Audience of One -- Being a True Follower of Christ

Hi there! Earlier today I had thought of a great topic for this weeks post, however, with the craziness of the day, I no longer remember what that topic was. So, I am going to go with the topic I thought of while literally sitting here typing this. 

Last week I went to a ladies' service with one of my coworkers where her and a couple of the other young ladies at the church were speaking. One of the topics talked about was having an Audience of One. This stuck with me because it was not the first time that I had heard the phrase. I believe the first time I had heard it was when a Southern Gospel Ministry that I am related to by marriage recorded a song that they wrote which was called - you guessed it - Audience of One. Click here to hear Anointed Hearts' Audience of One. I had then heard someone else mention it I believe. But then, when I heard it again at the ladies' service, I thought that I better really look at my life. Have I really been living my life for an Audience of One? Or have I been living my life for an audience of all of the people around me? 

It is so easy for us to think about what other people will think about us if we do this or if we do that. We are scared of standing out in a crowd. We want the comfort that comes from being in the in-crowd. However, being in the in-crowd is not necessarily what God has planned for your life. Matthew 16:24-26 (NIV) says:

 "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man exchange for his soul?'"

 The first thing Jesus says in that passage is that in order to follow Him, you have to deny yourself. In this day and age, denying yourself is something that stands out. Yesterday I was at Walmart and all I was buying was a yogurt so that I would have something to eat for lunch since I had to go back to work. All of the lines were fairly long - of course. Anyways, I got in the express lane hoping it would at least go fairly quick since the people in that lane had 20 items or less. There was an older lady in front of me who looked back and said, "Oh, you only have one thing?" I told her that I did, and she told me that I could go ahead and get in front of her. She then let the guy who was behind me who only had two items also get in front of her. The cashier had started to grab one of her items when she told her that she was letting us go in front of her. She then made a comment that was something like, "I've been there before." Before walking away, I made sure to thank her. Okay, I get that letting a couple people go in front of you in line isn't a huge way of "denying yourself." However, it is putting others first, which is technically denying yourself. There are much bigger examples of this, but I decided to go with something more personal that just happened. It was just nice to see that she was willing to spend a little extra time in line in order to let a couple people with minimal items get through the line quicker. That really is not something that you see everyday. And obviously, her doing that is something that stuck with me considering I am now writing about it. 
In the passage quoted earlier, Jesus also says that to follow Him you have to take up your cross and follow Him. This is one of those things that really shows who you are following and who your audience is. In most situations, taking up your cross more than likely does not mean carrying a huge wooden cross around town. However, if that is what God has called you to do, then get carrying your cross! However, even without carrying a physical cross, you can still take up your cross. Taking up your cross basically means you are willing to suffer for your beliefs. It means that you are willing to say and do the things that God has called you to do even if it means losing friends, being looked at weird, or a whole host of other things. I am being somewhat brief on this section, but that is because I may use this particular part of the passage as a more in-depth post at a later date. 
TobyMac has a song called Lose My Soul which goes along with the next portion of the passage. What would be the purpose of life be if you lost your soul because you spend your entire life living for the world instead of for Christ? Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV) says:
"'Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.'"
The above passage shows what will happen if you are not living your life truly for Christ. You can be "acting Christian" for your entire life, but unless you are truly a born again Christian, Christ will tell you to depart from Him because He never knew you. I don't know about you, but I want to be welcomed into Christ's loving arms, not being sent away from Him because I never really lived for Him. Therefore, I want to make sure that my life is being lived for Christ alone - that He is my Audience of One. 
  

Introduction and What God Girl Revolution Means

Hello!

I have tried blogging before, and life has always gotten in the way. However, I am hoping this time will go better. However, I figured I should let you know a little about me before I go on much longer. 

First off, this is me:

My name is Laura. I am 19 years old, however, I turn 20 next month (on September 14th). It will be strange not being in my teens, but at the same time, I am looking forward to seeing what life has in store for me. 
My education has been kind of interesting. My junior and senior years of high school, all of my classes were at the local community college. Therefore, I graduated with my Associate's Degree two weeks before I graduated from high school. I then began attending University and am majoring in Early Childhood Education. This past September I began working at a childcare center in the toddler room. Those kids have been a blessing in my life and I absolutely adore them. 
I have been attending church my entire life, and I have been a Christian since I was 7. When I was 10, I started participating in my parents' puppet team at our church. A few years ago, I joined a second team that my parents now co-direct. 
While I am a Christian, I do not claim to be perfect. I have made a ridiculous amount of mistakes, but who hasn't? However, I know that I am Forgiven because my Heavenly Father sent His Son to die on the cross in order to pay for my sins. 

I have not decided how often or when I will be posting. I may just post when I feel like it. Therefore, it could be every day at times, and others it may just be once a month. I may eventually try and make it more structured, but I am really not sure. Sometimes I may post simply because I feel God has something for me to say. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reason Behind the Name:

Last week in Sunday School we had been talking about how the American Revolution cost some people all that they had. They had been talking about how starting a revolution could be a bad thing because of that. However, as a follower of Christ, I am called to give up all I own as it is. Therefore, losing everything to live for the Lord is just common sense. Sure, my starting a blog may not literally make me lose everything. However, I want to make living for Christ such an important thing in my life that if I were to lose everything, I would be just fine with that. I want to be a Christian, a God Girl, that is able to start a Revolution that lets the Light of Christ shine into the world.