Don't be afraid to share your story

We Can't Change People

    

Dear Lord, let it end with me

Never stop planting good seed

Dear younger me: you will never fit in

Dear Younger Me,

You will never fit in. 

But you will be ok.

I know it's hard. Especially when you're young.

Especially when you want nothing more than to just be "normal".

But let me let you in on a secret. 

No one is normal. Because normal doesn't exist.

It's a made-up word with a made-up definition.

Everyone is different.

Everyone.

So please stop trying so hard to be like everyone else.

Please stop trying to change who you were meant to be, because you want to be like the cool kid.

Because the cool kid has problems too.

You'll learn that as you get older.

That the popular ones. The ones who seem to have it all.

Really don't have it all.

They have insecurities too. 

They have problems.

They have issues that are hidden under false bravado. 

And hiding it will give them even bigger problems as they get older.

Trust me on that one.

So, you keep being you.

You keep trying to do the right thing.

You keep being friends with everyone.

You keep being honest.

You keep believing that good prevails.

You keep shining your light.

Not everyone will like you.

But you can't change that.

And don't you dare go changing you because of it. 

Because you have value that will one day be seen.

You have a gift that will someday be needed.

And all those years of not fitting in, will have given you the strength to share your gift with the world.

The most important thing in your life, will become your faith.

It will develop into your cornerstone. 

You will face hardship.

You will walk away.

But you will find your way back.

And you will never leave it again.

Because God is going to meet you right where you are.

Right as you're telling Him you don't need Him.

Right as you're believing He let you down.

 

You will come to see He never let you down. 

Not once.

So, hold on when the storms come.

Cling to your faith. 

Open your Bible.

Believe His Words.

If you listen to nothing else I'm saying, listen to this.

God is faithful. He is absolutely faithful.

I promise you with everything I am.

And one last thing.

And this may be hard to hear.

But you won't fit in when you get older either.

You just won't.

But by then you'll have figured out that God didn't make you to fit in.

He made you to stand out.

And knowing that, is still hard.

Trust me, I know.

But you will be ok.

 

Do you believe Jesus is able?

A simple question. Requiring an honest answer. Two blind men had approached Jesus. They wanted Him to heal them. And so Jesus asked them if they believed He could. He asked them if they thought He was able. And they responded with a simple “yes, Lord.” But in those simple words, was everything Jesus needed to hear. 

Yes, we believe. Yes, we think you are able. Yes, we believe you are Lord.

“According to your faith will it be done to you,” Jesus responds. And their sight was restored. 

According to YOUR faith will it be done to you. According to what YOU believe. According to what YOU have decided in your heart.

Will it be done to you.

They came to Jesus and asked for help. And He asked a simple question. 

“Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

And He asks the same of us today.

With our addictions. With our diseases. With our fractured relationships. And broken hearts.

When we don’t know where we fit in. Or where we belong.

When the weight of so many responsibilities has us overwhelmed and exhausted.

When we’re blind. And cannot see.

Do we believe? Do we think He is able? Do we know that Jesus is Lord?

Oh, Lord that we would have this faith. This simple faith that just believes and doesn’t doubt. The faith of two blind men, who had never seen you but believed. The faith that gave them the boldness to approach you. The faith that gave them the courage to ask. The faith that knew in their hearts, that you were the one. That you ARE the one. Give us that faith, Lord. Where despite everything, we believe. That we go to you with our needs. That we trust you for our help. That it’s you we seek out. That it’s you we ask. Forgive us, Lord, when we’ve placed our faith in this world instead of you. May from this day forward, you never have to ask where we stand. May the words of our mouth, and the meditations of our heart, forever give witness to the faith we have in you. In Jesus’ Name we pray.

Would Jesus Do It Again?

When Jesus looks at this world and all the chaos, do you think He regrets His choice?

Do you think He wonders if His wounds were worth it?

If all the lashes, all the pain, all the misery...still equaled a world that continued to blaspheme Him, would it be fair for Him to second guess His decision?

When He watches our continued indifference. 

Our lackluster faith.

Our blessings that we take for granted.

Our refusal to stand up for Him.

Our preference of making Church an option. 

Our singing of music that worships the world.  

Our downright allowing the devil to come into our homes.

Do you think He shakes His head?

 

Do you think when we pray our quick prayers, which we fit into whatever corner or crevice in our heart that has room, it brings Him joy?

Do you think He feels honored by it?

When Jesus looks, really looks, at a world that is just as bad as when He came, do you think He wishes He never came at all?

Jesus was ridiculed for us. He was beaten for us. He gave His life for us.

Jesus died to save us from our sins, and yet we still keep sinning. 

When will it be enough for us?

When will it be enough for Him?

Jesus WILL be coming back.

But will He be coming back for me?

And will He be coming back for you?

I Never Knew You

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Matthew 7:21-22