Encouragement for Young Friends

I love this song.

The message of Send them off! is about getting a grip over your thought-life (anyone? Bueller?) while the imagery of the video looks alarmingly like trying to navigate this world in search of something 'more' (stained glass, light, open doors, etc.).

Talking with a few of my younger friends/former students lately - the unified fear I hear {and feel from time to time too} is that trying to live their lives in *this* world is bleak, even treacherous. Friends, if we're not diligent to grab this fear at the root {the mind} and tie it down at the foot of the cross, that fear will trip up and paralyze your potential as one of God's warriors - a uniquely placed catalyst for actual change in this world. 'Change' doesn't come from the government, or strong leaders. 'People' aren't meant to shoulder the title of 'Savior'. It begins and ends with Jesus, Who chooses to use YOU. Now multiply that. Now scatter it all over the world. {Real change.}

Watch the Video Here

So what do we do as society seems to crumble before our eyes, when headlines invoke fear, when mounting anxiety = asphyxiation, and {the icing on top} we have 100% no control over any of it?

Go back to the beginning. Remember what you're dealing with:

And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. - - 1 John 2:17 NLT

Remember your call//realize your purpose in this:

1. You were never meant to carry or 'fix' this.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
- - Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

2. Jesus tells us we're not alone.

If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me. They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’ - - John 15:18-25 NLT

3. Is following Jesus worth it?

Anyone who calls themselves a Christian needs to assess if they're actually following Jesus. Often it's us following the drive of 'self' masquerading as 'Christianity'.

Jesus: Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple. Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’ Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can’t, won’t he send an emissary and work out a truce? Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple. Salt is excellent. But if the salt goes flat, it’s useless, good for nothing. Are you listening to this? Really listening?  - - Luke 14:25-34 MSG

Young friends - breathe.
Pray - take your fears and concerns directly to God - do not pass His Word, do not collect anxiety & depression {from a world that was pre-determined to die anyway}.
Strengthen up. Knowing God's plan, step boldly into your role in it. You are a torch-bearer, a source of *light*, a daughter or son of the Living God, a bringer of His *hope*.

Words

Play Me

I live near this field.

And near this field, my boy gets into the sticker patch. {Repeatedly.}

They attach everywhere and are hard to remove without breaking into smaller, equally itchy/irritating pieces.

I've been thinking. 

Our words are a lot like these stickers.

And we have the choice to make them sweet, or dig them in like barbs. Either way, they stick.

Each thought leaves a trail of stardust from your heart to your mouth, and I can't get your words out of my head.

Father, help me to change. {To forget. To forgive. To let You reign over my speech.} 

Blip # 3

I think we've been given bad advice.

"Follow your heart."

How can we adopt this 'truth' {especially in an empowered, self-driven culture} when God's Word, in direct opposition, gently spills Light all over it (over everything):

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"

Jeremiah 17:9 

The short answer is, we can't, and I believe time is short for the Christian who continues to try to attach contradictory badges of 'truth' and labels to himself (whether consciously or by sitting idle) while the Gospel fades and slips underwater in the process. Following Jesus, by default, means we will have to make the choice (many choices in fact) to deny ourselves, to reject truth that sounds right in exchange for God's life-giving, unchanging Truth. And if we're being honest... that is a sacrifice.

It amazes (and scares) me how often following our hearts simply leads ... to harm. 

And we walk right into it, like a grave - blinded by pretty words and shafts of temporary light.

{A call now to - more than ever with truth so relative and hard to find - stay informed and awake.}

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

John 10:10

But You, God.

Maybe it's not okay anymore, as a Christian, to say 'I'm burned out', 'I can't do this anymore', 'I'm tired'; 'this is not my job.' - to continue in this line of thinking. To say, 'I can't go back there, Lord - to that same place, that same group, the same cycle of sin.'

I get irritated with myself, and this lack of faith, like - do I really believe nothing is impossible for You?

Do I really believe that You do new things? That there is new mercy for me here? I'm asking the One Who breathes LIFE, Who makes dead things alive... dry bones, ashes & phoenix-type stuff, the One Who couples brokenness w/ beauty, weakness w/ strength... Who resurrects the dead - even the dead in me? Who are You, and what can You do? Remind me again, because my attitude needs a 180*.

The truth is, I am tired... but You never sleep!
I do get burned out, but You never stop burning. A flame in the dark, You never stop creating, never stop imagining, but at the same time never change; You never stop breathing fresh vision into Your leaders & people, if we would just stop to listen.

'I can't', but You can.

'I won't go back there', because You're already walking in ahead of me, guiding & protecting me, a fierce, bright Light.

Blip #2 Perspective

It hit me today; I don't really know why, but for all of the talk and supposed doom & heartlessness of our time, I think there is more good to witness and as a result *believe*, if we could just flip the lens we've been staring through blankly.

For every mundane or painful moment I've experienced, or for however many more of ours collected together and added up, I see equal parts (if not more) joy-filled, beautiful, more full of love - the component we've all been feeling is missing, angrily heralding for more of - it's here.

It's good to hold newborns, to see (and hear) just how quietly snow falls - to witness strangers helping each other in parking lots, curious connections turning into full-blown camaraderie - and spouses falling back in love with each other after what I imagine must have felt like an eternity.

I don't know. But on a day like today, I can smile to myself, pull my coat in just a bit tighter, and continue to stare out through a kaleidoscope.

Blip # 1: Forgiveness

Have you ever caught yourself, when wronged or offended, saying "oh yeah, I remember the time they             ", or "I'll never forget the time she said             ", holding on to them like pieces of ammo (justification), making judgements out of moments, marring not only someone's character but a chance at understanding/forgiveness? Repentance. Reconciliation.

I think if we're honest, we've all done this.

One of my resolutions for the new year is to be a duck (let it rooolll off your back). In order to do this, to wade through bitter waters on the way to brighter shores, we have to let these offenses go - lift the noose from our perpetrator's neck since our own was cut down long ago.