Ranting, Raving and Renewing

This week while Jeff is away I have one of our students staying here. She is so amazing and has so many questions and thoughts about God. As a young person in this time, I have complete and utter respect and admiration for the kids who strive to stay strong in their faith, love the Lord and endure the temptations around them. Older people, even some parents of teenagers say that "they just have no idea about life." And, in many ways, this is very very true, simply because they haven't had the experiences we have, however, the reason Jeff and I still have a heart for them (excluding the obvious reason being that God has called us into the ministry and given us a passion for them) is that we see the struggle getting harder and harder with each generation. Being their age is NOT easy and I look at the fact that Jesus started his ministry as a "child" and was able to draw people to Himself and His Father. In our society, we don't give these kids enough credit and dismiss them b/c they're too young and just have no experience. If we would all think back to when we were their age, we might remember that our problems at the time (as "petty" or "insignificant" as they may seem to us now, knowing what we know) were very REAL and very DEEP to us. I have always said that we all have problems unique to us. Their problems are all they know and are HUGE to them. So, should we laugh it off, blow them off or roll our eyes and say "KIDS!!!" I don't believe so. We are doing them a huge injustice by not validating that their issues are real to them. Do we often, always...wish we could put in their heads and hearts what we know? Yes...but how does that help them grow and learn and even draw closer to God through seeing HIM work in their lives? OUR faith (as ministers, mentors, parents) is not their faith or relationship with God. When they leave the nest and venture out on their own, what is going to keep them "in check" is THEIR faith, and THEIR relationship with Him. Is it imperative for them to have Godly examples and people to point them to Christ and guide them in the right direction? Absolutely!! But, WE are not their Savior. Only He can show them more of Himself. So, I believe our job is to nurture, raise up and under gird them with lots ans lots of PRAYER. And..to believe God's Word and promise that if we raise a child up in Him, that even if they stray, they WILL come back to Him eventually. That's where, not being a parent myself, it sounds easy for me to SAY, right? But, I didn't say it...God did!! So, I believe it, whether I have personally experienced it or not. Our job is also to instill values, be an example of what Christ wants us to be, while letting them know that as humans, we are not perfect either, so they must not look to ANYONE but their Creator and Savior for the perfect example of living a life that pleases Him. One HUGE issue they deal with, is the church as a whole, Christians as a whole, being hypocritical. However, this cannot be an excuse for not following God and doing what is expected of us. We were created to worship Him, so anything we do short of that, is going to leave us empty and unfulfilled. As we know, being a Christian doesn't make our lives void of pain, heartache, trials and sickness...but we do have a hope others don't have. PRAISE GOD for that!! Unfortunately, the church as a whole, has gotten it all wrong. We think we are supposed to go to church on Sunday (and whatever other day of the week it may be for us) and be "fed" and expect God to bless us, serve us, speak to us and when WE don't get what WE want...we pout or get angry or complain. WE have misconstrued the purpose of corporate worship and fellowship. We are supposed to be growing daily with Christ, and coming together in a place (with US being the church) to BLESS and serve and lift up HIM...not the other way around. So, why do we leave church feeling frustrated and not "fed?" Because we went in with the wrong perspective, wrong reasons and wrong heart. If during the week we would be what He calls us to be and fall more and more in love with Him each day, we would look forward to going to "church" to worship with others (regardless of the style of music) and share what God has done in our lives ALLLLL week long. Then, we would leave fulfilled and blessed simply because God is AMAZING that way. Does He desire to bless us? You betcha!! Do we miss a lot of blessings out of our own selfishness, expectations of what HE or others should be doing for US? You betcha!! It's time, past time, for us to stop making excuses, stop wanting to be spoon fed and do what we were created to do, which is worship our Heavenly Father and Creator, and spread His love to others. Are we perfect? NOPE...is that an excuse to sin? NOPE....but being REAL people, no facades, no masks, no pretending...will draw others to Him more than trying to pretend we have it all together, have no problems as Christians or when we do have problems, telling people that if we had more faith we wouldn't have to deal with them. NOT TRUE!! As Jeff always says, "when God saved us, He never said we would hold hands and skip down the yellow brick road an everything would always be GREAT." where is the joy in getting to see God and intimately KNOW Him if we don't struggle?? What's the point in faith and reliance on the one true God who is Almighty? There wouldn't be any. I would rather struggle and see God as I do, KNOW I have hope and that one day, I am going to spend eternity with my CREATOR!! Wow!! Just the thought amazes me. People who don't believe can try and dispute with me that God isn't real, or that a loving God would never send anyone to Hell, etc. But, you can't dispute with anyone their own personal experience, and I have mine. Also, GOD is GOD and can do whatever He chooses. WE, as humans decided to go our own way, and He could have given up on us, but thankfully, mercifully, graciously, He still allows us to be able to come to Him. It's a choice like everything else in life. If we were made or forced to love Him, is that really love? I think not. But, once we make a choice to follow Him, our life is no longer our own. We belong to Him and it's a COMMITMENT to follow even in the midst of turmoil. Do I even consider baling on my relationship with Him? What if He did that to me when I failed? I choose to serve a God who is all powerful, all knowing and REAL! Hope you do too!! Also, hope you made it through to the end of this, simply because none of this was meant to be "preachy" or "guilt-inflicting." Rather....and hopefully, thought invoking. Thanks for following.....have a blessed day!!! :)