i confess...

I confess, today, that it is easier to live by my ideals than it is to follow God on His terms.

I also confess that I will not be taking the easy route... or the lazy route... you pick the word you like best.

And I likewise add that by taking the non-easy/lazy route I look forward to the fruit of following God - a journey that allows you to experience

• a love that is contagious...
• a joy that keeps you from losing your motivation...
• a peace that passes all understanding...
• a patience that helps you not confuse the weather for the climate...
• a goodness that helps you pursue what is right over the long haul instead of what simply makes you happy in the moment...
• a kindness that allows you to see the "Real Someone" beneath the someone in front of you...
• a gentleness that draws others in who have been poked, cut, and shouted at by the world...
• a faithfulness that makes you committed to the Community and not merely what the Community gives you...
• a self-control that says you are greater than the urges within.

All of this is possible when we quit letting what is happening on the outside define our insides, but instead let something happen to us on the inside that will then define our outsides.

That's more than "a positive attitude" - it's allowing yourself to be truly transformed into the real "You" you were originally created to be.

And it requires Jesus... the real One. Not the tame one we box into 90 minutes on an occasional Sunday morning, but the one Who is with you all the time and longs for us to quit putting on the masks we prefer to wear.

So let's drop the "once a week" religion thing and instead dare to embrace a 24/7 two-way Relationship with your (re)Creator.

I confess... it is absolutely amazing to be a part of something that is so Real that human words haven't even been invented to adequately describe it.