Rise Up

Where do I begin?.....It seems such a long time since I even touched this.....and it has been. I guess I'll just share what is on my heart. I've been through my share of trials lately and it almost seems ironic that my last post on here was about letting go and giving control to God. All that being said God has been grabbing at my heart lately. See I'm a Christian but really...what does that even mean? In today's society? Do people really think I'm different or do they look at me and go "pfft...that sucker aint no different from me or anyone else"? I look at my generation today and I see hurt and I see pain. I see so much seeking in the forms of alcohol, drugs, sex, money, and fame, when all that we're really looking for is God. We look at our lives and say "this isn't good enough","I want more", "there's got to be more than this". AND. WE. ARE. RIGHT!


"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." ~ Matthew 7:7

How often do you look at someone and ask them "How are you?" and get a response more than just "I'm fine"? How often does someone share with you what is truly on their heart whether they are struggling or thriving? It doesn't happen. We live in a world where we've been trained to put on a mask. To hide our true longing behind the masks of the things we do and the ways we live. When really, our one true longing is relationship with our creator, with a God who loves us and cares about us and will NEVER leave us nor forsake us.

Wanna know another thing that I see when I look at our generation? I see rebels. This can be both a blessing and a curse, a weakness AND a strength. We are a generation who has grown up rebelling. Rebelling against our parents. Rebelling against societal norms. and most of all rebelling against our own longing for God. What would happen if we took that rebellious nature and turned it into one of our biggest strengths? What would happen if we became rebellious for God? If we sought after him and his will for our lives with such reckless abandon that we rebel against the pressures of this world? See I'm one of those rebellious people. I've grown up in a Christian home and been taught to live a Christian lifestyle all my life. I didn't listen. Sure I let people see me that way if that's how they wanted to see me but that wasn't who I was. I go out to hangout with my buddies and it's almost like I throw everything I know to be true aside. I don't set a good example and for that I am extremely sorry guys. That ends NOW. God has placed on my heart that it is time to rise up, to stop putting on the masks of the world and take a stand. I look at our generation and I see a generation who has the ability, and more than that, the will power to be one of the strongest Christian generations in the history of this planet.


"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us," ~ Hebrews 12:1

About a month ago my girlfriend and I broke up. Some of the words she left me with were "Don't settle, keep climbing." I can't say I was really happy with the decision or those words. What did they even mean? God kinda has a funny way of working one people doesn't he? Turns out that those words burned at my heart more than any woman ever could. Was I really settling? was she? what were we settling for? eventually I became so broken and so lost that I had no where to turn to but God. I can definitely tell you I didn't want to. Like I said earlier it goes back to my "Letting Go" post. I struggle with letting go but slowly I am. God is putting me back together...again. Heck, I feel like Humpty Dumpty, except I don't have all the kings men working on me, I...have the king himself. Anyhow, as God has been putting me back together those words have still be eating at my heart. "Don't settle, keep climbing." God has called me to take a stand against the ways of this world. 'Cause guess what? this is not where I belong and it's not where you belong either.


Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness ,and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one .And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ~ Ephesians 6:10-17
TTFN Folks

Fuel

The other day I was driving down the highway when I noticed that my gas was running quite low. I pulled off at the nearest exit and stopped at the closest gas station I could find. To my relief gas was quite cheap at only $3.12 per gallon. Being the poor college student that I am, getting gas can tend to be stressful to think about.

While sitting in my room yesterday I also came to the conclusion that I was low on another kind of fuel. All the go go go of school and work and being social had completely worn me out. When one of my friends asked me if I wanted to hangout, I flat out told them no because I honestly didn't have anything left in me. I was burnt out. Eventually I laid down and just took a nap.

"Where is he going with all this?" is what you're probably thinking. Well today while sitting in one of my classes that I was having a hard time focusing in, I came to the realization that there was one more type of fuel I was quite low on, spiritual fuel.  All the go go go had not only worn out my physical energy but because of the go go go, I was failing to allow myself the much needed time with God. One thing that I've noticed while attending Kuyper College is that when you are going to school to go into ministry it is very easy to justify not spending a lot of time directly with God and in the word, by telling yourself that since you do that every day for class, you don't really have to do it in your spare time. The reality is, that just isn't the case. In neglecting to spend personal time with God and in the word, I am missing out on an important detail of my spiritual life. I think it's safe to say that we all do this at times to. We get caught up in the busyness  of life and we can't even take 5 minutes out of our day to stop and commune with the one who's love for us is so great that he DIED for us!

After noticing how much I had been neglecting my spiritual life, I decided that I needed to do something about it. I haven't come up with a plan yet, but I know that if I don't lay down a plan of action and set out a time slot in which I declare "this is God's time", I'm never going to be able fuel myself spiritually. My challenge for you is this and perhaps you're already doing it. Take 5 minutes out of your day, Any 5 minute time slot, it can be before bed, it can be right when you wake up, it can be before you eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it can be any time. But take 5 minutes out of your day and devote them to God. I mean when you think about it, it's not that hard to do. There are 1440 minutes in a day. Until next time folks, TTFN, tah tah for now

Silence

     What is silence? A dictionary would probably define it as the absence of sound. A basketball player might say it's when they're about to shoot for a winning free throw and everything around them gets drowned out. If you asked me on a day like toady I would probably say that that it does not exist. Between all of the work, relationships, music, movies, cars etc... There is no silence. Even when we sleep many of our bodies are so unused to silence that we need fans to make noise and help us sleep.
      What would you do with a moment of silence? God wants to have a relationship with us, He loves us, he cares for us, he listens to our hearts and our words lifted up in prayer, but do we ever take the time to sit and listen to what he has to say? what he has in store for our lives? Do we ever REALLY leave a moment of silence in our day to just sit and listen to God? More often than not I would say that we don't; even when we take the time to pray. Prayer works kinda like a walkie-talkie, it is a two-way form of communication between you and God, but if you are constantly talking into a walkie-talkie you can't here the person on the other side. It is the same way with God, if we are constantly the ones doing the talking, then how are we ever going to be able to hear what he has to say? It is in our times of silence that we can truly hear God. In my last post I talked about the wait. Part of that wait is allowing yourself to have times of silence, to sit and listen to what God has to say. So turn off the radio, shut off the fan, close the door, heck you can even go use one of the sound proof booths at best buy if thats what you really need. But let's spend some time in silence and listen to God's plan for our lives, and if you are one of those people that can't stand silence then let God be your noise.