31 YEAR OLD...etc etc etc

I don't know how to type this so I'm just going to type what's in my heart. First let me say that I know that I haven't been blogging as much as I used to but I would in previous years, but I've come to the point now where when I do blog I want to them to have some kind of meaning behind them. I could usually blog about nothing, but I'm 31 now. I'm working now. Granted I'm a cook at Zaxbys, but gotta start somewhere right?

So recently, while at work a couple of young dudes were talking about sex. One of them asked me about it, and I told him silently that I was a virgin. Almost as if that I was ashamed of it. The kid was shocked that I said that and then tried to say that he could fix that problem for me. I'm not 41 yet, but you get the point...

It's a weird position to be in honestly. I look at other people in my age group, and their much further along in life than I am. I can't say that I'm married. I can't say that I'm a parent. I can't say that I'm making decent money. As I mentioned in previous posts, I'm still trying to figure things out. Some are even trying to help me out by asking me stuff like like, "Have you ever thought about---" I've thought about a lot of things. I dream about a lot of things. 

I can say that I'm a survivor. What people have died from, I've survived. Congestive heart failure, I'm still here. Homelessness, I'm still here. Depression, I'm still here. Not saying that to boast. Trust me. I'm NO where near perfection.

Here's what's crazy tho. Before all stuff that happened, I was meditating on a song by Tye Tribbett, oops, that says, "Let us worship/Let us Sing/Hallelujah to the King/Let us raise our voices high/Praise the name of Jesus Christ." The drive says this, "Halleu ooh yah/Halleu ooh yah/Halleu ooh yah/Hallelujah we praise Your name" Through most of the shift I was humming this to myself. It's like what the Bible says, "When I want to good, evil is always present."

It's not easy. This whole being single thing gets lonely sometimes. I remember when I was high school I would write quotes like, "I'm so sick of being lonely." Practically I was begging for help but afraid to ask for it. One time though a classmate read it and wrote under it something like, "You're never alone with Jesus" or something like that. I had wrote sentences like that all the time but never showed them to anybody or never told anybody. This classmate even gave me like a happy face cookie on a stick. Obviously it left an impact cause I still remember it all these years later.

Recently I've find myself liking who I am. Liking the fact that I like to laugh and have fun sometimes at wrong times. Liking the fact that I'm sarcastic. Liking me. Liking Daniel. With that, I still find myself down sometimes, but usually when that happens I find something to laugh at. Think of something funny to get my mind out the dumps. It's an up and down thing. 

I don't know of any of this made sense. I just needed to get all this out. Hopefully you got something out of this. Thanks for reading either way.

Stay saved,

Daniel Richerson

MORE THAN LIP SERVICE...

" Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21, Bible, KJV)

Salvation is more than lip service. It's more than saying the right cliches or quotes to get the people to say amen. In professional wrestling they call that a "cheap pop," when the performer gets on the mike and says something cliche to get a reaction the crowd. A lot of people know how to say the right things on Social Media and not live worth a nothing off of Facebook. A lot of people do that the same thing in church, and at the same time judge the people on Social Media.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:1-2, Bible, KJV)

Salvation is an inside job. Can't lived saved with the old mindset. You got to renew your mind. You may have to delete some friends and stop following certain people. And if or when you do stop following people or delete them as friends, no need to make an announcement about it. Just do it. If there's one thing i can't stand it's when people make an announcement about unfollowing somebody. Trust me, the people you unfollow could care less. I've stopped following lots of people on social media and guess what? They've moved on and so have I. Amazing isn't it?

Please don't get it twisted when I type these blogs.

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14, Bible, KJV)

I'm not perfect, and I'm not trying to come off as perfect. To be honest, I've been slipping lately. I'm not trying to be one of those who judge others who are not "saved like me." Believe me, those people work my nerves. That "ain't nobody saved but me" mentality has messed up the body of Christ. How? Cause we're supposed to be leading souls to Christ. So how can we do that when ain't nobody saved but us? We got to renew our mind as a body. We got to humble ourselves. It is written, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14, Bible, KJV)

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson