It doesn't have to be a battle.

We spend a lot of time fighting God. Sometimes, its to get our way. Sometimes, its to avoid what God is calling us to do. On occasion, it may even be because we don't feel qualified or worthy of the life God has for us. Or maybe, we are just angry, and God is an easy target.

It's not that hard. God loves us no matter how much we struggle against that love. God will ALWAYS love us, even when we think we've gone beyond what he can love. NOTHING stops God from loving us. Nothing stops God from weeping when we weep, and laughing when we laugh.

Following God is a hard road. He never promised that it would be easy. He never told us we couldn't argue and try and bargain for an easier life. Believing in God is easy, truly following God, and loving the way God loves is where it gets a little tricky. But it doesn't have to be a battle. In fact, the more you give in to what God has for your life, the less likely you are to struggle against it, because even when it isn't easy, you can trust that God is looking out for your best interest.

We make it into this epic battle, because we make it all about us. We make it about what God has called "ME" to do. Well, God calls all of us to difficult things at times, and the best we can do is trust in him. It's not a battle. Jesus won the battle when he died and then rose from the dead. The battle part is over. Now all thats left is the victory dance. To show others that it doesn't have to be this BATTLE. Drinking, smoking, fooling around, swearing, and whatever else you can throw in there--is all part of the battle against God's love.

When Jesus died, it wasn't about him. The Bible even says He didn't want to do it--he prayed that God would somehow deliver him. But he wasn't delivered. He still had to die, and he did it for you, and for me--to win the battle. So that it wouldn't be a battle for us. So we could show up at God's victory party on the winning team.

If it doesn't have to be a battle, if we don't have to struggle to earn God's love, and we know that God loves us, no matter what, then why don't we start living even in the hard times like we're at a celebration??

So don't be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, NOTHING COULD BE PLAINER: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus. 1 TIMOTHY 1:8-10 The Message

It doesn't mean there won't be tough times, and that we won't have questions and that we won't get mad or struggle...but...Let's stop fighting this pointless battle. Lets Go to God, and accept the love HE offers to us. Take the good with the bad. Talk with God and let Him get you through the tough stuff. There's no point fighting with the battle already won. Instead, lets turn our lives into a victory dance, so that everyone can see--in each of us GOD's amazing LOVE.