JUST A SIDE NOTE...

Today is my 6 year BIRTHday of when I truly experienced the Lord for the first time. He wrecked my life and I have never been the same. As I sit here this morning just thinking about His goodness, faithfulness, grace and mercy, I am overwhelmed by His love even more. On that day, he brought me from death to true life, joy and fulfillment in Him. I remember it like it was yesterday. Just like any person about to give up there life to another person, I was anxious, fearful and nervous about what the future held, but I can say that I don't regret for one minute the decision I made. Ever since that day my life has been an un-winding adventure, full of hope and glistening with love. Life is so much better with Him and I could not imagine living any other way. I am convinced and become more convinced everyday that He is my lover and Savior, I desire to waste my life on Him and the commission He has given me because that is the least I can do for Him in return for all He has done for me. If you don't know Christ and just happened upon this blog, please email me or comment and I would be more than happy to tell you of my journey and to introduce you to the person who truly gives life to anyone who asks. I've learned that you have to lose yourself to improve yourself. Only when we shed all self-definition do we find who we really are. I pray that you are blessed today. Live in the truth that He is for you and He loves you just because He loves you.

JUST BE STILL.

Sitting in the sunniest spot I could find this morning, 

I read these 2 verses over and over again.

        "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I read it...over and over and over again. My hand shook as I wrote in my journal, pouring out my heart to the Lord. 

Abide in Me. 

Sometimes we have to surrender things to Christ that we do not want to. Sometimes it is easy & freeing, other times it is the hardest thing we think we will ever have to go through. But John 15 reminds us that we must abide in Him at all times and sometimes that means surrendering the things that are keeping us from that constant and un-relenteless abiding that He calls us to. 

As I look back on my life, I've had to surrender a number of things (as all of you have). But even today, even while I'm walking in such a deep and violent love relationship with Him, I feel the Lord is still pressing that same truth into my heart: "ABIDE IN ME DAUGHTER." Through all of the changes, transitions, ups and downs, God has remained faithful. Not only is He the steady Rock on which I can lean on, but He's also faithfully working in me. For these past couple of years, I've questioned myself a lot on what it truly means to abide in Him and how can I do it most fruitfully? And lately, I'm finally realizing what He truly means when He commands us to do it.

Abide involves rest. It involves dwelling and staying. It includes being with Jesus - not so much doing. Doing flows out of our being. It comes after we fully rest in Jesus - after we know who we are in Him, and who He truly is. 

In the past, the Lord has shown me that I often put my identity in what I did, instead of who He said I was. Like me in the past, you might struggle with "performance identity". If you don't know me, I'll tell you that I'm a "get it done" type of person but I also enjoy organized chaos. But so often, I have found myself telling myself...do this, check that off, go do that, be busy & productive, go, go, go. I've truly experienced monumental growth with this area of my life in the past two years. But even in the last couple of weeks, the Lord is really bringing me to the place of full realization to what abiding is. Since I've been immersed in hard work but easy relaxation, His creation, true seeking and one of the most amazing communities I've ever been a part of...the Lord is beginning to reveal to me how much more I can abide in Him. A part of me has begun to crumble. I'm working this summer in a totally undistracted environment, without the busyness of city life and having the "American Dream"shoved down my throat by the world. I'm totally in a place to serve and disciple and it humbles me to the point of tears every morning when I wake up and realize  the place He has brought me to. I awake every morning with a surprise to what I will do and encounter that day. I might be doing something creative, or cleaning and refilling 400 amenity bottles, or rafting down the Klamath River or (my favorite) just simply getting to meet with the precious girls I get to disciple and just enjoy my sisters in Christ. But the beautiful thing about each of these random acts is that I don't have to prove myself in any of them. And that is totally freeing for a child of Christ. I don't have to do things perfectly or be anxious when I don't get all 297 things done that we have to do before guests arrive in 3 days. I can rest. I can be thankful. I can abide. God wants me to simply BE WITH HIM - present - with whatever I'm doing. To give thanks. To ask for help. To rejoice. To laugh. To pray. To trust. I'm learning to slow down. To say no to striving and anxiety. To be content and thankful when it's just me and Him. 

I learned very quickly that striving for perfection and finding my (or your) identity in performance, is not God's plan or His best. This isn't what He wants for us. Yes, He wants us to work hard. Yes, He wants us to be faithful and to serve. Yes, He wants us to use our gifts that He has given us. However, our value and identity are not found in the things we do. Our identity is found in who Jesus says we are - and He says we are His, loved, cherished, redeemed, set apart, His inheritance, His children. You don't work for your dad to have Him love you; He simply loves you because you are His child. And so it is with Jesus - He loves us simply because we are His, not because of what we do. God is after our heart and our relationship with Him, instead of what we do for Him. Yes, we are to obey Him and serve, but out of a heart that already knows and rests in who we are in Him - we serve out of love, not out of fear. 

There are different seasons for everything. For me, this is a season of hard work but simple rest as well. A season to go back to the basics, to remember that ultimately what matters is my relationship with Jesus - to go back to my first love. To not think of Him as my employer, but my King and Savior - my Friend and Salvation. To be with Him and to know that I can't do anything apart from Him. I don't need to prove myself, I just get to be with Him and let His love and light shine forth. He's been showing me this truth through all the changes these past years. Whatever season you find yourself in today, know that He is calling you to abide in Him. To come and rest with Him. To find your identity in Him and then do whatever He leads you to out of a heart that rests. You don't have to prove anything to Him. 

So, I encourage you today to stop being anxious and trying to strive to be at a certain place. 

Just be still and become captured by Him. 

I've learned first hand that when we are captured and captivated who Jesus is, 

we'll be empowered and equipped to resist the constant temptation to settle for anything less. 

We were all once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaved to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us. Not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. So that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 

Titus 3:3-7

UPDATE ON LIFE

Hey friends. Sorry I've been kind of MIA here lately but my life has been so hectic here lately, although I'm loving every minute of it. I just wanted to make a post to show all of you what I've actually been up to. The last two weeks, I've been at the ranch for orientation with the entire staff of the JH Ranch. It was so amazing to be there and really just enjoy the community of believers that the Lord has blessed me with in this season of my life. In the last two weeks, the Lord has been so gracious to absolutely rock my world. He has reminded me of passions, dreams and prophetic words that He brought into my life years ago. In the busyness of my life, I have to admit that I had forgotten some of them and I've truly been not living in some of the things that I was created to do...but I'm just so excited now about what the Lord has been speaking to me and showing me. I've been at the lodge for 5 days now and I've already learned so much. The Lord has truly been reminding me of His faithful while I've been here. He is so good to me, I don't have time to go all into it but to sum it up...coming to the ranch or the lodge this summer was not what I had planned. The last couple couple of months I've been looking for the "perfect" job, or so I thought anyways. I thought that I wanted the corporate job, making good money and living in a huge city with a new start and community. That's what my life has somewhat consisted the last couple of months. While in the midst of all of this perfect job searching, I was presented with the opportunity to work at one of my favorite places in the entire world; but at the time that is not what "I" wanted. After closed door to closed door, I majorly starting seeking the Lord about what He wanted and He wasted no time in telling me that He wanted me here for the summer. So here I am....& still completely in awe. Everyday I wake up and look out my front porch to the view I have and then go to work (which doesn't feel like work at all) and I just can't help but thank God for where He has brought me. I just can't believe that this is my life. He is too good to me. So here I am and I just want to share it with you. Hope you enjoy. 

The view from my front porch

 The front of our treehouse

Hike to the Cross

 Beautiful Friends

 The Farmstead at Scott River Lodge

 Lettuce from The Farmstead

 Collecting the eggs at the end of the day

 The beautiful SRL girls. 

 We love our life. 

 Today we jumped off this bridge. (50 feet)

 Our dinner tonight. Homemade pizza. 

 Hope you enjoy my pictures. I'll be posting more soon since I'll have more time in the next coming weeks. And again, I love packages and letters.

If you want to mail me a letter or package by USPS: 

Bethany Jones

JH Ranch Staff

8525 Homestead Lane

Etna, CA 96027 

If you want to mail me a package (fedex/UPS only):

Bethany Jones

19432 Scott River Road

Fort Jones, CA 96032

WAITING

Hey friends, I know that it has been a while since I've posted but I'll explain why in my next post...with pictures to come. I've had something stirring in my heart for a couple of days now and I got a minute to share, so I thought I would. Enjoy.

I love epiphanies. I love uncovering an idea or thought from the Lord and finally being able to understand what it is that is going on; but unfortunately, today is not that day. In the past, I have found myself living for these moments. As an American, I've never had to wait too long for anything. Well that is, for something that didn't involve the Lord, but when the Lord is involved, there is usually waiting to be done. And in the last couple of months, I'm actually beginning to appreciate the waiting.

Today I am thankful that my Heavenly Father is patient and slow (for lack of a better word). He is and has been asking me to slow down, and I'm actually getting the chance to do it...and surprisingly enjoy it. Take a breath. Breathe. Stop. And listen. Not only is He asking me to listen, but to listen even if nothing comes of it. And what a step of faith and risk that is. But all the risk and fear fades away when i'm in my Father's presence. When I lock eyes with Him and my gaze is entangled with His, the test of faith, risk and sacrifice is all worth it. Regardless if he speaks some deep prophetic word or answer that I've been waiting for or not, He is still enough for me. I read Psalms 112 a couple of weeks ago and it reminded me that I (the righteous one) will not be moved! And oh, how I have been clinging to that promise.

He took me to 2 Peter today and reminded me that it is so important to be reminded. As I write this, it al begins to come together. In chapter 3 verse 9, He says "The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance." So in the end, it's all for His childrens' benefit that He is what we see as "slow". He is slow to to anger and abounding in love. Praise God! Maybe I don't have my life completely figured our and maybe you don't either; if you're following Him, you probably don't because He likes to stay a step ahead of you and bless you with unexpected things. Maybe you're questioning the job He has you in, the church He has you at, the singleness that He has you walking through or even the place that you seem to think you're "stuck in". These are all seasons that you will probably go through once or more in your life and maybe along with me, you don't fully understand the season you're in. But I am beginning to, each and every day and literally could NOT think of a better place that I would rather be..but Praise God that He is patient while I'm uncovering the life story that He is writing for me. 

At the end of the day, it's not about you or me. And when you get to the place of being okay with that, then you're in thee exact place He wants you, where He can take all the time He ants . He is the author of time. After all of the thinking, praying and asking in my times with Him, and just almost dying for an epiphany..He sort of gave me one. So I encourage you love of God, to continue to seek Him. Recognize that in the silence He is doing His greatest work. He truly does love you and only wants the best for your life. He longs for you and loves to love you. Just wait on Him.