I'm still seeking so what is this year's pursuit?

Hey Everyone! Yes, I'm FINALLY posting after being in Redding for a couple of weeks :). It has been an incredibly busy but wonderful time of transition for me, and I'm learning so much already. As many of you know, I'm managing a house this year of 7 other girls so that in itself has presented ALOT of opportunites to stretch and grow in leadership :). We've only been together for two weeks now but as I get to know each girl more and more, I'm totally falling in love with who they are, and the calling and destiny each one has over her life. My roommate, Danielle (who's also in second year), and I have been praying and discussing together how we can empower and support the girls in the healthiest ways possible so that they won't simply be guided or advised by us this year but rather that they learn how to develop their own lives in walking with God in His Kingdom. Most of our girls have never lived on their own before so it will definitely be an adventure of people learning to be responsible for themselves, and living with a constant flow of love and honor toward their housemates :).

The house arena aside, school has been amazing thus far. Every single day, without fail, God has been speaking directly into my heart the things that He'll be working and changing in me this year, and I know that it will be an even more transforming year than last year was... I know, it's pretty hard to imagine! Last year was an incredible time of being immersed in a true culture of revival for the first time, being exposed to fresh revelation and truth about my call and destiny, and being healed and more established in my identity than ever before. But even all of that was just the beginning, the preparation for what God's bringing forth this year... It's so huge. Just thinking about it stirs my spirit up, and I can feel the fullness of it inside of me... I can totally feel the tears coming right now as I just consider for a moment the mercy and goodness of God for bringing me this far, and for all that it yet to come...

While first-year was preparation, second-year is all about the ways of the Kingdom of God becoming a lifestyle... something that never leaves me no matter who I'm with or where I go. It's a lifestyle of love and power that is not based on any circumstance, not shaken by fear nor intimidated by opposition... Oh, that's what I long for! To always live as Jesus lived, for "as He is, so are we to this world." This year is all about learning to walk in new levels of authority, and about leading those within my sphere of influence, not out of a spirit of fear or control, but out of love, honor, and the desire to empower them to become leaders as well. There's so much more... our pastors have poured so much into us this past week, more than I have time or ability to take in! Pastor Kris spoke to us about building the government of God in our lives.... structuring our lives in such a way that we establish a container into which God cannot resist pouring out the fullness of His presence, His presence that reigns, heals, and transforms...

So in and through all of that, I know that God is going to be doing some very specific things in me this year...

• Above all else, He's teaching me to abide in Him, to put His presence in priority over all other things in my life, and bringing me into a unity with Jesus like never before. It's "and the two shall become one flesh", and "We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."
• He's giving me a new understanding of the standard He has placed over my own life. In this incredible culture of pursuing greater breakthrough for miracles and seeing heaven come to earth, it is SO easy for me to look at what other people are running after, and begin to measure my life against their goals and vision. What God's doing in them is GOOD but it's His standard for THEM, not necessarily for ME. So this year, I know He'll be revealing to me what my standards are, and teaching me how to walk with Him in keeping those standards without comparing myself to others, or beating myself up about whether my life matches theirs. It's all about honoring Him, and walking in obedience to what I know He's asked of me.
  
• This year's also about intimacy... SO MUCH about intimacy with Jesus! He started taking me deeper last year, continued that work this summer, and is going deeper still in me in this new season... I can't say too much about it in detail because He's definitely longing more than ever that I begin to build a "secret history" with Him, things that are just kept between the two of us, cherished and treasured in secret... Last year He taught me how to open up and share the things He was doing in me, and now this year He's going to a deeper level by showing me how to guard and preserve what we have together.

There's SO much more but I'll have to leave it at that for now... I'm reading Bill's new book Face to Face with God, and all I can say is all of you MUST read it! If you're longing to go deeper in your relationship with God, past the surface level, to truly see Him face to face, then this book will feed you on that until you're ready to explode. Seriously, I have just over a week to finish it so I'm reading about a chapter a day, and it's SO GOOD but I'm not sure if I can take any more because it's transforming everything inside of me in CRAZY ways!

Ah, wow... I love you all so much! I cannot tell you how much my expectation for this year is building and I will share as much as I possibly can with you! Please keep me in your prayers as I start this incredible season of stretching and change... I so want to increase my vulnerability and surrender to the Lord in all things.

Be blessed, and spurred on to lay hold of that for which Jesus has laid hold of you,

Melissa