Lose Your Soul?

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. ~Matthew 8:34-38

If you had to give something in order to save your soul, what would you give? What could we Possibly give that would be good enough? What exists that would be good enough? We have nothing that we could give God that would be good enough to save ourselves. That's why He had to send His own son to save us. So why on earth would we want to fill our lives with the things of this world? Why would we choose to gorge ourselves with things that are meaningless to God? Being rich in this life will get you nowhere when it comes to Heaven. Having fancy cars, houses, expensive food and clothing... What does any of that mean to God? All He wants is us. He wants all of us. All that He asks is that we dedicate our lives to Him. Does He deserve any less? After He gave up His son to walk on this earth and feel our pain. After He sent His son to DIE for us so that we have a door to Heaven. We do live in an adulterous and sinful generation. Increasingly so. And it is up to us as Christians to hold onto our faith. It's up to us to cling to God and His promises and to spread them as far as He would have us to.

These verses always remind me of the Casting Crowns song "American Dream." It's a good song. You should check it out. =)

God Bless,
Taylor

Straight and Narrow

So... I have been severly lacking in the blog department. Summer and its complete lack of a steady schedule have definitely thrown me off the band wagon. If I've learned anything from the time I last wrote a blog until now, it's that humans are fickle and weak. We can easily be derailed and redirected. However, I guess that makes a lot of sense in regard to the fact that Jesus tells us, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." ~Matthew 7:13-14
Anyone can do the things that she wants to, but it takes a strong and dedicated person to do the will of the Lord. I think of all the great things that I have, all the things God has given me, and I wonder where I would be without Him. It doesn't take much thought to see that I would be in a much different, much worse, place without His hand at work in my life. Because of this, I get angry with myself for being so fickle. I get angry for not putting God first in my life each and every day. I know that as a human being I make, and will continue to make, mistakes. I wish that there was a way that I could be perfect for God, but I know that wish won't become a reality until I'm with Him face to face. So until then, I will continue to walk, stumble, fall, get back up, and walk for Him again. I need to become better at laying down my own life daily and picking up the cross. God never said this life would be easy, but it will be worth it when I get to spend forever with Him in eternity. I know that God will never bring me to something that He won't take me through. I just have to remember that He is in control of my life. I have to remember that I have been bought with a price, and that I am no longer my own.

God Bless,
Taylor