I had some shame stirring as I woke up: rude to my wife, messy with my stuff, snoring, gingivitis, etc. God knows I can digress if I sit in my junk for long.

When I do, I felt like a wreck. I know some of you have felt the same way:

I’m not even strong enough for myself
I’m falling to pieces
Honestly don’t care about anything anymore
Can’t go on living like this
I need someone to listen. No one can help me.

Fortunately, God is listening.

On the way to work in the back of my mind was playing:

Subtitled, “Discovering The Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle”, Michael John Cusick begins with an abrupt and compelling question, “What’s Better than Porn?” He spends the majority of the rest of the book answering that question.

“You and I were created to fly. But something has gone terribly wrong…Adam and Eve lost their innocence and…barely a day goes by that I don’t hear a story about a man losing his (innocence) in exchange for pornography…(and) the losses are devastating.”

“Hands down, Jesus has drawn more attention and interest than anyone who has ever breathed the air of this planet.”

The author invites us into a deeper examination of what “Simply Jesus And You” might mean, “what does it really mean to enter into a relationship with God’s Son? What does it mean to invite Him into our lives?”

Answering his own question he expands, “A relationship with Jesus is not about us. It’s about Him. He didn’t die for us to advance His cause or hawk His wares. He died for you because He loves you, and seeks to welcome us into a growing and satisfying fellowship with Him. And it is in the confines of that fellowship that He graciously and generously bestows the blessings and benefits that only He can provide.”

It’s true, there are a lot of hypocritical & judgmental Christians, but the Bible was written by real people like you and me.

The Bible was inspired by a real God who knows we struggle and doesn’t want us to settle for just being who we’ve been.

Rather than slipping into pretense the Bible wants us to embrace honesty. If you struggle, struggle; but if when you struggle, don’t settle.

Paul, a struggling man confessed to his tension in trying to follow God, and then explained his hope:

Each week at TreeHouse we remind the teens about three needs which are common among people:
- We all need to be reminded that we’re lovable, capable & worthwhile.
- We need to know that we’re loved unconditionally — “without strings.”
- We need to know that we’re not alone.

Far too often we feel alone; alone in our struggles, alone in our pain, alone with our sorrow, alone without hope.

We Do Not Have To Feel Alone