The Cost of Living

I know, it's been forever since an update. I have no excuses. Only my deepest apologies for anyone reading this. Now onward to the awesomeness about to be thrown at you!

The following article was from a blog that I subscribe to elsewhere. It is powerful in its simplicty of truth. It so encouraged me and Jesus continued to challenge me through it. In many ways (some of them a little crazy and off the beaten path) I'm very thankful for the brother in Jesus that posted this article this morning. We may not ever meet face to face but he has encouraged me in many ways these past couple weeks. I'm praying for him as he continues to be a witness for Jesus in some very dark places.

Anyway, my prayer is that this piece encourages and challenges you the way it did me. (I've bolded and underlined the parts that really stuck out to me. Honestly it's pretty much the whole thing but there are specific sections that Jesus really tagged me on... but I'd love to hear from anyone if any part of this struck you or convicted you or encouraged you.)

The Cost of Living - Jason Valloton

The cost of living is high; it is not for the weak or the faint at heart. Anyone can survive but not everyone can truly live. Living requires courage; it will take all the tenacity that you can muster. Take a walk down the path of life and along the way you will find many surprises. Men are shaped by the heavy storms that adversity brings, if you are smart, you will prepare ahead of time. The high road is never the easy road; it will grind you down to the bone and reveal the weakness on the inside. You will be given the opportunity to take advantage of each obstacle that comes in your way, for the visionary, these look like advancements, to the lazy man these look like “unfortunate times”. A man with out vision will never take the high road, there are to many punishing storms that drown the week and break the un determined. These men hope for good jobs and steady pay, they settle for mediocrity and patriotism only to forget that it was the paid bills of another man that created this freedom that they so carelessly enjoy.

There are no hero’s without war; no victories with out a battle, there cannot be a testimony with out a test and no advancement without resistance. What are you in this life? What category do you fall into? Living must be intentional; failing to plan is planning to fail. Success does not knock on anyone’s door; it is hidden for the kings of this earth to search out. To measure your success in life you have to take a look at your potential and then go beyond that. We are not called to what we can do; we are measured against the standard of Heaven. If you are living in what you can manage, then you are settling for what you can produce and that is way below Heavens standard. Try taking a step beyond what you are capable of and place your foot in the steps of Jesus.

So you don’t think you have what it takes, you are right, this road requires supernatural help. Our battles are not against flesh and blood, we are not fighting human beings or bad decisions we are warring against a force that is unseen to the human eye. Your discernment will be honed and your courage will be heavily tested. Living the good life is living a life that is out of your control with the peace of God covering you. Control is almost a myth, you can control yourself but you cannot control the circumstances of life, you can only decide what your response will be to these events. A response should be pre meditated, it comes through the years of structure that has been carefully crafted inside of a person. Building structure inside of you takes years of renewing your mind and consuming truth. The more you eat, the stronger you will be, eat once a week at church and you will be anemic unable to fight or feed yourself.

The cost of living is high. Life is worth living and it is worth living right. Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it will not grow. Count the cost before you start; look at your life with the end in mind. We are all going to die someday, but we will not all live. What will you be?