I'm In A Depicament (A Depressing Predicament)

It's been a long time. A very long time.
I'd like to say that life is confusing and that's what has prolonged a postings, but the reality is, it's not.
Life is quite simple. There are absolutes. There is right and wrong.
People though, (can be, through their own choices) confusing.
And that's what I've began to see in my life.

I never believed that I had it down, that life was easy, but I did think that I had good standards and that if I remained in them I would be okey. I knew I had to do the Lord's will and walk in His ways. And I thought that I was doing alright. I had something going. I knew what I was doing. (Seeing a theme?)

Anyway, caught up in my own selfish contempt I opened my self up to evil in a way I never expected.
And, when it came, I didn't rely on the only true God, whose power is the only things worth relying on. No, I chose to lean on my self. (And If you've ever tried to lean on your self it doesn't really work out to well.)

Due to this decision, I found myself in a depressing predicament (or as some call it, a depicament).
Like I do, when something very not-so-good is going on in me,  I secluded myself into the back recesses of my mind, trying to hide from the world and even God. When this happens, my entire personality changes. I come from my normal overly talkative and annoyingly energetic self to a quite secluded self who talks rarely.

In this time many things happened. I stepped into a period where I knew I was outside of God's will and I hated it, but through emotion and flesh, held my self back from coming before God and finding hope in His blood. To be brutally honest, that period sucked. And, I hated being like that every second.
Now it made me realize, that people permanently live like that. I can't understand how they can bare to live like that, but from a personal stand point, I'm so glad it's over.

When you lose something, you become much more grateful for it than ever before.
For all those Pixar fans, it's like the main character in Brave. After having something taken away from her all she wanted was for it (her mother) back. She didn't ask anything else, she she realized how much she loved her and all she could do was want her back.

So in that sense, when I stepped out side of the will of God, all I wanted to do was get back into it.
And just like the movie, through a miraculous miracle (for me, Jesus' blood.) I got back what I lost.

Inside Out

Recently God's been talking to me about ruling the spirit. Our actions we take don't happen randomly. The way we live reflects what is inside. Which means that if your spirit is not in God than it is impossible to surrender anything to God.

Through out my life I'm constantly giving this and that to God and my life is getting cleaned up. But sometimes I focus on just giving God that one thing and not why. I focus on the sin or habit that I'm giving God and not on the reason why.

If your spirit is in God, if your spirit is in complete submission to Him, then your actions and everything else will follow. You have to deal with the inside before you work on the out side.
Check your heart. Where is it? What do you truly love? What you love will be shown in how you live. The outside will prove the inside. So you have to fix the inside.

Matthew 23:26
²⁶ You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

Give God the inside and the out side will follow.

The After Party

As Christians we hear the words "relationship" and "fellowship" all the time. But something we hear a lot less is the word "mutuality." What that means is, as the words says, its mutual.
Which means that not only is God to love us (as He does and always has done) but we also love Him. The love and the efforts are shared and are not one way.

1 John 4:19
We love Him, because He first loved us.

God loved us before we ever existed, but now that we do exist, we need to love Him. As Christians loving God is not an maybe. You have to love Him. Which means you have to be able to love Him.

Church tonight was amazing. The worship was crazy and the sermon was phenomenal. But after church we (as in youth leaders/church leaders and some youth) prayed over camp.
We prayed over the leaders, the youth, the environment. It was truly amazing.
It's one of the few times that I can say I had more fun after church.

Tomorrow is camp for our youth group. I'm totally psyched for what God is going to do there.
God is so good!
I can't post for a few days, being at camp at all, but I'm sure there will be a lot to say when I get back.

I'm so excited for what God is doing in these days and I can't wait to see Him continue and finish the amazing work He started.
Praise be to the Lamb!

A Joy Beyond Measure

Joy.
God wants us to be happy. He's not one of those wrathful gods of mythology who only cares if you sacrifice to him. No, the God I serve, the God of Elijah, He is good. He wants our lives to be filled with life, light, joy, and grace.

In these past days, I've been marveling at the grace and joy of God.
Sometimes I'll be just sitting there and I'll just start laughing, just because God is funny and also because I have reason to laugh. =)
God is so good and we can't brush that aside.
I'm in complete awe of Him and his love toward us.

Nehemiah 8:10b
"Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

When I'm sad and distressed I can turn to God in prayer, worship, or reading in His Word, and I can except the joy that He offers.

Life is so much better if you live it in joy.
Let go of your sorrow. let go of your pride.
Let go and give yourself to the Lord.

Choose the joy of the Lord.
Choose the strength found in Him.
Choose to live in the Lord.

My life has changed beyond measure since I chose these things.
I urge you choose these things as well.
Answer the call on your life.
It's time to rise.