It's not an easy Road.

A good friend of mine from Denham Springs, along with his youth group, were at Lookout Mtn. this week for Student Life. Josh invited me and the cuz's to come up and see them for the evening and I got the privilege to accept the invitation. We had a great time, plenty of laughs in the car tryin to read directions (and didn't miss a turn thank you), we got to see some familiar, but greatly missed, faces.
We sat in on the message, but like any message there was worship to start with and one song in particular stuck with me...the chorus basically says that If we say we Love God, then don't we need to do what he says to do, and if we call Him our Friend don't we need to keep his commandments? Isn't that something?... so many times we get caught up with just saying I love you Lord and leave it at that. But a relationship takes so much more than that.
Later in the message the speaker talked about how so many times we as Christians keep up with what we DON"T do that we aren't suppose to and feel good about it...we don't take the time to think of what we are SUPPOSE to do. He told us that we were not sent here to sit around and wait for Heaven, we are here to chase the sin out of the earth..."...thy Kingdome COME, thy will be done ON EARTH as it is in HEAVEN..." we are filled with the power of Christ to use against sin in this world. Yes, there are things that we aren't suppose to do, and there are rules we follow as Christians. But we also need to start winning souls, and it isn't easy. Salvation isn't a ticket to a perfect, nothing-can-harm-us-now kind of life, but it is a decision, it is a gift, and it is also a lifestyle that we are to live. "Christ like", isn't that what we are taught the word Christian means? Christ didn't have a bed to call his own, Christ was critized, mocked, questioned, ridiculed, and ultimately BEAT and Crucified. That, the life of Christ, the One that we are made to follow, is not an easy life. It isn't easy and sometimes it isn't going to make sense or be fun, but in the end it is worth every mockery and every hardship.
Once we as humans accept Christ into our lives He is IN US. He is always with us and he will never leave us nor forsake us. The speaker tonight told us that once we ask God to use us in His Way, it also puts us on the radar of our enemies. How true is that? But we have on our side the One thing that our enemies lack...and that One thing is the ONLY thing we need. Christ. His strength. His Mercy. His Wisdom. His Love. His Protection. God provides for us an armor against Satan and our enemies because He expects us to fight. We are to go out and be fishers of men. Reaching out for lost souls. It isn't easy and it isn't safe but it is worth it and it is what we are meant to do. So please, pray for me and I will pray for you. Pray that as brothers and sisters in Christ we make a stand in the world today and fight the sin and corruption that is falling all around us in this great Country. Everywhere we turn there is a dark place in need of a light. Be that light, it doesn't always take much, sometimes no more than a smile...but we have got to Stand. Stand in the name of the Lord and chase the sin out and tell Satan to stand aside.

Thank you for reading this, and please remember that being a Christian is never a promise for an easy life...but it is a mission that we must work at. And it is Worth everything we will go through.