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Hey Everyone!
As the school year comes to a close, I had 2 choices. 1. To shut down my blog, or 2. Keep posting for my liking. I have decided to remain here at wordpress and continue my blog. However, my blogging will be bi-weekly throughout the summer and end up being sporadic throughout next fall. I have also decided that I will be changing things up a little bit. It is not so much going to be about what college students can do on their quest for Christ, but an encouragement to join with me in expanding the kingdom and how my passions continue to evolve.
Blessings!
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
Where does fear come from? Everyone has fears. Kids. Young Adults. Adults. Psychology defines fear as, “Fear is an unwanted, unpleasant feeling of anticipated or perceived risk or danger, whether it be real or unreal.” Most of can relate to this meaning because most of us have a fear of something. However, the Bible states in Ephesians 6:12,”That fear is a spirit of torment sent out by our enemy the devil.” And to counteract that statement in 2 Timothy 1:7 it says, “For God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, of love, and of self-discipline.”
I have been reading a book called “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” by Mark Batterson. This whole book is about facing your fears, or in this case your “lion”, and defying the odds that are stacked against you. For 7 years I have been deathly afraid of heights, even to the point in movies I get nauseous. This past Easter weekend, I went out with my family and faced one of my biggest fears…. heights. I decided to bungee jump off 7 stories, an equivaliant of 70 feet. Walking up the stairs, with my feet latched together, I quoted scripture to remain focused on the task. Now don’t get me wrong I almost chickened out until the stunt master pushed me off the ledge. Falling 7 stories never felt so good. I looked at my feet bound together symbolizing shackels that held me from moving forward in God, but as I killed that “lion” those shackels were loosed and I is freed from that fear.
Fear can come in any shape or form. Maybe its rejection. Or being alone. Maybe you are afraid to fail. Or entering a new stage in life. Perhaps you are scared of heights just like I was. As I was reading this book I came across a statement that has stuck with me, “You have to be willing to fail in order to succeed.” What we have to grap is God is not a God of fear. He stacks the odds to watch His children succeed. He wants us to trust and rely on Him knowing that He already knows the outcome and we are victorious regardless. When we do succeed and we do kill our “lions” nothing brings our Father greater joy.
Are you going to use the power God has instilled in you to fight those “lions” head on? Or are you going to allow your fear to control you? Think about it.
Blessings!
“But the fact is, it was our pains he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed.” Isaiah 53:5-8
What a verse! I get chills meditating on it. As you have noticed media outlets, like themovie and mcusic industry have put that verse into motion and play. “The Passion of the Christ” was created to paint a picture of the what occurred that dark day – Good Friday. The song “True Love” by Phile Wickham was written to remind of the price He paid as he died on the cross.
As I watched the Passion of the Christ, with my family the morning of Easter, four words came to me, My Sweet, Sweet Jesus. I sat there watching a man who was being tried and beaten, scorned, flogged and spat upon for my sins that I had not even committed. What kind of love it that? I sat their thinking to myself “How could you not be in love with a man who loved me enough to die just to have a relatiobship with me.” It was the first time I actually grasped the amount of love that was nailed to that cross. Through Him I am victorious of sin!
For most Christians we view Easter as a sign of victory. He conquered the grave, as well as sin. We all say, or have said the well known phrase, ” He has Risen. He has risen indeed!” It is a day and phrase that means a lot to those of us in Christ. For John Haas, Easter is a very monumental day for him. And then there are some that feel as if “they are set free”, as SMU Alumni, Tori Green states it.
How do you view the day your Savior conquered the grave? Is it a day of victory. Freedom. Reconciliation. Healing. However you view the day, do not just make it Easter Sunday that you thank Him for what He did, make it everyday. He died and rose again to have a relationship with you. Once you enter that relationship, the amount of love given and shown is unsurpassable. After all, how can you not love a man who paid the ultimate price for you.
Blessings
