The Nazarite Vow - Dedication

Hey friends,

I'm coming up to my final two days in Spain until we fly over to Budapest Hungary where we'll be spending the remainder of our outreach phase. Spain has been a very different experience for me compared to previous mission trips I've been on but God has been using our team in many ways while we've been here. I knew before coming here that Christianity has become a thing of the past; most people had no idea what the meaning of Christmas even was. There is only one church in the entire city of Palamos (the area we've been living/focusing on) which only had four members so because of this we haven't had as much opportunity to lead worship in churches and teach but have been taking more of a pioneering approach to this ministry; praying, doing public worship concerts, opening the boat up to the public and building relationships trying to break the ground and create fertile soil for following missions work. We were able to travel one weekend to a church in another city and did a seminar on 'Worship' and lead worship for their church so that was great. A highlight for me was meeting two french men I was able to communicate with (Because I speak french!) and so I invited them on the boat where they ended up spending most of the day and late into the night just talking, eating and laughing. It was great having them exposed to the atmosphere of prayer and worship that was going on the boat during their visit. They continued to ask me "something is different about you people" and God just gave me so many open doors just to speak into their life. Just today three spanish guys came on the boat all high and drunk, I was able to grab another spanish speaker from the boat to translate for me and I got to pray for them and tell them about Jesus. I can tell you countless stories of just how God has been using us to draw people in and offer them a taste of his goodness. The boat has been a great tool for this! I know that if people just get a taste of Jesus they will be want more. We've just been creating opportunities where people can just get a live example of the love, peace and joy of Christ.

In my own personal bible studies God has led me this amazing part of the book of Numbers (Numbers 6) that talks about the Nazarite Vow. The thing about the Nazarite (the word Nazarite means dedication) is that this was someone who already had the responsibility of adhering to the strenuous practices of the law and the sacrificial system but wanted to go deeper with God in a special way. As an outer expression of their commitment as a Nazarite they were not to consume any product of the vine (wine, raisins, prunes..), they could not cut their hair and they couldn't be around dead bodies (the idolatrous Canaanite religions at that time had ceremonies with dead bodies). The main idea of all of this was to represent his self-denial and be a physical sign of his commitment to God. A couple of things I drew from this was that God does not want our dedication to him to be a secret but that He wants the world to recognize who we are. The other thing I learnt was that we can go as deep in our relationship with Him as we want. I think God has put the ball in our court and will meet us at whatever depth we are willing to go with him. Sometimes I find myself comparing with other Christians who are more or less dedicated to God; "As long as I am more spiritual then him'... but the reality is that people are not the standard, God's word is the standard. We've only begun to taste and see that the Lord is good yet so many of us decide at a certain point in our faith to just coast and stop growing in the Lord. There is soooo much more to explore and experience with God. Three years ago before I started to seriously pursue a life of faith I was a completely different person and I know this next year I will have continued to grow because I have just put myself in situations where God could grow me. I am so thankful that there is more! The Nazarite forces me to the question: Does the world see me as one whose life is dedicated to Christ? Is there ongoing growth in my walk with the Lord? Let me exhort us today to re-dedicate our lives to Him at the beginning of this year. God will meet you wherever you're at if you're teachable and open to the growth spurts along the way.

Know today that you can go as deep as you want with God. My prayer is that we the church would become New Testament Nazarites who are hungry for more of God.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1

"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Thanks for your continued prayers and I will let your know what is happening when we get to Hungary.

Much love and prayers

There is more!

Jer