"Casual Believer" vs Disciple

I know it has been a while since I've posted, almost a whole year. That would be because I simply gave up on trying to keep this going. School became too much that this project was just getting "in the way."

But recently, about an hour ago, I started what I would say is one of the more challenging books I've ever read, Follow Me by David Platt. In each chapter, there are sections that are split up (which I've committed to reading at least one per day and occasionally writing about) to help Platt keep his main points focused. The first chapter was titled Unconverted Believers which hit me like a bullet. To describe a believer as unconverted was a weird thought to me. It seemed more of an oxymoron than anything else. Converting to a religion makes you a believer of that religion, right? Well to Platt, that was a bunch of bologna, and after reading the first section of that chapter, I had to agree with him. He starts the chapter/section out with a story of a woman named Ayan. Ayan was as Platt described her, "part of a people who pride themselves in being 100 percent Muslim." He then told all of the risks for someone like Ayan to leave Islam or convert to another religion. Platt challenges the reader to think about what it would be like to tell someone like Ayan about Jesus, You could either

1.  Tell her it's as easy as reciting a prayer and believing certain truths about Christianity             OR
2.  Tell her the TRUTH: that God is calling her to die...to die in herself and live through Him.

That instantly changed the way I looked at how we call people to Christ. It's not a simple prayer that gets us the so-rewarding relationship with Jesus that we all want. That was very challenging for me to hear. I had heard the verse about denying ourselves and taking up our cross before, but it never sank in until now. Platt continues telling the reader that he had actually met Ayan and how she did just that. She risked her life, left her family and friends, and took up her cross. Today, she spends every day telling her people about Christ. I don't know if I would do that. I like to think that I would, but if I was placed in her position with the choice of leaving everything I ever knew, I don't know if I could. 

Platt goes from telling the story of Ayan to the story in the Bible about the four fishermen who Jesus asked to follow Him. Jesus asked them to leave everything they ever knew or had and follow Him. Their response was to do exactly what he asked. They dropped their nets and followed Him. This really challenged me to do the same. I'm not going to drop out of school, leave my family without warning, and set out on my own journey. No, that isn't what Jesus is calling us to do. However, I do believe that He is asking us to get rid of the distractions in life and keep Him as our focus. That's a big task, I will admit, but I know that the reward is very worth it. 

"There is indescribable joy to be found, deep satisfaction to be felt, and an eternal purpose to be fulfilled in dying to ourselves and living for Him."

Woah! That is our reward. That is what Jesus offers us if we stop living casually and pick up the cross He so lovingly carried for us. I'm not saying I'm going to be perfect each day, but I am willing to try. I challenge whoever is reading this to try this along side me. It doesn't matter what you've done or where you are with God, because lately I've fallen off the road of righteousness myself, but God welcomes us back freely with open arms. I will be praying for you along your journey, and if you could pray for me as well, that would be very appreciated. Our God is Great and Loving; Holy and Wise; Welcoming and Gracious. I am very thankful for His steadfast compassion towards us, and I know He does great things in and through us. So I challenge you to die to yourself, your possessions, your fears, your addictions, whatever is holding you back, and just follow Him. I believe that He works in ways we can't fathom, and He can do anything if we pick up our cross and do what he so humbly asks us to do.

The God That Shows Up

I'm terribly sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but I hope everyone had a great holiday.

Anyways, today was a fantastic day full of donuts, Netflix, perfect weather, and a 5-hour nap. But I think the real reason today was so good was because of the mood I was in. It was weird because I wasn't in a mood that I would necessary call good, but it was almost like a neutral feeling, neither good nor bad. About 30 minutes ago, I finished a 30-minute run, which felt great. There is something about doing physical activity, especially running, that fills me to the brim with peace and "good" feelings. It's a way that I can be apart from the real world and just "run."

If I may, I'd like to flashback (I just used a noun as a verb) to this morning. As I was going throughout my day, my phone kept playing this one specific song. My phone sometimes plays music if I accidently hit a button, and the song "I Hear the Lord Passing By" played. Now sorry to whoever wrote the song, but I've never really been a fan of that hymn. (Disclaimer: Now that I look back, I can see God in this situation whereas at the moment I was just annoyed.) Anyways, I quickly turned the song off and went on with my day. Later today, the song started playing again, and I started to think that maybe my phone had some glitches in it, but once again, I shrugged it off and removed the sound from the speakers of my phone with the touching of the "pause" button.

Looking back, God was doing incredible things that at the moment seemed simple. He was foreshadowing what would happen later in my run. It amazes me that our God can do HUGE things that seem so miniscule and sometimes pointless at the moment, but turn out to be incredibly crazy sometime later. And the even more incredible thing is that it happens to all of us. Christian, Muslim; Black, White; Old, Young; Tall, Short; Ashamed, Proud; "On a mountain", or "In a valley"... NO MATTER WHAT, GOD SHOWS UP!!! God is soooo GREAT and I am so thankful for that.

Back to my run, as I started my run, I was listening to Spotify with my classical music playlist. Don't judge me for listening to classical music, but the genre really calms me when I run or do homework. I went to my running app and hit "start" The setting of the app makes it so that when you run, you get to listen to the "Now Playing" music. I hit start, but my classical repertoire suddenly changed to the song that had interrupted my day earlier (I Hear The Lord Passing By) Again, I was quick to change the song back, as I wasn't the biggest fan of the song. I paused my run, changed the music back to the classical playlist I have grown so fond of, and hit play again. What do you know? The music changed back into the song that had started to get on my nerves at the time. I figured out a way to prevent this from occurring and continued on my run.

4 miles later... cars passed with the sight of a weird kid in shorts laying on his concrete driveway trying to catch his breath (me). My goal for the run was to run under 30 minutes at a medium pace. I quickly found out with 400 meters left that I needed to sprint to my house in order to achieve this. That quarter of a mile was terrible and I was "dead" after since I am DEFINITELY NOT a sprinter. For the next 10 minutes, I layed on the cold, concrete ground and just layed there. I looked up at the incredible clouds and I couldn't help but think of the wonderful creator of them.

Last week, someone from church taught me an interesting way to pray called Mediation Prayer. It is a concept where you focus on breathing rather than the sounds around you. It is such an interesting way to pray, and I have grown very impressed with and have tried it a lot recently. She told us that it was a way for us to get closer to God and it allowed for a direct passage between us and the voice of God to open.

Now, I layed there on the ground taking part in this way of communicating with God, and I really wanted to hear His voice verbally. It's a lot to ask the God of the universe to verbally speak to you, and unfortunately, I didn't hear his voice, but I did get the great feeling I talked about at the beginning of this post. I didn't take the time to write 8 paragraphs to tell you that God didn't show up. Why? Because He did. As I was laying there I heard some music coming out of my headphones that I had taken out of my ears 5 minutes earlier. I pulled them closer to get hear the song better. "I Hear the Lord Passing By" was playing again. Now this was the moment that I knew all of the times that this song had played earlier meant something. God was there, and I could hear Him, but not in the way that I had originally asked. Through the lives of others, the sounds around me, and the advice I get from mentors, I can hear the Lord. It hit me that hearing God verbally is overrated because I believe God likes to change it up a bit and talk to people in different ways.

Thank You God for showing up in my life in different ways than you do in others' lives. It means a lot, and it shows me how much you love me. You continue to amaze me and I am so glad I have the opportunity to be yours. I probably should go take a shower now since this is all I've done since the run. I love you God, and I pray that with each day, I grow to love you more.