When Satan knocks at your door, simply say, "Jesus, can you get that?"

HalleYOOLAH!

 At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!" -Matthew 11:25-26

Don't you miss being a kid? When life was about playing Polly Pockets, talking to your stuffed animals, not feeling bad about eating cookies, and singing Disney songs while dancing around the house in your onesie? Now we gotta worry about how we'll pay our tuition, rent, and find a career. We gain more life-experience so we don't need our parents to take care of us anymore and be what Ne-Yo wants us to be - Miss Indepennnnndent, that's why I love herrr...

But the more experience we gain, the more responsibilities we take on for ourselves and eventually for our own family and sooner than later it's a big ol' burden on our shoulders. What a relief that our Savior says: "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

What is your burden right now? What's heavy on your heart? What are you having doubts about? 

Are you trying to lighten the load by figuring things out on your own? Doing more? Trying harder?

Right now my heavy burden comes from tryna make everyone happy. Don't offend people. Don't make this person mad at you. Be everyone's friend. Saying "no" will make them mad at you. It's my responsibility to do and be what everyone else wants. In my ministry, this looks like taking on more tasks, reading more books, gaining more experience so I'll stop being inadequate and know all there is to know about youth ministry. There's nothing wrong with gaining experience and life skills, but it becomes a problem when we become TOO independent and stop depending on our Lord, our Father. 

We are still his children, but at this stage in our lives we are pressured to grow-up FAST. Then we think we "got it" when we don't. We act like we don't need Him, but we do. And this is what I love about kids and young people: They know they still need someone to care for them. Yeah, teenagers act like they know it all but in reality they know they are useless and can't really live without their parents still. 

At my old job, I used to work with this little boy I'll call EP (his initials). EP used to hate showering and getting ready for bed. But I worked with him long enough to the point where he trusted me as someone who cared for him. Then it would start getting easier to get him to shower and get ready for bed by having him do random things. To him, it was random, but to me, I had a plan. I would use his Yoda to talk to him in a "Yoda voice" and say things like "Shower, You must." And he would shower! And then I'd sing him a song about brushing his teeth using a T-rex puppet, and he would brush his teeth while singing the song! But he knew he needed help and had someone who cared for him enough that he trusted me enough to do the random things I told him to. 

So remember that you don't have to have it all together, all the answers, everything under control, and all the life experience. As long as you remember you'll never be too grown to be independent from God the Father, you're right where you need to be. Trust him not only with the big life decisions, but EVERYTHING. As soon as something troubles you, who do you turn to? Yourself, your boyfriend, girlfriend, bestie, google, yo mama, or your ABBA FATHER? No wonder why Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light. We are never alone - we know God our Father loves as his children, Jesus walks with us understanding every aspect of our human life, and the Holy Spirit is our counselor. 

So enjoy the videos below and understand why God reveals His truth to the childlike and says the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like children! HalleYOOOLAH!

You have to hear this girl in the beginning and her prayer at the end. Okay I cried a little.

Love costs ERRTHANG

"And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved...

Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it." -Matthew 10:22, 38-39

Watching that video above made me feel so small about my faith. It makes me feel embarrassed to share my prayer requests around my work, my school, and my wedding. Not that we shouldn't trust God with these things in our lives, but it just shows our real main concerns going on right now. For the God who lived an extreme life for me on earth, it doesn't make sense for me to live a mediocre life to God. 


This all came from reading Matthew 10. I was just ALL confused after reading this passage. I questioned:


1.) Why did Jesus give the disciples authority to cast out evil spirits and heal every kind of disease and illness RIGHT after he called them? What happened to their training?
2.) Why is this not normal for us who call ourselves Christians aka Christ-followers to do these kinds of things today? Is this even possible for us or are we just lacking faith?
4.) Was this warning about persecution only for them or for us too? Because I aint worried about being whipped for my faith anytime soon...

It just seemed like one of those Bible passages that only applied back in the day...but not for us today. And I had no answers, but God did prompt me to confess some things: missing opportunities to acknowledge Jesus before some people so I wouldn't look like a "Jesus freak", allowing myself to dwell on impure thoughts for my own enjoyment, refusing to forgive because I feel like i deserve an apology, seeking for myself to be noticed and acknowledged in front of others, etc...the list goes on and on...but the common denominator to all that is ME wanting to live MY life and do thangs MY way. 


YOLO is the motto right? I mean, we're only young once. We aint getting younger so don't we have the right to live a little? These thoughts still go through my mind sometimes, missing the good ol' days before I got saved and started feeling convicted about sin. But when I got saved, "making the most out of college" took on a whole different meaning. Life went to endless freedom from parents/restrictions to living for Christ ONLY. 


To this day, I still struggle with DEVOTION to him. I see how far these persecuted Christians across the world go to the point of being killed for expressing their faith in our Lord. How far are we willing to go for Him? Once someone called me "a little extreme" when I was expressing my faith in Jesus. That alone made me feel like a loser. 


I guess what I'm tryna say is we gotta stop every once in a while and assess who we really living for. It's like the seesaw effect - we can only have one higher than the other. If we let ourselves take the higher place, then we are less devoted to Christ, and if Christ is at the highest place which he should be at, then we're at the bottom - giving up "life's privileges" (which have no comparison with the "divine privileges" (phil 2:7) Christ gave up.)


Let's express our devotion to him today by re-focusing on our mission here wherever we're at, whatever time it is. Right before Jesus sent out his disciples he looked out at all those people and had compassion on them and knowing he was only one person, he said: "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields."


We are the workers now! And we do have the power to do what the disciples did, as long as we trust and believe that Jesus HIMSELF is working and speaking through us. Let's go hard for Him and not have a lukewarm, wimpy faith. We can do more powerful and glorious works for His Kingdom depending on how powerful and glorious we view our King!!!

Let's not give up...the fullness of our reward is coming....everything is for JESUS, no matter the cost! Are we ready to change our prayers from:

"God, help me get good grades and do well in my job. Thank you for this food. Make these kids listen to me. Help me plan a fancy wedding." 

-to-

"God, do whatever it takes in my life to bring you the most glory, give me strength to face the upcoming hardships of being your true follower. My cross - BRING IT ON! Jesus ONLY Jesus EVER!"