Joy. Works better than a hotdog.

I had a friend growing up and we were in a perpetual state of competition. One-upping each other seemed to be the aim of life. For years we did this, always trying to appear the happiest, or to be having the most fun. 

I got tired first, so I started to let her win. In all honesty, I started finding real joy in things that she did not seem to care one ounce about. Therefore, we both declared ourselves victorious. And then our "friendship" ended. We did not have much in common after all.

This joy which was so much less glamorous came from a knowledge of the Lord and a restored relationship with my creator. What is incredible to me is the joy which a relationship with the Lord Almighty affords. Simply knowing him brings a smile to my face. Christians should be the happiest people in existence. 

There is no blending into society as a Christ follower. Your joy should be so apparent and so weird, that people are intrigued. My competitive friendship taught me something: people are attracted to happiness, even the appearance of happiness. This is something everyone yearns for, and most will do anything to even establish a facade of contentment for their peers. 

Jesus taught his disciples how to "fish for men." What better bait is there for man than a life of incessant joy and love? "Let your light shine before men" Jesus says, and let the people see what rich, "abundant" life is in Christ.  

"Good" People Murdered Jesus.

My mom is a "Christian," but she has made some adaptations to the definition. Her favorite line is "...but I am a good person..." She is also under the belief that everyone will go to heaven if they are simply "good" people.

"Good" people murdered Jesus. The Pharisees were, in their culture, "moral." They were obedient to the strictest of laws, heck they were even circumcised. If that doesn't a "moral" man make, I am not sure what does.

Paul says in Romans 2:29 that "a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart- by the Spirit, not the letter..." According to this guy, religion is actually an enemy of Jesus. An institution that would cause self-righteousness and pride, and reliance on one's own power is in direct opposition to the message of the cross. By GRACE Jesus died and offers forgiveness of sin.

First of all, we NEED that grace. If we could do it on our own, God wouldn't have bothered with a savior. Second of all, Jesus did not die to impose a law, but to fulfill it. We need a savior. God sent a savior. And now we can have life by his name! There is no being "good enough." That does not exist. There is only grace.

Paul finishes that section by saying "His praise (the real Jew) is not from men but from God." This makes the most sense of it all. When we are in exile from God, cut off in sin, we seek satisfaction, love, all that God gives, from our idols. We live in a world that, because it is ruled by Satan, praises that which Satan praises. Our culture will tell us that we are naturally "good" people, and many take that praise and run with it. It is a lie, and the satisfaction, love, and praise will all fail. Jesus alone is good, and he offers his own righteousness to us. That is good news.

Yes, I hear it too. That is a Heartbeat.

I was humbled this morning when I read Proverbs 27:1 "Don't boast about tomorrow, for your don't know what a day might bring."

Recently, I have realized that my life has been caught up in the future, in my plans. There have been college applications to fill out, my mom is getting married, I am moving to a new city, I may get to go to France. The majority of my thoughts have been dominated by the things to come.

I had a moment of clarity this morning as I began to realize that I was planning on living a certain way, planning on loving a certain way, changing in the future, but I was almost on autopilot. When I allowed myself to get caught up in where I will be in a month, two, or six, I didn't focus on the day before me and the grace that had been allotted. I am breathing, I woke up this morning, and my heart is beating. Oh there it goes again. What precious time I have been given, and I do not want to waste it by not being present in it.

This inspired a new year's resolution. I do not want to have my cell phone out in social circumstances. It is a pet peeve of mine and I want to be fully present in all encounters in order to best utilize the opportunities given to me by the Lord. If I know that the purpose of my life is to love God and to love people, then my phone is not as important.

About a week ago, I had a day where I allowed myself to plan nothing, but kind of wander, just to see where I would end up and who I would meet. I went to an estate sale, I meandered through downtown, and I slept on a bench in a public park. After this, I went to a coffee shop to sit and read. After 5 minutes, a man introduced himself as Francis. He had studied in Oxford and was home for the holidays. I was able to share Christ with him and share part of my story. He had to leave after 30 minutes, but as I continued to sit there, the lady across from me, having overheard the conversation, then began to ask me questions. We talked about Christ and his incredible work in our lives for some time after that and then exchanged contact information. I left that coffee shop praising God for his awesome power and love, and how he desires to use someone like me.

So, resolved as I am to be fully present, I am eager to see the Lord work in my willing body.

In My Entirely Biased Yet Scripturally Upheld Opinion

I am new the world of blogging, and I am going to embrace the cliché introductory post. I was told as a 7th grader never to incorporate cliches into my writing. But isn't it cliche to hate cliches? There is no escaping them. So, here I am, wrapping my arms around the welcome blog. Its a good first step in my opinion.

And that is what a blog is. It is my opinion. You are reading on your own free will, knowing that everything posted here is filtered through an entirely biased one-woman edit process. I have been a journaler most of my life. Compulsive really. I was afraid that i would forget something. Looking back, all of those incredible thoughts are contained to spiral notebooks, not easily shared with a hungry world. Why not blog?

If you care to know, I am a senior in high school. I really love Jesus. I spend more time committing scripture to memory than I do the things that I will be graded on. I have been in AP classes throughout high school, and done fairly well. I love to learn, but I am a pragmatic learner. I want to know and master that which will be beneficial. When did school become a "for-the-sake-of-it" institution? Is it not supposed to be practical? (I claim to be free of senioritis, but maybe I am tainted) I devote a lot of time outside of school to reading and educating myself further, to the things which have a greater importance than a grade.

I have been writing a lot of college applications recently. The fancy schools don't restrain brilliance with a prompt, but allow you to test your wings. Naturally, I discussed man's incapacity to look beyond a selfish world view due to a compulsive pursuit of comfort. In this, I was able to explore, in the context of the gospel, what purpose do I have here? If I was not created for comfort and self-fulfillment, what then is my purpose? My purpose, I believe, in my biased yet yet scripturally upheld opinion, that my purpose is to love God, love his people, and to seek his will on Earth.

What a beautiful purpose for a pragmatic person as I am not limited by this pursuit. No matter the purposeless of a class, or a lecture, there can be fulfillment. Beyond high school, college is not merely a means to success materially, but the means to equip myself to better serve this purpose.

Comfort and happiness are so damn fragile. I swore that I was the misfit child because here I am in southern Orange County, yet I couldn't bring myself to be content. Turns out, the only lasting joy was found in living the life that I was created to live. We aren't here by any cosmic accident. We have purpose, and real life is found in Christ.