Desires.

It's funny how the desires of your heart can change so drastically in such a short amount of time.

The other day I was thinking about where I was in life 4 years ago. I was working a ton & making good money, had flexible hours, was able to buy whatever I wanted, I had my license & a car basically whenever I needed one, all my friends were good Christians, & I never got into trouble. Sounds awful right? The desires of my heart were always the bigger & better thing. The people I worked for had a large house, several cars that cost more than I could fathom, their kids had everything under the sun. & I wanted that to be my lifestyle. It was my goal. To have the American dream.

Alot of people have that goal now in their life. Wanting the better thing, whatever they don't have they want. Always reaching for something and when you get it, you still aren't satisfied.

Then a few years later, about 9 months ago, I started a new job which was a pay cut. Less hours. More work. & retail. Let's just say it threw me for a loop. Yes, I still made good money but I started to see so many people who were striving to obtain these "things" that mean absolutely nothing. & I realized I was doing the exact same thing. I was buying stuff just because I wanted it for that split second in my life. & I have no clue why.

I didn't have some deep emotional issues that I tried dealing with by buying things. Or I had low self esteem & needed "things" to make me feel better. I was just doing it for no response. & now that I think about it, it makes me sick.

So after working at that job, the desires of my heart started to change. I no longer wanted the American dream. It seems useless & meaningless.

A friend of mine & I were talking the other day, & we both discussed that after you achieve the big house, fancy cars, A+ kids, what's next? What's the point of life? You do the same things day in and day out, for what purpose?

Don't get me wrong, I still waste alot of my time  money & meaningless things & I know I have a long way to go still. But now I know and realize that the point of life isn't to have all these things. Because it's all meaningless & not a single thing goes with you. We are here to share God's love and show His power through our lives. When the desires of your heart match up to the desires He has for you, He will bless them. We need to be continually seek Him and His will. 

I think it's so unfortunate that so many people live their lives trying to fill it with worthless things that continually leave them empty. I don't ever want to get stuck in that again. 

Truth.

So tonight I started reading Radical by David Platt. Woah. I literally read 7 pages and already had to stop and think for a minute. He said something that really hit me.

"I couldn't help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with something comfortable. We were settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves."

That's the problem with the American church today. We are so concerned about ourselves that we are missing the whole point of why Jesus came. He came to reach the lost, broken, abandoned, and hurt. To love them, unconditionally. To show them His love. 

I think alot of the time we tend to not treat people like actual people. Just because they don't have a job, a home, or haven't showered in awhile doesn't mean that we shouldn't love them. They are people and more importantly they are God's children. Just like you and I. 

This is my point of view and I am not saying every single believer out there is like this, but. I think alot of believers do the "believer" thing. Go to church on Sundays, hang out with strong Christian friends throughout the week, and maybe go to church on Wednesday nights. Now I am not saying anything is wrong with that, in fact I think it's great to do those things. But the problem I see, is that we just keep getting feed and we aren't turning around and feeding others. We are being greedy and selfish. We think that someone else can go serve the homeless, or go to a foreign country to preach the good news, or someone else can help clean up after the church function, etc. 

God has called us to go out and share His love! To every single person! Time is running out and the end is near. So many people are lost in this world, and we as the Church are sitting here not doing what we could be doing. So many people look at the Church, whether good or bad. Eyes are always on us! So shouldn't we be loving on the people that we encounter? Just pouring out unconditional love and helping in every way that we can?

Now I also think that so many people take this to the extreme. & what I mean by that is that people tend to sugarcoat Biblical truths and twist them to fit their lifestyles. Yes we should love people, even when they don't believe what we know and believe is true. But we are in no way allowed to change what the Bible says. The Bible is black and white. No grey areas! We, as foolish humans, make grey areas so we can justify what we do. We need to stop being so concerned about creating that warm fuzzy feeling for people in church. We shouldn't be concerned about whether our friends will accept us or the number of people we have in our church service. Christ didn't call us to be popular or to be liked. He called us to preach His word and to love His people. 

Just look at the life of Paul. First He was persecuting the Christians! Then he became a believer and went and spread the word. He was in jail who knows how many times. He was persecuted, and you know what? He didn't care! He continued to preach the Word and love on the people. He gave them the black and white truth. 

No more grey areas. Just black and white. & just unconditional love. Like the love He gives us. 

Realization.

Round 2 of goodbyes took place this past Sunday. Man, they just don't get easier. 

It's funny how you really take for granted the friendship you have when the person is always right there. Then when they pick up and leave, you kind of feel empty a little bit. You don't realize how attached you become to that person. 

When my sister left almost a week ago, it was really hard. I mean, it's my sister! She's been there since the beginning. I could always go to her if I needed help with something or just to talk. Now it's weird since she isn't right here. 

I thought that when she left it would be the worst of it. It would get easier as people continued to leave. Then Seth left. Waterworks galore. 

The impact these 2 people have had on my life is tremendous. Not only did they both help me back in February, but they have been such amazing examples of Christian character. 

My sister has always been an amazing role model for me. Whatever she did, she did it her absolute best and always seemed to have it under control. & she always was focused on God's will for her life. 

& Seth has been an amazing example of what I would want in a Godly husband. He is just so focused on God's plan for his life and what the future holds for him and his wife. I am so glad that God has blessed me with both of them in my life. 

Well the whole point of this isn't to boast about the people in my life (ha!) but it is because I realized how much I take for granted the people in my life. The people God has put right beside me to help guide me and shape me. I couldn't be more grateful. I realized that I should cherish the people in my life, because as life goes on we all might grow apart. & I want to look back and know that I really held them close.

& the more I think about it the more I realize how much I take God for granted. I mean I know He will always be there, no matter what. & because I know that, I think I tend to push Him to the side. If I am pushing the people who are "in my face" all the time, then for sure I am doing the same to Him. How awful that is.  

Even though everyone leaving is really sad and I will miss them all terribly, I think it is good in the sense that it has made me realize that I need to be treasuring my Savior. & I need to be focusing solely on Him and His will for my life.