Dear you,

Yeah, you. You're the guy or girl that has grown up in church.

You know all the Bible stories that Veggie Tales taught. You can recite the books of the Bible. You know that Jesus lived a perfect life but died a criminal's death in your place.

What we aren't taught sometimes growing up in church is how to be okay with not being okay. Or how to study God's word deeper than just flipping to a book and reading a chapter.

I'm learning both of those things right now. And I think you should too.

First of all, you need to hear that it's okay to not be okay. It's okay to be upset about something or to be in downward spiral. Not being okay comes from one simple thought that the devil has placed in your head.

That's why the devil is the problem. He wants you to compare yourself to other people and their callings so that insecurities will fill your head. But remember that he place those thoughts, because he can't take the thoughts the Lord is giving you.

Anything given by the Lord, the devil can't take. He can distract you all he wants to though. So for every encouraging thought from the Lord comes a discouraging one from the devil.

We must take every thought captive and learn to decipher what is from the Lord and what is from the devil. There will always seem to be more reason not to do what the Lord is calling you too, but you must step into your calling regardless. You can't get caught between those thoughts.

To be able to catch those thoughts and figure everything out, we have to be in God's word. If you're like me, growing up I would try the whole "Lord, show me what you want me to know on the page I open my Bible up to" or I would specifically try to find myself in passages.

We can't do that though. We have to see Jesus in the passage, and through him and the Holy Spirit, we will be taught the Lord's will.

Each time I open up my Bible and pray that the Lord let me see him in scripture because it's not about me. It's about Him.

After I pray and seek that my heart will hear from the Lord, I turn to whatever scripture I am studying. I usually like to choose a book. Right now, I'm studying Titus.

Now, I used to just read the passage and be done with it, but over the past few years I've been taught to REAP.

REAP is a study method that several different people have taught me. The letters stand for read, evaluate, apply, and pray. A lot of the time, I will read through the passage I'm studying once just to get a base level of knowledge. After that, I start back at the beginning.

I like to know the background of what I'm reading also. There is an app called Logos Bible, and it will give you some context of what is going on along with cross references and some of the Greek words that have been translated.

The evaluation and application are going to be different for different people, but that's okay, because if you pray with an open heart, the Lord will show you that.

Finally, pray. Every prayer is going to be different. There is no cookie cutter prayer that does some kind of magic. It's all about what's in your heart.

I hope this helps you find some deeper meaning in what you're reading. I am praying for us to see the rise of Christianity. I want to have faith like Paul, and I want to be able to encourage people just like he did, even through the trials. So if you're struggling through a trial right now, don't lose heart.

There's a very high possibility someone else is struggling with the same thing(s). Find someone to talk to about what you're struggling with and push through it.

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE WORTH DYING FOR AND SOMEONE HAS ALREADY DONE THAT!!! YOU ARE LOVED AND VALUED!! YOU ARE WORHTY!!