Youth Convention 2011!

I don't even know where to begin with this post. There is so much that I want to say, but I'm not even sure how I want to say it. One thing I do know is that this past weekend at Youth Convention is one weekend that God really changed my life and showed Himself to me, and I will never forget it.

The first night, the speaker Robert Madu (who is an AMAZING speaker!) talked about "The Frustrations of our Generation." He talked a lot about how when we have a powerful or life-changing moment with God, like on a retreat or at youth convention, we need to use that experience that we had to show others what God is doing through us back at home. A lot of times, we'll go on a retreat with our church, and God will do something powerful in our lives and we get so fired up for God, but when we come home, we usually slip back into our old ways and act like God did nothing on that trip or He really didn't impact us that much. I know this because I've done that. I've been on retreats and God will do something life-changing and I'll have such a powerful experience with God, but when I go back home, you're back to reality where life is not easy and sometimes it's not always easy to rely on God and follow Him. But like Robert Madu said, we have to take our experience that we had with God, and show other people that experience! Don't just hold onto it in the back of your mind and not tell anyone. When something good happens to you, you want to share it with others, right? Just like that, when you have an amazing experience with God, share it with others! Whenever you feel like you can't go on and that experience with God was just a one time thing, that's the devil trying to get to you. He's trying to get in your head and tell you that even though you had a great experience with God, you can't keep that feeling when you're at home. Let me tell you something. THAT IS A COMPLETE LIE! The devil is so good at lying to us, and he twists everything good in our lives and tries to make them either not lasting or just not good. Don't listen to the devil, listen to God and keep relying and trusting in Him, even when the devil is trying to bring you down. God is stronger and more powerful than the devil.

Another thing Robert Madu talked about that really stuck out to me was when he was talking about bondage to sin. We all have bondage to some kind of sin in our lives. We are created to walk in the freedom that God has for us. God wants us to live in freedom with Him. I love when Robert Madu said, "When sin becomes our normal, we will always go back to it. We need to let the Lord do a transformation in us and give us real freedom, not fake freedom through dysfunction." This really hit me. Real freedom. Do you know what real freedom is? Real freedom, is God's forgiveness. We need God's forgiveness to set us free from the sin that holds us back from living free and at peace with God. What is fake freedom? Fake freedom, is basically living for the worldly things that may seem satisfying at first, but they are only temporary and won't last. Living in fake freedom, is basically living as though sin is normal, and like Robert Madu said, when sin becomes our normal, we always go back to it. I think what he was saying is that when we have fake freedom, we have asked God to forgive us from our sins at some point in our lives, but we have walked away from God and have been living in sin that it's part of our daily routine and we think nothing of it, like brushing our teeth. God doesn't want us to have this mindset. He wants us to live in real freedom with Him, where we ask Him to be the Lord of our lives and to completely forgive us of all of our sin that we have and to take all of our burdens off of us.

Lately, I've been having a lot of baggage. I've been holding onto a lot of my past mistakes and I just haven't been able to let them go. Even though I've asked God to forgive me of my sins and my mistakes and to take all of my burdens, I've still been holding onto them. But God wants me to live in real freedom with Him and completely surrender everything to Him. I cried my eyes out that night, and I ran down to the alter and just bawled my eyes out. I didn't want to keep holding onto this baggage, I wanted to surrender it over to God and live in real freedom with God. After I surrendered everything to God and asked for His real freedom, I felt the most amazing peace that I had ever felt in my entire life. After completely surrendering to God, I felt like that I was finally feeling that real freedom that God wants me to live in.

This weekend was exactly what I needed. God knew I really needed this weekend, and I went after Him with all that I had and I felt Him. Now that I'm home, I'm going to try to not give up or let the devil get inside my head, and keep being on fire for God, just like I was at convention. :)

Stand Up For What You Believe In

Recently, I was in a situation where my faith and what I believed in was tested. I've been in similar situations before, but this time, instead of just ignoring the situation, I decided that it was time for me to take action and stand up for what I believe.

A couple days ago, I was on facebook and I got a notification about this guy commenting on one of my very good friend's picture. When I saw his comment, I felt angry inside. He decided that he was going to comment on my friend's picture and use God's name in vain. Usually when people use God's name in vain and say "oh my god" or just throwing around God's name in a disrespectful way, I usually just ignore it and not say anything about it. Yes, it would annoy me when people would do that, but I always kept my mouth shut because I thought I would get yelled at by the person saying that (especially since usually people who use God's name in vain aren't Christians and don't think much of it at all.) or they would beat me up or something. This time, when I saw this random guy I don't even know commenting on my friend's picture using God's name in vain, it really just made me mad. I decided that I wanted to be bold and speak my mind, and I asked this kid if he wouldn't use God's name in vain, and I'm sure you could guess what happened next. This guy decided to blow up on me saying that he doesn't believe in God and how he can do whatever he wanted and that he was only trying to compliment her, and he felt like I was trying to shove my beliefs on him. I basically just told him that I wasn't trying to force my beliefs on him at all and I was stating that his comment was offending and he could have said something else to comment on my friend's picture.

You're probably wondering where the hackin' I'm going with this; I do have a point don't worry. In the Bible, there's the Ten Commandments, the basic rules everyone should live by, and one of those rules is "Do not use God's name in vain." What exactly does that mean? It means if you are not saying God's name in a way that is pleasing to Him or if it is disrespectful to Him (ie oh my god, for the love of god, etc.) then you shouldn't be saying it. It is totally offending to God, and to us Christians, we should also be offended when people use God's name in vain. I notice a lot of times Christians do get offended and annoyed when non-Christians use God's name in vain, but they don't speak up. God tells us in the Bible that we are called to stand up for what is right, and we are also supposed to stand up for what we believe in. 

"Stand up for Me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will stand up for you before all God's angels." ~Luke 12:8 (The Message)


Basically what this verse is saying is if we stand up for God among the people around us, God is going to stand up for us and He will have our backs. I think that God was really testing my faith and seeing if I really am a follower of Him by putting that situation with my friend's facebook picture to see if I would stand up for Him. And you know what? I feel like speaking up and telling that kid how I didn't like how he was using God's name in vain and how he could have said something else was my way of standing up for God and showing Him that I really do want to follow Him and do what's right. Usually I am not that bold and I wouldn't speak that openly about my beliefs. I just keep my thoughts to myself, but I really felt God tugging on my heart that it was time for me to speak up. And God gave me the courage and boldness to stand up for Him, because I never would have spoken up on my own. If it were up to me, I would just keep my mouth shut and not say anything, but God had other plans in mind.




I just want to encourage you, if you are friends with someone, or even just talking to a stranger and they are saying or doing something that you strongly feel isn't right, stand up for what you believe in. Even if they do not agree with what you believe in, they will respect you for taking a stand for what you believe in. And if they don't, then they are just complete fools who really do need Jesus. We are called to be lights of God, and by standing up for what we believe in, people will notice and they will want to know more about what you believe in. Even though we're always so worried about what other people would think of us if we speak up when people are using God's name in vain, it shouldn't matter! Other people's opinions of you shouldn't matter to you. The most important opinion that you should be focusing and worrying about is God's. When I let go of and stopped thinking about others' opinions of me, God was able to use me. I don't care what that fool thought of me when I was speaking up for God, I just know it was the right thing to do and that someday God will bless me for doing the right thing to stand up for Him. Don't be so concerned about what the world thinks of you, and focus on what God thinks of you and what you know is right and wrong.


I would just like to end this post with an encouraging verse for you guys. I just want you to remember, when you stand up for God and for what's right, He will bless you abundantly and it will also strengthen your faith. :)


"Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give them (other people) a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; He won't leave you." ~Deuteronomy 31:6 (The Message)