Break The Chains; Break The Silence

Alright, so I'll just start this off with saying that I've had these three words running through my head for weeks and I couldn't figure out what the heck they meant, and they wouldn't stop. "Break the silence". I just keep hearing that in my head over and over and I think I've figured out what it is, so now I'll write about it.

    I was talking to someone this morning about how there are always chains trying to hold us down. Bad experiences, fear, doubt.. So many things are trying to keep us from being who we're meant to be. And the closer we get to that, the harder and heavier they become. I mean, lets face it, the enemy doesn't exactly want to let go of us and just let us be who God wants us to, right? That would be really stupid of him. The best part is though, that it really doesn't matter.   We have the choice. No matter what influences there are, we have the final choice. It might not be an easy one, but we do. There are so many things in all of our lives holding us down. A lot of the people I know deal with issues of feeling like they aren't good enough, or they can't do anything right, or that things will just never get better. That's not true if you don't let it be. God lives INSIDE us. Thinking things like that about yourself is almost a form of doubt, really. If you think you'll never be good enough, you're basically thinking that God couldn't lead you into being good enough. That's a thought I've dealt with a lot, and recently I've been coming to realize that it just isn't true. I can be whoever God made me to be. He made ALL of us to be amazing. To do incredible things for Him. And one of the most amazing things is that we choose whether or not things hold us back. We all need help, we all need strength, but that comes from God. He looks at the heaviest load and takes it easily. In Him we have our freedom. Freedom from the burden of sin. Personally, I think that is the best choice anyone could ever make.. To follow God and get set free from everything.

-Jake

Loves and Likes us.

As some of you may or may not have known, I spent two weeks going to a youth intensive/internship called Captivated at Ihop (international house of prayer) east bay. The first day was amazing. Jim, the guy that did the teachings, was talking about how God not only loves us, but he LIKES us. I know you're probably thinking "wait, wouldn't he have to like us to love us?" The answer.. Not necessarily. You see, you can love someone, but not really like them. You could be angry at them, or annoyed. But God doesn't get that way with us. He not only loves us, He likes us. What's that mean? He'll fight for us. He will guide us. No matter what we do He will always be there. He's not going to just leave us and say "oops, sorry, I don't want to deal with you right now." He is there for us. Lately I've been going through some really hard times. Things just seem to be getting worse and worse. And yet through all of this time I have gotten closer to God than I've ever been. He was there when everything was falling apart. He was trying to get me to see that I could go to him. That He liked and loved me and wouldn't give up on my. You can love someone and not really like them. But that will never be true of God.

Sorry

Hello everyone. I've been really, really busy lately and haven't had a lot of time to post anything. I've been writing a few, but just haven't put them up. I'll try to work on that soon.