"For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." -Romans 14:17

For some time now God has been laying this verse on my heart. He has really been teaching me about how caught up I can get in the whole "routine" of Christianity and religion. Often times I see myself as a part of the Body who is more concerned with regulations and denominational values than with living a life of goodness in the Holy Spirit. Now, don't get me wrong; I'm not saying there is anything wrong with denominations or the values they hold to. I love my home church and was pretty much born into the Methodist church. What I am saying is often times I see the Body of Christ, myself included, being wrapped up in things that don't necessarily matter in the Kingdom.

I think that being a part of a nondenominational missionary group has really helped me see things the way God sees them. I mean, I'm when God introduces Himself he doesn't attach Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, to the end of his introduction. Ha!

I suppose that the Lord is taking me through a season that I would like to call, No Restrictions. No restrictions in the way I learn about Him, pray to Him, worship Him, serve Him, love Him, and seek Him. Nothing holding me back to living a life overflowing with the goodness, peace, and joy that comes from truly living in the Spirit. Through this I am learning to completely surrender myself to the Lords timing. There are things in this world that I want so badly to have right now…But the Lord says "wait." I know that in surrendering things to Him, He will give them back to me in a more abundant way.

My prayer for this semester in Jeffrey's is that my team, leaders, and I live and serve with absolutely no restrictions. I pray that we each, in our own ways, are pushed to the limits. "Going big, or going home." I pray that none of us are concerned with anything but living life fully in the Spirit and expecting God to do immeasurably more through us. Wow! The fruit God will show us if we honestly live this way!! THIS is the day of small beginnings!!

_Cassie_