06.24.2006

Romans 7:24,25
Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 8:5-7, 9
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.
...You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you

Hello everyone!

Greetings from CCO-training! How are you all doing? As usual, I hope and pray that all is going well for you, and that the Lord is teaching you many things... I myself have gone through my first week of training, and it has been fabulous. We've gone through the basics (orientation) and I've already learned a lot. Praise the Lord that I've been able to be diligent about my reading assignments! Yes, I did not escape homework by graduating.

Today at training, we had a scheduled time set aside to commune with God, which was such a breath of fresh air. We were free to wander around campus for three hours and the curiousity within me celebrated by poking around the back of a building where there were lots of rocks, a dumpster, and trees. I bring this up because of the image it brought to mind.... Out of the rocks, the trees grew, with roots curling all around and into empty pockets to reach soil. Something that was not alive (the rocks) was surrounded and literally being consumbed by that which was alive (the trees, grass, and such). With us, we have something that isn't alive (the sinful nature) being consumed by what is alive and gives us life (the Holy Spirit). We can be encouraged by this because, if we truly hold onto Christ as our Savior and rely on Him for the air we breathe, God is there when we're struggling or being tempted, or when we face persecution. We can come and really ask Him to give us the strength to fight temptation and to hold onto our faith when we face opposition or when we're discouraged. No joke! We can go to God and admit when we're struggling. His Spirit will move in us to want the things of holiness... Our prayer ought to be that the Lord would make it our attitude to be willing to this kind of change and humility.

I will keep this week's email short. I encourage you to take a walk through Romans.
I pray that each of us would learn more about being submissive to Christ and open to His Spirit, and how He would work in our lives to change us. I pray that we be men and women of God who desire holiness--that is, who desire to be like Christ in our words and in our actions so that others can see us and be curious. I ask that our Father would be continually teaching us, and that we continually be open to His teaching in all circumstances.

In love and in Christ,
your sister,
Yvonne