I'm Not Settling

I got back from youth camp on Wednesday. It was so amazing. The band Hyland was there, they were like our worship team for the week. It was pretty amazing.
I played beastie ball...and got flipped in the mud, tackled in the mud, and covered with mud.
Over all, it was a pretty epic four days.
Anyways, that's not the point I'm trying to make. I was delivered.
I was set free! That spirit of depression that has been living in me for the past four years...I feel like it's finally gone. And that's a lot to say! I mean, I was a terrible person! Just read back to further blog posts and find out who I am...was. I'm not longer that person.
The Lord really spoke to me out there. And not just for me...for you. I have something for you. A special word of advice. I didn't make this up. I found it. In the last place imaginable.
The Bible.
In my last blog post I said how I was scared to open my Bible. I was terrified to feel like I was being judged by God. But that was so stupid!
I have been devouring the Bible this week. And I really feel like I am leaving the old me, the terrible me, in the shadows. And I want to feel the way that I'm feeling! It's an amazing, beautiful, sensation. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful I feel right now.
So here's my advice to you, from God.

Jude 1:12-13
"These men are blemishes at your love feast, eating with you without the slightest qualm-shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted-twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever."
This is us before that freedom. This was me, two weeks ago. I was the wild waves, the wandering stars. I was homeless, not feeling like I really belonged anywhere.

Jude 1:17-21
"But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the men you divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."
As I was reading this yesterday afternoon, I realized something amazing. You have to pray in the Holy Spirit every day, or you will die spiritually.
If you don't know what the Holy Spirit is, it's not anything weird. It's in the Bible, just leave me a comment and I'll explain it to you in full!
Most people don't ever quote Jude. But these verses, are now the verses of my life. I will dwell on them, commit them to memory, and speak them. For they are words of wisdom that I have been blessed with. I hope that you fully grasp the meaning of what He is trying to tell you.

So that was what I learned by reading my Bible. But I want to share with you what I learned at camp.
You know that stupid excuse that people say, the one where "Oh, they're only teenagers, it's okay." or "she's 16, she's still too young to do anything."
I mean, what does that even mean? Is there a certain age where you automatically grow up and start making a difference? Why don't people ever say, "Oh he's only 32, he's too old to make a difference."?
I'm sick and tired of hearing adults, and other teenagers, say that we can't do anything and make excuses for us because of our age! I mean if who we are today is who we are going to be for the rest of our lives, why not start making changes now. It makes sense! At least, I think so.
I'm not longer going to stand for it. I'm going to make a difference. But I have to be the one to make that first decision.
You can make a difference too.
This whole blog is centered around us making a difference in a fallen world. We don't necessarily have to do it by winning people to Christ. We can do it with a smile, a hug, helping someone with a campaign, volunteering somewhere. Basically anything where we give of ourselves and impact others.
I know that I try to do that on a daily basis. Do you?
I feel like our generation could be the big changer. The one that brings about a major revival to this nation, to this world!
But we have to make that decision!
We, as the human race, are so self-focused.
We are always thinking about ourselves. Our friends. Our jobs. Our own little world.
But is that all that life is?
YOLO?
I know that if that's all life is, then it's not enough! Because I'm not about to settle! I want more! I want to see people impacted by my testimony. To have people look up to me because I 'm not willing to settle for an "okay" life. I don't want to just get married, have a job, and two and half kids. That's nice. But I don't want nice. I want radical!
I breathe radical.
My blood pounds with something more than original.
It flows with change. It yearns for something more.
Difference.
I will make a difference.
Will you join me? Will you help break this bondage of mediocre life being okay?
I'm not settling.