Be A Doer.

Well, it's been a while. I have no excuse for being gone for so long, but today I felt inspired to write. So here goes it...This semester I've forged a friendship with someone who has inspired me to be spontaneous and adventuresome. What a blessing this youthful and bright spirit has been in my life. Over the past five months I've trespassed too many times to count just to get the perfect photograph, driven three hours to see a mediocre waterfall, splashed paint on too many peoples faces, wandered to the walls of peace, broke in my chacos, found a library on a school bus, drove two hours to see a rock quarry in McKinney, adventured to an abandoned incinerator (twice), spontaneously drove to Austin, showed my GoPro some much needed love...there are too many adventures to name. But most of all, they taught me how to say "yes" and how to go. Just go.

James 1:22 says, "But be doers of the world, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." Now I'm sure a lot of us have heard this verse before, but after letting it marinate over the last few months I have found a deeper meaning and appreciation for this one sentence. Being a Christian should lead us to action. Do the commandments of the word of God. Don't just listen to the word, actually do.

In my opinion, this really applies to my generation. We have such easy opportunities to hear about God at Church, Ignite, YoungLife, etc. The Truth is at our fingertips, something that I have grown increasingly thankful for. This is an incomplete thing, however. These resources that are available to us are awesome, but they are incomplete and can be very deceiving. Have you ever felt distant in your relationship with God? Well this happens to me all the time. We feel distant and then we go back for a spiritual high, and then it dies down again. I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me during my walk with the Lord.

The Holy Spirit is bigger than an awesome build up in a worship song, or that high that you feel when you've been searching to feel something and you finally feel it. We need to give power to the Holy Spirit. His power and presence isn't about how loud or passionate your worship experience is. We are commanded to gather together in community, but God also wants us to be well rounded followers of Him. We should find a committed place that we stick to, even when the music isn't the best, or there aren't enough chairs.

Then we should then go out, and be doers. Walk the talk. You hear the word, so walk that out in your daily life. Be doers of the world. James 1:22 is a call to action: go and do. Sometimes we loose God's presence in our lives and we forget who we are. We get off the path, we are prone to wander, we forget our face in the mirror. But there are boundaries that steer us towards abounding life. We need to put into practice what we hear. The problem with that, it that we forget who we are, but we must remember to walk out our radical faith.

When you're feeling that distant feeling, call on Him. We can't do this life alone. Live out your faith, because you are His. Grow to not forget who we are and who we are called to be. Our lives should look radical. Confidence should lead us to be doers of the world. If your life looks like the people around you that aren't Believers, then you probably aren't a doer. We are called to do. Spend time intensely in His word, meditate on the truth that He says about who we are. We are called to be co-heirs. We are beautiful sons and daughters of the King, a royal priesthood. Learn who you are through listening to what He says you are.

Check out my friend Emily's new adventure blog here: http://50shadesofusatoday.wordpress.com

Radical action comes from a certain level of confidence. Remember who you are,
Courtney