how to cook, and reading one book a week but there are three goals that stand out as most important and by God?s grace will extend for the rest of my life here on earth. These are: 1) spending an extravagant amount of time with the Lord, 2) diving deeper into knowledge about God, and 3) falling even more in love with Jesus.
It is now the middle of the third week with Summer LINK Clemson and I am excited and thankful that my primary goals for this summer have increased with the help and encouragement of Crosspoint Church. The activities scheduled point to Christ and I think that is the most wonderful thing. We have host-home dinners where we go to the houses of pastors and elders and are blessed to be poured into with their wisdom and insight. We have bible study as a group and I have learned so much about how to study the bible in a different way and how to replicate it in my personal bible study. We spend time one-on-one with a mentor once a week to study the bible together and this has been a cool thing for me because I have never been intentionally discipled in this way before. Last but not least, we are able to serve the Lord through different ministries in the church, which has opened my eyes to the fact that we can do things for the Kingdom in every task that we do as we do it unto the Lord.
Oswald Chambers says, ?We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing- that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God?s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.? God will be glorified with or without us but how sweet is it that he welcomes us to participate? By spending time with Him it is inevitable that you will learn more about Him and by learning more about Him it is impossible to not love him more. The natural response to an increased love for the Lord is to desire to see him glorified in more and more aspects of your life. My three desires for this summer merge into just one: for the Lord to be glorified. I am so thankful to be a part of Summer LINK Clemson this summer because I see that same desire in the heart of the team and our church. There is absolutely no limit on what ways God can use things to bring him glory and I am excited to see how he uses us this summer for his name?s sake.
Written by Kimberly Warren | SLINK Clemson | College and International Ministry
