Why do you think we so often tell someone we will do something, and in the end, not do it?
Like with the small things.
Like me telling Lisa I would go to the market with her last Sunday...
Or me telling Lisa I would take her recycling to the center...
Or me telling Robyn that I would go to S.P.C. Seminole campus last Monday...
Or me telling Robyn that I would take the antique bible out of my trunk...
I just don't really understand why we have made it so easy to put our word out there, only to end up falling short of our stated course of action.
Why even tell someone you are going to do something? Have we gotten to the point that we spread ourselves thin until we habitually lie so we can try to please everyone around us? When in reality its not even about pleasing that person. Its about getting the best of everyone in an attempt to lift ourselves up in a false place of honor.
I think I would rather be a man of credibility than be someone that dumps hopes (even if in small cases) of the ones he loves. I guess it comes down to slowing down again though... And speaking only what we know is truth, regardless of peoples feelings about us.
Is it not much more honorable to keep our word even in these small cases anyways? The effect of choosing our words carefully is a real place of honor and respect. To have people know in their hearts that they can count on you to carry out the things you tell them you will.
Every time I see an old friend from my past I talk to them about life, how things are going, and family. Afterwards I exchange numbers with them and tell them I will give them a call. In my heart I know that I will never call them... I don't know what you guys get from this example but it tells me that I try to satisfy them. The truth held back by the fear of being exposed... Do I really care that much about what this world thinks? In my heart, have I given this world more value than truth?.....
Father, we need you. I need you. They need you.
Father I ask that you will fill our every word with truth.
God teach us to slow down. To not put value on pleasing the ones around us. Teach us to honor each other, through truth, and to hold our tongue when it means we may utter a lie.
Father most of all I ask that you will reveal to us the value of truth, even when it exposes us to the core...
Amen.
So put away all falsehood and "tell your neighbor the truth" because we belong to each other. ~Ephesians 4:25
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Our deepest fear
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
-Marrianne Williamson.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Real freedom!
So I have just been spending some time looking at human behaviors lately. I noticed that often times our view of freedom is very off.
As children we desire the "freedoms" of a teenager. As teens we desire the "freedoms" of an adult. All of our life we look forward to a "freedom" of the future, as if our physical maturity or ability to indulge in the pleasures of this world, defines our freedom.
We all have the "freedom" to choose our career path, but most people end up feeling enslaved to their jobs, the clock, or debt. It is pretty ironic that the things we see as our freedoms are also the things that enslave us. Look at sin, one of the odd characteristics of sin is that it is a free act that enslaves you. Sin creates the illusion of freedom, in reality it makes you the cruel tyrant that holds yourself captive. Our self-imposed slavery goes deeper than just the pits we have trapped ourselves in. The tragedy of our imprisonment reaches into the deepest parts of out hearts. Our desire to be free both ignites and betrays us, and more often than not leads us to be completely consumed.
The cravings to sin in our lives have become symbols of our freedom, when at the same time gODs commandments have become symbols of religious oppression. And so as "free" people we can now live beyond what we think are religious restraints?? In reality the commandments of gOD were designed by Him to truly set us free. So to truly be free we must lose all of our "freedoms" for the sake of Christ. Jesus says this in Matthew 10:39- "He who has found his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it". We can be sure that this is true freedom because this is also something the word tells us in Galations 5:1- "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free", and in John 8:36- "So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed".
Whatever Jesus came to do, one thing is clear- He came to set you free. It is important that we do not miss this point. gOD has been so misrepresented. He has been seen as the divine legalist, the eternal killjoy. He has been represented as if He spends His time in eternity designing straight jackets and making shackles just for you. No wonder so many people start running for their lives whenever the name of gOD is mentioned. gOD is not a warden; He is a deliverer. And so eager that He was willing to be taken captive and crucified on your behalf just so you could run free...
"Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love".
-Galations 5:13.
As children we desire the "freedoms" of a teenager. As teens we desire the "freedoms" of an adult. All of our life we look forward to a "freedom" of the future, as if our physical maturity or ability to indulge in the pleasures of this world, defines our freedom.
We all have the "freedom" to choose our career path, but most people end up feeling enslaved to their jobs, the clock, or debt. It is pretty ironic that the things we see as our freedoms are also the things that enslave us. Look at sin, one of the odd characteristics of sin is that it is a free act that enslaves you. Sin creates the illusion of freedom, in reality it makes you the cruel tyrant that holds yourself captive. Our self-imposed slavery goes deeper than just the pits we have trapped ourselves in. The tragedy of our imprisonment reaches into the deepest parts of out hearts. Our desire to be free both ignites and betrays us, and more often than not leads us to be completely consumed.
The cravings to sin in our lives have become symbols of our freedom, when at the same time gODs commandments have become symbols of religious oppression. And so as "free" people we can now live beyond what we think are religious restraints?? In reality the commandments of gOD were designed by Him to truly set us free. So to truly be free we must lose all of our "freedoms" for the sake of Christ. Jesus says this in Matthew 10:39- "He who has found his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it". We can be sure that this is true freedom because this is also something the word tells us in Galations 5:1- "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free", and in John 8:36- "So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed".
Whatever Jesus came to do, one thing is clear- He came to set you free. It is important that we do not miss this point. gOD has been so misrepresented. He has been seen as the divine legalist, the eternal killjoy. He has been represented as if He spends His time in eternity designing straight jackets and making shackles just for you. No wonder so many people start running for their lives whenever the name of gOD is mentioned. gOD is not a warden; He is a deliverer. And so eager that He was willing to be taken captive and crucified on your behalf just so you could run free...
"Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love".
-Galations 5:13.
Monday, September 3, 2007
We kill ourselves. Rise up.
Just thinking today and wondering why we always choose the second best... Why do we choose the second best? Its like we are offered a new BMW for twenty dollars or a bicycle for free. The choice should be a very easy one to make. I mean gOD offers us the heavens and all that is in it. gOD offers us a paradise beyond imagination. gOD offers us a love that cannot be explained or even taken in full. gOD offers us a relationship with him... The creator of everything... The reason we live and breathe each day.
The world offers us a false and temporary happiness that we must pay for in one way or another. The world offers a broken family, drug addicted loved ones, you and everyone around you deceived into thinking things are dandy while you sit with a place so empty that you would sell yourself for sex, or load your body with mind altering drugs just so you dont have to cope with reality. So why is the choice so often horribly made?
I say damn this world. Damn the systems that have my loved ones striving for breath. Damn the false happiness this world offers for the price of your very life. Rise up Wesley. Don't settle for this crap. Don't conform to the pattern of this broken society. Rise up Wesley. Rise up. You are a child of gOD. A child to a perfect father. We must accept hIM. Who cares if it takes a little obedience. You obey Satan or gOD anyways... so choose one. I say right now to myself and anyone else with a open ear, don't settle for this world. Don't settle. Don't settle. Don't settle. Choose to follow, and to do it radically.
fATHER give us strength. Reveal to us reality. Reveal to us your value. Sorry I cannot write more. I realize I speak to myself with this passage. Help me gOD.
The world offers us a false and temporary happiness that we must pay for in one way or another. The world offers a broken family, drug addicted loved ones, you and everyone around you deceived into thinking things are dandy while you sit with a place so empty that you would sell yourself for sex, or load your body with mind altering drugs just so you dont have to cope with reality. So why is the choice so often horribly made?
I say damn this world. Damn the systems that have my loved ones striving for breath. Damn the false happiness this world offers for the price of your very life. Rise up Wesley. Don't settle for this crap. Don't conform to the pattern of this broken society. Rise up Wesley. Rise up. You are a child of gOD. A child to a perfect father. We must accept hIM. Who cares if it takes a little obedience. You obey Satan or gOD anyways... so choose one. I say right now to myself and anyone else with a open ear, don't settle for this world. Don't settle. Don't settle. Don't settle. Choose to follow, and to do it radically.
fATHER give us strength. Reveal to us reality. Reveal to us your value. Sorry I cannot write more. I realize I speak to myself with this passage. Help me gOD.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Purify desires
As lovers and believers of Christ do you agree that hE gives us the desires of our hearts? I really do believe this truth now more than ever. However this picture of receiving all that we desire is not always so pretty...
I read today in a book by Jake Colsen that in this kingdom you really do get what you seek (seems to be common knowledge for most of us). I read that is the point of the whole thing. If you desire a true relationship with gOD, you will receive it. As it was written in this book, Most of us would ask "Then why don't I have it? I thought that is what I have been seeking all along". In this book the response to the question was "No doubt, it might have been at first. But this works the other way around as well. If you look at what you've ended up with, then you will know what you have really been seeking!"
What have you ended up with? In my case I have ended up with a life full of a repeated pattern of stumbling and getting back up only to stumble again, a life full of deception, and a mask that still exists in more ways than I would like to admit. I would like to say that my desire was to have an intimate relationship with gOD, free from the veils that blind me from seeing hIM fully. Obviously deception has crept in somewhere, if it was not already present.
I desired a heart focused towards the fATHER and nothing else. In the beginning of my walk my heart may have been slightly correct. I say this because my desires and what I received were very similar. However somewhere in between then and now my heart has put a desire on something else. This goes to show just how deceived we are.
So I ask again, and this time think about what this means, do you believe gOD gives us the desires of our hearts? If so you realize that the desires of our heart are not as pure as they were thought to be. I encourage you to take this truth and ask gOD to examine your heart. Don't settle for less and don't let anything stand that has not been tested by gOD. Take sometime out and truly ask yourself the tough questions like what DO you stand for? What are your desires? Lets ask gOD to repair this place in all of us. Lets ask hIM to rip the veils once again.
Imagine the effect of a people like David, a people truly after the heart of gOD. Imagine the freedom you will see in families, in the church, in the world... Lets do this right. fATHER be with us.
I read today in a book by Jake Colsen that in this kingdom you really do get what you seek (seems to be common knowledge for most of us). I read that is the point of the whole thing. If you desire a true relationship with gOD, you will receive it. As it was written in this book, Most of us would ask "Then why don't I have it? I thought that is what I have been seeking all along". In this book the response to the question was "No doubt, it might have been at first. But this works the other way around as well. If you look at what you've ended up with, then you will know what you have really been seeking!"
What have you ended up with? In my case I have ended up with a life full of a repeated pattern of stumbling and getting back up only to stumble again, a life full of deception, and a mask that still exists in more ways than I would like to admit. I would like to say that my desire was to have an intimate relationship with gOD, free from the veils that blind me from seeing hIM fully. Obviously deception has crept in somewhere, if it was not already present.
I desired a heart focused towards the fATHER and nothing else. In the beginning of my walk my heart may have been slightly correct. I say this because my desires and what I received were very similar. However somewhere in between then and now my heart has put a desire on something else. This goes to show just how deceived we are.
So I ask again, and this time think about what this means, do you believe gOD gives us the desires of our hearts? If so you realize that the desires of our heart are not as pure as they were thought to be. I encourage you to take this truth and ask gOD to examine your heart. Don't settle for less and don't let anything stand that has not been tested by gOD. Take sometime out and truly ask yourself the tough questions like what DO you stand for? What are your desires? Lets ask gOD to repair this place in all of us. Lets ask hIM to rip the veils once again.
Imagine the effect of a people like David, a people truly after the heart of gOD. Imagine the freedom you will see in families, in the church, in the world... Lets do this right. fATHER be with us.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Run fast.... Keep running.
What is the effect of compromise? What is the effect of knowingly slowing your pursuit towards gOD?
One thing Robyn has spoke into me that I remember is when she told me that compromise ALWAYS takes you further than you want to go. Those words have become true to me. In the time it was spoken my pride kept me from coming to a realization of this truth. Now, more than six months later, I can look back on all the times I allowed just a small compromise in my life, and see what that compromise ended up being.
Compromise has taken me deep, real deep... Deeper than I ever wanted to go. In fact every time I backslide I can examine what happened and directly relate it to a compromise in my life. It makes me wonder if it is even possible to backslide without some form of compromise...?
Compromise will take YOU deep as well. Nobody can be exempt from the effects of compromise. The best thing you can do is stop NOW. So if the words you are reading come across as true to you, I encourage you to stop, examine yourself, find the small compromises you have accepted, and decide to no longer let those slip in... no matter how small they seem to be. If What you are reading seems false, swallow the pride and read again. Don't be discouraged but instead run fast and keep running......................YeeE HaaWww!
One thing Robyn has spoke into me that I remember is when she told me that compromise ALWAYS takes you further than you want to go. Those words have become true to me. In the time it was spoken my pride kept me from coming to a realization of this truth. Now, more than six months later, I can look back on all the times I allowed just a small compromise in my life, and see what that compromise ended up being.
Compromise has taken me deep, real deep... Deeper than I ever wanted to go. In fact every time I backslide I can examine what happened and directly relate it to a compromise in my life. It makes me wonder if it is even possible to backslide without some form of compromise...?
Compromise will take YOU deep as well. Nobody can be exempt from the effects of compromise. The best thing you can do is stop NOW. So if the words you are reading come across as true to you, I encourage you to stop, examine yourself, find the small compromises you have accepted, and decide to no longer let those slip in... no matter how small they seem to be. If What you are reading seems false, swallow the pride and read again. Don't be discouraged but instead run fast and keep running......................YeeE HaaWww!
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