Illumination Illustration

It is true when they say that the marriage between a man and a woman is the closest thing to the physical representation of Jesus' love and pursuit over us. The revelation of the church being the bride and Christ being the bridegroom continues to place me into deep curiosity. In only 113 days, I am going to enter into an eternal covenant with Anna and Christ. We are about to not only experience, but also illuminate a small glimpse of Jesus' love and pursuit over His bride when that day comes.

The wedding day is coming soon. We, as the body of Christ, should be preparing the way for our Beloved to come. It is a long engagement with our King as we fall more in love with Him until the wedding day comes and we gain the honor of seeing Him face to face. But it is not only our longing, it is His longing too.

My engagement with Anna is far from the perfect portrayal of Jesus and His love for us, but I still like to compare. Everyday, my love grows for Anna. She is beautiful, incredible, loving, and compassionate. In these moments, not only am I encouraged and blessed that my love grows for her everyday, but I am suddenly hit with a deep revelation that the way Jesus looks at us is far beyond what I could ever imagine. My love for Anna is then burgeoned and transformed into a combining, overwhelming sense of Jesus and His love for me. It is a constant journey of realization.

I don't mean to sound cheesy or to sound cliche, but I guess what I am saying is that Jesus' love and pursuit for us is real. He calls us beautiful, He calls us His beloved, He calls us wonderful, and He is longing for that day where we marry together into His never ending love. It is an overwhelming thing to think about! It is also a humbling thing to think about. The Lord is releasing this revelatory picture over my life. It isn't just the experience, it is also the ministry.

It is true when they say that the marriage between a man and a woman is the closest thing to the physical representation of Jesus' love and pursuit over us, but what they may not exactly tell you is the extravagant sense of love you not only experience, but illustrate as well.

Disguises

It blows my mind how faithful the Lord is to His children, especially when His children are wrapped up in their own flesh and insecurities. The Lord never gives up. For me, this past week has been a battle of hearing the Lord, but believing the enemy and his lies over me. Yet, the thing that amazes me is that the Lord continues to war over me in His pursuit for me to believe truth and love over lies and deceit. I act out in my flesh and my own worldy thinking, yet the Lord never gives up, even when it seems like I create for myself a lost cause.

The Lord delights in giving mercy. He loves to do His job. He created us as humans, knowing that we would be wrapped up in flesh and warred over spiritually all of our lives. But I personally believe that it just makes the Lord that much more impacted and excited when we truly do choose to look to Him...because it requires a choice for us to make, and when we choose the Lord, He is notbaly held in higher significance than any rival over our heart. And when the Lord is chosen over any other lie or attack disguised as momentary satisfaction, it becomes more natural for us to place Him on the throne of our hearts where He belongs.

We are called to be children of God; ones who walk out in radical authority, unhindered joy, undeniable love, and a capturing hope. If we go about our days and let the enemy get to us with his lies, we end up giving him too much credit, and then we naturally let our joy sink with our confidence. When we are depressed, something is wrong, because being a child of the Lord should cause us to be overwhelmed with a joy and love unspeakable...but it is our choice if we want to receive it or not.

I am not saying that our lives should be a joyous explosion of laughter and a constant goody-two-shoe type of feeling, but our lives should hold eternal perspective; that even in the midst of hardship and trial, we realize who we are in the Lord's eyes, and we begin to believe it enough to gain the confidence and strength for every moment. With the joy set before Him, He endured excrutiating suffering. With the joy set before us, we can live our lives as He intended us to.

An Indefinite Purpose

It is funny how I constantly find myself trying to do things on my own when I so notably know that when I partner with the Lord and allow Him to move in all of my situations, it always ends up so much better. It must be human flesh, but it can become so easy to work off of self motivation and off of our own strength only to end up so emotionally, spiritually, and physically drained. I guess it was just a matter of time until my mind and heart began to learn that partnership with the Lord wasn't just based on convenience, but rather for an infinite purpose.

We all know it...we have heard it before, but Jesus desires a lasting relationship with His children. He doesn't just want to be called upon in the times of desperate need, although He loves that, but He wants to be apart of every aspect of our lives; the good times and the hard times.

I have been challenged these past few weeks to truly call upon the name of the Lord in the times of need, but it has become more and more natural for me to just seek His face, even when I don't necessarily need any specific help. I have found a renewed joy in just resting and receiving the joy of the Lord. He is the only one who can truly satisfy my everlasting spirit.

I guess that means I was meant for an everlasting reality.

Thank you guys for all of your encouragement and support in this ridiculously exciting season of my life of being engaged to be married!

The enemy has tried to do his best to steal the joy from this season of me and Anna's life, but we aren't letting him. We are loving the moments we have together and are so blessed the Lord is taking us into this season of knitting our hearts together for the eternal covenant He has set before us! If you could, please continue for strength, joy, and provision. The wedding is just under 5 months away, and we have a lot to do and a lot of expenses ahead of us!

Thanks for your prayers and support! We love you guys!

-Daniel
--York

Just to Feel Alive

When I First came to Kona to do my DTS, the Lord notably did a great deal of work on my heart as He was in the process of transforming me. I underwent incredible change as I began to realize not only who I am in the Lord's eyes, but began to realize who others were in the Lord's eyes as well.

I have never really been in a serious relationship with anyone. I know it was partially because the Lord had immense protection over my life. It was hard for me to trust and to be real vulnerable with any girl. After the third week of my DTS, I prayed and committed to a year of consecration (being set apart only for the Lord) before Jesus. No girls, just Jesus. I had such a fear of the Lord that after my year of consecration, the next girl I begin to pursue was going to be the one I would commit to. This wasn't what the Lord exactly said, but I just remembered that I wanted to take relationships seriously from here on out. I wasn't going to allow something shallow; I wanted the Lord's hand in it all.

January of 2011 came around, and I began to staff the Fire and Fragrance DTS. On February 14th of that year, I met a girl. This was so scary for me because I remembered that the next girl I fall for, I wanted to truly have the fear of the Lord over it and walk it out with complete integrity and honor to myself, the Lord, and the girl. I remember that night, on the 14th, I started to realize I had feelings for this girl. I went to the prayer room and prayed what I felt was a dangerous prayer, but it might have not been. Either way, I said to Jesus, "If this is the girl for me, I commit myself to Your timing and I commit myself to pursue her with all that I have, but You have to open the doors."

Long story short, on March 28th, I embarked on my adventure to Iceland and she went to Mozambique for the next two and a half months. We both agreed to not talk during this time so that we can truly give this whole thing up to the Lord and we believed if this was from Him, He would give it back to us.

Needless to say, on July 5th, 2011, I began to pursue and date my best friend. It was so surreal and amazing! And I continued to have the fear of the Lord over my first ever relationship because I knew that I needed the Lord to be in the center and I knew I needed to cherish this and honor it. We went on many adventures in Kona and Ireland, and the Lord continued to knit our hearts together.

Last sunday, Februay 19th, 2012, I took my best friend out to hang in Portland all day. We shopped, had lunch, and just enjoyed each other's company. After our filled day in Portland, I wanted to surprise her by going to a place neither of us have ever been to. It was the Hoyt Arbetorum (a giant wonderland forest). After walking for a long time and getting lost, I finally saw in the distance a red balloon. I then knew our destination. Below a giant fig tree, there was a blanket with candles, food, roses, a teddy bear (that my best friend and I made together) holding a poem. We walked over and my best friend started to cry. She grabbed the poem and read it. The last line of the poem said, "...just answer one question." I then went on my knee and asked my best friend to marry me. She said, "Yes!"

Our journey has contained a lot more than what is written, but I hope this gives an idea of how ridiculously faithful the Lord has been in this all and how exciting of a time this is!
I am so blessed that later this year, I will be marrying my best friend,
Anna
Katherine
Seistrup!

Thank you Jesus, I am the most blessed man in the world!

[Thanks to Anna's parents, they helped set up the picnic for us, it was awesome!]

Opportune

It is snowing today...the fire is on and I have a coffee sitting next to me. What a perfect day to kick start my blog once again. It has been a while. I guess you could say I have just been having writer's block. Either way, I am back and ready to write all about the new adventures this year holds for me.

As most of you know, I got back from Ireland a few months ago and have been planting myself at home. It has been a sweet time of reuniting with family and friends, but for some reason, this time at home has felt much different from the other times. Since everything with the timing of Ireland sort of fell through, I thought that maybe this were to be a season of being at home. But as of a few days ago, I realized that wasn't the case.

On saturday, I felt the Lord prompt me to watch the Jesus Culutre: Encounter LIve Stream all day...so I did. It is crazy how the Lord uses technology to reach out to people, because I can say that in watching the live stream, I was deeply impacted. The Lord reminded me of a Thursday Night Meeting back in February in Kona, Hawaii, when He softly spoke to me that my time at home was finished. It was a hard reality to be hit by, but my life of missions was truly unfolding.

Since being home, I have loved being with family and friends, but I haven't felt the heavenly peace or any rest since being here. I have felt withdrawn, isolated, and confused. I wanted so desperately for the Lord to speak something...but I got nothing. I cried out that the Lord would make this time clear every day. Then last saturday...He finally did. He is a faithful God that works all things according to our good. In the midst of all of this...the Lord continued to tug on my heart strings of Social Injustice. I have always had a heart for the broken, but this time, the Lord made it clear that most of my ministry will be involved in this sphere. Praise Him!

With that said, next tuesday, I am heading out. There are many open doors leading to opportunity in Oregon, where I will be living for the next few months, praying and planning for what the Lord has for me. If you could, please partner with me in prayer as I seek the Lord in everything He has. Please pray for favor with a job, a place to stay, and all that good stuff. I still feel Ireland is on the horizon, so please pray with me in timing with that as well!

Thank you all for your support and prayer...it means so much to me!

-Daniel
--York

Stuck in Certainty

Well, sorry for the unannounced hiatus from my blog, but I am back and ready to update on all the craziness that has ensued in the past couple months. I have to admit, I miss the blogging world after a while. I feel like my writing may even be a bit rusty, but here is to grace!

In the past couple months, I would say that hasn't been too much revelation on anything new as much as there has been revelation on things of familiarity. The Lord has been pounding the idea holy fear into my heart quite this chapter of my life. "The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom." -Proverbs 1:1. Man, I didn't know that to begin a journey of eternal wisdom would look like this or even take this long. The Lord is the ultimate mediator, and I believe whole heartedly that He is raising up a generation that forgets what it is like to have fear of man and completely walks in a greater understanding of the fear of the Lord. He is our Savior and perfect Father who works things together for our good.

I know I have mentioned this before, but if God desires a relationship with us, that means He desires a living and breathing intaraction of love and deep conversation where we truly listen to everything He says. Prophets are for the edification and confirmation of the word of the Lord. But we have to realize that the Lord speaks directly to us, only if we are willing to listen. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying prophecy and prophets aren't right, but I am saying that we need to always trace everything we hear back to the word of the Lord directly.

As you guys know, I finished up an amazing scouting trip to Ireland with a group of 12. It was absolutely incredible. And also as you may know, I was planning on going back out in February to launch a long-term two year plant out in Ireland with this group of people. Since being home, the Lord seemed to be speaking something different. It is scary to not know exactly what He is doing, but I guess that is why He calls it the fear of the Lord. The community is still going out in February to Ireland, and this excites me more than I can say, and I know I will be apart of this community in one way or another. I still feel called to go out, but as of now, I feel a fear of the Lord on the timing and feel He is telling me to not go out right away. It is His deal, not mine, so I trust Him and am so excited that this community is still going out and that I will be apart of it soon. This is what I have been praying for Ireland; that there would be a group of selfless lovers giving their lives to the land, and that is what Ireland is getting. Praise Jesus!

If you guys could just be praying for me and that the Lord brings immense clarity for me in this season, being as I am not fully sure where He is taking me or what He is doing yet. I know it is a season of intimacy, preparation, fear of the Lord, and humility. As far as more clarity, I am not sure. So thank you guys so much for your prayers and support! I will continue to keep you updated on everything that comes!

Much Love!

-Daniel
--York

Anything Means Anything

Why is it so hard sometimes to actually believe who we really are? The Lord will speak and reveal to us His thoughts over us and we will believe Him for a moment until the enemy simply distracts us with other insecurites. I have been on this journey with the Lord, intensely, for the past two years now. As soon as I feel like I get it, more is brought up in my heart that I have to deal with. But it is all for the sake of clearing my vision so I can truly see who I am in the Lord's eyes.

The Lord will never put us in any situation that we cannot handle with His help. Remember, He is the one that equips us and enables us. So, will we choose to walk in the grace set before us, or will we simply allow ourselves to be distracted by the enemy making a circus act out of our own insecurities? The Lord speaks who we are, and that is enough to break every chain. Being confident is one thing, but walking out in that confidence with a humility and grace is another. We need to know who we are, walk out in confidence as the Lord speaks, and we will always be readily equipped for what is next. The enemy just sits off on the side, trying to distract us, but the Lord is far more fascinating.

The Lord is the one who speaks our character; He is the one taking us on this journey because He wants to. Let's choose to listen to Him, because when we do, we will always walk ahead with the joy set before us in the midst of any circumstance or relationship.

I am currently in Oregon with my special lady. It has been a time of rest, processing, and battling these very insecurities in the midst of relationship; but it has also been a time of breakthrough and complete joy from the Lord. I am SO happy. As you guys know, I just got back from my two months in Ireland. I am still in debt with to my school because a lot of us didn't ever fully get the money we needed. I still need $600 to pay it all off. If you guys could pray with me and continue to ask the Lord to reveal His will and joy in the midst of this all, that would be amazing. And if you do feel led to help support me, that would be such a blessing. You can click the "Ireland" tab above to find out how to donate!

Thanks again!

-Daniel
--York