Different but Better

I am not a bigtime blogger. This journey into blogging has not even reached one year yet, so it makes sense that I am still reaching under twenty people. But I am fine with that. I know that whatever God wants to happen will happen when he desires it to. All I have to do for the time being is follow God's direction.

That being said, I still like to look to my fellow blogging community for advice. Often my searches in Google have the word blog somewhere in it. Sometimes what I find is encouraging. I read a tutorial on how to do something that I have never tried and leave invigorated and excited. Other times, after reading blog posts insisting that I can't get by without doing this or that, I leave discouraged because I know that's just not the way that God has called me to do things.

Am I the only one? I know that not everyone wants to pursue blogging like I do, but have you ever taken a look into the world that you feel God has called you to and left feeling discouraged?

Maybe you want to lead but have read that you're not assertive enough, or male enough. Maybe the field you want to go in is one that involves being in the spotlight- something few people in this world get to do. Whatever it is that you feel God has placed in your heart, I think we have all felt like God was trying to get a fish to fly at some point. But let me propose that that is a good thing.

Throughout the Bible, people have been called to the most unlikely spots. There is story after story of people doing things in an odd way; a way that most would describe as out of character. Moses was afraid to speak, much less lead and entire nation. Not to mention the disconnect between him and the people because of his Egyptian upbringing. Moses might as well have been trying to row up the Nile the wrong direction without a paddle! But Moses did it.

Esther was not suppose to approach the king like she did. It was against the rules, and considering that the last queen got nixed because she did not come before the King when asked, I think when and when not to come before him was pretty important to the King! But she did, and the King favored her.

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah decided not to eat what the king had for them. By taking a stand for God and eating only vegetables and water they were also potentially endangering their lives. But at the end of the ten days on vegetables and water, they looked much more fit than the other young men who indulged in the kings food. It didn't make sense in the eyes of the man over them, but they did it, and God honored them.

Rahab the prostitute invited in and protected the spies sent from Israel even though they were about to overthrow the place that she lived. But she acted out of character. Rahab broke the mold, and she is  in the line of Jesus!

Ruth decided to stay with her mother in law instead of staying with her people. She held onto Naomi while Orpah left. It was completely outside of what we would expect from Ruth, in fact it perplexes me sometimes when reading it. But Ruth stepped out of the expected and started on a journey that would end up introducing her to a new man that would care for her and provide for her. Ruth was not destined to continue on as a widow for the rest of her life. But who knows what might have happened if she had decided to play it safe instead of honor Naomi (who had nothing for her).

Sometimes a life or career led by God will lead us to do things that others might ridicule or scoff at. When we follow God, we tend to do things differently. Joseph put food away, and in doing so, saved an entire nation! Why? Because he had an inside man: God. When you trust God, he will lead you to do things that in the natural make little sense, but in the heavenlies things are falling into place. 

We are different because of God. We are taught to love instead of seeking out power to lord over others. The world might not quite get it, but when they see what God does through you and with you, they'll be forced to say, "somethings's different about them, and it's working".

God favors the under dog, the quiet person, the servant. We don't have to be loud or obnoxious and try to make our own way like the rest of the world. God lifts us up on wings like eagles- he's already making a way! 

If you're weary because the world describes leaders as strong, powerful, in control, overbearing, and commanding- If you're exhausted from getting looked over because those around you appear to others to be more fit like Daniel and his brothers, don't give up. Do not give up. God sees you! He sees all that you are and how far you are willing to go for him.

We must lean on God for the strength to be patient while outside sources try to discourage. God values those who are willing to go against the grain. God is counter culture. He is completely opposite of what one expects an all powerful being to be. We are bound not to fit in. Even the Pharisees did not recognize the son of God among them because they had different ideas about what a reining king would look and act like. But God had a plan, and it was only going to work his way.

So we may not fit the mold. We may have the rest of the world trying to tell us that we don't have the right credentials. But if God Almighty called us to do something, you'd better believe that we are going to be able to do it, and do it right. We only need to stay rooted in what God called is to do. Not what the blog posts, tutorials, gurus or experts insist that we need to do. If we make sure to always listen to what God is asking of us, he is always faithful to lift us up in due time for his glory.

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Thanks for reading! This is something that God has impressed upon me for a while now. What do you feel like God is calling you to do? Have you ever felt like the the world is trying to tell you to back off of what you know God has for you? Let's talk about it! I would love to have your input!

If you'd like to stay in touch after you leave, you can find me on Facebook, or you can always go old school and enter in your email address to the side.

God has great plans for you! And always remember, God  L O V E S  you!

New Years in April

I don't know if you've noticed at all, but there has been something missing from Scrawltastic lately. I have not out out an update on my journey with my resolutions! That is for a few reasons.

Firstly, I was beginning to hate doing them. My whole month felt like it revolved around trying to keep up with my resolutions so that I would have something good to report. It was nice to have the knowledge that I was going to post an update on my blog motivating me, but that soon dwindled.

Secondly, these updates at first had a lot that was interesting to them. It was fun to see how I might have progressed and changed. But after the third update about my January resolutions came around, it was clear to me that it was all coming off very "me me me"-ish. And I really don't care to fill Scrawltastic with post after post about myself. I was just trying to chronicle what I thought might turn into something quite interesting if I stuck with it.

Which leads me to my third problem. I did not stick with my resolutions. Life happened, as it tends to do, and other more important things surfaced. Eventually the toll of taking on several resolutions at once showed itself, and it became clear that my plans were doomed from the start.

So here is an honest recap of what I like to call Operation Stop Boring My Readers With My Failure, or SBMRWMY for short.

Let's start with one last grueling recap. Here, again, are my resolutions for 2015

1. Two blog post's a week. I think that should be more than manageable. I also want to write at least six short stories this year. That's a half of a story per month. There is no set length, so I can go as long or short as I want. 

3. Three chapters a day. And it must be one book at a time. Not counting the Bible, of course.

5. Expect three pictures per month. Yep- three. That feels scary, but if it matters to me, I can take at least three pictures that I like enough to post each month. I owe it to myself to not chicken out of this one, so there it is. Three a month. Done.

8. I really like to do stretches on my yoga mat in the morning, and I use to make at lest fifteen minutes of time for it every day. I'm going to go back to that. A few minutes of yoga every day. That's final. Any person is capable of that. No chickening out, Candace! No chickening out! Also in the realm of taking care of my temple, I am committing to fifteen minutes of cardio at least five days a week. This is not hard to find time for. It's just the execution that I have problems with. Again. No chickening out, Candace.

9. I am committing to at least fifteen minutes of solid prayer time. It's as simple as that.

3, 8, and 9 died a quiet death. I do not make time for exercises. I hardly ever read. And I am sad to say that my prayer time is abhorrently low. But I have, for the most part, keep up with my blog.

So what now? Am I abandoning my quest to keep up with my resolutions? Not entirely. In fact, I sort of have some new ones! But I am not sure that I am going to keep on boring everyone with a new update on my resolutions every month. I just don't know that it is interesting blog-worthy material. Not to mention how dumb it feels to devote an entire post to myself at the beginning of each month. Honestly, I promise I'm not as vain as it seems!

So I will not be continuing with this series of posts. Not month, you can expect not to see a continuance of these Resolution Recaps. But I will let you know about a few things that I learned while engaging in the mountain of a task that I set out to accomplish.

1. 10 Resolutions Is Way Too Many!
I made a list of things that I really wanted to do. I wanted to be someone who exercised their mind and body every day. I wanted to be fearless and get things done. I wanted to be better. But taking on ten thousand new things is not the step to take if you're interested in bettering yourself. It is a great way to figure out what really matters to you, but taking on too many goals means that you're inevitably going to loose some along the way. But that's okay. Don't be too hard on yourself like I was. To accomplish any resolutions is much more than most of the population can say. I should be proud that I stuck to any resolutions at all! Two out of five! Go me! (Not vain, I promise.)

2. January Is Not a Magical Month
I don't mean that it is a bad month, but it is just as good for starting something new as any of the other months in the year. You can have February resolutions, March resolutions, April resolutions- any month of the year will do! But we get in such a frenzy to become better people at the start of the year that I think we forget that the "magical" ingredient is our willingness to obey paired with God's ability to change hearts and lives. The start of the year is not what we need to finally lose that weight or kick that habit. God paired with a willingness to show up is what we need.

2 Chronicles 20:17 says, 17 "You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you. " I love that example, because it shows God telling the Israelites not to fear, but also to show up.

If you're wishing that you had some new years resolution style fire in you, then ask God for help, trust in him, don't fear, and show up. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in how helpless we are against what seems like giants in our lives, that we forget that God never forces us to do anything. God does not control our decisions and gave us free will. We can choose to kick the habit we don't like, or we can sit in is wondering why nothing is changing. God does give us the strength we need, and he does change our hearts. But we need to take a step of faith and step our of the boat if we wish to walk on the water. Could it be that some of us are earnestly praying for a water walk, but we are still camping out in the warm, dry boat?

Could it be that some of us are earnestly praying for a water walk, but we are still camping out in the warm, dry boat? Click to tweet!

3. Some Things Are More Important Than Others
This may seem like an incredibly obvious point, but when it  comes to New Years Resoultions, it's really not. If I asked you to name off some New Yeas Resolutions, what would they be? According to USA.gov, the most popular resolutions are:

Lose Weight
Volunteer to Help Others
Quit Smoking
Get a Better Education
Get a Better Job
Save Money
Get Fit
Eat Healthy Food
Manage Stress
Manage Debt
Take a Trip
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Drink Less Alcohol

Those are all great goals. But none of them will make a person truly happy. There are plenty of thin, smoke free, volunteers with great jobs that recycle and drink less alcohol and save money whilst on a trip to Mexico managing their stress. But if they have no relationship with Jesus, they have nothing. 

Philippians 3:8 says,  8 "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ". That is an intense way to view life. Everything else pails in comparison to Christ so much that all else is counted as rubbish. If we could only see the importance of knowing God and having a real relationship with him, everything else just would't seem as important. Yes many of the things on that list are important. But when we expect the completion of goals to be the thing that finally makes us happy/happy with ourselves, we are setting ourselves up for a let down.

True holy spiritual completeness/peace/contentment is found only when we find ourselves first in God.  Matthew 13:45-46 puts it this way, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it." God sought us out at the price of the life of his son. God did not see failure as an option when it came to us being able to spend eternity with him. And the magnitude and glory of who God is and how beautiful he is urges us to do the same. All else pales in comparison to the treasure that is being reconciled to God. God first loved us, and God's amazing love calls us to mirror that type of field buying passion. When we set aside all else in order to be in a place of utter devotion to God, we  discover that all of the things we sold to get there really weren't that important anyway.

So all in all, this experience has caused growth. I am a little disappointed that I'm abandoning a project, but I am still glad that I tried it out. I have many goals that I intend to put into action down the line. I will not stop treating every month just like I treat January around New Years. But all in all, my focus has been brought back to God, and that is where it will stay. A better version of myself might bring slight satisfaction, but in the end, I must not think that my happiness will be sustained by self improvement. God is most important. I do not need to stress over a list any longer.

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I'm so glad that you stopped by and took the time to see what all of the fuss was about! What are some current goals that you have? I'd love to read about them! If you don't want to miss out on anything Scrawltastic, you can always drop by and like Scrawltastic on Facebook. Or if you'd like you can go ahead and subscribe via email and get posts sent right to your inbox.

Go with grace, and don't forget that God loves Y O U!

When Condemnation Strikes

Every now and then in life, I let myself get down because of mistakes that I make. I feel ashamed, broken, out of place, and even a little condemned. It doesn't even have to really be a mistake that I have made, it could be guilt for buying a pair of jeans- even when I only have one other pair that really fits. Why would I feel guilt for that? I clearly have a real need, but fear bubbles up and turns into guilt and condemnation. They were on sale too! What's the deal?!

These feelings are brief, because I have it ingrained in me that there is now no condemnation. In my head, I know it is true that I have no reason to be consumed with fear and sadness. But it almost seems like my rising heart rate, and defeated attitude don't want to listen, as if they enjoy this state of turmoil. In times when my knowledge of who God is and my feelings butt heads, the question rises: how do I stop feeling like this and start walking in what God has for me? So over years of knowing the grace, mercy, and lovingkindness that my God has for me while also battling negative thoughts, I have found a few thing that really help.

1. Prayer Coupled with Faith

Prayer is our open dialogue with God. I never "spruce up" for him at all, because I know he already sees what I have done, and who I am. By not trying to fake it, I find that God is able to be real with me. Not that God ever puts on a front, but when we hold back some of who we are from God, we limit how fully he can work in our lives. We should not be afraid to come to God with anything. He is not angry at all. He has only love for his children.

Now, that being said, I made sure to include "Coupled with Faith". James 1:5-8 lays it out pretty plainly, "5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."

Please don't take this as discouragement or something to make you at all afraid. For a while, this verse made me feel a little defeated. Am I being double minded? Am I sabotaging myself? That was not the intention of this verse. The entire point of this passage was to spur on faith. Yah, I can believe! If I ask, I will receive! Thank you, Lord, in advance, because I am so expectant of what I asked for, that I can't help but to already say thanks! 

If you are having trouble believing God when you pray, one thing that helped me is to start by believing God for tiny things. Believe him for what you can as an exercising of your faith. Just as we walk before we run, we can also strengthen our faith by starting small and working our way up.

Another thing that I have found helps me exercise my faith is to remember what God has done for me in the past. There are so many definite times in my life that God has been gracious toward me or provided in some way. When I draw my mind back to those times, it almost feels ridiculous that I would doubt him again.

In the same turn, I have been with countless friends and acquaintances that are constantly asking for prayer, but still talk in a defeated tone as if nothing has been or ever could be done for them. Our God is the one who parted the Red Seas and raised Jesus back to life. If we pray for something, we have no reason to do it with anything but a sense of accomplishment. It is not up in the air for us; we are more than conquerors through Christ.

2. Hear the Word

While we are on the subject of faith and believing that God really is for us and has no condemnation for us, I must impress upon you the power of hearing the word. When we get into the word and hear it spoken over our lives something happens in our spirit. Our faith is built up. Romans 10:17 says, "17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." Start speaking verses out loud when you start to feel condemned, fearful and put down. The word will not return void.

Romans 8:1 clearly states that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Print out the verse you stand on and tape it to your mirror or your computer at work. Do what it takes. Speak the verse aloud. Even have the narrator function on your computer read it aloud to you! I tried it just to see what it would sound like. It sounds a lot like someone who is having some trouble reading but very confidently mispronouncing  every three words. It was odd, but even from the electronic voice on my computer, there was power in the word of God! If you are having trouble with something, there is a verse for it in the bible. Find it, print it, and hear it.

3. Take Your Eyes Off of Yourself

When I dwell on what I have done that I should not have, it has the automatic effect of discouraging me. When I concentrate on all that I have done, and try to feel better about who I am, it usually fails me. That is because to truly boot insecurity and feeling of being condemned, we must have our identity rooted in Christ. The more that we look to God, concentrate on who he is, his goodness and love, and worship him, the more that we will find that who we are is not the deciding factor for our peace. Our peace is found in God and who he is.

Life in Christ is not about obtaining salvation through Jesus in order to be a better person. We will be fallible until we die and meet up with Jesus in heaven. The point of being on this planet and coming to know Christ is to glorify him and come to know him: R E L A T I O N S H I P .  It's like we are trying to live a life of worship for God, but doing it with a floor length mirror in front of us. We focus on what we are doing and how we look doing it the whole time. We may have the sincere desire to not mess up, perfect ourselves and not sin, but the constant inward focus will block our view of God and eventually leave us feeling hollow. Concentrate daily, hourly, moment by moment on God, his goodness, his love, how great he is. That step alone may put your life on a 180 degree turn.

4. Admit When You Experience Conviction

This step might as well say Attn: Candace. And you know what, I would love it if it said that, because it is a holy experience when the Holy Spirit grabs ahold of you. By that I mean, when the Spirit pricks your conscience and brings something that you have done to your attention, it may be painful, but it is an awesome opportunity to let yourself be soft, malleable clay. When we are open to conviction, confession, and repentance, we are able to see ourselves move lightyears past the old man in us that holds us back. Old habits can be broken. The same old rut that we return to even though we remember how it ended last time can become a fading memory. We can let the new man manifest here on Earth instead of waiting until heaven, but we must be open and willing to accept the soft soft correction of the Holy Spirit.

God will never play you like a puppet. We have free will, and because of that we can freely love him, or freely choose the path of death. Because our existence is set up that way, the method that God uses to mold us in this life is not force, but conviction. And conviction is completely different from condemnation. Being condemned has to do with separation with God. One who is condemned is judged and disapproved. They have little to no hope. One who is convicted hears, "that was not right", rather than, "out of my sight. You are defined by what you just did".

2 Corinthians 7: 10 says, "10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." So yes, you may experience grief in the moment. After doing something that we know God has been working on in us, we will probably feel our conscience twinge. In that moment, we must not hide ourselves from God, deny our action, or rationalize it in our head. We need only to say, "yes, God. You're right. That was not what I need to be doing", and then trust God to give us the strength to obey him. Conviction leads to salvation without regret. Condemnation only produces death.

There is a difference, and with that a need to be able to tell the difference. Pray and seek God next time you are facing grief for what you have done. Look at the way you are feeling. Are you overwhelmed with despair or simply aware of what you have done? Look at what it is that you are worked up about. Is it leading you towards God or stealing your peace. Little by little it becomes easier to pull God's voice out from the worthless thoughts in your head telling you that you should lose all hope. God will guide you. He loves us. He has no condemnation for us. That means that he does not wish us to be filled with anxiety about every little action. Walk with him, talk with him, and keep your eyes on him. He will fill you with love and peace that passes all understanding.

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Thank you for chilling with me over the web for a few words! I'm so glad you're here! What are your favorite ways to keep your eyes on God? Share your thoughts bellow!

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Thank you again for dropping by! 

Have a wonderful Thursday.

Easter Sacrifice

You know that feeling that you get after you have finished something that you were dreading doing, but really needed to get done? That feeling of bliss that follows after completing said arduous task? It occurred to me today, after relieving myself without the accompaniment of a small cup and a diagram on the inside of a doctor’s office bathroom, that Jesus might have experienced a similar feeling after rising from the dead on that first Easter morning.

Jesus conquered all sin. All past sin and all future sin were finished on the cross. Jesus took the full wrath that God had for our sins, every last drop. But it is clear that he was not looking forward to it. We have a description in the bible of Jesus sweating drops of blood while asking God to let the cup of his wrath pass from him.

The fact that Jesus was not particularly just chomping at the bit to be killed on a cross strikes me as incredibly humbling but also mildly disappointing. Growing up, Jesus praying that God might let this cup pass from him was never the focal point of any sermon that I heard. The pictures of Jesus on a cross that I colored on Easter morning included a normal looking, happy Jesus- very G rated stuff. I think we all rather like the willing heroic picture of Jesus strolling toward Calvary with chest out and a grin on his face. And while Jesus was completely obedient to God, he did still understand exactly what he was doing and how much it was going to hurt.

What Jesus did was intense. He was whipped, and crucified on the cross. Jesus fulfilled the old prophesies. But we must not forget the magnitude of what actually happened. On a warm day in the spring, amidst pastel colors, matching dresses and plastic candy filled eggs, it can be easy to distance ourselves from the depth of what happened up on calvary.

Most churches get a large onslaught of twice a year visitors on the first Sunday of April. In response, many pastors preach with the goal to reach those that might not even really believe in God more than just saving face on Easter. Their sermons are meant to get the message out there. And don’t get me wrong, I love this! Ushering a huge group of people into the kingdom is an exciting thought! But let us who know and walk in an active relationship with God year round take some time to really think about the less than G-rated version of the Easter story.

Let us take some time to really think about the less than G-rated version of the Easter story. Click to tweet.

Yes, Jesus died and rose again, but we must not let those words become stale and lose their meaning. What Jesus did was serious enough, scary enough, and real enough for him to make one last check with God to see if there was any other way. The price for us to be reconciled to God was huge enough that the lover of our souls' sweat, and it came out blood red. We may wish to water down the story for the sake of making it slightly more palatable, but the fact of the matter is that what Jesus did for us on that cross is beyond understanding.

The price for us to be reconciled to God was huge enough that the lover of our souls sweat, and it came out blood red. Click to tweet.

The Passion did what I assume to be a good job of recreating the visual aspects of that day (and even that could still fall short. It did, after all, have to be viewable in theatres), but what about the spiritual? What about the sheer spiritual anguish of taking in your heavenly Father’s entire wrath, all of God’s just punishment for all sin? And what about the fact that Jesus was completely cut off from the presence of the Lord, "My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?"?

I am sure that the feeling that Jesus had after everything was all finished with was unlike anything else to which we might try to compare it. Jesus even breathed out, “it is finished”, at the end. I mean, how does the sacrificial savior of the world feel after triumphing over evil? What Jesus did was mind-blowingly, astronomically great. The weight that should have been ours to bear, the price that had Jesus sweating drops of blood, is completely gone. Paid in full.

Words do not do justice to how incredible this gift is. Next time you feel relieved after finishing something that you really didn’t feel like doing, take a special moment to remember what Jesus did for us. Our salvation was not G-rated. It is absolutely the hardest thing that any person had or ever will endure. Jesus might have desired to have God’s insurmountable wrath to pass from him, but he also loved us, and he also was fiercely obedient to God. 

The fact that Jesus pressed on and was faithful to obey God’s plan should be a source of great rejoicing! But we also mustn’t forget what was necessary for us to be able to spend eternity with God. It is worth treating with reverence. It is worth meditating on. This Easter, let us spend some time in reverence, considering the price it took for us to have this gift of mercy. Let us praise Jesus, and humbly recognize what he really did.

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Thank you for chilling with me over the web for a few words! I'm so glad you're here! What do you consider your favorite/the most thought provoking part of the Easter story? Share your thoughts bellow!

If you never want to miss out anything Scrawltastic again, join us on Facebook!

You can also subscribe by email, if you prefer that.

Thank you again for dropping by! 

God loves you so much that he sent his perfect son to the cross to take pay the price for all of our sins. He is not mad at you at all!! He loves you like crazy! Have a great Easter, and be blessed!

Offended

Time for real talk. I struggle with letting myself become offended. There are some situations that when I am in, I find it harder to not get aggravated, like driving (haha, yah) or while at work. That's not to say that my job is strenuous or particularly annoying, but in those times, I find it difficult to not let insignificant things offend me.

I, as a child of God, am not called to be an overly aggravated person. I am not called to turmoil, or anger. I have a spirit of peace, love and a sound mind. Nowhere in there is offended, angry, or chip on my shoulder. So what do we do, while living in a world that practically encourages a spirit of offense, to be in it but not of it?

First, lets talk a little bit more about being offended. The word offended means, "resentful or annoyed, typically as a result of a perceived insult." So basically what you dad meant when he said that you have "a chip on your shoulder".

As I said earlier, in this present day, we are a people in love with being offended. As of the 90's, we have a new way of speaking called PC, politically correct, that is designed to not offend anyone. We have the internet, which has opened up Pandora's box of anonymity, creating a whole new way to express any and every moment of offense. Have you looked at a comment section lately? I wouldn't wish for my worst enemy to comment something political or religious in the wrong sector of the internet. Yikes!

Yes, most of us have a nice large chip on our shoulders. We all have our buzzwords or pet peeves; roads that other people just better not go down. Being mild mannered is a thing of the past. Now, the thing to be is outspoken. Stand up for yourself! But to what cost? Are we leaving some important things behind when we choose to embrace being offended?

I once read an entire Christian blog post about how we as Christians are called to judge. I balked outwardly as I read the article, and cringed even harder inwardly as I looked down the comment section to see person after person praising the article! The post was being hardily embraced by most of the viewers, or at least the ones that felt inclined to comment. Maybe the ones who disagreed feared impending judgement, but that's neither here nor there.

I'm not really sure if I can blame the writer or those who agreed, though. Sometimes, I think I am very much the same. I mean, it feels good to take offense, right. It feels good to judge! To take what someone else did and amplify it until it blocks out the rays of anything that you might be caught up in at the moment feels nice. It's safe, and it just makes you feel like maybe you really are alright.

But that's not what the word-I mean THE WORD, not the blogs, or the news stations- says. James 2:13 says, "For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment." Hmm. Mercy triumphs over judgement. Hmmm.

And what about James 3:13-18? "Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." A harvest of righteous is sown in peace and by those who make peace. Wow. Goosebumps.

So where does that leave us with being offended? Well in a biblical sense, taking offense is just another way of saying that there was an opportunity to forgive that was missed. Now, I am not saying that forgiveness isn't hard sometimes. Forgiveness, when walked out-lived out- is completely sacrificial (i.e. HARD). But it's the Christian way; the way Jesus calls us to live.

Forgiveness, when walked out-lived out- is completely sacrificial (i.e. HARD), but it's the way Jesus calls us to live. Click to tweet!

When asked by his disciple how many times he should forgive, Jesus answered seventy times seven. If you watched veggie tales as a kid, you'll remember the hillbilly carrot saying that it is "Four hundred and ninety!" That is a lot, but I don't think that Jesus was instructing us to put a cap on our forgiveness. I think this is just proof that 1. Jesus really wants us to forgive, and 2. Jesus has a dry sense of humor.

So it is important to forgive. Paramount, if we are to walk in the love that God desires for us, but offense is not just simple unforgiveness. Taking offense also involves an element of anger. It's not fun either. I don't know about you, but when I am angry, and I have more experience in that than I would like to admit, I feel horrible. My body amps up on all of this negative energy, my happiness and peace are sapped completely, and I physically feel gross. I don't like it, and especially after experiencing peace (what God desires us to abide in), I don't ever want to go back to being an angry person.

Offense is toxic, and it can completely pull a dark cloud over the most upbeat, loving attitude. Offense will squelch what God has for you, but it will also thwart what God may have given to other people through you. Let me say that again, the people that we might have reached otherwise may not be getting reached with God's love, because we are choosing to accept a spirit of offense.

Offense will squelch what God has for you, but it will also thwart what God may have given to other people through you.  Click to tweet!

But what about when people do something to me or towards me that is wrong? Gotcha. I know. No, I really know. I have had to overlook, work through, pray over, have friends and family pray over some pretty offensive situations. Sometimes it really takes time. But it is so worth it.

Proverbs 19:11 says, "Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense." When we come across potentially aggravating situations in which we are wronged, it is heavenly wisdom to not pick up a spirit of offense. Pinterest and our favorite political gurus may tell us it is wise to be your own person and not take nothin' from no one, but that's not God's way.

Going back to James 3:18, (sorry, I just can't get over this verse) we are told that "a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace". So anyone who is aggressively (argumentatively, angrily) preaching that America needs God is missing it. The harvest of righteousness that America (and the rest of the world too. Frankly, God is not prone to partiality.) needs will be sown in peace.

Friends, the offended Christian, regardless of however much gusto they might have for the kingdom of God, will never be able to reap the harvest that they so fervently preach. I know that we have our beliefs, religious and political, but if we allow ourselves to take up a spirit of offense, then we might as well just be a bush with too many birds in it.

If we allow ourselves to take up a spirit of offense, then we might as well just be a bush with too many birds in it.  Click to tweet!

Super ugly bush. Why, landlord? Why?

In front of Teagan and I's house is a rather large bush. I consider it to be unsightly and unwanted, but we live in a rental, so that's the works. Inside that bush are enough birds so that sometimes they just break into fits of chirping. On what otherwise could have been a quiet afternoon, I have to actively drown out what quickly becomes an overbearing, pointless, nonsensical barrage of high pitched tweets. I wonder if, as the body of Christ, we don't come across to some people like that.

Psalm 37:8 reads, "Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil." I have this one taped up on my computer monitor at work. Anytime that I feel annoyed at what someone does, I read this verse. When someone does what seems condescending, I read this verse. When I am tempted by my own desires to remember people who have undoubtedly treated me like I was nothing, I read that verse over and over again. And then a few more times.

Reminding myself that accepting and mentally expanding on angry, offended thoughts will only "tend to evil" helps me snap out of it. And I do mean snap out of it! My mind has the tendency to latch on to thoughts of anger and offense. When that happens, it can feel like I am in some sort of trance. I start thinking irrationally, and I really have to bring myself back to reality.

"They are for you here, Candace. No one wants to put you down." Or maybe, "that was a long time ago. I am redeemed from that situation!". And even, "It's not worth it", are thoughts that will help me to stop going down the rabbit trail. For some of us, these phrases need to be constantly running through our mind. And the power verses, like 2 Timothy 1:7 or Psalm 37:8 need to be in sight as much as possible, all the time if you can!

God has a path and plan for each of us. He desires for us to make great leaps and bounds for the Kingdom! We must submit to him and choose to walk the selfless path of peace. God has a harvest of righteousness planned for every single one of our lives, our communities,  and cities. He just needs those who will willingly make peace. Let us all say, "Here I am! Lord send me!"

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I mentioned a few, but what are some of your "goosebump" verses? I would love to add some more to the list! Feel free to rant, rave or simply comment in the section bellow! 

Also, I revamped the Facebook page for my blog. Check it out, and let me know what you think! You can always subscribe to more Scrawltastic content by email, or visit Facebook if you're more of a a 2015 kinda guy (or gal. Person? I stink at being P.C.)!

Thanks for hanging out for a bit, and always remember, God loves you!

Fearing Idols

I look forward to going to work on Mondays. It's not that I am particularly amped up about being a banker, even though it is a huge blessing. No, the reason that I get excited about the first day of my work week is because I know that I get to read three whole days of devotions from my desk calendar. My desk calendar is just like any other normal calendar, except for the fact that it has Bible verses and devotionals about fear to go along with every day. On Monday, I get to read the leftovers from the weekend, and this causes me to look forward to arguably the most hated day of the week. Silly, I know, but it's the little things, right?

One particular morning, while reading the devotional for the day, I came across a verse that had never  before seemed particularly profound to me. The devos in my calendar can sometimes feel a little weak because of the stretches the author must make to have 365 individual devos all about fear with completely different verses for each one. The point is there, but sometimes you can see how deep they had to dig to find it.

This could have been one of those days. The verse came from 2 Kings 17:35, and it was right in the middle of the story line. It reads, "35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them" ". Okay, yes, I see the connection. Rather out of context, but it does pertain to fear. But then I started to maul it over a little bit, and the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the golden nugget that this verse really was. "You shall not fear other god's".

We have all heard it before. Do not place any other gods before God. Big "G", little "g". We see the difference. But if you're anything like myself, you have mostly brushed this off the few times that you have heard it. I mean, it's not like people are going out and really buying statues to pray and sacrifice to. Even in the least respected circles, this would still seem fruitless, foolish, and dumb. No one buys idols as they were described in the Bible. It's just not a thing anymore.

This particular time of reading over this verse, I thought of something that I had not considered before. God was very specific to mention not fearing other gods.  When presented with a verse commanding us to not place any gods before the Lord, we might be able to make it as far as to ask ourselves if, instead of idols, there are any people or material things that we are elevating above God in priority. But I had never noticed fearing other gods emphasized like it was in this devotional. After reading the verse, I felt like God was proposing the question to my heart, "what are you fearing more than me?"

It feels strange to think that the Israelites ever feared other gods, because there only is one true God: God. It is a no-brainer for the modern day believer in Christ. But could it be that we enter into the same sort of foolish fear that they did do long ago when we enter into fear of anything other than God? The Bible is chocked full of verses about not fearing. "Prefect love cast's out fear", 1 John 4:18. 2 Timothy 1:7, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind". It is clear that God did not design us to live in fear, nor does he operate with fear. God desires us to live fearlessly. But I think that the topic of fear in the Bible is often the sort of thing that we read over and take for granted because of how fully immersed we are in the world.

From childhood, we are taught that fear is an uncontrollable emotion that we experience. We are taught simply to accept it as a way of operating as a functional adult. We are to have a "healthy fear" of certain things. In fact, some people will even say that it is wise to have some fear in you. They reason that there are certain things that every person should fear. But that is not at all the same message that God has for us in the Bible.

No, God doesn't desire us to act foolishly. God does no intend for us to do everything that we happen to not afraid of. In the verse in 1 Timothy, it is emphasized that Timothy has a spirit of power and sound mind. We are well equipped by what God has already given us to not act foolishly. We do not need fear to guide us.

So lets gravitate back towards God's question, "What are you fearing more than me?" In the context of the verse in 2 Kings 17:35, the Israelites were fearing what they thought were other gods. They were placing them as high or higher than God in their minds. They considered these false gods to hold some sort of power over them, and as a result, they had fear in their hearts for them.

As I said earlier, passages about idols and idol worship have always struck me as an outdated message and hard to relate to. But the longer I thought about what I was fearing more than God, the more clear it became to me that there are plenty of idols in my life.

Sometimes I fear people more than God. That shows very clearly when I worry over what others think about me. I might have a totally normal conversation with someone, but because there was a response that I said too late or said too many times, I replay the interaction over and over again in my mind. Fear of others can also manifest in embarrassment. The reason that we get embarrassed much of the time is because we are dreading what others are thinking of us in the current situation. But that is not necessary with God. We can simply pick ourselves up and move on knowing who we are in Christ.

Sometimes I might fear not getting things done more than God. My mind will be completely consumed with the task or tasks that I have yet to get done. I will worry for a long time about what might happen if I never get those things done. The situations that I think about might not even be real, and this fear may cause me to mike bad decisions or even lash out to the people around me. I might even feel completely paralyzed because of my fear of not accomplishing tasks, causing me to not get anything at all done.

The future is another thing that will take center stage in my mind as a powerful unconquerable "god". The thought of health or money growing sour as I age is sometimes a trap that my mind enters into willfully. I will worry about the future even though it has not even happened yet! But for every single thing that might consume our thoughts, Jesus has an answer. Matthew 6:31-33 reads, "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

When we choose to really and truly think of other things as more powerful than God, it is as if we are the Israelites worshiping a powerless statue god. No, we might not consciously consider these things to be powerful overlords. But when we dread and fret over things or people instead of standing in awe over who God is and what he will do, we are subconsciously placing something in a more powerful position than God. The thing we fear is getting our attention, and we will make decision based upon that fear. Simply put, we will be unable to live for God, because we will be living for something else.

The fear of the Lord comes on us when we realize more and more who God is and how awesome and beautiful he is. The fear of the Lord is not at all like the fear we experience in this world and of this world. The fear we experience in response to the various other "gods" in our lives is paralyzing and leads to completely irrational thoughts. Sometimes it is difficult to wrap our minds around what the Bible is saying when it mentions the "fear of the Lord" because we have scary movies and other such things that have taught us a spirit of fear that God never intended for us to operate in.

The fear of the Lord is a humble stance of awe and worship, and it is full of peace and love. Walking in the fear of other things is devoid of peace and allows those idols to have power over us. We cannot think that other gods (what people think, the future, money) and the Lord are the most powerful thing at the same time. We either serve one or the other.

The way that we decide to choose the fear of the Lord over the fear of other gods is simply to get in the word and seek God for guidance. The fear that we have in our lives may seem immovable or even logical. But faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. And the word is true. The more we immerse ourselves in the Bible and verses about God's heavenly view on fear, the more we will be able to operate in the spirit of power, love and sound mind that God has given us.

God desires for us to be able to walk fully in all that he has for us. Let us throw down our idols, and stand in worship and awe of God and only God.

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What do you view as idols? Are there things in your life that you have always feared? Feel free to comment, rant or rave! Start a conversation, like and even share. 

But always remember, you are loved by God.

Family Photo Time

 Caution! Cuteness overload ahead! A few weeks ago, Teagan and I went to Ralls, Tx to visit our family. I decided to try and get pictures of the family holding the newest addition to the family, my niece, Kendall Eve. Here are some of the pictures that I took:

Uncle Teagan and Kyndall

Aunt Lanie and Kyndall

Grammy and Kyndall

There really isn't much that needs to be added when you have pictures of such a sweet and innocent face. I will add though, that I still need to get a picture of Kyndall with her momma, Katie! I have no idea how that did not happen, but it will be fixed in time.

Sometimes in life, we get to stand back and witness moments that are best when we do nothing but observe. The sweetest times that we enjoy with family require little more than for us to just be still and be grateful.

As Teagan and I enter our twenties as a couple with expectation and excitement, it can be easy to get caught up in planning for school, career, friends, and even future places to live. Those are great things to plan for, but sometimes, being on the precipice of life can tend to make you want to start moving fast and furious. In the end, though, there are few key things that matter to which you should hold fast: God and your family.

Let us not lead lives that slowly abandon either our relationship with God the father or our earthly family. God matters. People matter. Money, career, education, location are all icing. A diet of icing cannot fully fulfill our spirit man. It will in the end leave us sapped of energy and full of regret. Pursue God, love God, and love others. Whether we are deciding on a college to go to or where to live, if we hold fast and prioritize God, we will be alright.

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Katie, your daughter is precious and loved. We all can't wait to see her grow, and we can't believe that we get to be part of her beautiful life!