Walking The Narrow

Sick days are sometimes God's way of saying "Seriously woman, just take a break".

My older brother and I led a summer discipleship program at JFC for 5 weeks in July. I found myself deeper in the word and more in tune with the Holy Spirit than ever before. We had our biggest outreach yet, and a student run service while Ben and the crew were out pushing buses up steep slopes and scratching their heads against rocks at the beach in El Salvador. Oh, not to mention leading over 2000 people to Christ in one day and planting countless more seeds in the hearts of thousands of total strangers.
Though some very incredible things happened, some very excruciating events also took place. Anthony Jarrett, age 19, passed away on June 29th, 2009. Even as I write this, I find myself unable to put together adequate words to describe how great of a loss it was and is in the hearts of the great number of people touched by Anthony’s life or how great of a victory it was when Anthony entered the pearly gates of Heaven. I can only imagine the sound of rejoicing and singing as a Hillsong United conference times a million, with Jesus shredding the guitar with Anthony.
For lovers of Jesus, for those who have given their lives to Christ as Anthony did, death is the final victory in our individual lives, it's the exact moment when satan's constant attacks and tempting ceases and when our spirits experience the fullness of the true freedom and joy that we were meant to have from the beginning of creation, in the garden of Eden.
We will miss you Anthony, until we meet you again soon. We can jam together again.

July was without a doubt one of the most eventful and exciting months of my life (so far, I expect things to get crazier) and one that has grown me in tremendous ways through God’s grace. Red SD has forced me to become a big sister to 26 kids, 15 hours a week for 5 weeks. And I loved it. It’s amazing how many new convictions God had for me in that month alone. When people are watching, we act differently, and yet Jesus is watching all the time.
Something that I kept noticing in the lives of these students was that they wanted to get closer to God, they wanted to obey, they wanted to do right and become incredible vessels for God, yet they seemed to lack the confidence. Though they knew what they wanted to become, the part of actually changing the pattern was just too much. It was simply frustrating.

James 1:22 says “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says”. That’s ridiculous. To love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind is like saying count to infinity twice (Only Chuck Norris can do that.) When Jesus said to the adulterous woman “Go and sin no more”, it sounded like he was saying ‘go hold your breath…forever’. These things are impossible to attain…without God. These things are impossible to obey…without a constant and intimate relationship with Christ Himself. You can have the strongest will power, the greatest mind, and the most annoyingly righteous accountability partner, and still be unable to “go and sin no more”.
As Judah Smith said in his message at NYLC, when Jesus said that, it was a neon sign, pointing straight back to himself; bright flashing lights that said “Come to me, and give me everything”.
He said “My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corith 12:9). He knows full well of our deficiencies and our inadequacies and our paucity. He knows full well the darkness in the corners of our hearts and the mold in the back of our minds. He knows our past and our present, yet he chooses to focus on our future, on what mighty warriors we can and will grow into when we take the paths he has marked out for us, with those bright neon signs posted periodically along the way.

*To listen and obey.* I believe that it becomes hard to listen, when we don’t think that what we hear applies to us. So the first step is humility. *Do it yourself, or He’ll do it for you.* But the second and more frustrating part, is the dreaded four letter word – Obey. How?
I find that when I come to a fork in the road with signs that say “The right way” and “The wrong way”, the wrong way always looks like a nice scenic walk with flowers and butterflies. The right way on the other hand, is a tightrope above a deathly dark abyss. And yet, it’s when I am reminded of what’s on the other end of the tightrope, that I place my foot on the rope and hold fast to the hand of God. The answer to the question ‘how?’ is vision. It’s to know why you obey. To know what you risk when you don’t obey.

So here are 7 reasons to obey God:
_ It benefits You. God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him.
_ It blesses God. Obedience is an act of love to the One who deserves it most.
_ It strengthens our faith through experience. “Taste and see that the Lord is good”. Obedience will prove God right.
_ God sees the big picture. You don’t. Proverbs 3:5
_ You never know who you’ll impact for the kingdom of God when you obey.
_ You never know who you won’t impact for the kingdom of God when you disobey.

When we see, in clear view, the damage that disobedience will do, we wouldn’t go that way. When we lie, we often say to ourselves “It’s for the good, it won’t hurt anyone”. But the truth, the ‘clear view,’ is that lying hurts people, breaks down trust that takes years to build back up and marks us as an untrustworthy person. There is always consequence to sin, but in a society that glamorizes and glorifies sin, how can we see clearly to know why we do what we do as Christians?
Read the Word.
Pray and wait upon the Lord.
Humble yourself.
And KNOW that the Lord is worthy of ALL of us. -Less of me and more of You-. If nothing else motivates you to obey, let this be it: *That we owe everything to Christ.* We have no right to a ‘good life’, no right to judge, no right to hate, no right to gossip, no right to human approval, no right to a comfortable home, no right to do what we want, no right to waste time, no right to be treated ‘fairly’. Just as Jesus gave up all of his ‘rights’ on the cross, we give up ours when we entitle ourselves as followers of Christ.

There is no half way. It’s either hot or cold. Light or dark. Yes or no. Obey or disobey.

Until you experience the rewards of obedience, you can’t even begin to imagine the things that God has in store for you. It keeps getting better. God never disappoints. He never lets you down.
So if you’re just starting on your journey of obedience, just know that it’s hard when you start, but it generally gets easier as your faith grows in proportion to your obedience. Remind yourselves of all the times God pulls through and shows you why He told you to talk to that person, or to stop watching that TV show, or to pray for that specific person. Don’t forget.

Be hopeful and persevere. Romans 5:5 “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
Never Give Up. Because He’ll Never Give Up On You.