Who do you follow?

Sometimes it feels like it is us versus the world. We get bombarded through the media with how we should look, think, and act. It is easy to loose who we are and what makes us joyful with these distraction.

We are easily put down, told we aren't good enough, we get jealous, lonely, angry and depressed. It is the world. The world is a dark place. In a previous blog I talked about how this is Satins playground, it is. We people please, we try and be "perfect" with the "perfect" life, the big house with three cars, with a good job. There is still more than this Earthly need, but we look at people are we tell ourselves that we aren't good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, but we are only comparing ourselves to other broken people.

We will continue to be depressed if we are following other broken people that look like that have it all together with a "perfect" life.

Why do you try to be someone who are aren't, they are already taken? Why is it so hard to follow the God of the universe that loves us to an infinite level and thinks about us more than the grains of sand on the beach?

Who is this God, who is Jesus Christ and why would we want to follow Him instead of people and the world?

 
God is all knowing...
"Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    his understanding has no limit." (Psalm 147:5)

God is approachable...
"The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth." (Psalms 145:18)

God is creative...
"...where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth." (Psalms 121:1,2)

God is compassionate...
"As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him" (Psalm 103:13)

God is truthful...
 "-in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time," (Titus 1:2)


God is NEVER changing...
"Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow." (James 1:17)

God is patient... 

The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;
    the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
    and clouds are the dust of his feet. (Nahum 1:3)

Why wouldn't we want to follow someone that has these qualities?

WHO DO YOU FOLLOW?

You decide...

Did you know, if you listened and payed attention you can make every person you come in contact with you can make everyone feel SPECIAL?


We don't know people like we think we do, we judge more than we should, we worry when we shouldn't and we let the little things bother us.


I went to Denny's for breakfast two days ago, one of my friends that was with me was being sassy right away with the waitress. We had no idea how she was feeling, could have been a great morning, or a bad morning, but either way the sass was unneeded and could only do damage.


I was working a men's retreat at a Young Life camp I work at some Saturday's, and because of my mood, I got to pump these guys up for a challenging ropes. I was asking a lot of questions about them, people like talking about themselves. Some of the guys really opened up to me, a small group of some guys were the last guys in line and while waiting, we just started talking about their victories in the addictions and how they are getting through their marriages. I encouraged them to continue to stay strong without their old addictions, communication between them and their wife, and  just reminded them of how strong they are.


I could have been in a bad, tired, it's hot mood, but instead I took the chance to really love on these guys. I will probably never see these guys again, but if I do, I sure hope they remember how special they felt. I want these guys to feel different and important because they are. I got to ask hard questions and I got teased but I just played with them merely because guys can't only have serious, just not how most of them work.


When I come in contact with someone I want them to walk away feeling absolutely adore and loved.

Waiting in a long line in the grocery store, in class with a cranky teacher, listening to your mother tell you what to do even though your 35 years old, your roommate getting upset about the smallest things, your wife not listening to you, what ever annoys the heck out of you find a way to make them feel special, find a way to love them even if you think you can't I bet you can, in the smallest way, shine light on the situation. Be patient and have grace, listen and care.

Stop and think and go against how you feel and make someones day.

 

You are His Beloved....

Listening to the lie "I'm not good enough" keeps us imprisoned.

This lie is from Satin, and we have 66 books, in the bible, that tell us that we are more than enough. These lies come from deep hurts that we have covered up over and over because of sin.

We go through our life and sometimes we ask, who are we and why are we here? Most people say to glorify the God of the universe, because He sent his son to die on the cross for our sin.

But have you ever thought that you were created just to be loved. You were created to be loved, and because we are loved, we are filled and we want to glorify him and love others and shine, but that's not why we were created. You don't create things and give them a job right away.
God created Adam and Eve and told them to rest first, to soke up him and his love, and once they were rested they could work. GOD JUST WANTS TO LOVE US!

Telling yourself, myself, that "I'm not good enough" is keeping us prideful and keeps a wall up between you and Christ. We will never be enough for other people but we are more than enough for the God of the universe.

Who are you? Who do other people say you are? Who does Christ tell you who you are?

God sent you to where you are. -Isaiah 61:1.
You are the flavor of the earth, you spice things up. -Matt 5:13
You are a light, to brighten up the darkness, for the glory of Christ. You are not dim, you are bright- Matt 5:14
You are God's friend. You are different and attractive.You are wanted -James 2:23
You are God's little child. You will never fall out of grace, ever. -John 1:12
You are God's heir. His princess. You are held to high standards, out of love. -Gal 4:7
You are His chosen people. You are wanted, adore, loved, and cherished. -Col 3:12

You are enough, more than enough. Do not be chained down to the lies from Satin. You don't need to do good works, you just need Him and he will do all the work. He will shine through you, and through this you will only want to glorify him through love, but you do not need to impress him, because you are already enough the way you are. Run into his wide open arms and embrace his huge, his love, his joy.

'I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty."
2 Corinthians 6:17-18,
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"
1 John 3:1

Patience is a Virtue.

I think two of the hardest lessons my father has taught me and continues to show me is patience and grace.

The last couple of months I have been struggling with depression, something I may always struggle with. Most people do not know how to love someone that has depression, we have our good days and our bad days, and you never know what you are going to get. It gets frustrating for everyone including Christ. A friend that I hold very close to my heart, asked me what I wanted from her and all I want and need is patience and grace. With these two verbs you will show me love. You do not have to do little acts of service, even though I love those things, it is not needed. All I need is patience and grace. It gets tiring when all your friends are expecting one thing but not telling me what they want or need, because I will contently fail, and contently failing doesn't put anyone is a good mood.

What is patience? It is a big word that many people seem to not understand. "the quality of being patient,  as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like." It is selfless. Accepting things where they are, even if it is not them or not where it is suppose to be, to stand side by side and taking step by step, together. Jesus continues to do this with us. We will always fail Him, but he will always be patient with us, because he loves us no matter what. His patience for us and with us is just a small way he shows us his love, but it is an important way he shows us his love. 


What is grace and how is it different from mercy? To me the best way to explain this is through a small story. 
A father asked his daughter to not eat a cookie out of the cookie jar while he goes to get his shoes on in the other room. When the father walks back in the girl has a cookie in her hand with crumbed on shirt. The father gently asks his little girl if she ate the cookie, she looks at him with a looks of "I know I have disappointing you"
Grace: the father says "that's okay, I still love you" and goes outside. 
Mercy: the father says "that's okay, I still love you, and because I love you I want to get you some ice cream so lets go get some ice cream,"
Grace, is letting go and forgetting where as mercy is letting go and praising you for it with a "reward" 


I only want patience. I just want you to work with me, not against me. One way that can help anyone and everyone is open communication and honesty. Open communication and honesty will only make patience and grace come that much easier.

Life goes in season, and some are harder than others. Have patience, grace, honesty and open communication.