Never Easy

Where are you standing in your faith?
Personally I strive to stand closest to the front lines, ready to embrace the challenges and blessings God has for me. There will always be pressure to cause you to sway, and the stronger in Christ you become, the more the attacks also seem to come. With that, it will also become easier to hold strong with your beliefs because God becomes more real and more important to lean on in stressful times.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called outliers. Though I have not personally read this book, yet, I have done some research on his writings. He talks about this 10,000 Hour Rule. To be great, or really master something, he says you must put at least 10,000 hours into the task you're trying to become great at. Think about this, that is 3 hours a day, for a decade! It's obvious, the more time you spend on something, the better you become.
Spending time with God is important in your daily life. If you want to achieve a better understanding of God or want God's love to become more prominent in your life, then spend time with Him. My only question is, how willing are you to put in the effort to learn about God into your daily life? There is so much I want to learn about God, and to put it simply..
I want to know God the way He knows me.
Do you?
Motivation is hard, I completely understand. Start with small daily goals. Goals you know you can achieve. I once made my New Years resolution to read the bible in a year. Yes, it is a great challenge, though I never broke down my daily goals, and never achieved this resolution because I had no direction for goals I knew I could achieve in a timely manner.
 
I love finding music by well known artists that are about God in some way. Katy Perry's first album was a Christian album, though not many people know this. She never hit big until her hit single "I Kissed A Girl." This new album "Teenage Dream" is similar to her type of songs, although there is one song that stands out among the rest. It's called, "Who Am I Living For." When you listen to the lyrics, it's obvious she is talking about her struggle with keeping her faith in her media influenced lifestyle.

"It’s never easy to be chosen, never easy to be called
Standing on the front line when the bombs start to fall
I can see the heavens but I still hear the flames
Calling out my name."

God has chose each and every one of us to be Christ children, and to make disciples of Him. Christians stand on the "front lines" of the battle for Christ to become known. Katy's lyrics mention how she can see the heavens, yet the flames are calling her name. She wants to be focused on Christ, but the influence of satan is strong. I know for a fact that she is not alone in this struggle. Many Christians face this influence on a daily basis, and the more we bask in Christ's love and fellowship the stronger we will be to ignore the negative influence.
In Peter 4:12-19 It talks about the sufferings Christians endure.
Verse 14: If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
Basically when you're feeling attacked, stand strong in Christ, you are being attacked because satan feels threatened by you, and God blesses you for being strong in your faith.


Verse 18: “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
 God does not just want us to be strong in Him, he wants us to ask Him for help to stand strong in Him. We will find strength when we most need it because He is so willing to make sure we can pull through our struggles. In case you did not know, God wants the absolute best for you and your life! He wants you to be healthy, He wants you to succeed, He wants you to feel comfortable in your skin, He wants you to have less worries, He wants you to be happy! Many people have this idea that God is unhappy with them. God is love. Which means He is without hate; He has his passionate, unconditional, and never ending love for ALL of His people.

Listen to this song by Katy Perry. For me I found comfort, comfort that I am not alone in struggles, even if our struggles many not compare the same exact way, we all endure struggles about who we are living for.

May you have a wonderful and blessed weekend. Happy Friday!

Love you all,

KatrinaMarie