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"NOW WHAT?"


So, now what?


What's the next step after accepting the love of Christ in our hearts and opening ourselves up to allow Him to come in and breathe from the inside out?


This is a question that I asked myself one time in my sophomore year of college.


Now, the circumstance was a little bit different so let me set the scene....



So, Longwood University isn't the largest school in the great state of VA, but it definitely felt like the most tight-knit! This proved to be one of my favorite aspects of going there for college.


Yes, it's small. Yes, our classes only had like 15-20 students in each room, but that only gave us the opportunity to grow closer as a community! This led to me creating some awesome life-long friendships and meeting some of the most influential people in my life.


So, it was like any other night hanging out with my friends, playing xbox, chatting it up and then it suddenly dawned on me! I had a four-page paper due at midnight and it was nearly 11pm! It was in one of my major classes which was one that I really liked, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad.


Now, I didn't want to be the party-pooper, so I convinced myself that I could definitely stay a little longer at my friends house before rushing home to crank out some of the best Jake-knowledge I could!


AND I WAS COMPLETELY WRONG!


It had reach 11:50pm, and I only had a page and a half of writing! I panicked and the only thing I could think to do was to find someone else's writing on the matter and copy and paste it into my paper. At the time, it worked perfectly and filled my paper to four pages!


And so I turned it in and then craziness ensued.


Two days later, I was asked to meet with the professor of the class to talk about my paper. I thought to myself, "He knows. Oh my gosh, he knows! He's going to kick me out of school!"


I was not kicked out of school, but I was given an online course about how plagiarism is wrong. And it is! Remember that from this story and also....this changed how I approached any other assignment at school or even projects outside of school!


I would plan ahead, do proper research, and even write two rough drafts before an actual rough draft of an assignment was due. BUT what's important is that it changed me and how I approached work, school and life.

 

When we accept Jesus into our lives or begin to spend time reading about Him in the Bible, a lot of things change about our lives! It feels incredible! We feel like a weight lifted off our shoulders or a fire has ignited in our bellies with excitement and we feel like we could run through the trees shouting "PRAISE JESUS" at the top of our lungs!


We start to FEEL more! We become more engaged with people around us! We want to talk to our friends (sometimes even about Jesus) OR we actually will do the chores around the house that our parents ask us to do without them even asking!


We will really want to read more about who Jesus is and what more He has to tell us in the Bible! We will start to read the Bible with anticipation, with respect and an open, teachable heart!


Why do we see these things? Why does our life change so drastically? Because when we accept Jesus and allow Him to live in our hearts, that's what He's doing - LIVING! The loving, powerful, compassionate and joyful being of Christ is breathing through our lungs, coursing through our veins and being praised through our voices!


When we accept Jesus into our lives, we become one with Him! This means that the story of Jesus dying on the cross and coming back to life three days later is not only about Him, but more importantly about us!


Our old selves have died on the cross with Jesus and our new lives with Him have risen!


So, remember this: Jesus lives within us and as He died on the cross and rose again, we do the same!


QUESTION FOR THIS WEEK:

Write in your journal the changes you notice in your life so that you KNOW that Jesus is, in fact, living in your heart!


PRAYER FOR THIS WEEK:

Father, thank you for living in me and allowing me to know you! Please teach me and SHOW Yourself to me. Thank you! In Jesus' name, Amen.


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