By Guest Writer Lauren BenterudOver this past year my life has been altered in ways that I cannot even begin to explain.
I have grown up in a sheltered Christian home with a steady family who supports and loves me consistently. Growing up in this environment made my faith a routine. An everyday thing that you were supposed to do because it was the right thing to do, but it never was actually a real relationship between God and myself. So I drifted away because I thought that Christianity is just read your bible, go to church, don’t sin, and pray. I didn’t want to have anything to do with the same old thing over and over again. But what I have learned over the past year is that those things are TOOLS to help grow the relationship between Jesus and his children, us.
I first began to understand the love of Jesus about a year ago. I was at my church youth conference called the 780 Rally. It was a powerful night! The message was about God’s healing and how He never ever leaves our side, even though we are the most broken of the broken. I wanted that constant in my life. I wanted it to be a fire, not just a flame, I wanted to be the moon reflecting the sun. I wanted MORE of Jesus.
So I went up for prayer. I took one of my friends with me, and we walked up to a leader I had never met. He prayed for me and till this day we are still connecting.
Ever since that night, I have been walking on the road of Jesus. Of course falling off of the trail at times, but always being caught by the man called Jesus.
We use community (the church) to hold us accountable, to have a community with the same beliefs and values to help us grow as individuals in Christ. The church also allows us to connect with our Creator, and with a family surrounding us who all strive after Jesus. It creates a space that is easy to really be in tune with the Holy Spirit. Allowing the Holy Spirit into someone’s life allows us to discern the difference between good and evil. It guides us and speaks to us and sets us on the path that God wants us to take.
Bible reading: it is a tool for us to help understand God a tiny bit more. At least to the extent that we can comprehend. It is yet another way the Holy Spirit speaks to us, it is a guide.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105
Because I am striving after Jesus I now WANT to read the bible because the bible is the story of Jesus. It’s not the opposite where I read the bible to become a Christian, it’s FIRST Jesus comes and takes over my life for the better, THEN because I have the yearning to know him more I read the gift that he has given me, his word.
Then the Holy Spirit comes through his word and speaks through it and gives instructions.
Instructions.
If you remember being a child, your parents or teacher gave you instructions in order so that you may be safe, grow, or learn. It is the wisdom of our elders being passed on to us. BUT most of the time it pushes us out of our comfort zone, because we as humans like to stay within what we know. We don’t listen. No wonder why we run away like Jonah, SCARY!!! but then have pain because we did not listen to the wisdom of others. We demand our own independence yet we wonder why there is hurt and pain in the world.
If God is good then why do we fear his instructions? And instead of following them, going and doing it our own way. Well what I’ve learned from the few 15 years that I’ve been on this earth is that if I was the one leading myself, I would be a train wreck in a total of 3 seconds. GOD IS GOOD. He will not lead you on a path that is broken, despairing, unclear, hurtful or full of hatred. He will always guide, always protect, always cherish, and always love. He breaks all bonds, crushes all chains, lift all burdens, all through the name of what is truly love.
DEPENDENCE IS KEY.
Dependence not only allows a relationship to be lasting, but as wide as it is deep. Independence is the human races’ downfall. Just like in the first chapter of the Bible. Eve chose to be like God and chose a path of independence. However, when we are independent that puts us in the place of God, which is a place we are not meant to be. It leaves us lost and confused. Then after all that confusion and wandering…broken.
We are so certain of our own abilities that we forget to remain dependent on the one that knows and loves us even better than we know and love ourselves. Giving up our dependence is hard let me tell you. It’s dying daily. I don’t have it all figured out, nobody does. But once you release your dependence upon yourself, it releases the pressure of surviving the world alone, without purpose. Such as trying to make decisions ourselves not knowing if it will be good enough. But because God is good, then all that God orchestrates is good and the outcome guaranteed will be good. We are given this certainty. This release of control allows us to be filled in an unimaginable way. It pushes all the bad things out and brings in joy, peace, grace, forgiveness, purpose, and love to the point that we no longer can keep it in any longer; but must share the good, good news with the world so that others too may experience the love of Christ Jesus.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
Hey guys my name is Lauren Benterud and I’m a grade 10 student at the school which Daysha also went to as a teenager. It’s kinda funny cause Daysha and I actually go way back… other than her being my small group leader for the past year or so, she is actually one of my older sister’s good friends! It’s funny how God puts people in your life hey?
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