#producingfruit

In my last newsletter I shared that the small group of us girls that just arrived in July have been digging into a bible study together. It's called His Last Words and it reviews John 13-17. When I originally bought it I thought Really only 5 chapters of John, for 7 weeks? Let me challenge you the same thing I've been learning... do not be focused on the quantity, you will miss Him in that mindset. We are often so focused on getting through the Bible. Flexing our muscles that we've read all of the books. Or showcasing the amount of scripture we get through daily. That is not what it is about friends (I'm reminding myself as well).

We are currently only starting to work through John 16. It has been so valuable to slow down. To mediate on each sentence. Read these words from various translations. And to see the beauty of scripture intertwined together from different authors of the Bible from across a wide time gap. Journal through your thoughts. Search for other messages on the same scripture and learn another perspective. Sometimes God is breathing life into one verse or chapter and we must be still enough, present enough, and willing to listen when it happens.

So I share all this because of what happened this morning. With Uganda still under a COVID-19 lockdown, I have been unable to visit churches here on Sundays. That is bittersweet because one of the first things I do when I move somewhere new is to explore a new community for me to call home. However, the beauty of what COVID has brought is more churches offering online services. My last church in Kansas City, Restore Community Church, has modeled an amazing path of this online community. They saw the need of connecting those who are unable to be in person Sunday morning due to distance, job schedules, or even medical reasons. I have transitioned from being in person to now joining the online community from across the globe. Uganda is 8 hours ahead of Kansas City so I had to find a different rhythm of watching Restore's message on Youtube a week after it happened because my Sunday mornings happened before it did there.

This morning during my Sunday message, Theo was discussing John 15:5 "I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear great fruit. Without Me, you will accomplish nothing" Whoa. God is speaking. And I am here for it. Same scripture I've been praying over with a group of girls from different walks of life called to Uganda to serve Him. Previously, I might have been annoyed and been like Yeah, yeah I don't need to hear this I just talked about it last week and might have tuned out or even turned off the message because I selfishly believed I had heard all that I need to or knew all the things Theo would say about this scripture. However, I was so excited to see God speaking life into this scripture and showed up with a willing heart to listen to what He is teaching about himself. What is He revealing that I missed? What in my current life is He speaking to?