God's Love on Display

When Dreams Become Reality - All Glory belongs to the King

I am sitting here at my computer as this sweet Sunday and great weekend comes to an end.
I am utterly worn out. I am completely bombarded and overwhelmed with the Grace, Love, Joy, Peace and Beauty that God is pouring out into my life and the lives of those around me daily. Whoa - not even daily but literally MOMENT by MOMENT. God is not kidding when he says to live step by step. I am simply thankful that God knows us better than we know ourselves and knew that if we took life more than a step by step we would not be able to handle it. I can barely breathe always without looking to Him, the one I can depend on and rely on in all things - Amazing and Hard. He is ever near.

You are probably wondering what on earth this week/ weekend has been full of as I start out with such a dramatic entrance to this post - the truth is it has been full of lots of Words from God, lots of promises, lots of conversations about God's direction for my life and the passions He has planted in me. Its been so great because God has grown an excitement in me for the future - which comes one step at a time, one moment at a time. It has been so sweet because God has knocked down so many walls I had up through this process of me having to be utterly honest with friends and family and loved ones about what God has set me ablaze for. He has broken my heart for the nations, for the lost, for the women who have had their identity tattered and torn. He has broken my heart for those who have yet to see faith expressed through love on their behalf. He has broken my heart for the one who dont know their maker yet, who have yet to hear that they are the Beloved. This call, to go, is stirring inside of me and I know that God is calling and I am now waiting on his perfect timing. It is a call and a dream inside my heart that is so close to becoming a reality and used to seem so far off - it is scary and exciting at the same time.

So here I am - in the Washington D.C. area - finishing my internship up with IJM and I am asking God some questions I never would have thought i'd be asking just a short year ago. I ask and hope that you will ask him these questions too, and I hope you will pray with me as I seek the next steps God has for me.

What are the gifts God has created me with?
What makes my heart race when I ponder it in my heart?
What makes my spirit stirr and get excited as I pray and as I look at the depths of the heart God gave me?
How can I glorify God above all things daily as I live?
How can I share the Gospel with others on a day to day basis?
Where am I willing to go in the name of jesus - and if the answer isn't anywhere He calls, Lord fix me and renew my perspective, because you are worthy of it all.

These are simply some of the questions that are welling up inside of me. My time at IJM has revealed a lot to me about the passions that are in my heart which God created. I haven't been able to go through this internship without thinking about our field offices and how the children, men and women in India and the Philippines are among those who are hurting and who are not free yet and how they are longing to hear that they are the Beloved. God is calling me. I am here to do my part - as I went through this week and heard the prayer requests in corporate prayer and met with the intern and fellow advisor it was just made all the more evident that God was saying "Let's go daughter, I have equipped you, I have set your heart ablaze and I long to use you to set free those who dont know freedom yet." I am applying for field fellowships and international positions not only with IJM but other organizations and I am feeling more than ever like a little child who is scared of the call but who is also excited to see all of the dreams that my Awesome God has woven in my heart come to be reality.

When we as sons and daughters begin to walk out the dreams God has knit in us I truly believe we will begin to make heaven a reality here on earth. When we walk in the ridiculous or simple things that God has created us each uniquely with and asked us to fully pursue for the glory of Himself - we will turn this world upside down. When we forget fear and we remember the Cross above all things and when we remember where we would be without the Cross and Jesus Christ - his life, death and resurrection - and we begin to live out the resurrection daily by calling that which is dead in this world to life - we will begin to tap into the Glory that God longs to inhabit the earth. We will begin to really become temples of the Living God. Let him arise in you, let him overflow from your heart to your feet and may your feet begin to move in the direction of the dreams that God has given you so that He may be seen, heard, felt, and nearer than ever for those you come in contact with. We as children of God have been set free by grace and we have been set free in order to live in complete unity with our Father - don't waste this freedom. Do not let this freedom go without being shared. Someone today needs to hear they are loved, they need to know that God has set them free. It starts and ends with prayer. Let your prayers then begin to take life as the Holy Spirit empowers you to move. Beautiful are the feet that carry good news. Go. Near. Far. Go. In Jesus' name.

Scripture to Stand on

Romans 10:9-15

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Galatians 5:6

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

Last Month to fully support Me :)

just a heads up too - This is the last leg of my internship and I am still asking for those of you who feel led to provide monthly support so I can do the will of God here in the Washington D.C. area with IJM! Thanks so much to those of you who have financially provided and been an answer to my prayers! God is faithful. I hope you get to join his call to justice!

Support IJM Intern Kaitlyn Ruhland :)

God bless!!

The Call. The Command. Jesus Christ. Love in Action.

"And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: This is what the Lord Almighty says: Administer true Justice; show mercy & compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other."

-Zechariah 7:8-10

Late last night and this morning the Lord lead me to read in Zechariah, it's funny to me how I'll be reading in one place and the scriptures will mention the name or character of someone and then the Spirit leads me to that book because of my hearts desire to know that person and what their story is. That is exactly how I ended up in Zechariah - I was reading about him in the Gospel of Luke and it lead me to figure out where he came from and what he was about, so I headed to the Old Testament. This was obvisously in God's plan. This scripture speaks so deeply to my heart and the work that I have been doing all summer here at IJM. I am still in awe - yes with less than a month left to my internship here in Washington D.C. - at how God got me here, all that he has been teaching and all the greater things he still has in store for the little bit of time left here with IJM and the time ahead in Boone come mid August and then the time of sending me on into new and adventurous things. God's word is just so clear about justice and compassion and oppression and as believers its beautiful to walk out these commands that touch on these topics and not just here at IJM during my work day but as I daily commute on the metro and see homeless, fatherless, widows and the poor - it is the call of God on our lives as believers to stop to actually take the time to slow down and take notice of these, the least of these, the aliens and those who are outcasts - its not an option - it is a command. If I truly love God and I am actively seeking His face daily then I will be sensative to His holy spirit and see his children all around me and long to reach out to them. These acts of love are what bring forth the kingdom in the world, the broken, dark and lost world. God's plan to bring love and restoration and justice and compassion and mercy is carried out through you and me - that is his plan - no plan b - plan a, God's plan is to use those who have come to know him and believe in him with all there heart, mind, strength and soul as instruments of his love in the earth. We are the plan, if we do not allow ourselves to be used by God for the glory of his name and his kingdom this world may not see the light. I don't know about you but it seems pretty clear what my purpose is as a believer, as a daughter of God, as a child of the King and the beloved of Christ - my purpose is to love.

To first love God above all else & then to love my neighbor in the same way -

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your soul and all your mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself" - Luke 10:27

The beautiful thing about this plan of God's is that it includes us and it is a calling but there are promises that come along with the calling - God provides and promises greater for those who follow him, believe in him and walk in obedience to the commands he has given us:

"I tell you the truth, anyone who as faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring Glory to the Father. You may ask for anything in my name, and I will do it. If you love me, you will obey what I command." - John 14:12-15

"See how the flowers of the field grow.They do not labor or spin.Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:28-34

God promises to take care of us and provide for us and to bless us beyond measure if we abide in him. He says this and affirms it so many times throughout scripture. We are to chase passionately after him and to love him first and above all things and then love those he is calling us to love in this world in order to reveal Him and his glory which are ultimately greater than all things in this world and ultimately more satisfying that any love or desire we think will fulfill our deepest longings. God is good and he lays it out pretty simply -

"Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me...If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be give you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." - John 15:3&7-8

This scripture just continues to humble me and remind me all of this loving that God calls me to do is impossible on my own. I cannot see the Jesus in other people and I cannot love all others and my neighbor as myself if I am not remaining in Him first and foremost. I am not able to love so abundantly on my own, I am weak but He is strong.

So here I am writing to you to tell you to let your love grow into action. Let the Lord in and let His love take root in you heart so that it may grow deep down into who you are and begin to nourish your spirit and soul and bear much fruit for the glory and advancement of the Kingdom of God which we so desperately need to come forth and flourish in this dead and groaning world.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than you ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." - Isaiah 55: 8-11

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing.
Pray Always & Pray Expectantly.
He is able to do abundantly more than we know or believe.

Take From Me These Myths: A Prayer - Mark Sandlin

Good and gracious God,

Today, like the rest of the world,
when I woke I wrapped myself in myths.
They are comfortable and warming in what can seem like such a cold world.
Yes, they are old and worn but they are familiar
and even the most fashion forward find comfort in this thread-worn garb.

They tell me that while it may not be fair
that 1,600 children die from hunger everyday,
I can do nothing about it.

They silence my own judgment of myself
when I put a quarter in the cup of a homeless man
as I walk on by the lack in his life
to live into the abundance of mine.

They tell me that the rich shall inherit the Earth,
and that they will be beneficent rulers.
The myths that I wear tell me
that giving to the rich is better than giving to those in need,
so we as a nation heap blessings upon the rich
expecting 'trickle down' to make it rain on those of us below.
Yet, we remain drenched in our inability
to pay the rent,
pay for college,
save for the future...
at times, even believe we have much of a future.

So, today, like the rest of the world, when I woke I wrapped myself in myths.
They are comfortable and warming in what can seem like such a cold world.
Yes, they are old and worn but they are familiar
and even the most fashion forward find comfort in this thread-worn garb.

They tell me that violence, while abhorrent,
is inescapable, a part of the reality of life -
that violence is the path we must travel to find peace.
Religion reinforces this myth of Redemptive Suffering
suggesting that suffering builds character,
that you, O God, won't give us more than we can handle,
ignoring the realities of the families who have survived
the loss of loved ones through violent acts:
War, Domestic Violence, Gang Violence, suicide.

Even in the names we use,
we see how we believe this myth:
The world calls one of humanity's most violent acts
The Holocaust, which means 'sacrifice by fire,'
Suggesting that there might be something good
or even of God in it.
Those whose lives it destroyed call it
Ha Shoa — the calamity.

So, I wrap myself in myths.
They are comfortable and warming in what can seem like such a cold world.
Yes, they are old and worn but they are familiar
and even the most fashion forward find comfort in this thread-worn garb.

They tell me that the least of these deserve what they get,
that “But for the grace of God, there go I,”
believing that somehow God's grace falls more abundantly on me.

They tell me that I must shut off who God created me to be
and live into the image the world expects of me
because who I am on the inside won't be accepted on the outside.

They tell me that some are created more equal in God's eyes
and don't deserve the same rights as the rest of us
that they should be punished for being their own unique reflection of their Creator.

Loving God,
take from me this earthly garb,
for not only are they old and thread-worn...
but they reek.
They stink of the stench of power, money and greed.
They have the foul odor of prestige, self-importance and control.
They fill my nostrils with an offensive aroma
that smacks of a history of abuse, belittlement and pain.
They exude with the suffering they let me ignore.
They ooze with the memories of the blood that has been lost.
They smell to high heaven and point to my complicity
in the lies of this world.

Redeeming God,
take these Robes of Myth from me
and let me walk naked through this world if I must,
but I wish to walk through it blindly no longer.
I wish to breathe in the brilliance of creation
and leave behind the stinking myths of humanity.

Help me, my God.
Free me, my God.

Help us, O God.
Free us.

Amen.

Prayer Requests

I haven’t done an update on the prayers I need while I am here in D.C. in a while – so here I am letting y’all know how I need your support desperately daily to empower me through the Spirit to do the will of Christ:

1.      Energy, Strength, and Endurance – the office hours are long and my passion is deep but without the love of Christ compelling me I cannot continue to serve God daily in a pureness of heart. Please pray that God would empower me and that I would be an empty vessel for his Spirit to fill in order to glorify him more and more!

“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” – Colossians 1:10-12

2.      For the launch of 12 new IJM Campus Chapters across the U.S. on these specific university campuses:

àIndiana University

àChristopher Newport University

àBroward College

àUniversity of Utah (Salt Lake City)

àTexas State University (San Marcos)

àUniversity of Colorado (Colorado Springs)

àUniversity of Pittsburgh

àNorth Carolina State University

àGeorgia Southern University

àCalifornia State University (Northridge)

àCornell University

àPortland State University

àCarson Newman College

àColorado Christian University

àUniversity of South Carolina – Upstate

Please join me in prayer for these college campuses – that they would be burdened with the desire to know God and his will for them as students and laborers for his kingdom.

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” – Matthew 9:37-38

3.      That the Lord would give me clarity, direction and wisdom about the next steps I should take after my internship with IJM here in D.C. – that I would have a pure heart in my prayers and discernment of where he wants to send me next. May His will be done & not my own.
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
 –Psalm 51:10

“Father if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
 –Luke 22:42

4.      For God to give me the heart of a servant-

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:15

5.      Continued Provision financially and good stewardship of the funds that are given to me from God & a generous spirit –

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” -2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Thank you so much for your support and your prayers – they are felt and they are a blessing and encouragement to me! Please feel free to e-mail me at : katiyruhland@gmail.com if you have prayers you want to send me or snail mail me at : 318 Cannon Way Warrenton VA 20186 !

Also I am always asking for those of you who are following along to financially support the work of IJM here through monthly donations to my time here as a volunteer – you can do so through this link if you feel lead - Support Intern Kaitlyn Ruhland through IJM!

Blessings,

Kaity Ruhland

Keep God in view, He is always thinking of you

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”

-Psalm 37:3-6

As I continue to embark on the Journey of Justice there are a few updates I want to throw your way! First – this scripture was so encouraging to my heart and spirit as I started the work day today. Each and every day at work is a step closer to freedom for someone – a brother or sister – that I may never know, but who God has called us to serve. The way we can serve others and the Lord is by seeking Him above all things. I have realized more and more it’s not about how much I love IJM it’s about how much I am pursuing my relationship with God and my passionate heart for him that will end up overflowing and spilling into the work and service that God desires to use me fore in this life to advance his kingdom. It is so easy here in such a mission driven and thrilling place to get caught up in the work and make that your priority. I am praising God today for the freedom he has granted me which I got to celebrate yesterday, the 4^th of July, and I am praising him for loving me and not how well I can perform, I am praising God for the way he looks at a man’s heart and not his appearance. I am praising God for his character and the way he is so intimately concerned with who I am more than what I am doing and where I am doing it. I am praising God because he is good, he is faithful and I am learning that the more I commit my ways to him and include him in the details of my day to day life he finds more and more ways to show up and reveal himself. We must allow the emptiness in our lives be a place that we acknowledge and ask God to move into. I am praising God for his jealous zeal that he has for his children and that compels him to dig deeper into our lives and ask for more and more space in our hearts.

Freedom to Fly

As i sit here this morning - on the 4th of july - i stumbled on this picture of a sweet little birdy in the open hands of its master. It has been an incredible summer so far here in the  NOVA/D.C. area! I am blown away literally by all that God is teaching me and all that he is letting me experience and learn! Its been incredible and a season of growth and stretching that I will not forget. 

I feel like this bird though - i feel and know that I have been given wings - i have been given this new life through Jesus Christ who died to give me life. I have breath in the morning and a sweet and full heart at night and I know that the Lord is taking me on an adventure. I finally feel like I’m at this place in my walk with the Lord, at this place in my journey of faith where it really takes a lot of FAITH. imagine that ! :) haha I am sitting in the Hands of my Maker and he has clothed me with these wings that are ready to spread and fly and He is step by step, wind by wind, showing me which direction to take off in next and all the while providing all things for me which is taking away all fear and increasing my excitement for this post college journey and life with God! 

The Lord is faithful til the end. This i know. I hope and pray that you will let yourself venture into the wilderness of those empty parts of your life, of your heart, your soul just long enough to realize the only One that can fill them and satisfy them is The Holy One , our Almighty Maker and Savior - Jesus Christ. He is ready to fill you and ready to give you wings. Let me take you to new heights and new places in your faith. Its gonna be wild, its gonna be great. 

Blessings, 
Kaity