The Cost

Hi all,

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. I can't promise I'll post x amount of times a month, but as God leads I'll post.

My church has a noon time prayer meeting open on the weekdays, and my dad and I attended it one day.  Part way through our time there, I felt impressed to pray for the youth in America. My heart aches for my generation, and even the Christian youth - so many have wandered away from God. I wanted to make a difference - be a voice that draws their attention back to Christ. And then I believe God spoke to me - that I could be that voice online.

Something else that happened during that prayer time was that my thoughts started wandering to a scene in a move. When I realized that I'd gotten distracted, I snapped back to the present and was about to keep praying. Immediately I heard God say loudly in my spirit something that related to the said movie.

This is the scene from the movie I was remembering, at which I was disgusted when I saw it: a man's daughter had come to a proper age to be married. She was beautiful and had captured the attention of a couple men. Her father was willing to give her away to the man who had the largest pig. And he did. (Like I said, I was disgusted, so I quit watching the movie.)
But I heard God say so clearly that some have done just that - carelessly traded something so precious and valuable for a life with the pigs. They have traded a beautiful life with God - walking with Him every moment of every day and living out the amazing plan He has for them - for ease and complacency.

This is where so many of us have missed it, including myself. Too often I've traded obedience for something easier. Have you ever noticed how relieved one is when one comes up with an excuse not to follow God?  It's hard! It's hard to go against the crowd, to deny self of things in the world that look good in order to do what you know God has told you to do. For instance, I believe God wants me to wait to have a boyfriend at this time in my life. It's so hard sometimes to wait, though. I see so many "couples" my age or even younger than me. It looks so good. But I have to go back to what I have heard from God about this, believe that He knows best for me. I have faith in God - in His power, His wisdom, and His goodness.
Then my flesh rises up and I think, It's so hard to always follow God! I have all these things I want to do - that I feel like doing. And what if He calls me to go somewhere I don't want to go, or tells me to say something that goes completely against my personality? What if...?

“If you want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be my disciple. 28 But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’" - Luke 14:26-30 NLT

"I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless (loss) because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!"
-Philippians 3:7-11. NLT.


Lord, never let it be said of us that we traded Your plan for ours. God, I have seen what it takes to be Your disciple - to follow after You with everything no matter what I feel or don't feel comfortable doing. God, all that means nothing to me - nothing - compared to knowing You! I want to be one with You in purpose and desire. Let Your plans be my plans; Your thoughts my thoughts. Nothing else is comparable to this! Everything else falls short and will end in vain. Your plans and thoughts are so much higher and better than anything else. I know that You have an incredible plan for my life, and that even when You tell me to do something hard, it is for the best and I will do it. Thank You, God for having such a great plan for my life!