How can I get to the finish line

When I'm not the one running

You're the one who gives me the strength

But I keep messing it all up

I ask you to give me the strength to make it to the end of the line

I want to finish the race with honor

But every time I get up

I keep causing myself to stumble

Please hold me fast

Pick me up

Blow away my blunders

Crush my pride

Thinking I can do it on my own

When you designed every cell that composes my body

You gave me everything I needed

It's all you

So I guess the only way for you to tell me well done

Is for me to let go

Take the reigns

If everyone I loved hated me

If everyone abused me and hurt me

If everyone I loved died in front of me

If everything I ever cared about was ripped from me

If I had no more fight left to give

Would I still love you Father?

So many people that I love are being left out to dry

I know you forge us in fire

Sometimes the fire burns

So many are being beaten and abused

Father I know that this isn't you

Father I wish that it was me instead of them

Dear God all I can tell anyone that comes to me is this

"How much heat is your faith able to take?"

Sometimes I have to tell myself

It's you over everything

HOW MUCH HEAT IS IT GONNA TAKE FOR MY FAITH TO MELT!!

Dear Jesus I tried so hard to run but God wouldn't let me

How far would those I love go before they forsake you?

Dear Jesus cling to them

Dear Father don't let go

Father, the only way we can stand the test is with you

I thought I was done

Dying

Lying

You pushed all the demons away

You ripped the sword from my chest like Arthur and the sword in the stone

My weakness was shone

When you pulled that sword I could breathe again

I remember breathing with relief

You came when I called

You answered

You let the devil take your joy

You let him rip into your soul with his illusions

You let him take your heart and control it like a puppet

You tried to retreat into your own kingdom thinking the devil spared it

Why do you try to hide when your King is fighting for you

Why did you hand your life to the devil when you were so close

Your King doesn't stand on the sidelines and watch while you fight a pointless battle

We're not cattle

So pick up your sword and rally

Rally to the King who already won!

Stand beside your God and King who stands beside you

Hormonal creatures that are lead by emotions is what we're called

Teens just looking for that next fix of dopamine

The truth is when we follow our emotions

They send us scattering in motion

If you don't lead your emotions

Then your emotions will lead you

We were given minds of logic and reason

Don't accept what you're told go out and find answers for yourself

Find the truth to fuel your mind

Don't try to fill your life with feel good fantasies

Don't just follow

Lead

But remember that the greatest leaders

Are also followers

Days in and day out

I stay holed up in this little routine of mine

Sometimes I get bored and start to pout

Inside behind closed doors

That's when the rain begins to pour

It gets kind of sad behind walls of loneliness

Sometimes you have look past walls

Sometimes you have to crawl

But the little things bring joy

Don't be coy

Go outside

Enjoy the breeze

Enjoy the fresh air

The birds flying in their dance without care

The trees swaying to the wind

It's the little things that make me smile

God's great creation of the ant

Beautiful green grass

Leaves changing colors

Playing games and hanging out with my brothers

A quiet morning with a cup of hot chocolate

It's the little things that can bring much joy

Jesus you put your hand in my side

And gave me the strength to walk again

You know this thorn that's lodged in my side

You know the pain it causes

But I know you've given me the ability to move forward with this thorn

But sometimes I look around

And I hear people say that I'm something spiritual or something special

Then I turn to the other side

To people who think I'm crazy or offensive because I stood up for the unborn

But that wasn't me

It was you

You give me the healing

You give me the strength

But people just don't know the battle I face

My flaws and impurities shine so bright

I don't know where people see your light

Cause it sure isn't from me

I am the chief of sinners

This thorn was my own doing

But you gave me healing

When I'm lost and confused

And I'm just tired of being abused

By this world

It leaves me breathless without a word

I will look to you

But when I miss your cue

And keep taking a beating

I'll break through my mind

Some may call it cheating

But you gave me a free will

I may not know your will

But I know what in my heart I need you to ****

Sometimes I need direction

For reproof and correction

But when I can't hear which direction I need to go

I will make my best decision that I know

If I make the wrong decision

Push me to the right one

Sometimes I feel like I'm lost with my head down

Like the weight of what I've done is going to make me drown

But Jesus gave me grace to win the race

How can I give something that was given to me?

What do I have to offer?

You gave me these hands

So I could punch through the trends

You gave me these legs merely so I could give them back to you

Sometimes I don't have a clue

You could've chosen someone better

Why me?!

I have nothing to offer you!!!

I stand in front of a lock and only you hold  the key

So why me!

You told me to tell the Gospel

Why would you send someone who should've been expelled

But you've allowed me to remain in your presence

I feel like you're burning my essence

I have nothing to bring to the table

I'm not even able

So every day I ask that you will take these legs

Take these arms

Shine through me like a fire

I don't want to just sell to the quickest buyer

Take my offering

Although it's pitiful

Why can't I focus?

Why is this silence deafening?

This anxiety bouncing off the walls

It reverberates like sound waves

I just wish I could hear the voices of those I love

The Bible is a sword

Prayer is my shield

But sometimes I feel like every time I begin to raise my sword

It gets kicked to the ground

Sometimes I feel like I try to hold my shield high

Then it's pulled to the ground

Stop allowing the walls to grow around you

Don't allow the labels to block out those who love you

Don't block out the God who loves you

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE WHAT OTHERS SAY YOU ARE!

YOU DON'T HAVE TO LET THOSE WHO HATE YOU STAND TALLER THEN THOSE WHO LOVE YOU!

You were made to be loved

But not by the world

You weren't created for this world

You were created for some place beyond outer space

You were created to be saved

So stand up call upon God to save you

Tap into his power to break the walls of oppression

He will save you

Maybe not immediately

Maybe not when you expect

but he will break your walls

He left his home to fight for his country

He left his children and his wife

He gave everything he had to his country

He was sent to Iraq to fight for his home

Days and nights, he ran through gunfire

Checking the ground for bombs

Watching his brothers and sisters die next to him

Then one day he was captured and tortured

He remained in captivity until he was freed by his comrades

He was beaten, abused and tortured

All he thought of were his children and his wife

All he thought about was what would happen if he never came home to them

He knew his duty to his country

He also knew his duty to his God and his family, they came first

All he knew was he was coming home no matter what

He was beaten so badly so many times he should've died time and time again

But all he thought about was coming home to the ones he loved

When he was freed

He was given an honorable discharge and allowed to go home

He will never forget the horrors he faced and watched others face

He will also never forget the happiest day of his life

When he came home to his children and his wife

The tears that soaked his shirt as his wife ran to him and cried as she clung to him

He would never forget his children who had grown a head taller, cling to him and their mother

This is the story of the lone soldier

What do you see when you see me?

Says millions of people around the world

What do see in me?

It can't be anything good

I walk down the hall not a single boy ever looks at me

Why do all the girls try to stay clear of me?

All I see when I look in the mirror are the labels

Fat, stupid, worthless, unlovable, *******, hopeless, future less

How can anyone see anything good when they see my face?

I spend all my time under a hood walking through halls

Slipping between classes

Hoping no one sees me

That may be what you see when you look at yourself

That may be what people tell you

But I'm here to tell you something different

Jesus says something different

He says

I made you in my image

I created you to be you

I didn't make you to feel guilty after eating a simple meal

I didn't breathe life into you so others could tell you what you are

I already made you to be who you are

And don't you dare think that those labels were true because when I see you all I see is beauty because I love you and my love for you is endless

I love you enough to die for you

When I see you

I see what I created

Says Jesus Christ

I'm surrounded by skirmishes

Blood is ankle deep

Comrades who gave up the fight

Comrades who are still fighting

My friends who grow weary from the shadow of battle

Demons who think they can slaughter God's children

Like wolfs that devour sheep in the night

But these sheep were given swords

I'm sick of shouting to people I love like brothers

DON'T GIVE UP!!

DON'T LET HIM WIN!!

DON'T YOU DARE LET THE DEVIL WIN!!

My brothers gave their lives to the cause of Christ

Yet I'm surrounded by brothers and sisters like me

Who are so plagued by sin and the darkness that we wish we could just pull the trigger and let it all end

Yet it wouldn't end

I refuse to give the devil a chance to get what he wants

First because I love my God and others here on earth

Second because I've got streak of stubbornness that doesn't give up ground souly out of spite

I will not throw away a gift others died for

Brothers and sisters

GOD GAVE YOU A SWORD PICK IT UP AND SWING!!

Yes there's a war raging and you are called to arms

Don't let Satan get what he wants to take when Jesus has so much he wants to give

Pick up that Bible and read

I know sometimes it's hard

I struggle too

I've been where you're at and it's at those times

I remember the Holy Ghost lives in me

Jesus already won the war and the devil wants to create an illusion of his victory

God the Father stands watch over me and he put the sword in my hand

The Holy Ghost gave me the spirit of courage

GOD GAVE US THE STRENGTH TO FIGHT SO PICK UP THAT SWORD AND FIGHT LIKE YOU'VE NEVER MOVED BEFORE!!

SLASH THROUGH THE ILLUSIONS!!

STAB THROUGH THE TEMPTATIONS

BASH THROUGH THE TRIALS

ACCEPT CHRIST INTO YOUR SOUL AND THERE'S NOTHING THAT CAN STOP YOU WHEN HE IS WITH YOU!!!

The battle is raging all around

But we aren't fighting for victory

You see Jesus already won on the cross

We merely fight from the victory

Why do we as humans do this

We struggle with desires and pain

Yet we keep coming back for more

More burns more bruises

We walk straight into the fire that first destroyed us

It's like we don't know any better then to walk through the pain we wanted to leave behind

Why do we keep walking in circles

I hate circles

I just want to walk a line

Jesus gave us to walk in freedom

The fire keeps coming after us

But Jesus uses the fire to forge us

And he provides water to put out the fire

I really don't know what I'm doing

Sitting here at this computer typing out words

Not really sure what to say

It's hard to come to ask for help sometimes

It's hard to tell someone you're hurting

It's hard to admit you ******* up

It's hard when people value their pride over you

It's hard to come too God and ask to feel his love when you feel like you failed him over and over and over again

But he's still always there

It's hard for me to look up and tell him what I did even though he already knows

But he's still there

Waiting for me to come back

It's hardest to come back to him when it hurts

Why is it

America the land of the free, the home of the free

Decided to take away the freedom of over 60 million babies

They took their choice to live from them

60 million silent cries for help and we just sit here and debate about what a fetus is

60 million silent cries for help

Who will stand for them?

Who will speak to save the lives of the unborn?

Life starts at conception

If a woman isn't pregnant with a human life

She must not be pregnant

I pray God would forgive America

For unjustly murdering the lives of innocent children

60 million silent cries for help

I will stand for them

Even if I stand alone