A modern day journey

There are people that walk into our lives and immediately find a place. Although separated for a span of time, they have walked the same journey. 

Somehow the minute part of the journey distantly shared through cousin choices or kindred circumstances. Those are kin--- so that person has genuinely been there. 

And when the peoples' two paths merge,  dots are connected and life is shared---from that moment forward you realize that you have a friend. 

That is my Andrea. 

We met on the stage of a local theatre in the late 90's and became friends. Through the years, our lives cross-crossed. One of those God things---those serendipity  
things--but God-ordained and not luck. 
We felt connected somehow, like family. We even became neighbors and co-workers for a short- time. Then life took us, again, on separate roads. But as God would have it, we were reunited again. But this time our friendship came with a renewal of faith. 
We soon recognized that we were both at a level ground--
leveled by life circumstances that shook us to a realization that for years, we claimed Christ, but where was the power of Christ actively working in our lives? 
2 Timothy 1:8 -11 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner(Paul) (Ashley)(insert your name). But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life-not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace...11and of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day". 
We can claim Christ  but do we lay hold of the power of Christ--the nature of Christ? Scripture is clear, we play an active role! 
What do we entrust to Him?  What power do we default to use when faced with life circumstances? 
Fear, a spirit of timidity, manifests itself when we worry, doubt, and when we are unassertive in our Christian faith. And there is a power at work in being unassertive that gives way to a life of it's own. 
Fear is the opposite of faith.
Fear keeps us immobilized in our circumstances. Keeps us imprisoned in a mindset of defeat. 
We can claim Christ, but if we don't walk in the nature of Christ, we are beating our own drum. A drum worn-out, tired and one that needs to be retired and replaced with a new heartbeat of faith that drums out power, love and self-discipline. 
What power do you default to use?  Where do you put your trust? 
When we confessed Christ, we were given a deposit of faith. This faith is power. This faith 
is love, and this faith is self-disciplined. But it must be fanned. There is a wind and breath of God that lives inside of us! We were given a new breath of life! 
True, we are the sum of our lineage. We are our fathers and mothers who were before us. Our DNA houses generations and we are its collective output. We are the best and the worst of our lineage and our human nature bears that witness. But when we accept Christ we accept a new Father with him, and become a first-fruit of a new lineage---an off-shoot of a vine that God sees as pleasing and very good. 
But a vine that must be pruned or it grows wild. Pruning cuts away the unwanted parts, the superfluous bits that are more than enough! And by doing so, the plant grows more fruit. What a trade-out!  We become more and more pleasing. We become more and more Christ-like. 
Think about it, does a branch have any power to control the gardener? 
We are pruned by life circumstances. 
That is our lot in life. 
But, we, in our human power, do play an active role on how we react to and in life's circumstances. There is a power struggle at play, always.
And I am on a mission to face life with a faith in God who is unshakable, my nature concedes to His. 
~Ashley