Students Teaching Teachers

this last week i got the opportunity to share and teach on a Wednesday night at SHIFT Students. i love it. it has been a while since the last time i got to speak on a Wednesday night and i was super pumped to be able to too. i truly feel that teaching is something that i am supposed to be doing, something that i feel that God has called me to do. i also feel that God calls all of us to learn. i always hear, "the moment you stop learning is the moment you stop teaching" and it really is a true statement. even though i got to teach this last Wednesday, i felt that i was taught a huge lesson...none other than by the students i was teaching too. let me explain...

since it was the day before thanksgiving, i taught on how we NEED to be thankful for everything, the good and the bad in our lives and that it is super easy to be thankful to God for all of the great things He has provided us. but true thanksgiving comes when we are thankful to God for the difficult areas in our lives because its during those times in which we are more like Jesus and closer to Him then ever, and we should be truly thankful for those situations because of our closeness with Him in those times.

after i was done, there were different stationed set up around the room, all having to do with giving true thanksgiving to God. i was blown away be the students responses. one of the stations was a prayer wall, and some of the prayers brought me to tears.

i wanted to be more like these students. i prayed then and there that i can learn from these students and be truly thankful to God for the things in my life i see no good because these students were giving up everything to Him. they were going through difficult times, more difficult times than i have gone through and i am twice as old as them. i was humbled by the way God worked through these students to teach me, who was the teacher for that night.

i was humbled. i want to learn from them. here are some of these prayers:

• Thank you for my depression because without it I wouldn’t have gotten as close to you as I am now.
• God, I pray for the trials you are putting me through. I am dealing with depression but I am happy because I know that it will only make me stronger. Thank you for your love and thank you for giving your son to die on the cross for me.
• Thank you for guiding me by testing my faith in you and showing me that I need to be more in you. I love you with all of my heart, soul, and mind.
• Dear God I know all this pain and suffering with family will make me a better person and I am thankful for that person I will become and the people you put in my life.
• Lord, I can’t even express the thankfulness my heart wants to express to you. You are bigger then any worry I will ever face. You are the resolution to any problem I will face. Thank you for all the difficult times in them my faith will be strengthened.
  -Amen

• Dear Jesus, I know that I have struggles and although they hurt and I don’t always know the best way to handle them, I thank you because these struggles make me a stronger person, a stronger believer, and a stronger follower of Christ. I promise to always follow you in the good times and the bad.

STUDENTS TAUGHT ME LAST WEEK....I DIDN'T TEACH THEM. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR WILLINGNESS TO BE THANKFUL FOR THE TOUGH TIMES! YOU ALL ARE A TRUE INSPIRATION.

Stop

i know its been a while since i last posted. i want to apologize.

let me just say something that i have been learning lately. i feel like i have been going crazy. i feel that i have been tempted with sin more than ever before in my life. i don't know why. i feel that Wednesday nights at SHIFT Students has been going nuts! (in a great way). i never have seen so many students passionate about worshiping their God. Just the other day, i noticed something. that I'm so freaking busy running around on Wednesdays that i am not stopping to really pay attention to whats going on around me. i think that is the enemy working there. he is making me so busy running around and worrying that everything is perfect, that i am missing the true meaning why i am there in the first place...and that is to worship God.

last week i made sure i slowed down and not worry about the small details. me worrying about the small stuff shows how small my faith in God was to provide the night with His spirit. it was almost like God told me, "Dude, do you think i am not going to show up in my own house on rock this place?...ill take care of it." it was humbling.

God is Bigger than any worry.....

Psalm 91 states:

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the Lord, who is my refuge-- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 'Because he loves me,' says the Lord, 'I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.'"

Is Christianity Hard or Easy?... Yes

I worked at Islands for 7 years. it was the easiest job at times. I worked a couple hours and would make great money. it was easy. other days, it was the hardest job cause you had to deal with difficult people. I remember going up to tables and taking there order and I would ask "would you like a white or a wheat bun?" and they would answer, "Yes." not paying attention. I would just laugh. this is how Jesus answers the question of "is Christianity hard or easy?" the answer is yes.

a lot of people think that being good is all that matters. if I'm more of a good person than a bad person, I'll be fine. you can be good, but you can only do so much good by yourself that you will start to notice that other people are not noticing your goodness and you will be bitter by the end.

Christianity is different. it's hard yet easy. Christ says give me all. I dont want a majority of your money, work, or time... I just want you. I dont want a few branches trimmed here and there, I want the whole tree down. I don't want your natural self... in fact, I'll give you a new self, I'll give you Myself.

Jesus is confusing sometimes. he says following Him is hard and is easy.

Matthew 16:24-25
"24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

Jesus is saying that following Him is following Him to the cross. to physically be there next to him carrying the cross and physically hanging next to Him on the cross. that's hard. I don't know if my faith is strong enough to do so, and that's what Jesus calls all people to do.

but then Jesus says it's easy.

in Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

He says just hand everything to Him. give Him everything, the sin, the struggle... to Him. and He will take care of it.

it's that easy.

what a balance. is Christianity hard or easy?

yes.

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