Story - Part 2

Now, the King had a son. This son shared the love for the people that His father had. In fact, so great was His love for the people that He offered to take the punishment that the people deserved upon Himself. The King’s justice had to be enacted. But in order for the son to take the punishment for the people, He had to first discard His own royalty and humble Himself to the level of the people. You see, this was the King’s plan along. Through the humility of His son He would offer a payment for debts, so to speak, for those people who would choose to accept it. Sure enough, His son took on all of the limitations of mankind, and engaged with the rebel lord. In the end, the enemy destroyed the son, thinking he had won against another feeble attempt by the King to take back the hearts of His people. But it wasn’t over. Because of His willingness to suffer for the sake of the guilty, death itself could not hold Him. He returned to His father’s side, leaving behind a handful of people who now knew the truth. These people would begin to tell others of the son’s sacrifice, and the freedom that accepting that sacrifice brought. Slowly, the truth would begin to spread, burning up the deceit and darkness that the enemy had released on mankind. For years afterwards, the Truth would lay low, almost hidden, yet slowly pushing back the seemingly overwhelming tide of deception. The final victory would be long in coming, but slowly and surly the King would raise up His people, in their weakness and vulnerability, to become the very force that would overthrow the reign of deception brought about by the enemy. And one day, the enemy himself will be defeated once and forever, at the hands of the son. Out of defeat, the King brought victory. Out of failure, the King brought success. Out of weakness, the King brought strength.
You see, this isn’t just some fairytale. This is God’s story; the one that He wrote, and knows the beginning from the ending. This is the story of how He, in His wisdom and goodness, raised up, and continues to raise up, His people to overcome the darkness and deception of the enemy. This is the story of how through the apparent weakness, limitations, and vulnerability of His Son, Jesus, the ultimate victory has already been won.
If you remember, I mentioned that I wanted to offer a challenge, a new way to look at life, one that would bring greater purpose and meaning. You know, we tend to live our lives as if we were the only ones that mattered. Oh sure, we love and are loyal to our families and friends, maybe even those we attend church with, those we work with, or those living around us, but in the end, do we genuinely care about those outside of our sphere of influence? Let me put it in perspective for you. So we have the big, overarching story, God’s story, but who is it that make up all of the little pieces and parts of that story? We do. Each of us lives our own story. But not just our own story, because our stories intertwine with the stories of those around us, and their stories intertwine with those around them, until you have one long strand, the small stories of every individual who ever lived, that makes up His story. We are story, and we contribute to the stories of those around us, for good or for bad. We are story, and we are part of a much greater story, one that will last forever. Because when the final chapter closes, and the enemy is defeated, those who stood by the King and His son will begin a new chapter, one filled with joy like we have no idea, and this chapter can never end. This is where all of our individual stories come together for good. This is story.

Story - Part 1

“Enemy-occupied territory – that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say has landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign in sabotage.” ~ C.S. Lewis (http://christianquotes.org/search/quick)
Once upon a time, beyond time, and through all time, there was a King. Now this King established a Kingdom for Himself. However, at one point, one of the highest ranking lords in His Kingdom rebelled against Him, seeking to take His place as King. This lord was exiled from the Kingdom, along with all of his followers. The King was very powerful, and could have slain the lord and all of his followers with no effort on His part. However, He chose to use a method to bring about victory that, in the beginning, seemed to be rather foolish and weak. But in the long run, if it worked, it would bring great glory to the King. Now, a brief description of this King is in order. He was a very just, yet merciful King. He was powerful, infinite, and immortal. In His power, He created for Himself beings that shared many characteristics with Him. They were intelligent, emotional, and willful. They could love, and in return, desired love. He granted them free choice, to determine who they would love, and, ultimately, serve. However, they were finite, with limited power and understanding. It was with these weak creations that the King would defeat His opponent. Now, of course, the rebel lord hated the King, and for that matter, anything that was dear to the King. So he targeted the weak creatures for destruction. He thought if he could corrupt these beings than the King’s justice would require Him to destroy His creation. Of course, he was correct in this. As I said, the King was a just king. This is exactly what happened. The weak creatures were seduced and betrayed by the rebel lord, and were forced to accept the King’s punishment, although it grieved Him greatly. Now, you might ask, “What of the King’s great plan?” You would be correct to ask this. Well, He knew before hand that His creation would be tarnished through what would become known as the Great Deception, and He was ready for this. Thousands of years passed. The rebel lord continued to plague those who had been designed to be the King’s followers. Many of them became followers of the rebel lord, whether they meant to or not. Some were deceived into following the enemy’s lies. Some simply were so surrounded by corruption and deception that they didn’t know what to believe. They created many “kings” for themselves; beings that they worshipped as their creator and lord. However, there remained a few who sought the True King, and sought to follow and serve Him. Out of these, the King developed the solution to cure the rebellion brought about amongst His people.
I invite you back next time to learn exactly how the King defeated His enemy and intervened on behalf of His people! This is the beginning in a short series, which I am using as the background for what I believe has the power to change how you look at life. Join me over the next two weeks or so as I offer a challenge to engage life with a new sense of purpose and destiny.

The week of July 18 shifted the entire facet of my summer by about ninety degrees. While I was researching possible freelance writing jobs online, my grandma stumbled across an online application. When she told me about it, I thought it was some sort of community thing where you put in an application and they distribute it to any companies in the area who have openings. Boy, was I wrong. I filled out the application and submitted it, and within five minutes I got a call from a lady with Vector Marketing. Turns out that this application was for a position as a sales representative with Vector. I scheduled an interview for the next day, and was immediately hired upon completing the interview. The next day I began training (on Thursday, two days after submitting the application) and completed training Saturday. Saturday evening, I completed my first two appointments, both of which resulted in sales. It was a whirlwind!
Two weeks in, it is going much slower; however, the reason is a hesitation to schedule appointments with people (I have to do my presentations in peoples' homes) knowing my limited transportation. I am dependent on others for transportation, so have to plan around a customer's schedule, a driver's schedule, and my schedule. However, despite this, I am anticipating a great experience with Vector Marketing that will boost my resume and benefit my major.
Briefly, Vector Marketing is the sister company to Cutco Corporation, a fine cutlery manufacturer. They focus on hiring college students to fill their positions as sales reps. This obviously benefits the students and the company, as the company gets people that they can train from the beginning rather than getting people who are set in potentially bad habits. As for the students: well, its obvious. Great experience, great pay.