Ne 8:10 “Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

I love that verse! And lately, it has been a huge encouragement to me. A lot has happened lately..whether it be in my lives or in the lives of those that I care deeply for. But God has shown that His joy will be my strength. He has given me a smile and an enthusiasm about life that I haven’t know in a long time. There are literally times I can’t stop smiling..I have so much to be thankful for. And while I am tempted to run around like a chicken with it’s head cut off and get stressed and overwhelmed-God gives me joy and peace. He gives me the strength to carry on. Even sometimes when it’s hard..or even impossible in my eyes. Yes, I’ve shed my share of tears. I’ve been mad, and hurt, and frustrated..but I gave it all to God. I just decided to trust Him with my life. And in return-He gave me joy. A joy that no one can take away-no matter what they do. So go ahead-ask God for joy..He’ll give it to you if your willing to give Him your life. It’ll be the best thing you’ve ever done..

I visited two colleges(that will remain nameless) over the weekend. Initially, I was really interested in attending these colleges-however, they are both Christian and therefore, a lot more expensive then the state college I’m looking at. I knew if that was where God wanted me He would provide a way..but I don’t think that’s where He wants me..

Christian-I claim to be one. Most of my friends claim to be one. I go to a Christian school. I go to church. I’m even looking at Christian colleges. But does that make me a Christian? I think it goes much deeper then that. I think there has to be a point in your life where you decide you are going to follow God with 100% of who you are. And you are going to yield your desires over to His will-regardless of what others think. I met so many people over the weekend that claimed to be Christian. And while I’m not one to doubt anyone’s spirituality, I got to thinking. Why claim to be a Christian if you aren’t going to live like one? As I listened to several college students sit around and complain about some very good, but very lax rules I realized that there’s a reason Christians aren’t more active and a bigger force in our country. It’s because they are lazy and want to be like the world. They want to live like everyone else, dress like everyone else, talk like everyone else-but know we have assurance of heaven and can tell everyone else they are wrong. We want to live as close to the line of the world as we can. Heaven forbid anyone tell us that drinking is wrong and that it’s not ok to do certain things. I had one girl tell me she wished this college didn’t have a dry campus. And another was upset that guys weren’t allowed in the dorms 24/7 ,but only during certain open dorm hours. See sadly, our culture has taught us that it’s ok to do what we want. But it’s not-you can’t take a break from being a Christian–and honestly, if we had the right view of things we wouldn’t want to take a break. If we really saw sin for sin and God as God-we wouldn’t desire the things of the world so much. Jesus died for us. He suffered for my sins. Why then would I rather have the momentary pleasures of this world? No one is missing out by abstaining from drinking or sex or drugs or cussing or watching immoral stuff..the world will pour it down your throat that you are…and even some of your Christian friends might..but we need to step back and look at what God says. He says to not even have the appearance of evil. He doesn’t categorize sin and He is just-sin will always have consequences. For those girls I met, they may never realize the affect their testimonies had on me. They will probably never think they are doing anything wrong and their friends will probably never say anything. They have decided that it was ok to be a Christian and do these things. As I am sure some of my friends will do when they go off to college. But I wonder..what is it that we think we’re missing? It makes me thankful for the friends I do have who are willing to stand strong on issues. There is such a thing as black and white. The key is: Are we going to obey God now or are we going to fudge a little and “experience life” before we decide to obey?