That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”
-Matthew 14
There are things we can do
But from the things that work there are only two
And from the two that we choose to do
Peace will win
And fear will lose
There's faith and there's sleep
We need to pick one please because
Faith is to be awake
And to be awake is for us to think
And for us to think is to be alive
-twenty one pilots, Car Radio
To follow Jesus, really is to die.
To follow Jesus is to give everything.
To give all of me.
All of me.
When I was a child I thought it meant not making God angry.
When I was in college I thought it meant studying a book.
When I was out of college I thought it meant doing what the book says.
Now I am beginning to see that following Jesus isn't just about knowledge, isn't just about acts, it's also about feelings.
This as it turns out is the most agonizing part of following Jesus.
I use to fear martyrdom, I use to fear serving my fingers to the bone. I use to fear screwing up, I use to fear hell and the sins I desire that merit the dwelling place. But the scariest part is feeling.
I never knew feeling could hurt so bad. Jesus wants us to feel. Jesus wants us to stand firm. Not to cover up, not to cope, not to run, not to hide, not to fear, but to stand and feel. Not to sleep.
We sleep when we get angry.
We sleep when we deny our feelings.
We sleep when we stop expressing ourselves.
Atheists can sleep just as easily as Christians.
We sleep when we fear.
Faith is to be awake
And to be awake is for us to think
And for us to think is to be alive.
And Jesus wants us to have life and have it to the fullest.
To be alive is to have Jesus.
To have Jesus is to have peace.
And from the two that we choose to do
Peace will win
And fear will lose
But what a taxing request from our Creator. To always think. To avoid zombie infection in everything we do. It reminds me of last summer standing in the Atlantic ocean waist deep bracing for wave after wave. Salt stinging my tongue, feel dug into the sand getting hit by wave after wave of the endless ocean. Jesus tells us that if we want to follow Him, if we want to taste life, true, full life, then we must take the hits, each and every one of them. Take all of the hits and take them well.
Never grow bitter as the waves crash upon your face
Never turn and run to the safety of fear on the beach
Never fall into despair thinking that the waves will consume you
Never grow weary and tired as stamina and body begins to fail
No the path to life, the path to peace, the path of Christ is the narrow one. On one side is the endless pit of angry and bitterness. On the other is fear and despair. We are called to balance. To never dodge, never hit, never run, never fear, but rather we are called to feel.
We are called to love.
Love our enemies even when they execute us naked on a cross.
Love our neighbor even when they slander us or steal.
Love our loved ones even when they reject us and deny us.
This is true life. In this we find true peace. In this we find...our Creator.
The atheist, the humanist, the hippie, they can only go where their senses are pleased.
Do what feels good. Say what you think. Go where you desire.
but this is a life of sleep.
What if doing what doesn't feel good is better for you?
What if listening to what someone else knows teaches you?
What if staying where you are or going where you don't want helps someone?
Followers of Christ have this well that doesn't run dry. They are fueled by something beyond themselves. Those without Christ can only go as far as the ends of themselves and although that may be an enlightening place, it is all the further they can go. But the one who has the Holy Spirit within them can find new strength where they end. At the end of their rope is when God begins. It is there that we find for the first time in our lives we are awake. We are thinking, We are free, we are...alive.
It is there that we find this strength to love.
It is there that we can love unto death.
We can love in the face of injustice.
We can love in the face of rejection and denial.
It is there that God receives glory from the unbeliever. It is there that the asleep look upon the awake and in awe ask "From where does your strength come?"
Heaven is a place of the alive, the awake, the expressive.
Hell is a place of the dead, the asleep, the frightened.
What an easy way to live, sleep.
What an agonizing yet beautiful path to life, faith.
I will choose faith although I will not live this life walking perfectly along the narrow path of thinking. Many times I will stumble into fear. Many times I will fall into despair. Many times I will fall asleep. But Just as many I will climb back upon the path and I will never stop trying to walk on the path of faith for what other choice do I have?
What choice did Jesus have before the cross? His love, His being couldn't allow for another path. Jesus couldn't, God can't, choose anything but love.
I am made in that imagine.
I trust you Jesus
free her heart
heal Bea
heal me
Inside Llewyn Davis - Fare Thee Well
-Matthew 14
There are things we can do
But from the things that work there are only two
And from the two that we choose to do
Peace will win
And fear will lose
There's faith and there's sleep
We need to pick one please because
Faith is to be awake
And to be awake is for us to think
And for us to think is to be alive
-twenty one pilots, Car Radio
To follow Jesus, really is to die.
To follow Jesus is to give everything.
To give all of me.
All of me.
When I was a child I thought it meant not making God angry.
When I was in college I thought it meant studying a book.
When I was out of college I thought it meant doing what the book says.
Now I am beginning to see that following Jesus isn't just about knowledge, isn't just about acts, it's also about feelings.
This as it turns out is the most agonizing part of following Jesus.
I use to fear martyrdom, I use to fear serving my fingers to the bone. I use to fear screwing up, I use to fear hell and the sins I desire that merit the dwelling place. But the scariest part is feeling.
I never knew feeling could hurt so bad. Jesus wants us to feel. Jesus wants us to stand firm. Not to cover up, not to cope, not to run, not to hide, not to fear, but to stand and feel. Not to sleep.
We sleep when we get angry.
We sleep when we deny our feelings.
We sleep when we stop expressing ourselves.
Atheists can sleep just as easily as Christians.
We sleep when we fear.
Faith is to be awake
And to be awake is for us to think
And for us to think is to be alive.
And Jesus wants us to have life and have it to the fullest.
To be alive is to have Jesus.
To have Jesus is to have peace.
And from the two that we choose to do
Peace will win
And fear will lose
But what a taxing request from our Creator. To always think. To avoid zombie infection in everything we do. It reminds me of last summer standing in the Atlantic ocean waist deep bracing for wave after wave. Salt stinging my tongue, feel dug into the sand getting hit by wave after wave of the endless ocean. Jesus tells us that if we want to follow Him, if we want to taste life, true, full life, then we must take the hits, each and every one of them. Take all of the hits and take them well.
Never grow bitter as the waves crash upon your face
Never turn and run to the safety of fear on the beach
Never fall into despair thinking that the waves will consume you
Never grow weary and tired as stamina and body begins to fail
No the path to life, the path to peace, the path of Christ is the narrow one. On one side is the endless pit of angry and bitterness. On the other is fear and despair. We are called to balance. To never dodge, never hit, never run, never fear, but rather we are called to feel.
We are called to love.
Love our enemies even when they execute us naked on a cross.
Love our neighbor even when they slander us or steal.
Love our loved ones even when they reject us and deny us.
This is true life. In this we find true peace. In this we find...our Creator.
The atheist, the humanist, the hippie, they can only go where their senses are pleased.
Do what feels good. Say what you think. Go where you desire.
but this is a life of sleep.
What if doing what doesn't feel good is better for you?
What if listening to what someone else knows teaches you?
What if staying where you are or going where you don't want helps someone?
Followers of Christ have this well that doesn't run dry. They are fueled by something beyond themselves. Those without Christ can only go as far as the ends of themselves and although that may be an enlightening place, it is all the further they can go. But the one who has the Holy Spirit within them can find new strength where they end. At the end of their rope is when God begins. It is there that we find for the first time in our lives we are awake. We are thinking, We are free, we are...alive.
It is there that we find this strength to love.
It is there that we can love unto death.
We can love in the face of injustice.
We can love in the face of rejection and denial.
It is there that God receives glory from the unbeliever. It is there that the asleep look upon the awake and in awe ask "From where does your strength come?"
Heaven is a place of the alive, the awake, the expressive.
Hell is a place of the dead, the asleep, the frightened.
What an easy way to live, sleep.
What an agonizing yet beautiful path to life, faith.
I will choose faith although I will not live this life walking perfectly along the narrow path of thinking. Many times I will stumble into fear. Many times I will fall into despair. Many times I will fall asleep. But Just as many I will climb back upon the path and I will never stop trying to walk on the path of faith for what other choice do I have?
What choice did Jesus have before the cross? His love, His being couldn't allow for another path. Jesus couldn't, God can't, choose anything but love.
I am made in that imagine.
I trust you Jesus
free her heart
heal Bea
heal me
Inside Llewyn Davis - Fare Thee Well