Satan

Satan is scared because he knows better than anyone that he has lost. Unfortunately he is really good at some things. One is lying. He is a liar. He will convince us that we aren't good enough and that we need things. He knows that all we need is the father, and so if he can convince us that we need anything but that, he has been successful. Many people immediately think of drugs and sex, but he uses all of the options. He uses family, the bible, church, religion, music, Hannah Montanna, and everything else.

Satan isn't a creator, he is a manipulator. God is the creator. Satan takes God's work and bends it and breaks it. When you feel like he is dominating your life and it feels like there is nothing you can do to stop him, it is true, you can't. That's why Jesus did what he did. The life of Christ and the crucifixion was way more than a stunt. It was a victory-

It was The Victory.

Satan knows it. He is well aware that he lost, and it drives him nuts.
Give it to him. : )
Don't be cocky for the sake of being cocky, but show him, by the way you live, that Jesus has given you the very thing that he has so desperately tried to take. Grab onto Jesus and watch as Satan literally runs in fear. He knows that he doesn't stand a chance against our Lord.

As soon as you realize that the battle has been won, your life will change. As soon as Christ is more what you are than you are, Satan will scream with fear. Satan will not try to mess with Jesus. If you become a part of the body of Jesus, what does that tell you about Satan's new view of you?
Please don't misread this. He is still there and will always(in this part of life) try to get to you. But the more you are consumed by God, the harder, and more risky it will be for him to poke at you.
Why do we act like he is the biggest thing in our life? He doesn't deserve that kind of credit, especially since it isn't true- Well, it isn't true in my life, I can't speak for everyone, but I do know that the God, who has chosen me to live, is WAY bigger and WAY stronger than Satan.

Satan is real.
Satan sucks.
Satan is good at things.
Satan makes my life difficult.
Satan knows that through Jesus Christ, I am more than a threat.
Are you?

Satan is vanquished. JESUS IS KING!
Let's live like it.
Amen.

Friends.

Last night
I stayed up late
with two of my favorite people.
We talked about really sad things
and our goals that are probably not going to happen because we're
not meant for them.
It was sad,

but we did it together.
Life is like that.

Life is good
when we have each other.

It was a good night.
I'd die for them.

Wells

It is understood that water sustains life. Everything needs it. When it doesn't fall on us, or when we can't find a place in which there is so much of it that it that it has a permanent establishment, we have to dig. I don't have much experience pulling water from wells in the ground, but the concept is remarkably applicable to my life. I am constantly digging for more, I want more. There are worships in which it is very clear that I'm standing, submerged, in an ocean. There are "worships" in which I am dehydrated and standing in the sand. Water is good and I need it, so I'll usually drink what ever I can get my hands on while I'm in the desert that is this world.

Two days ago when I woke up my first thoughts were wishful. I was wishing to go back to sleep and not have to do anything, to not have to look for water. As I climbed out of bed I realized the intensity of my exhaustion and almost prayed that I could just go back to sleep. The morning continued in this way and I didn't like it. As I went into my 8 o'clock class, art, I caught the eyes of my brother Aaron. He's a junior and has been a true blessing in my life. I spend lots of time at his house and we spend lots of time building each other up. Somehow, this morning, I had forgotten about him, so when I saw him I was almost surprised. I walked over to his seat and sat next to him.

Our eyes met.
My day changed.
I don't know how to explain it.
I was rejuvenated instantly and I wanted to
hug people.

This is how it has to be! If you don't need your brothers to make it through this life, you're doing it wrong. Christ lives within each of us. Now, if we are trying to build a relationship with Christ, it only makes since that we would need to connnect with him. Our hearts, as Christ followers, are filled with the Spirit. Holy water is overflowing. It's amazing to see the way that the Spirit initiated restoration of my heart without me asking for it! Just being spiritually connected with my brother in Christ made everything better. We should be walking wells. When people look into our eyes, they should be looking into the eyes of Jesus. When you look into the eyes of Jesus, you change. You won't be the same.

Proverbs 4:23 says: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

This is true. I am so concious of my intake now. I no longer tolorate my eyes tearing apart my soul. I will no longer let my thoughts destroy my soul. I will no longer let my hate destroy everything in its path. Don't you see?! We must stay pure, not only for our own sake, but for the sake of others. For our water to be pure, we have to keep it that way. Don't misunderstand me. I don't mean to say that it is our job to make sure that we're without sin. I am simply saying that it is our job to regulate what we let into our heart.

Guard it. The Lord has filled it with his perfect water. Don't let the world use it as a toilet, for we are a well, people drink from us. Do you want your brothers and sisters drinking from a toilet? I don't. Brings a whole new perspective to the concept of my words being an over flow of my heart. Are you throwing crappy water at people, or clean? Are you drinking from clean wells, or wells with poop in em?