Sitting in Seattle

waiting to get to Uganda!

Job walked with Him

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

-Psalms 23:4

When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we have two options. We can walk through it alone, because no one wants to go along on that ride. Or we can walk through it with God. Job could have listened to his wife when she said, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" (Job 2:10). Or his three friends who told him, "Hey your kids were living in sin, thats why they died… you must have sinned as well, just admit it." 

But in the social solitude Job stays faithful to God and did not sin. While the whole world that we know dies, and abandons us… I want to be like Job and continue to walk with God. Perhaps God wont always comfort me with His rod and His staff… But He will send me broken pots to scrape my wounds. "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10). 

Today, I will finish the book of Job, just as a reminder to myself that nothing in Uganda can shake me from my walk with the Lord, because He will be with me the entire time. "I will fear no evil."

Susa to Jerusalem

"he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

-Psalms 23:3

No matter how tangled I make my life, No matter how far I run from His loving hand. He is just one genuine prayer away from me. He restores my soul, from the mess that I make it. From there He is able to lead me in paths of righteousness, for His Kingdom. I cant help but be reminded of Jews who came back from the Babylonian exile in 586 bc. The Jews ran from God for so many years, so He sent them off for 70 years, and when they came back He started to restore them as a people. Allowing Zerubbabel, King Cyrus, and King Darius to help rebuild the Temple, and Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. And giving them the Minor Prophets to keep the people on track in the path of righteousness. Even the items in the temple were kept safe during the captivity, and restored at the end. God is faithful in His Word. 

It is sad because I read the stories and they came to life in me. But I still find myself being taken back to captivity in Babylon. Than allowing the whole process to start over. At this very moment God wants to restore me… But first I have to walk from Susa to Jerusalem, so that God can rebuild His temple in me. 

We Like Sheep

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quite waters,"

-Psalms 23:1-2

God takes care of my every need. I have nothing to be in want of. He allows me to get rest (green pastures), and He restores me with life (water).

All I need to do is be an obedient follower, willing to follow where God directs me, just like a sheep. Today, I'm going to read a bit of Isaiah and than take a nap.

Your silence speaks to me

"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 ad 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 55:10-11

Coming to the end of my time in training. Going through the Word each day, this verse is so powerful in my mind, I am at a lose for words. 

Today I'm going to take a walk and spend time listening to the silences of the theoretical "snow and the rain falling." 

I am loved, I am blessed, and I am so grateful!

Many people are happy being a big fish in a little pond. That is what its like when we stay in our own world. When we are secure in what we do every day, so we become the Big man in town. No room for true growth.

Many people are afraid to be the zooplankton in the ocean. But with God, I feel like i have that room to grow, being the smallest thing out there with the opportunity to become something huge to glorify Him. I was just out pulling a beaver dam out tonight, this beaver will block off the flow of the river within one night, causing the road to flood. It is an amazing creature.  Anyway I looked up, and right above me is the milky way in all its glory. I am only a man in all of  God's creation, with all the room in the universe to grow!

Im so glad God pulled me out of my little pond and showed me how small i really am, and how i need Him to take me through this life if i have any hope of getting through it. Funny thing is He loves me, AND HE IS SENDING ME TO ENTEBBE, UGANDA IN A WEEK TO WORK! AND PLAY WITH KIDS! Im so encouraged by everyone at home, getting my back in the work God has called me to. May God continue to Bless us so that we can Bless others all around the world! 

"brevity is the soul of wit"

Get Stretched

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

-Isaiah 55:9

I have nothing for this one, so I just opened my Bible. The first thing I saw was, "He took up our infirmities, and carried our diseases." (matt 8:16). Seeing how I am the one causing myself harm, and Jesus Christ is my healer and Savior. It's almost like our ways are the complete opposite. I want to be on His team, but I'm one of those guys, that the other teams says, "Hey Jacob your the best player on our team." This is frustrating, so today I'm going to spend time in prayer. I'm pretty sure I know what God wants me to do…. but its hard getting branches removed. 

Finite

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways."

-Isaiah 55.8

Life starts moving so fast, I start thinking i have all the answers. So many books, so much life experience, and still I am a finite being. God must smile when He sees me stressing out, He knows I try to be all I can, but all I can, can not be compared to what God is. 

Today, I will think my own thoughts, knowing that is what I am doing. I will take 20 minutes to sit quietly listening to the world God created. 

Aint no rest for the wicked

"Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon."

-Isaiah 55:7

Praise God! Some of the things I did before, I thank God that He has mercy for me, and has pardoned me. 

There is still work to do on my heart, I have submitted my actions fully to Christ. But it is my heart and mind that still has evil thoughts and desires. I hand it over to God, but its like its in the transition between our hands… I am saying that i want Him to take it from me… but i just haven't let go with my hand. I will fast once a week and pray for God to take my evil thoughts, and replace them with those that are glorifying to Him. 

Just before Uganda

Dear friends,

As I wrap up schooling in Montana, and prepare for Uganda. I want to let everyone back home know that through this work God has called me to, He has broke me down and rebuilt me as a better man after Him. Visiting with Pastor Craig Linguist on his last visit, I am very blessed to help him in uganda. Some of my roles will be:

1. Island outreach programs. Where we will be spending a day and a night on Lake Victoria Islands, reaching out to the people there. 

2. Children's Programs at Calvary Chapel Entebbe Uganda on Wednesday's and sunday's. Also homework assistants Programs throughout the week.

3. After 90 days we have to leave the country due to visa laws. So we will be helping a ministry in Nairobi Kenya. Pastor Moses and Pastor George are 2 nationals serving there via Crossroads Bible Church up in Portland, WA.

4. We will be returning to Entebbe after 3 weeks of Kenya to further help Pastor Craig.

I am very blessed to be a part of calvary chapel and Potter's Field Ministries efforts to encourage the fellow church in Africa. But as many of you know I answered the call to God's work on a very short notice. Not having time to get all my affairs in order. God allowed me to sale my car 4 days before I left. That money has helped me buy the plane tickets to get to montana, Africa, and to get back home, but I am short on living expenses by approximately $1,500. I know God is sovereign and He will provide. Also I am part of a team that sends people to those in need, they are called Potter's Field Ministries. Which is a program overseen by Pastor Michael Rozzell, who many of you have seen his presentation of the Word and pottery. If you find it in your heart to help, you are giving to a great group of people after God's heart. I tell you this for a few reasons. The harvest is great and this program needs more workers for God, and also we need constant prayer. I hope to be in your prayers, Please share what God is doing throughout this program with anyone looking to help support us in fiances, prayer, and the worriers.

Your Brother in Christ

Jacob.

If you can help please write a check to:

"Potter's Field Ranch"
with a note that says ‎Attn: Missions Training School (for Jacob Sanchez).
P.O. Box 68
Olney, MT 59927

If you have any questions call:
1.877.337.2624

Even when i get lost, God finds me like no one else can.

(upper stillwater wilderness).

Shake Them

"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near."

-Isaiah 55:6

All to often we put confidence in tomorrow when we aren't promised today. All to often I hear my friends talk about the Salvation they can have in Jesus Christ today,  as if it will be available to them tomorrow. It scares me to think, that the urgency to rent a movie is far more than the worlds urgency to find Salvation. The Lord is near. 

For my application, I have several friends and my entire extended family, who know the truth, who know that Im living what i believe. Sometimes I think, why has the Holy Spirit not touched them yet? Sometimes I think that I have to die doing what God has for me, in order to shake them a bit. But until my father takes me home, I will continue to grow in patients, love, and the word. I will shake them by living even harder for what i believe in. "To me to die is gain, and to live is Christ." 

Doing the dishes

"Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink"?

-Luke 17:8

I feel like this was my heart speaking to my mom back at home. Yes, I never had to cook. I never had to do my own laundry. I was spoiled. When I go home to my family, I'll do the laundry, now that I know how. I will cook, all the things I kill and bring home. I'll do the dishes. I don't have a servant, I am a servant and I will not be mistaken as anything else. 

Covered in His blood

"So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" 

-Luke 17:10

"Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). A day of judgment is coming. Where the good, and the evil deeds in our life will be revealed. The way i see this verse is, when God tells me all the evil i have ever done, and the judgement of death comes on me, i will say, "I am an unworthy servant." 

But that isn't the end, Jesus Christ will come in and say, "You were bought with my blood, you feared God in Love, and I love you... well done good and faithful servant. Come home, where you belong." 

Today, I will give thanks to Jesus Christ in prayer for loving me, and choosing me to live with Him in a life everlasting. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalms 139:23-24).

For the Kingdom, and no one else

"Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?"

-Luke 17:9

I really cant imagine what the master's view point would be. But working with kids for 5 years, I noticed the behaviors of the kids. When I had a kid who was looking for my praise… i didn't give it to him, because I would be conditioning him to only do his work when i was around. However, when i saw kids busting out their homework, helping teachers clean, and anything else worth praise. I would often thank them at the end of the day. Not because their work was done for my approval, but because I wanted to encourage them. 

So for me, I want to get into mindset of, everything is done for Christ because I love Him. Not for someone to see me doing something and saying thank you… Like I did it for them. Because I didn't, I did it for Christ. I usually tell them that too, Its sort of an awkward conversation, because I kind of shut the person down… but I'm serving the King, and no one else and they need to know that. 

My application is to continue to go into a job with the mindset that this is being done for Christ and no one else. 

Don't lose heart when they talk to you like your a servant... You are.

"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'?"

-Luke 17:7

When we live as a servant, it never ends. Servant hours don't go from 9 to 5 monday through friday. As hard as it is, I long to be a servant in Jesus Christ. My thought process in the last few weeks has changed from the earthly visible master's words, to my Father in Heaven's words. Pastor G once told me, if I call myself a servant, I shouldn't get upset when someone speaks to me as a servant. This is still very difficult, but "the righteous man falls seven times, he rises again." (proverbs 24:16a). 

My application is to continue to rise by hearing God's voice, instead of the words of man, to become a better bond slave. 

Dissension covered in Love

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every formof malice."

-Ephesians 4:29

"Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs." (Proverbs 10:12). Jesus Christ in Love, without Him I would be lost in bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, and everything else. Only through Him can I be freed from myself. 

I just want to continue to fall in love with Jesus Christ through my devotionals each morning and evening. 

Building

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

-Ephesians 4:29

I was listening to the radio station KLOVE back in california one day. There is some band called "building 29" and they told their story on why they have their name. This verse is the reason. I was beyond blessed to hear the verse and what they said on it. So i decided this is going to be one of those verses i live by. My dad always told me, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Funny thing is this is really hard. I also heard pastor Steven say, "Don't go into a important conversation without having the end in mind." All this is what i want to live by, but i still fail multiple times a day. Im working on it. 

Today i will watch my words, I am going to take it slow today so that I can hear what i say before i say it. So that i might be a son of encouragement rather than I destroyer of words. 

Cut down the the Asherah Poles

"And do not give the devil a foothold."

-Ephesians 4:27

"…Smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars…" (part of 2 Chronicles 31:1). The Kings of Judah throughout their history have had times of giving the devil a foothold, and destroying those footholds put in place by their fathers. When ever a good king, good leader, good shepherd comes into power, they take the footholds away. When we allow the devil in the house, its hard to tell him he isn't welcome at the dinner table. 

Thinking about my footholds, i would have to say one of the worst would have to be vegetating on Facebook. Its something simple…. but its amazing how stupid it is. Back home i would be on it for at least a few hours, coming up to Potter's field has helped me cut back, but even here i don't want to spend more than 20 minutes on it a day, so i wont. It's a great tool to stay in touch with people, but its a path that leads to a languished walk. 

"Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word." (Psalm 119:37). 

Sun Stand Still

"He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted  in the sea,' and it will obey you."

-Luke 17.6

This brings to mind the story of Joshua and the sun standing still. "O sun, Stand still over Gibeon… So the sun stood still… till the nation avenged itself on its enemies." (parts of Josh 10:12-13). God gave this gift to Joshua, because Joshua believed what God said: that the kings of Jerusalem would be given to Joshua in war. In that time, they would stop fighting as soon as the sun went down. It is a ridiculous demand, but Joshua had the faith in God. Also when Joshua heard the kings of Jerusalem were starting war with the Gibeonites, Joshua got up immediately and started to march throughout the night in order to fight along side the Gibeonites. "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." (James 2:18b).

As the time draws closer to my arrival in Uganda, and i don't have all the money i need for my living accommodations in Uganda. I will continue to keep my faith in the Lord, and i will march all night by letting my needs be know to my family, and my church family. God is sovereign in my salvation, I would a hypocrite not to believe He is also sovereign in my physical needs as well. 

Ephesians 4:28

"He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need."

-Ephesians 4:28

The words "producers" and "consumers" come to mind with this verse. Its "creative" vs. "destructive" not that being a consumer is a destructive thing, but if you are capable of being a producer, there are plenty of consumers out there to match up with, so live a creative life. I feel like i am called to be a person who has something to offer those in need. God has blessed me, so that i might take care of the needy. If i do come to a point where I'm not producing, and my hands are idle, it would be a very selfish part of my life. Even if my creative is simply taking in the Word, with that i am able to bear so much more fruit in my life. 

My application, would be that i continue to consume the Word every morning, and throughout my day, so that i might become a producer to those in need. Its unconventional but completely Biblical. 

Ephesians 4:26

"'In your anger do not sin' Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,"

-Ephesians 4:26

"In your anger do not sin" By nature I am a sinner, but in Colossians we are told that Jesus Christ "took it away, nailing it to the cross." All we have to do is recognize that, and act upon our convictions with the help of the Holy Spirit. 

When ever I do let the sun set on my anger, I form wedges in relationships. I can remember people i have problems with, but I cant remember the problem. I need to make things right with people when God brings them back into my life. 

Ephesians 4:25

"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body."

-Ephesians 4:25

Get rebuked! Rebuke people! As Ben-David leaves today this is whats on my mind. But God is showing me that this verse is more of an exhortation to the unbelievers. I remember in high school, when ever religion would come up, i would say something along the lines of, "I know what i believe, i hope you find it."

Speaking truthfully to your neighbor to me sounds like we need to speak the truth in full. We are all members of one body, that body being the church, and the church is called to the great commission in matthew 28. Simple put we cant spend time dancing around the truth and never getting to it. Granted you have to say it seasoned with salt, and be culturally sensitive. Put away the false hood of saying yeah you're a good person, because there is none that are good but God. And the only way we can be re-signed to God's team is through accepting that Jesus is Christ. 

I'm so happy i grew out of the timid, shy christian i was in high school. I am a man of God and i'm never going back. I'm no longer chasing after the wind, but I'm in my Father's will. Sharing with those the Holy Spirit brings to me. After all God doesn't need us to voice His beauty, but He wants us.

Ephesians 4:23

"to be made new in the attitude of your minds;"

-Ephesians 4:23

When i think about my own mind… evil men of the past are dwindled in the potential of my flesh. The leaders of the pornographic industry, Hitler, anyone you can imagine; i am the same in thought as them. The only thing that separates us is they actually did it. However, our minds were the same. 

Now after knowing who Jesus Christ is, i still have those thoughts, but i know they are not glorifying to my Creator. Therefore i allow God to dismiss them when they enter into my mind, and that is the difference. My attitude in my mind has changed. Just last night someone said something stupid to me, when they really didn't need to. Instead of retaliating in anger, i went straight to my room to pray. 

I will continue to seek God's direction in such situations. Like my father always tells me, "Don't be wise in your own eyes. Take it to God." If it wasn't for God my attitude would be very unpleasant. 

Ephesians 4:22

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;"

-Ephesians 4:22

I was taught, with every Bible story pointing to Christ. He showed me how to conduct my life. Jesus Christ is my Savior, Lord, and Teacher. I used to aspired to gain the world. Trying to find that spot where i would be everything any man could be. The man that every woman wanted. Filled with money, anger, and pride; empty of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ had more in store for me than the simple temporal life, He had Eternal life in my story, so He broke me down until i saw He had a path for me to follow. Instead of the rabbit trails i was blazing on my own. 

After seeing how Jesus Christ, Paul, and a host of others lived, I could easily throw in the towel for the world. After all, if i seek the Kingdom first, everything else will be added unto me. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." (Matthew 16:24b-25). Today i am a new creation, and being that, i did my devotionals, reminding myself that i'm a sinner, in need of a savior. Going through the crucifixion in scripture, i have my priorities right, so i will be taught by Christ every morning. My old self is dead, but i'm going to put a bullet in it every morning just incase.