However, the last 9 months have been a bit like a pregnancy... vulnerability, transformation, stretch marks, expectancy, growth, courage, joy and looking and feeling different.
When I first started blogging I had just embarked on a 9 month course at the Kings Arms church in Bedford, called 'Training in Supernatural Ministry' and decided to call my blog 'Expecting More'. This week the course is coming to a close and I thought I would write about this life changing experience.
When I came to TSM I was hungry for God, expectant,
excited and scared all at the same time! I knew God had more for me but I knew
that God was going to rearrange the furniture, in fact God told me he would be
restoring the whole house!
On TSM I have learned that to live the
Normal Christian life which is the life that Jesus and the disciples lived, I
had to first understand God’s love for me and who he says I am.
I thought that after being a Christian 38
years I should have known all that but quite early on God began to expose areas
such as performance, disappointment, lack of real intimacy and fear of man just
to name a few!
9 months on I know I am still growing and
the scaffolding is still up BUT a lot has changed and others have noticed it
too…I am more courageous in sharing my faith and praying for the sick in the
church and on the streets, I’ve learned how to hear God more easily and developed
in spiritual gifts, made myself vulnerable and accountable to others, taken
myself less seriously AND the most important thing I have learned is that
intimacy with Jesus and walking in close fellowship with the Holy Spirit is
where the normal Christian life flows from. I know that only out of this place
I will have his compassion for the lost and broken and I will see his Kingdom
breaking out in signs and wonders.
Now TSM has finished people are asking me
what I am going to do next.
I’ve said I don’t know but I know this year
was for a reason and I don’t want to go back to where I was. I am expecting
more and I want to keep giving it away
I am so thankful to God for giving me this
opportunity and for everyone who has taught me, encouraged me, prophesied over
me and loved me this year. What a family!
Check it out!
www.kingsarms.org/tsm
Thank you Claire for this blog. Your honesty is so refreshing and I love the way you have grown and have helped others to grow during your time at TSM in Bedford. Twice I was able to visit there and it has been a real blessing to observe a fraction of all you have been part off in those 9 months. Bless you and all you're going to do x
ReplyDeleteSophia