Have you felt it?

That "my heart just beat a little faster" feeling? That "goosebumps up the arm" feeling? That "burning in your soul" feeling?

Yeah, we have all felt it at sometime or another, but have you felt it recently? And, no, I'm not talking about falling in love or getting the flu.


What is that one thing that gets your heart racing, gets your skin tingling and that you know, more than anything else, you were absolutely created to do? Take a minute to really think about it.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10 that "we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Wow. God created us for a purpose. Not only that, if you take a look a little earlier in the chapter, we are told that before we know Christ, we basically live life like the walking dead. Like zombie people. Living, but not really living. Doing, but not really doing. Being, but not really being. But hold the phones, that's not the end of the story:

Once we begin our relationship with God-our CREATOR- through Christ, we are MADE ALIVE. Made alive to live for what God created us for. Made alive with a purpose. His purpose.

So what in the world do we do with this new found living-the-real-life life?

LIVE IT.

Listen to the mind, heart and soul God has given you. Pay attention to what makes you excited, what makes your ears perk up, what takes your breath away. And then participate in it. do it. create it. become it...but all with a new purpose. To glorify our incredible, merciful, loving, relationship-with-you-wanting, new-life giving... Creator. God.

And in the midst of living your life while doing your passion, people will notice. They will notice  excitement, enthusiasm, priority and joy for what you do. In how you live. And when the time comes to let them know why you are able to live the way you do, you let them know that once you were the walking dead, but you have been given life...and now you have a life worth living. And that is worth a skipping heartbeat.

Am I Committed

Taking up my cross everyday to follow Him...

Denying myself and my own wants...

Putting other people before myself...

Giving up things that distract me from the goal...

Did I know all of this before I signed up for the "Christian" life? Did I realize the sacrifice that it would take to follow Jesus? Is it supposed to be this hard at times? After knowing what I know now, am I still committed to being a follower of Christ?

Commitment is a scary word in society today. It's extremely hard to get people to commit to anything, let alone something that will change the way you live, think, act, and speak.

We all struggle with levels of commitment to certain things. We can commit to anything from our New Year's resolutions to the local PTA, but what determines that level of commitment is how hard it gets or what the results look like. One of the most common New Year's resolutions is weight loss. There is excitement and commitment at the beginning, but as time goes on it gets hard and the excitement runs out along with the commitment.

Following Christ has a similar pattern. We get saved and are excited about our new life in Christ. Life starts to get busy, we are hit with temptations and trials, and we are left wondering what happened. Our commitment to Christ doesn't mean that we are perfect, that we never mess up or fall flat on our face. What it does mean is that we keep our focus on Christ and that we try to live the life He calls us to and stay committed to Him.

Our military doesn't send one soldier to fight the war alone, and you shouldn't go into the fight alone either. When a soldier enlists, he really has no idea what lies ahead of him, but he is committed to the cause and he has a team around him. The body of Christ needs to work together as we all carry our cross with the our focus on the Savior. Even Christ allowed someone to help Him carry His cross. Don't be afraid to ask for help; surround yourself with people that will encourage you and help you up when you fall.