anything to keep me holy

the last two weeks have been insane.
i have been receiving the most severe temptations and trials i've experienced in a long time.
i believe it's b/c the lord has been walking me into holiness.

two weeks ago, God spoke a simple verse to me while i was in the shower: "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

i recently talked about how god showed me i had neglected relationships in my life. as i started to know people again, god also gave me love for them. god opened doors in conversation and god began to give me burdens to pray for the things that came up and to love them well.

so this word meant a lot to me. one way that i could love my friends better is to pray more powerfully for them, the only way i know how to do that is to become righteous.

so lately, whenever a temptation comes, i think, 'at least for the sake of my friends, i cannot sin.'

then, the other day at a prayer meeting, a friend says, 'i believe god can speak through sweethearts' (the little heart candies with short phrases on them). i laughed at first and then immediately thought, 'yes god, you can.' and i prayed quickly: 'speak to me. please. nothing lame. ill have faith'.

i take it out, it says, "step up"

man. it hit me right in the gut. ive been reading so much and learning so much, and starting to become righteous. what i was NOT doing was walking in the spirit.

if i have been given so much knowledge and wisdom and passion and righteousness lately, then i should use it rather than keeping it stored to myself.

so ive dedicated myself to constantly ask the lord what he wants to do. and i have been walking in the spirit and experiencing such interesting things.