Made for Jesus

If August is the fast paced, non-stop month in campus ministry, then September would be considered the settling in. Settling into who God wants me to be focusing on for the time being. Settling into knowing more deeply the students in my “core” (core is what we call our small groups because they are the “core” of the ministry). Settling into rhythms of meeting with students for FOJ (“focus on Jesus”, a 10-week study that is a discipleship tool we use).

The picture above is from a meeting we had with all the girls who are our student leaders. We sent them in pairs to walk and talk over the question “what has Jesus been teaching you lately?” I was paired up with a sweet friend named Natalia and she shared how Jesus has been telling her to slow down and notice what he is already doing around her and in the people around her and then joining him in that work. She expressed that she often hurries into what she thinks is best, rather than slowing down and observing how Jesus is already moving.

I love the picture above because it looks like what I pray for all students. I pray for spiritual friendships for all students, friendships where they don’t have to perform or feel like they have to be perfect but friendships who can be real with each other and together see what living more like Jesus looks like. Friendships that become “weekend friends” (who are not just friends during the week at ministry events, but who genuinely love each other and are friends outside of that). I see more and more how much Jesus values friendships and how he delights in reveals himself through them.

There’s a song that I’ve been singing to myself (and sometimes others) this whole month called “Made for Jesus” by John Mark Pantana and I truly believe God has been ministering to me through it. The line that has stuck with me the most is: “the whole point of my existence is to know your love”. Quite frankly this has stopped me in my tracks because if I were to honestly complete the sentence, “the whole point of my existence is to —”, it would be a list a mile long. I think of 1 Corinthians 13, (I’m paraphrasing) if I do great works it is nothing if love is not in them and in me. Jesus is much more simple than I sometimes make him out to be. One of the girls in my core expressed to me that “I really do want to have friends, but I am serious that I really do want to know Jesus more”. I think that’s something that’s convicting to me.

“I really do want to know Jesus more”

I think that when we know more of Jesus’ love and how real it is for us, our outpouring becomes not just striving because we think we should but because we don’t know any other way. I pray that this would be the marker of my life and of this ministry. And I pray that for you too!

Prayer requests: