More Love, More Power. Conference | Day 1 Recap
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Matthew 5:8
More Love More Power (MLMP) is the premiere Holy Spirit conference of the Vineyard Church of Central Illinois. Each year we gather to encounter Jesus’ powerful presence together, receive equipping and impartation in the spiritual gifts, and are inspired to extend His love and His power everywhere we go, our neighborhoods, workplaces, cities, and more.
(MLMP description copy is courtesy of The Vineyard Church of Central Illinois, to learn more about their mission visit their website here.)
Why More Love, More Power?
A little over a week and a half ago I attended the More Love, More Power Conference with my church. The conference was a special trip exclusively for students and alumni who are a part of my church’s Vineyard School of Ministry program (VSOM). Before going on this trip I was excited about what God wanted to do in our group but did not have any strong expectations, except for the fact that God would move as we would be all gathered together. Nonetheless, I was eager to hear from God and to witness how He would continue to encourage and equip us as students through attending this conference.
Spoiler: God showed up. I can’t wait to share everything our team encountered, experienced, and learned but for now, here’s a recap of day one.
Session 1 with Julie Yoder
Our team arrived on Wednesday evening just in time for the evening session of the conference. Session one kicked off with a powerful and timely message from Julie Yoder. Her message established the overall theme of the conference and reminded us on keeping Jesus at the center as we attend MLMP. The remainder of this post is a portion of my notes from Julie’s message. I pray these words Julie shared with us, continue to bring life and hope rooted in Jesus as I share a few of my key takeaways with you.
We need solutions.
We need Jesus.
It is easy to look at our world today and immediately begin to feel discouragement and a deep sense of sadness. We recognize there is a deep brokenness in the world that is entering every area we look at. The amount of confusion is increasingly rampant in our world. This makes it challenging to see. Julie put it this way, “We live in a very fuzzy world, where the confusion is real and prevalent in our world. We cannot conform Jesus to our liking or likeness.”
Our faith is deeply impacted by the way we see. The way we see God, the world, others, and ourselves is increasingly important in a world where seeing changes daily. This is where Julie introduced the idea of us being able to see more with our spiritual eyes rather than simply relying on our physical eyes. She reminded us we need spiritual eyes to see who Jesus is, what He has to offer and how can we extend that to others.
Let this be the prayer of our hearts this week:
open the eyes of our hearts.
Jesus is continuously inviting us into seeing His kingdom daily, the question is will we engage? We recognize seeing is a gift, but we have to ask ourselves a few clarifying questions to help us understand what exactly seeing is: How do we see with our eyes and what do we see with our eyes? Julie guided us to Ephesians 1:
“That’s why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!”
Ephesians 1:17-19 (MSG)
We need the Holy Spirit to know and see Jesus.
It all comes down to this. We know God wants to speak to us, but we often fail (my hand is raised here too) to get rid of the distractions that allow us from seeing Jesus and His kingdom activity. The final encouragement from Julie was this reminder as we go through each session and day of MLMP that our hearts would have eyes to see. Would we know the hope we are called to, know the riches of His inheritance (which is a present reality!) and would we know His inherently great power for those who believe! God’s desire is to give us wisdom and revelation to see more clearly! I loved this last part Julie touched on where she said, “We have an all-inclusive package from God and we are satisfied with only a taste…”
When you and I begin to think of an all-inclusive package like Julie mentioned, we do not hold back on receiving all that is offered or available. We are the first and the last in line to get another piece of dessert or refill with our drink of choice. So, why do I not run with that same excitement and freedom toward God? He offers us total access through Jesus.
It would be easy to be discouraged after reading that sentence as you may be recalling some of the ways you have taken advantage of His grace or access. I am right there with you friend. Do not forget the power of His love. Whenever you are ready, Jesus is there ready to listen and encourage you to see Him for who He really is.
Grace & Peace,
Addie! ☻
Addie Ott
Author, Creative & Entrepreneur | Owner of gentle and lowly co.
