FJWL_02:337
         (Dad:) You're a lot like me when I was younger. You're a serious boy for the Lord. You're headed down the straight and narrow path of His will, and boy, do I ever know that's not an easy path to follow! There are always plenty of people who try to distract, who try to dissuade, who try to let you know how strange you are, that you're not "cool," that you're not "in with the scene." I know it can get mighty lonely. You can feel like you're walking the road all alone, and sometimes you are.
         Of course, you've always got Jesus. But sometimes you don't have a whole lot of support from your peers, from the other young people around you, because not all of them are as sober and as dedicated as you are. They just haven't quite gotten to that point yet. They still want to try this and that. They still don't really want to buckle under to complete obedience. They don't want to give that wholehearted, unreserved "yes" to Jesus that He's asking for. But in His mercy, He still loves them, of course, and He carries and helps them along as much as they'll let Him.
         I know that's hard on you. It isn't easy being a loner. It isn't easy feeling like you're the odd one out. I know that, because I've experienced it. But it all evens out in the long run.
         The connection and the link that you've gained with the Lord through your times of loneliness and feeling outcast and ostracized from the others is one of the most precious possessions you've got! That's what's forced you to become so close to the Lord. So in a way, what you consider your handicap--feeling that others push you away sometimes, or that you're not fully "accepted"--has helped you to excel in the realm of the spirit! It has strengthened your prayer life and has increased your faith! It's driven you into the Lord's arms, and it's even made you open and receptive to the New Wine. It has made you "hunger and thirst after righteousness."
         That's one of the biggest benefits! Because in this new day and age, you just can't make it, you just can't get along without being open and receptive to the New Wine! If you're not drinking it in, then you're drying up, you're withering, you're wilting spiritually! If you don't receive the Words that the Lord is giving gladly, then you'll begin to sink. You'll begin to fade away. You'll lose the fire, lose the vision, lose the anointing, lose the blessings, and lose the rewards that you'll gain from going on in further obedience to the Lord.



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