A Letter From A Friend (Definitely Worth Reading!)

          I would be a fool to think that only I have wisdom to bestow upon my friends, family, and internet strangers. Although I haven't asked for permission to reveal his name in this post, I have to share it with you all because it is beautiful, simple truth. This is a text message I received from a friend I met a long time ago at my home church, who recently revealed himself to be unabashedly on fire for Christ:

          I don’t know about you, but I quite regularly get this lie stuck in my head. Its reasoning is as follows: I love God and I am never going to turn my back on him, so He really doesn’t need to reward me anymore; since I am already in the kingdom, my personal comforts don’t matter; it makes sense for Him to do miracles in front of and unto unbelievers because they have yet to be saved, but if I have a hurt or a need or desire, God doesn’t have to fulfill that to win me over because He already has me. THIS IS A LIE! God loves us unconditionally. Whether we curse Him or bless Him, believe in Him or not, live by His Spirit or not, His love for us is the same infinite love.

Hebrews 11:6 NIV

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

          I came across this passage last night. In order to please God with our faith, we have to be optimists, we have to believe He will bless us, we have to believe that God had a plan of prosperity for our lives, we have to believe that He is going to do miracles to us and through us because He loves us. The Lord God is ravished over you, He is so infatuated with you that He can’t help but bless you, He sees just how much of a treasure you are that He bought all the dirt your past buried you in just so He could have you. You are precious to Him no matter what you do or where you are in your walk with Him. Don't ever let the lies that have plagued me overcome you. You Savior conquered a death most gruesome to rescue you. He didn’t rescue you to leave you alone for the rest of your life, He rescued you to be with you always to the very end of this age.

Grace and Peace,

A Humble Servant of the Almighty

God, I just thank you so much that we were designed for fellowship. When two or more of your people gather, there Your spirit dwells. Thank you for moving through the people around me to encourage me and strengthen my faith, and I pray that I would have the chance and the boldness to do the same for them. Everything You create, everything You design is beautiful, and I couldn't be more in love with You, Jesus, Lover of my soul.

Amen.

Fluffly, Fakey Christianity - Is Lukewarm Christianity Even a Thing?

          When Jesus took up the cross, it was him saying to us, "Look, I love you more than I love myself. I am willing to go to any end to love you. I will die to show you my love." So when Luke 9:23 tells us that following Christ means taking up our cross daily, it doesn't mean put on your holier-than-thou attitude and try to do the right thing and don't forget to say "You're in my prayers," when something bad happens. I don't know who started this whole idea that Christianity is easy, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say that that person was related to the person that started the idea that being a Christian just requires attending Christmas Eve and Easter service and having a Jesus-endorsing bumper sticker on your car. Revelations addresses these types of people pretty harshly: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Rev. 3:15-16) I don't know about you, but being spit out of the mouth of God doesn't sound very appealing to me.
          I'd venture to say that there is no such thing as lukewarm Christianity. That's a big statement to make, especially since we just established that it's possible to be lukewarm, so obviously it's a 'thing.' What I mean is this: if you're ambivalent about the Creator of the Universe, you obviously don't know Him. You see, if you truly know the Lord, you either hate him or love him. There is no in between. If a person can see what God has done for us and not love Him with a white-hot passion, they hate Him. Satan knows who God is. He knows everything Jesus has done for us. Still, he hates God. 
          If you claim to be a Christian, yet it has no effect on your life, you're not a lukewarm Christian. You're not a Christian at all. You don't know Christ, yet you claim His name. The word Christian literally means one who is of Christ. The Bible warns against judging others, but it also says that we need to speak the truth in love. I can say to you in all honesty that I have claimed the name of Christ without knowing Him. Before I let Christ change my life, I knowingly sinned against the God I had heard about, and I didn't care. Yet I called myself a Christian, I went to church, and I was generally nice to people. But that's not what being a Christian is about. I don't want this to seem as though I'm just ripping into people who aren't passionate about Christ, I just want people to wake up and see the truth that I've found.

          Get a mental picture of what carrying a literal cross looks like. If you've seen the movie Passion of the Christ, you have an idea. If not, here's a snippet from the part where the actor who played Jesus is carrying the cross. This is clearly just a movie, but this happened in real life. It was bloody, it was agonizing, and it was done out of love. Jesus had already been beaten at this point. Let that sink in. He had been flogged, he had the crown of thorns tearing into his head, and he was getting weak from blood loss. This is why He couldn't carry it alone. But after all of this, Jesus still stumbled up the road with the cross they were going to crucify him on. This is what true, passionate love looks like.
          So thankfully, we don't have to physically carry a cross and be crucified on it every day because that price has been paid, once and for all. What we do need to do as believers is to die to ourselves every day. I hear that so much and I think it's become part of that Christianese that confuses non-believers and glazes over the Word for believers. Dying to ourselves literally means denying ourselves the desires of our sinful nature. We literally kill them every day by refusing to put those desires over our desire to serve Christ. The things that we think we want, we refuse to indulge in. And it's not always just a battle against our actions, often times it's a battle against our thoughts and our hearts. It's not enough to just refrain from physically partaking in sinful actions, but we have to filter our thoughts and keep them focused on our task: spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, and leading a life as one who has been redeemed. 
          You don't have to carry your cross alone; Jesus couldn't carry his cross alone. His body gave out, and Simon had to help him. To truly carry our cross is a burdensome task. Reach out to someone you trust to help strengthen you, and you'll find yourself able to do the same for them. We are creatures made to interact with one another. To share in joys and sorrows, and to build each other up in our faith. Don't try to do this on your own.

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." - 1 Corinthians 15:58

God, your people want more of you. You see their hearts and you see their struggle. You see that they don't want to let go of the things that tear them down. Show them how much greater You are. Let us be a people that boldly proclaims that You are far greater than any other. Let us take up our cross and make the decision to truly follow you every single day of our lives. The road to heaven is steep and tiresome, but You walk beside us every step of the way. Let us never become weary in doing Your will. This is my earnest prayer, that Your people would be on fire for you again, Lord. 

In Trusting Hope,
Amen.

(P.S. - The song "Courageous" by Casting Crowns totally goes with this post and is just an awesome song in general so you should listen to it! And it's right there. All you have to do is click. *sigh* Americans do love convenience.)

What's Mine Is Mine and You Can't Have It (Right?)

          I've said it a hundred times before, and I'll say it a thousand more: I write about things I go through to try to make sense of them. God and I communicate in so many different ways, music being the biggest and writing being a close second. So when I find myself saying out loud, "God, I'm struggling with this jealousy, and I need you to make it go away," I can so very clearly hear God say, "Write about it. Write it all down, so you don't forget how you're feeling and how to fix it." 
          So why am I feeling jealous? Because in my closed-minded, selfish world, I am the only one in my circle of friends who is allowed to have a blog dedicated to the wonderful things that Jesus Christ is doing in my life. So when one of my beautiful, talented, and God-fearing friends started a blog of her own, my jealousy flared up to a degree that disgusts me. How can I be jealous of her for doing what I'm doing? It's not me who runs this blog. It's Jesus Christ in me. It's Jesus Christ through my dear friend who runs her blog. She will touch lives that I will never reach. I will touch lives that she will never reach. There is no competition when it comes to the will of God. 

Mike Donehey of Tenth Avenue North

          A few weeks ago, I heard a podcast featuring the lead singer of the band Tenth Avenue North, Mike Donehey, speaking about how his prayer changed from Lord use me to Lord let me see You move. Let me explain: Mike talked about how every time their band would get ready to perform, they would pray and ask God to bless their set and to bring people to Him through them. It seems fine, right? He wanted to do the work of God and bring people to Jesus through his music. Then he realized how selfish he was being. What if God wanted to use the other bands at the concert? Were they allowed to bring people to Christ too? So Mike Donehey changed his prayer from God use me to Lord let me see You move. 
          Now I understand why I stumbled upon that podcast so many days ago. Because God knew the selfishness in my heart, and knew that I would need to remember those words. I want to see the work of the Lord done. I don't want to be the only one leading people to Christ. Those desires are sinful, and they are evil, and they distract me from the real purpose of this whole thing. Guys, I don't want you to remember my name. I want you to remember my words, because I am speaking truth about the only true living God. That's the point of all of this. That is the point of my life. The purpose of my life is to love God and to love all of you so that you can find the source of true love. God is crying out, through my words, through the words of THOUSANDS of others like me. He is desperately trying to get your attention to just tell you that He loves you. That he made you, and that he wants your heart. The God of the entire universe wants your heart. 
          So this one goes out to all of my friends who want to do the will of the Lord. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's not about leaving your mark on the world. It's about leading this broken and hurting world to a perfect and loving Savior. So if you find yourself in a situation like that, remember who sent you to send your message.
          Oh! And check out her blog! She's got a beautiful story to tell, and I wouldn't want you to miss it for the world. 

Just Your Average Christmas Post . . .

          Every Christian blogger, and most secular bloggers, feel some sense of duty to make a Christmas post around this time of year. This year, I want to put my own twist on the stereotypical Christmas post: I want to talk about the great faith of the wise men from the East. 
          Though the wise men only take up less than one chapter in one book, Matthew 2, their story has become common knowledge even to unbelievers. They came to where Jesus was born and they gave him weird presents like franken-sense and mirrrr. If you know a little bit more of the story, you know they were sent to find the baby Jesus by King Herod, who lied about why he wanted to find Him. King Herod told the wise men that he wanted to worship the baby, who was prophesied to become a King. In reality, King Herod was insecure, jealous, and arrogant; he wanted to find this tiny baby and kill him, because King Herod had no intentions of losing his power as King. (Shout out to my youth group and Jessica George from One80 in Sandusky for that one!) 
          Because it is completely contradictory to my nature to let small details go without correcting them, I have to fix a common misconception. Most people believe that the wise men visited Jesus on the night of his birth. I thought so too, until I read Matthew 2:11 a little more carefully. It says that they visited Jesus in a house rather than in a stable, where Jesus was born. Not critical to our understanding of the Gospel, but still. 
          Now that that's out of the way, let's get into the real meat and potatoes of this story. The wise men had every reason to believe and obey King Herod. These people took Kings verrrrry seriously -- they could be sentenced to death just for sneezing too loudly. So when King Herod told them to return to him when they found the baby, that's exactly what they were going to do. They were going to tell King Herod exactly where the baby was, and King Herod was going to kill Him. Instead, these wise men had a dream that told them not to return to Herod. 
          Let me tell you, if I did everything that my dreams told me to do, they would lock me up and throw me in a psych ward. But this was a different kind of dream. The wise men knew this dream was from God, and they listened to that dream. For that, I would dare to put them right up there with every other person in the Bible who risked their life for the will of God, because they were in very real danger of being killed by King Herod if he found out what they had done. 
          So often Satan whispers into our ear, telling us to sin, and we give in. When God is shouting at us, telling us to do the right thing, we pray about it to make sure it's really God. The story of the wise men is one of intense faith in the God of the universe; they didn't question Him, they just did as they were told. I dare you to let this story bolster your faith; when God is telling you to do something, don't question it! Listen, and obey!

Serial Killers and Christianity

"For heavens
sake catch me
before I kill more
I cannot control myself"

          Let me start this off by saying that this post wasn't easy to write. Any time you face a question about your faith, it's not easy. There are so many different elements to it: pride, guilt, theology, intention, justification. I'm not saying that I'm right on this. I'm saying that this is what I came up with, and I may change my mind on it at any minute.
          I love to write. I write poetry, I write for this blog, and lately, I've dabbled in short story writing. My current prospective major is psychology, particularly criminal psychology, so that shows you where some of my interests lie. When I write, I really enjoy exploring the psyche of criminals and writing about what they experience in their minds. My first legitimate short story is titled The Price of Being Human. It follows a day in the life of a man named Ezra Cain, who turns out to be not so normal, and does it in a way that showcases his humanity. 
          When I finished this story, I felt uneasy about it. I kept thinking about 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God," and Colossians 3:17, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." I had to keep asking myself if writing this was doing work for the glory of God. And right now, I think the answer is yes. While the story doesn't have a happy ending, it showcases the reality of the world we live in. If I ever decided to publish my story, there would be an addendum describing how this is reality, and that there is only one way to find true peace in such a world.
          With that, if you'd like to read a short story about a man named Ezra Cain, I'm going to refer you to my dropbox. If you enjoy the story, please let me know! Comment on this post or send me an email at Danisoccer1@gmail.com! I love constructive criticism, and who doesn't like hearing a "Good job!" every once in a while? Also, if you have an opinion about my take on my writing, let me know! I'm a big fan of healthy debate! God bless all of you, and please stay safe if the roads are getting snowy like they are up here in Ohio.

Mine and God's Mockingjay

          If you've seen the Hunger Games movies, you know exactly what a mockingjay is. If not, here's a teeny tiny summary: In the movies, mockingjays are quasi-parrots; they match their song to whatever you say or sing, and repeat it over and over. The first time mockingjays appear in the Hunger Games series, a little girl named Rue uses them to send a message to Katniss (the main character) letting her know that she's okay. Basically, mockingjays are just little messengers. 

          Last night, I was scrolling through tumblr and thinking and getting worried about a lot of things, and I scrolled past a post quoting 1 Peter 5:7, "Cast your anxiety on Him because he cares for you." That verse has been at the center of my journey out of anxiety problems, and for some reason, it really hit me hard last night. I find it truly amazing that if I stop and actually force myself to concentrate and literally give up the things that are troubling me, God always makes me smile. And a lot of the time He gives me physiological signs of His presence. That may sound so weird, but if it’s not a yawn in the middle of the day, it’s some goosebumps running in a pattern up my arm, or a little shiver on my shoulder…it’s mine and God’s mockingjays…whenever I feel it, I know everything is okay. Most of the time, I can’t help but giggle knowing that the King of the universe is sending me a mockingjay to let me know how close He is.
          Find your mockingjay. Find the way that God speaks directly to you, and cherish it. Know that the God that created everything you see; the God that created music and cats and ice cream; the God who breathed life into your body is talking to you, because He loves you. He loves you more than anyone has ever loved you, and He desperately wants you to know that.

"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken." -Psalm 52:22

You are Jehovah-Jireh, our Provider, You are Jehovah-Rapha, our Healer, and You are Jehovah-Shalom, our Peace. Thank you so much for walking with us through life's struggles, and carrying us when we can't walk on our own. Thank you for coming down to meet us where we are, and lifting us far above the troubles of this world. You are our All in All, the only One we need, and we love you with all of our hearts.

Amen.

In Loving Memory of Those We've Lost 'Too Soon'

          When a child passes away, it's not easy for anyone. We have this expectation that people live their entire life, grow old, then die. That's the way it's supposed to be. So when that expectation isn't met, we get angry, we get confused, we get disappointed, and more people than not ask God, "Why? How could you do this? If you're such a good and mighty God, why would you let this child die?" This post is inspired by the death of a young boy who was very close to the family of my best friend, but this isn't the first time my family has dealt with the loss of a child. My uncle was born in May of 1971, and he died soon thereafter. I can't even imagine the grief of bringing a child into this world only to have him ripped away before being able to get to know him. A few years ago, some church friends of ours lost their 3-year-old grandson to an abusive boyfriend, and there are a thousand more stories like ours. 
          When we go through tough times in our lives, we turn to God and find comfort in knowing that He is our Comforter and our Healer. When we turn away from God and get angry at Him at the loss of a child, what we're really saying is, "This hurt is too big for you to heal, so just go away." That is a lie, and that is the enemy in your ear telling you that. You CAN be healed through the power of Christ, and you WILL find peace when you give it up to Him, but you're allowed to be sad. In John 11, Jesus hears about his friend Lazarus dying. When Jesus sees where they buried Lazarus, Jesus cried for the loss of his friend, even though he was about to raise him from the dead! So cry, and be sad, because you won't have that little bundle of joy around you anymore. But once you've cried all your tears, look to God and honestly trust that He has a purpose for your life, and that He will bring you through this. 
          As Americans, we tend to be people of action. We like to say, "How can this be prevented, or what can I do to remedy this?" As Christians, we need to ask some of the same questions, but keep the focus of what God wants us to do. When a family member who knows the Lord passes away, we can find hope in our grieving. We can confidently proclaim that to be absent from these bodies is to be in the presence of the Lord. That whole, "They're in a better place now," thing is true for us! If the Lord decided to call me home today, I wouldn't be complaining about it! That's where we belong. 
          When we don't know whether the child who died had accepted Christ, things get tricky. How old is a child before he can truly know God and accept Him? God wouldn't condemn an innocent child to hell, would He? Well none of us are born innocent. We are born of a wicked, sinful nature. But, our God is just, and we have to believe that with our whole hearts. Children have a special aspect of being completely trusting. If you've ever jokingly betrayed a child, and seen the aftermath, you know what I'm talking about. Because of that, Jesus says we need to have "faith like a child." (Luke 18:17)
          So what CAN we do about this? What is our call to action here? For me, it's perfectly clear that we need to tell them about Jesus Christ. Tell them now, and we won't have to question whether or not they're in heaven. Don't hold back from telling little children the good news of Jesus Christ because they're "too young to understand it." Matthew 19:14 explicitly says, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." So tell your children about Jesus Christ. Tell your friends' children about Jesus Christ. Tell your neighbor children about Jesus Christ, and most importantly, DO NOT BE ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.
          Why would you worry about whether the neighbor lady is going to approve of you telling her kid about Jesus? Would you trade your friendship with her for the salvation of that little one? How do you know that she won't approve? Why are you ashamed of the Gospel?

"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” " - Matthew 28:18-20

Surely, surely You are with us to the very end of the age. What a beautiful promise, God. What a beautiful God You are. There is truly none like you, and none above you. Jesus, do not let us turn away from You when tragedy strikes. Be near to your people while they grieve, just as our Father was near to You when Lazarus had died. Death no longer holds its sting on us because of what You did for us. Let us find comfort in your arms when life seems unbearable, and help us to never forget that You have a plan for our lives that is so much better than anyone could ever imagine. For no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagine what God has planned for those who love Him. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. We will be comforted.

Amen.

The Very First Musical Monday! (ft. Phil Stacey)

Phil Stacey, or Joel Phillip Stacey, is a 36 year old Christian artist with a passion for missions, and an even bigger passion for God. I first met Phil at the 2013 REACH Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Before the conference, I had no idea who he was, because I don't watch American Idol. Apparently, he was a big deal on the show, but I think he's even more of a big deal now. Although Phil didn't win American Idol, he did go on to sign a record deal singing country music, but God kept pulling his heart back to the church. He had grown up in the church, with both his father and grandfather serving as pastors, so he always had a passion for worshiping God with his voice. At REACH Conference, I got to see the side of him that many American Idol fans never got to see. 
          Right before Phil and his band got into Cleveland for the tour, they were all the way across the pond singing and playing for military families in England. Soon after REACH Conference, they left for Japan. To say that Phil loves to spread the news of Jesus Christ would be an understatement. He has dedicated his whole life to it, and he wouldn't have it any way. I was able to talk to he and his band mate personally about how he's been to the murder capitols of the world, and the fact that they've made a difference there, really sparked a passion for missions in me that I knew had always been there. He helped shape me decision to take a second look at Liberty University because of their mission-mindedness. 
          Aside from how amazing of a person he is, Phil's vocals and his ability to really let his music convey a bigger message is what makes him such an amazing artist. From his first big album, Phil Stacey, to his second album, Into The Light, you can see the range with which he's working. His self-titled album features his southern drawl that would make any country fan swoon, while his second album almost completely ditches his Kentucky accent and showcases his incredibly smooth tone. 
          Since he spends so much time overseas spreading the Word to other countries, there aren't many tracks available to listen to on iTunes or Spotify, but you can check him out on YouTube to see more covers and performances! If you have an opportunity to see Phil Stacey in concert, DO IT!

Phil Stacey signed my phone at REACH Conference!

Musical Mondays! (Maybe)

          Believe it or not, I'm a bit scatterbrained. By that, I mean that I often leave out important details and sometimes have trouble following through with things. With that, I completely left out one of my biggest passions when I wrote the post about myself! Music connects me with the whole world, and most importantly, music connects me with God in a very special way. Through no merit of my own, I have been gifted with a beautiful voice that I love to worship God with. Due to some long-lasting anxiety issues, my public performances have been few and far between,

but I am working daily toward a place that will enable me to change that. I would absolutely love to go into a career that would let me bring the good news of Christ to people through music, but if that's not God's plan for me, that's okay because God's plans are always better than mine!

          The purpose of this post is to inform you all that I might be starting a weekly post dedicated to Christian bands and artists! This was inspired by a youth conference I went to a few weeks ago, where the worship leader was the totally awesome, completely humble, and adorably hilarious Phil Stacey! He spoke at a couple of our breakaway groups, and hearing him talk about the Christian music industry was really insightful. He talked about how people can be drawn into the music without hearing the message of Christ, and how the artists themselves can lose sight of their faith when they get a taste of fame. 
          The only hang up on this weekly posting thing is that my schedule changes so frequently that sometimes I don't get a chance to write when I want to write, so it might end up being a bi-weekly thing, or everything might go as planned and there will be no purpose for this post. Either way, keep an eye out for my first article, dedicated to Phil Stacey himself! 

Phil Stacey performing an acoustic set

Let's Talk Forgiveness and People Who Don't Deserve It

          When I first learned about C.S. Lewis, I was amazed and inspired. Since that day, I'm continually inspired by the quotes I find all over the place that can be attributed to this man. When I got the idea for this post, I knew I needed some kind of visual to sum this all up, and I think this picture does that perfectly. 
          I want to tell you all a somewhat vague story about someone who has hurt my family and a lot of people I love. There is a person whom I will name Z for the sake of this story. Z has done awful things, all while claiming the name of Christ. Z has accused people I love of doing terrible things that I couldn't even say to you without crying. My mother was very close to Z, and loved this person as a sibling. When our family started learning about the awful things that Z was doing, we were all heartbroken, but my mother took it the hardest. 
          My mother is the most godly woman I have ever met. She is always the first to pick someone up if she sees them fall, she would offer up everything she had to help someone in need, and she is always the first to hand out godly advice like candy. She is not only one of only two people in our entire church who runs the soundboard on Sunday mornings, but she is also a dedicated Sunday School teacher and a member of the music committee and church choir, so she spends every Saturday morning at the church in meetings and choir practice after spending a very full work week running around and being a full-time mother. Everyone gets discouraged at some point, but my mother is like the energizer bunny. The list of my favorite things about my mom definitely includes the fact that she always wants to stay late after church and talk to everyone. My dad and my brother get annoyed at it sometimes, but I know that she puts a smile in the heart of everyone she talks to, and it's absolutely beautiful.
          Now that you have just an inkling of an idea of what a wonderful person my mother is, I hope it breaks your heart a little more knowing that Z completely walked out on their friendship, refused to answer her calls, and called her a liar and a traitor. I could deal with the things Z accused my family members and friends of doing, but seeing my mother cry with such hopelessness is what began a rage in me that I have never experienced before. This all happened before I gave my life to Christ, so I had no idea what to do with my anger. I took it out on myself. I felt like a failure for not being able to protect the woman who had protected me since I was conceived. 
          Once I gave my life to Christ, I had to look at this situation in a different light. I thought I had forgiven Z by refusing to think about them, but last night I saw Z again for the first time in a long time. Instantly, I had thought after thought firing through my head, and they were mean, vengeful thoughts. I knew I had to forgive Z in a way that actually meant letting go of these thoughts, but I just didn't want to. Writing always helps clear my head, so I dug into the Word to try to find the perfect verse to support the argument for forgiveness. 
          Colossians 3:13 reads, "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." For me, this really put things into perspective. The whole chapter is talking about living in a way that is pleasing to God, and how we can strive to be more like God, and that last sentence hits it home: Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Each of us needs to realize that at one point in our lives, we were as vile a creature as our worst enemy. We hated God, we did things that directly defied Him, we accused Him of being the source of all of our problems. None of us deserves forgiveness: We've all fallen short. 
          So as Christians, we walk around claiming the name of Christ, boasting in His mercy and grace, claiming to be striving toward Christ-likeness, then we turn around and harbor all of this anger and resentment toward those who've done no worse than we've done to God! Forgiveness means letting go of pain, and pain can become a place to hide. You can stand in all of your pain and say, "I don't have to acknowledge my faults! Look what he's done to me! Look what she did to them! Pay attention to their shortcomings; don't look at mine! I'm the victim!" 
          Where would you be today if God had hidden in His pain instead of forgiving you?

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. - Psalm 139:23-24

God, I just need to thank you for the forgiveness I've been given. I would be dead right now if you didn't love me. I pray for strength to love Z in the way that you love me, and to be emptied of my pride and my pain. For everyone who's struggling with forgiveness, I pray for them to know the peace that comes with letting go of that anger. You are the Mighty God, the One capable of so much more than we could ever imagine, and we want to spend our whole lives praising You for what You've done. Thank you so, so very much.

In the name of the only One who is mighty to save,
Amen. 

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Down On Their Knees.

          Let me tell you, you take one step in the right direction and the devil is going to knock you off your feet. But look where you are; you are in perfect battle position on your knees. Exodus 14:14 reads, "The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still." The thing I always stress in my Bible studies is don't just read the sentence. You've read it a hundred times, you can recite it to anyone you meet, but you still don't let it affect you. What does it actually look like to let the Lord fight for you?
          None of us are strangers to trouble. It's been my experience that as Christians, the more we try to be like Christ and do things to advance His kingdom, the more trouble we're going to find ourselves facing. 2 Timothy 3:12 seems to agree with me. Sometimes it can feel like you just want to look up at God and say, "Are you serious? You ask me to follow you, and I do, and this is what I get?" Whenever I find myself talking to God like this, I get this mental image of God doing the 'Should've had a V8' head-bonk to me. Because time and time again, Jesus looks at us when we're struggling and his heart just breaks because all we have to do is let go. You see, the troubles we face in this world can feel completely overwhelming. Bills need to be paid, schoolwork has to get done, people turn against us, plans we thought were what God wanted for us fall through, and we're always left frustrated and confused. 
          I have known way too many white-knuckle Christians. What I mean by that is that when these troubles come at them, they try to take matters into their own hands and say, "I can beat this. I can push through and win this battle." So they spend every waking second of their lives fighting and fighting, and the problems might fade away for a bit, but they never truly go away. If you are trying to beat something on your own, you will spend all of your time trying to beat that thing, and you will be rendered ineffective for the Kingdom of God. So the enemy wins that battle! But here's your other option: let go, and let God work. Letting go of whatever problems you're facing does not mean ignoring them. It means looking them dead in the eye and saying, "My God is so much bigger than you." You acknowledge that there is a problem, that it's bringing you pain, and that God is going to bring you through it. 
          I'm not here to tell you that this is the easiest thing in the world and it will completely fix your life and you'll never ever feel stressed ever again. Trusting in God to handle things that seem completely out of control isn't always easy. But luckily for us, we have the most trustworthy entity to ever exist on our side. Our God is all-powerful. Not only does He have the power to change any situation, He's already got our entire lives figured out for us. How seriously cool is that? Every single trouble we go through was designed for a greater purpose. Repeat that to yourself out loud: Every single trouble I go through was designed for a greater purpose. Yes! That purpose might not be revealed to you as soon as you get out of it, but if you truly believe in the goodness and fairness of God, you'll be able to see that ways God has used seemingly awful situations to bring glory to His name. 
          Now as far as being on your knees is concerned, I want to show you one of my personal favorite passages of the Bible. In Luke 22:39-46, Jesus is in the final hours of his free life. He knew He was soon to be betrayed, and Jesus was freaking out. He goes off by himself, gets down on his knees and says, "Father, if there's any way you can stop this from happening, please do it. BUT, if it's Your will, I won't refuse You." That whole passage is such a beautiful model for how we can pray when we're going through some of the roughest times in our lives. We can cry out to God and ask him to take away this thing that we're struggling through, but we have to accept that there are things we have to go through to get to where God wants us to be. And one of the most sincere ways to ask God to move is on our knees. Kneeling before the Lord is a sign of true surrender. You're saying, "I don't even have the strength to stand on my own, I need You in every single aspect of my life, God." It's a sign of respect and submission. When you're on your knees, you give up control. When you give up control, you let God fight for you -- and our God never loses. 

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You." -Psalm 63:3

God I thank you so much for loving us so fiercely, so jealously, that when the enemy sunk his teeth into us, You sacrificed your own Son to free us from his grip. That same jealous love is the love with which you hold us safely above the fray when everything seems to be falling apart. I pray that someone would read this and just let go of whatever is holding them back from doing amazing things for Your Kingdom and let You, the Creator and Master of all things, fight for them. Thank you so much. I love you.

In Jesus' mighty name,
Amen.

Reckless Operation of a Human Meatsuit (Lessons in Unashamed Grace)

          When I started writing this post, I was riding with my mom on our way back home from visiting Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, which is about nine hours away from our little town in Ohio. I decided to finish this post today when I got a speeding ticket for doing 76 in a 55 . . . apparently having to use the restroom really bad isn't a valid excuse for driving 21 miles per hour over the speed limit. Anyway, all those miles on the way to Liberty gave me a lot of time to think, and God laid in on my heart to write about driving and our faith and the pitfalls we can fall into as believers The thing that kept coming to mind was road rage -- and it doesn't even have to be full-on cursing and honking at other drivers. It's a matter of asking yourself, what is my attitude when I'm driving? Am I driving over the speed limit? Am I an angry driver, getting impatient every time someone goes a little under the speed limit and they just won't move? Am I cutting people off? Is my horn a warning sign, or a weapon? 
          Obviously I wouldn't be writing about this if l didn't see it as a problem for our society or us as a body of believers. I actually see it a lot, and I've been guilty of road rage myself. But l think the biggest problem here is that we don't even realize there's a problem. So why is road rage even a problem? Because as Christians, we represent Christ to everyone around us.

"But l'll never meet these people or ever have a conversation with them, so they'll never know I'm a Christian!"

          The truth is, the way you drive is a reflection of what's in your heart. If you're getting impatient on the road, you're probably getting impatient off the road. Extending grace toward people that seriously annoy you is tough, but you hear it all the time: "Jesus loves them, so you need to love them too." As obnoxious as that may be sometimes, here's a new way to look at it: 

Showing people grace when they annoy you is a blessing for yourself. If you're like me, getting an opportunity to help someone out, whether it be helping a friend through a crisis or handing a homeless man a hot lunch, gives you this unbelievable joy that leaves you smiling for the rest of the day. That joy comes from doing the will of God, and being more like Him. So, when you have a choice to either get impatient and take things into your own hands or to show grace and trust that everything is in God's hands, you have the chance to be more like Him, and it will fill you with that same joy!

But Danielle, you don't understand, these people are just soooo annoying.

          Trust me, I understand. I deal with stupid drivers all the time, and I deal with annoying people even more frequently; I work in the food business -- I understand annoying people. But, if you crack open your Bibles with me, we'll see that Jesus dealt with some of the most annoying people to ever walk the planet. Let's start with tax collectors -- definitely something we can all relate to. Every time I open my check, I get to see how much I've charitably donated to the good ole' United States Government. Matthew 22:21 says,  "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caeser's." 

. . . but it doesn't belong to Caeser! It belongs to me! I worked my tail off to earn this money!

          You know this one too, "Every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord." Money may not be a perfect gift, but it definitely comes from the Lord. So is it really our money? Well now that I've got my tail between my legs, how did Jesus deal with tax collectors? A lot of you probably know Luke 19:10 by heart, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." But do you know the rest of that chapter? It's the story of Zacchaeus. You know, that 'wee little man'? Well he was more than just a short guy. He totally had a Napoleon complex; he was the chief tax collector. Every time Jesus had money taken out of his 'paycheck,' it went to Zacchaeus. And Jesus wasn't monetarily rich by any means. So he had every right to be annoyed by Zacchaeus.  Instead of blowing him off or telling him to get lost, Jesus goes, "Hey! I'm spending the night tonight." The most annoying person Jesus knew just became his host for the night. 

          Obviously being perfectly graceful at all times isn't possible -- we're still imperfect beings. But the underlying principle still holds true: it's a beautiful blessing to be able to be more like Christ by showing grace to those we'd really rather not, whether we're on the road, tired from a long day's work, or any time for that matter!

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." -Matthew 5:7

God, l pray that you would soften the hearts of Your people, humbling us with the memory of the abundant grace You have poured out to each of us. Let us speak words of comfort to the brokenhearted, wisdom to those who seek it, and love to all. Help us to be ever mindful that we were lost, and it was Your grace that searched us out and led us to true freedom. Thank you so much for everything You've done for us, and all You have yet to do.

In Jesus' precious name, 
Amen.

Here's to a New Chapter in a Beautiful Love Story

          I suppose every writer has a pilot post, where they feel the need to justify the existence of their blog, or just to justify their existence in general. Never one to question the natural way of such things, I'll do my best to explain to you my reason for existing, and my reason for writing.
          My name is Danielle Eschedor, and as of December 4, 2013, I am 17 years old. That will be changing much too soon in March of 2014. I don't feel completely capable of assuming the responsibilities of a full-blown adult, so I am eternally grateful for the grace period of about 4 years called college that I will soon be entering. As for the geographic location of my endeavors in all-night study sessions and irreplaceable memories, I have so many options right now and I don't want to think about them today, so I won't. I'm sure I'll be writing about it once I make my decision, so just be patient, my friends. If I were to describe myself in one word, I would choose the word redeemed. I have been saved from the (questionably figurative) pits of hell by a God who is too immeasurably wonderful for my comprehension, yet loves me fiercely enough to send himself down to a broken and sinful world to be brutally murdered as a sacrifice in my place. Every Christian, and every person, for that matter, has a backstory. Most Christians call it their testimony. Non-Christians just call it their past. Either way, here's mine:

     I grew up in a typical Christian household; I was loved, I was gifted with academic abilities, but I was under a lot of internal pressure to achieve more and more. Without a strong personal relationship with Christ, the pressure broke me. Around the middle of my sophomore year, I started down the road to depression, anxiety, self-harm, as well as anorexic and bulimic tendencies. I turned to guys to try to make myself feel complete, but I was so empty. I thought I was in love with a wonderful, godly guy, and when we broke up, I hit rock bottom. I was determined to take my own life that night. I sat in front of my computer and cried about everything. I did not want to give my life up to the God my parents knew and loved. I wanted to do things my way, despite where my way had gotten me. In an angry whisper, I cried out to God and said, “If you’re really that great, then take it all. Take every part of me, because I’m done with my own life.”
     At that exact moment, I truly found God. This wasn’t the God that I had grown up knowing. This God was real, and this God was raw, and this God was powerful. The next week was the best week of my life. I was in constant communication with God, I was always opening my Bible and finding new things that God had to show me, and for the first time in my life, I felt complete. I reached out to a leader at my youth group and we’ve become great friends and prayer partners, and she's really wonderful about encouraging me and picking me up when I need to lift my eyes away from earthly troubles.
     I know that God let me go through the struggles that I’ve been through so that my story can be a testament to the healing power of Christ, and I get so excited when an opportunity arises to share my story.

          So now that you know where I've been, I'll tell you why I feel like I have some inalienable right to write: I don't. I want to write, not because I feel entitled to it, but because I feel like God has been speaking to me lately, telling me to chase this. To test the waters, see where it takes me. I've been getting a lot of really interesting questions of ideas popping into my head, and when I sit down to try to make sense of them, I find so much more than I expected. And what I've found -- what I'm still finding, I want to share it. What good is it to store up these treasures of truth in my heart? If I'm the only person benefiting from this, what good have I done to further the kingdom of God? So this is me; a young girl who found freedom, and wants to share it with others. I really hope this blog brings encouragement and smiles, and maybe just a few tears. 

"Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” -John 7:38

God, today I pray that You would use this blog as a source of life and of hope. That people from all walks of life would come and see that You are good. Speak Your will into my words, so that I may be but a vessel for You. Empty me of myself, and fill me with ever more of You. You are so, so good, God. 

Amen.