Popped open the top of a nice cold 12 ounce diet soft drink today. Yes, the word diet has snuck into my vocabulary. Too many pounds, and family history of health concerns has prompted me to think twice about what I eat or drink.
As I tipped back the drink and savored the 'not as good of a taste as the regular drink' flavor, I became curious as to exactly what I was drinking. I already knew of some concerns of any soda drink but just so everyone else is aware, here is a breakdown of the current soda I have and exactly what it contains:
12 ounce diet soda
0 calories
0 fat
0 sodium
0 total carbs
0 protein
Ok, so what am I drinking then? Let's look at the ingredients:
Caramel Coloring, Phosphoric acid, Aspartame, Potassium Benzoate, Potassium Citrate, acesulfame potassium and caffeine.
A little research brought out this tidbit of information on each ingredient.
Caramel coloring can be linked to causing cancer.
Phosphoric acid is commonly used for rust removal and reduces bone density.
Aspartame has 92 different health side effects including blindness.
Potassium Benzoate is a carcinogen and is a cancer causing agent.
Potassium Citrate can cause numbness, tingling in the hands and feet and an uneven heartbeat.
Acesulfame potassium hampers the metabolism of the body, causes headaches and was also used as a paint stripper and degreaser at one time in the past.
And of course, caffeine, which may cause dizziness, nervousness, difficulty breathing, hives and vomiting.
Still thirsty? I am thinking water might be my best bet.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
A Focused God on an Unfocused Child
Have you ever been to a point in life in which you are not sure which direction to turn or who to talk to? Have you ever got to that point in which you wanted to throw your hands in the air and just cry out, “Seriously???”
A few years ago, my wife and I dropped all of our trivial stresses in life when we found that our son was legally blind in both eyes at 20/400. We worked closely with an eye doctor that was able to assist him up to a certain point but that quickly came to a plateau and we were referred to a Behavioral Optometrist. After just a few visits with the specialist, we begin to see signs that our son did not just have eye problems but was also struggling with multiple Sensory Integration Disorders or what is also referred to as Sensory Processing Disorder.
During our son’s first year in school, we found kindergarten to be a disaster. Between a teacher who admittedly was not used to handling kids with SPD and his quiet challenging behavior at times, we begin to wonder if our son would have a life beyond SPD. We had not taken him to a Occupational Therapist or any other specialist that could officially label him with SPD so the school district, while trying to be somewhat helpful, was hands off on their approach to my son. In other words, if he ‘acted out’ or had a ‘melt-down,’ they would just write him up as a bully or a hyperactive kid that needed to be medicated.
After somehow managing to survive kindergarten, we breathed a sigh of relief. Our thoughts were, “maybe it was just the teacher.” “Maybe our son is actually normal and all those who judged us for saying he had SPD were right in their attack.” Well, first grade came. The teacher had knowledge of SPD and was very open armed to our son. “I can handle him” she quipped. However, here we are nearing the backstretch of first grade and we are now at that stressful state of mind and aggravation that we had with the kindergarten year. Because the state and school have their hands tied, they refuse to accommodate his disorder or assist him in adaptive learning unless we officially label him.
The labeling is bothersome to me. I know, I know, it is a hang-up that I need to get past. But I also look at my son and know he is a bright young boy. He loves math, he loves school and when he applies himself, he gets A’s on all his papers. The problem though is that applying of oneself. One of his downfalls is being easily distracted and the inability to focus. Due to that, his grades are quickly declining and his love for school is waning.
In the very near future, my son will officially be tested. He will be ran through the battery of sessions and tests to find out where he stands and what we can do to help him cope with his SPD. There is a big unknown of what is to come from this testing. Will insurance assist us this time or will they be a large headache like they were with the Behavioral Optometrist? Will this ‘labeling’ hurt my son in the future? Will he ever be able to obtain a normal job or get a drivers license? Will he be looked down upon as if he has some type of mental illness? Many thoughts run through my head and the stress is ever present.
Thankfully, my wife and I know God. Between our faith in God and our close walk with Him, we are able to carry on spiritually even when our emotions are a wreck. We have learned that regardless of our emotions or stresses, we can never allow them to dictate our worship to God, so even when we are crying on the inside, we still give God our all.
This has helped tremendously as we walk down an unknown path with our son’s SPD. God has given a peace that passes all understanding and allowed us to handle the ups and downs of life with our son. Do we get angry or frustrated at times? Obviously, yes, we are after all, mere human beings. However, God has given us a balance to weigh our problems against Him. When God is in the scale, he outweighs ours or our son’s bad days every time. He is the lifter of the head and provides a place to run to when all the battles seem uphill.
For us, God has been the constant focus when our son has lost his. He keeps us from wringing the neck of the uneducated person who thinks a pill is the answer to the problem. He helps us stay calm when people blame our son’s personality on his upbringing. He holds our hand as we navigate through the ugly red tape of health insurance. He reminds us everyday that even though He is a miracle working God that could remove the disorder from our son at anytime, He also is a God that allows us to privilege a walk down the path of the unknown so we can learn and lean on Him.
We do not know what tomorrow may bring. We do know that our son has made strides and has come a long way already to this point. His social interaction is widening. His vision therapy assisted greatly, and he is beginning to learn how to cope with the moments in which his senses get out of whack. Whatever tomorrow does bring, we know that he is a unique boy and no disorder, no red tape, no uneducated person will be able to hold him back from fulfilling his full potential.
A few years ago, my wife and I dropped all of our trivial stresses in life when we found that our son was legally blind in both eyes at 20/400. We worked closely with an eye doctor that was able to assist him up to a certain point but that quickly came to a plateau and we were referred to a Behavioral Optometrist. After just a few visits with the specialist, we begin to see signs that our son did not just have eye problems but was also struggling with multiple Sensory Integration Disorders or what is also referred to as Sensory Processing Disorder.
During our son’s first year in school, we found kindergarten to be a disaster. Between a teacher who admittedly was not used to handling kids with SPD and his quiet challenging behavior at times, we begin to wonder if our son would have a life beyond SPD. We had not taken him to a Occupational Therapist or any other specialist that could officially label him with SPD so the school district, while trying to be somewhat helpful, was hands off on their approach to my son. In other words, if he ‘acted out’ or had a ‘melt-down,’ they would just write him up as a bully or a hyperactive kid that needed to be medicated.
After somehow managing to survive kindergarten, we breathed a sigh of relief. Our thoughts were, “maybe it was just the teacher.” “Maybe our son is actually normal and all those who judged us for saying he had SPD were right in their attack.” Well, first grade came. The teacher had knowledge of SPD and was very open armed to our son. “I can handle him” she quipped. However, here we are nearing the backstretch of first grade and we are now at that stressful state of mind and aggravation that we had with the kindergarten year. Because the state and school have their hands tied, they refuse to accommodate his disorder or assist him in adaptive learning unless we officially label him.
The labeling is bothersome to me. I know, I know, it is a hang-up that I need to get past. But I also look at my son and know he is a bright young boy. He loves math, he loves school and when he applies himself, he gets A’s on all his papers. The problem though is that applying of oneself. One of his downfalls is being easily distracted and the inability to focus. Due to that, his grades are quickly declining and his love for school is waning.
In the very near future, my son will officially be tested. He will be ran through the battery of sessions and tests to find out where he stands and what we can do to help him cope with his SPD. There is a big unknown of what is to come from this testing. Will insurance assist us this time or will they be a large headache like they were with the Behavioral Optometrist? Will this ‘labeling’ hurt my son in the future? Will he ever be able to obtain a normal job or get a drivers license? Will he be looked down upon as if he has some type of mental illness? Many thoughts run through my head and the stress is ever present.
Thankfully, my wife and I know God. Between our faith in God and our close walk with Him, we are able to carry on spiritually even when our emotions are a wreck. We have learned that regardless of our emotions or stresses, we can never allow them to dictate our worship to God, so even when we are crying on the inside, we still give God our all.
This has helped tremendously as we walk down an unknown path with our son’s SPD. God has given a peace that passes all understanding and allowed us to handle the ups and downs of life with our son. Do we get angry or frustrated at times? Obviously, yes, we are after all, mere human beings. However, God has given us a balance to weigh our problems against Him. When God is in the scale, he outweighs ours or our son’s bad days every time. He is the lifter of the head and provides a place to run to when all the battles seem uphill.
For us, God has been the constant focus when our son has lost his. He keeps us from wringing the neck of the uneducated person who thinks a pill is the answer to the problem. He helps us stay calm when people blame our son’s personality on his upbringing. He holds our hand as we navigate through the ugly red tape of health insurance. He reminds us everyday that even though He is a miracle working God that could remove the disorder from our son at anytime, He also is a God that allows us to privilege a walk down the path of the unknown so we can learn and lean on Him.
We do not know what tomorrow may bring. We do know that our son has made strides and has come a long way already to this point. His social interaction is widening. His vision therapy assisted greatly, and he is beginning to learn how to cope with the moments in which his senses get out of whack. Whatever tomorrow does bring, we know that he is a unique boy and no disorder, no red tape, no uneducated person will be able to hold him back from fulfilling his full potential.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Do you have an ego problem?
At age 16, Bobby Fischer took the game he loved and begin to systematically beat the world’s best, one by one. Years later, he added insult to injury of already fragile egos worldwide by taking down the world champion, Spassky.
Bobby Fischer commented on his talent by stating, "I like the moment when I break a man's ego."
The problem with Bobby Fischer though was that he himself had a large ego, along with other issues to boot.
Bobby Fischer had built himself up so much that his Ego created a salivating desire within him to make sure that other men's egos were broken.
As I read into the life of Bobby Fischer, I begin to think about people in society who have ego problems. I begin to think about how they have built up a mirrored wall so high around themselves that in the end, they cannot see the outside world for what it truly is. All they could see was self. If they did stop long enough to see others, it was merely to brag about oneself or to make sure the other person was still 'beneath them.' The egotistical does not care about others; they only care about making sure that they better themselves.
The word Ego in the Latin is simply the pronoun "I." When one has an Ego, it is all about "I." To clarify though, Ego is also more of a 'self-image' of what one believes they are. That person becomes so engulfed in self that their selective view of self overrules any real opinion of who they are. The person becomes blinded by their ego. They begin to shut out anything that does not fit into their mold of their selective self-image. Their selective self-image becomes them yet a selective self-image is not them at all!
Being blinded my Ego is not healthy. Ego is a removal of the real you and the blurring of the identity that God has given you. When a person begins to move away from their God given identity to create a new self, when they are drawn away from what is right to what they conceive to be right, and then they begin to allow Ego to tempt them. That temptation brings them to be enticed by self. Once Ego has brought them this far, sin is not too far behind. Plato said it best by stating "The cause of all sins in every case lies in the person's excessive love of self." Eventually, that excessive love of self brings forth death. Death of the man who once was identified by God but now identified by "I." Death of what could have been. Death of a persona that could of rocked the World with the message of Christ but chose self. Being blinded by Ego is not healthy and in fact, just downright deadly.
In the Old Testament we see that Lucifer had an 'I' problem.
"I will ascend until Heaven"
"I will exalt my throne above the stars of God"
"I will sit on the mount of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north"
" I will ascend above the heights of the clouds"
"I will make myself like the Most High"
His Ego, his 'I', his self image, caused him to be cast down to Sheol, the uttermost parts of the pit.
The problem with Lucifer is the same problem that people have on this earth. He became a lover of himself. His Ego puffed up. He became blinded by his actions. He did not take heed and in the end, he fell.
We need to be reminded today that ultimately, there is only one 'I'. That I is the " Great I Am!" God told Moses "I Am that I am." Jesus speaks to the Jews and tells them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM."
If anyone in the history of the universe or this world had the right to use the word ‘I’, it was God Himself. After all, he created the Heavens and the earth. He hung the stars in the sky, placed water upon this earth and told it where to start and stop. He was the one that scooped up dirt and made life. AND Jesus was the one that hung upon a cross and died for a mankind that strayed away from their God given identity.
GOD IS THE ONLY ONE WORTHY OF HAVING AN EGO!
Not you, not me, not Bobby Fischer, not anyone! God alone is worthy of saying I AM THAT I AM, point blank, period!
Ego caused man to be banned from the garden, Ego caused this earth to be flooded and Ego is probably causing you to read this right now and telling yourself, “I don’t have an Ego problem.”
Today, let scripture be a reminder of whom and what we should be.
“Better it is to be humble in spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. “ “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Ask of the Lord today to help you remove any mask of selective self image. Pray that your focus be all about HIM and no longer about you. Request that your pride be replaced by humility. Climb out of that mirrored well which you can only see yourself in and come to the realization that there is a whole world out there than you can benefit from and they can benefit from you. Pray today that it no longer be about your will, but God's will.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Saving Facebook from YOU!
Let me start by prefacing this article with a therapeutic moment. Stop what you are doing right now, run to the nearest mirror, look at yourself and repeat after me: “Get over yourself, everyone else has!” Ok, are you back yet? That wasn’t so bad now was it? Now that we have that out of the way, let us move on to some ways to help save Facebook from YOU. Enjoy this article and remember, it is not all about you…..but if it is…..get help. ;-)
Let’s start by stating the obvious; it’s not all about you! The makers of Facebook did not sit down at a computer one day and begin coding a program with you personally in mind. They had millions of people in mind. They had profit in mind. They had binary codes rambling around their heads that needed released and the only way to do that was by creating a website called Facebook. If they only had you in mind, they would not of had open registration. They would of called this site {insert your name here}book.com. Unless your name is Face, then the website is not about you.
With all that said, then you need to know that not everything on Facebook is directed at you. Quit taking everything you see personal. So what if your cow went wandering off of your farm, that doesn’t mean that someone was out to get you. Someone off’d you in Mafia Wars? It’s just a game! Someone status set you off? Did it have your name written on it? Were you tagged in it? I didn’t think so. It is not all about you!
Facebook does not revolve around you. It will survive without your every input. Photos will still be photos if they do not have your comments below them. Your friends will still go on living if your status is not on their newsfeed in the morning. Someone else will take up the slack in finding out what song they are or what President they resemble. Life will go on in the social network with or without you logged in. It does not revolve around you!
Since Facebook does not revolve around you, how about you spending some time connecting with those you are linked to. No, that does not mean pouring out your life woes onto them. It means shutting up, letting them speak and actually hearing what they have to say. It’s nothing personal, but they probably already know about the bunion on your big toe and don’t need to be reminded of it or how you are coping with it. How about stopping to find out how their day was. How about actually processing their comment in your head before you respond? How about telling them you appreciate them, which leads us to the next point of saving Facebook from you.
I call this point, ‘one upping.’ One upping is when you feel the need to be better than the other person. It is when you need to comment on everything they say with something that will ‘top’ their comment. One upping deals with a deeper psychological problem that this article will not dive into, but then again, being stuck on oneself does fall into that category. You don’t need to be better than the people you are linked to. Notice what Facebook references those people as? Yep, they are called friends. Friends are not the enemy nor are they competition, they are your friends. Constantly trying to one up them will eventually get you de-friended.
Excuse me, your arrogance is showing. Yes, you! The one with the bright yellow hat on!(For those reading this that happen to actually be wearing a bright yellow hat, forgive me…ha!) To define arrogance for this article, we will state it as an attempt to show self-importance. Everybody wants to be loved. Everybody wants to feel important. However, constantly posting statuses or comments in an attempt to show others how important you are or to garner a crowd to pat you on the back is one way to let your arrogance show. It is an attempt to satisfy your constant need or desire of being loved or wanted. Quit trying so hard to have someone acknowledge your self perceived superiority. Let the pats on the back come naturally and when it does, do not let it go to your head.
Ok, now that all of that is out of the way, turn down your Ipod for a second and listen to yourself repeat these words, “Estoy Loco!” Come on, say it,”Estoy loco!” Admit it, you are crazy! Well, not THAT type of crazy. Not the padded cell, extra long sleeve white jacket with straps kind of crazy. I am talking about the type of crazy you need to survive yourself and for Facebook to survive you.
All that paranoia, all that judgmental thinking and all that overly critical analysis of everything written on Facebook is just you. It is your inability to let go and have a little fun. It is your denial of telling yourself estoy Loco! Yes, you are being crazy. You are being silly. You are one step away from being clinically defined….Doh!
There is something to be said about being loco though. When you are able to laugh at yourself, laugh at others and laugh at yourself again, you tend to lower your shield enough to let others know that you are human. You let others know that you are not trying to build a lofty position above them. You also begin to lose the paranoia that everyone on Facebook is out to judge and destroy you. When you learn to live, have fun and get a little loco, people begin to appreciate you more. They will begin to answer your chats again. They will send that cow back to your farm. They might even join you in your “Help this straightjacket is not in style” fanpage.
I have now succeeded in rambling for a good amount of time now but I hope something in here helps somebody out or in this case, helps us all out on Facebook. But if not….if you are still suffering from being a feminist or male chauvinist or feeling mighty superior, then take my next advice and do so immediately:
GO!
Well, don’t unlink from me or delete your Facebook page. I am saying, go as in, take a sabbatical. Log off. Get away from the computer. Live in reality. Realize that though the people on Facebook are your friends, you can also get out there in the real world and see real people and be paranoid about their every comment and facial expression. I am just kidding about that last part. Nobody in the real world is out to get you, unless, well, never mind. Ha!
Get outdoors. Enjoy nature. Look at accomplishments done by people other than you. Look at the landscape. Look at the sky. Feel the wind blow. Note that someone more superior than little you created that very breeze blowing on your face. Get out in the rain. Let it drench you. Make sure you don’t have your nose to lofty though, just saying.
Finally, the last thing on helping saving Facebook from you is for you to simply shut up. Yep, shut up. I will loosely paraphrase a quote by saying, If you have nothing good to say or if your comment is going to be an unwarranted thought that is all about you, then do everyone a favor and shut up. Ok, that was a little harsh. You can still post statuses saying you just stubbed your toe on the lazy dog in your living room. You can tell us you are drinking your fifth Starbucks of the day and you are hyper. But if you feel the need to one up someone or allow paranoia to cause you to react to someone else’s status, then the best advice is to just simply, shut up.
Are you alright? Did you make it this far in the article? You hate me yet? Don’t hate the messenger; hate the game you are playing inside your head. Do Facebook a favor and save it from you. Everybody will thank you for it and who knows, they might even create a fanpage or write your name in their farmville crop!
Have a great day doing whatever you do on Facebook!
Let’s start by stating the obvious; it’s not all about you! The makers of Facebook did not sit down at a computer one day and begin coding a program with you personally in mind. They had millions of people in mind. They had profit in mind. They had binary codes rambling around their heads that needed released and the only way to do that was by creating a website called Facebook. If they only had you in mind, they would not of had open registration. They would of called this site {insert your name here}book.com. Unless your name is Face, then the website is not about you.
With all that said, then you need to know that not everything on Facebook is directed at you. Quit taking everything you see personal. So what if your cow went wandering off of your farm, that doesn’t mean that someone was out to get you. Someone off’d you in Mafia Wars? It’s just a game! Someone status set you off? Did it have your name written on it? Were you tagged in it? I didn’t think so. It is not all about you!
Facebook does not revolve around you. It will survive without your every input. Photos will still be photos if they do not have your comments below them. Your friends will still go on living if your status is not on their newsfeed in the morning. Someone else will take up the slack in finding out what song they are or what President they resemble. Life will go on in the social network with or without you logged in. It does not revolve around you!
Since Facebook does not revolve around you, how about you spending some time connecting with those you are linked to. No, that does not mean pouring out your life woes onto them. It means shutting up, letting them speak and actually hearing what they have to say. It’s nothing personal, but they probably already know about the bunion on your big toe and don’t need to be reminded of it or how you are coping with it. How about stopping to find out how their day was. How about actually processing their comment in your head before you respond? How about telling them you appreciate them, which leads us to the next point of saving Facebook from you.
I call this point, ‘one upping.’ One upping is when you feel the need to be better than the other person. It is when you need to comment on everything they say with something that will ‘top’ their comment. One upping deals with a deeper psychological problem that this article will not dive into, but then again, being stuck on oneself does fall into that category. You don’t need to be better than the people you are linked to. Notice what Facebook references those people as? Yep, they are called friends. Friends are not the enemy nor are they competition, they are your friends. Constantly trying to one up them will eventually get you de-friended.
Excuse me, your arrogance is showing. Yes, you! The one with the bright yellow hat on!(For those reading this that happen to actually be wearing a bright yellow hat, forgive me…ha!) To define arrogance for this article, we will state it as an attempt to show self-importance. Everybody wants to be loved. Everybody wants to feel important. However, constantly posting statuses or comments in an attempt to show others how important you are or to garner a crowd to pat you on the back is one way to let your arrogance show. It is an attempt to satisfy your constant need or desire of being loved or wanted. Quit trying so hard to have someone acknowledge your self perceived superiority. Let the pats on the back come naturally and when it does, do not let it go to your head.
Ok, now that all of that is out of the way, turn down your Ipod for a second and listen to yourself repeat these words, “Estoy Loco!” Come on, say it,”Estoy loco!” Admit it, you are crazy! Well, not THAT type of crazy. Not the padded cell, extra long sleeve white jacket with straps kind of crazy. I am talking about the type of crazy you need to survive yourself and for Facebook to survive you.
All that paranoia, all that judgmental thinking and all that overly critical analysis of everything written on Facebook is just you. It is your inability to let go and have a little fun. It is your denial of telling yourself estoy Loco! Yes, you are being crazy. You are being silly. You are one step away from being clinically defined….Doh!
There is something to be said about being loco though. When you are able to laugh at yourself, laugh at others and laugh at yourself again, you tend to lower your shield enough to let others know that you are human. You let others know that you are not trying to build a lofty position above them. You also begin to lose the paranoia that everyone on Facebook is out to judge and destroy you. When you learn to live, have fun and get a little loco, people begin to appreciate you more. They will begin to answer your chats again. They will send that cow back to your farm. They might even join you in your “Help this straightjacket is not in style” fanpage.
I have now succeeded in rambling for a good amount of time now but I hope something in here helps somebody out or in this case, helps us all out on Facebook. But if not….if you are still suffering from being a feminist or male chauvinist or feeling mighty superior, then take my next advice and do so immediately:
GO!
Well, don’t unlink from me or delete your Facebook page. I am saying, go as in, take a sabbatical. Log off. Get away from the computer. Live in reality. Realize that though the people on Facebook are your friends, you can also get out there in the real world and see real people and be paranoid about their every comment and facial expression. I am just kidding about that last part. Nobody in the real world is out to get you, unless, well, never mind. Ha!
Get outdoors. Enjoy nature. Look at accomplishments done by people other than you. Look at the landscape. Look at the sky. Feel the wind blow. Note that someone more superior than little you created that very breeze blowing on your face. Get out in the rain. Let it drench you. Make sure you don’t have your nose to lofty though, just saying.
Finally, the last thing on helping saving Facebook from you is for you to simply shut up. Yep, shut up. I will loosely paraphrase a quote by saying, If you have nothing good to say or if your comment is going to be an unwarranted thought that is all about you, then do everyone a favor and shut up. Ok, that was a little harsh. You can still post statuses saying you just stubbed your toe on the lazy dog in your living room. You can tell us you are drinking your fifth Starbucks of the day and you are hyper. But if you feel the need to one up someone or allow paranoia to cause you to react to someone else’s status, then the best advice is to just simply, shut up.
Are you alright? Did you make it this far in the article? You hate me yet? Don’t hate the messenger; hate the game you are playing inside your head. Do Facebook a favor and save it from you. Everybody will thank you for it and who knows, they might even create a fanpage or write your name in their farmville crop!
Have a great day doing whatever you do on Facebook!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Define your journey or it will defy you
In the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, we read some depressing passages of scripture. Solomon, a man who had it all, a man who only knew of the best things in life, was concluding that life itself was nothing more than vanities. Here was a man, who could give great proverbial advice. Here was a man who could dive deep philosophically with the best of them. Here was a man who, according to 2nd Chronicles, had things that the kings before him never had.
“Wisdom and knowledge are granted you. And I will give you riches, possessions, honor, and glory, such as none of the kings had before you, and none after you shall have their equal.”
Yet somehow, in all of this,in all of the wisdom, in all of the riches, in all the best things life had to offer, Solomon had failed. Solomon was found lacking.
While he was trying to define his journey, In the end, his journey had defied him.
Solomon found that no pleasure, no possession, nothing he had was bringing a complete happiness. Nothing he pursued was fulfilling. His journey was for happiness,but he ended up with frustrations.
As he stopped in to ponder in his journey, Solomon found that he was hating life.
Solomon said that most of the things we strived for on this journey, proved to only be vanities. He realized that even the wisest of men, found themselves to only be fools. He found that for all the sweat, tears, and energy he put forth in the journey, that life was nothing but labor, sorrow and grief.
On an on, Solomon paints a grim picture. He describes the whoas of life.
He shows the despair, the hurts and the disappointments. In the end, he leaves the readers of the scriptures feeling depressed and hopeless about life. "All is vanity," he says, "all is vanity."
As we travel this journey called life, we will find moments of happiness, moments of frustrations, and moments of sadness. Many things will fall within our path.
Things like: Heartache, pain, change,stress,being let down,failure,success, confusion, misunderstandings and hopefully on many occasions, happiness.
If we really wanted to get down to it, and to be real with ourselves
We can admit that like Solomon, that we too can find the negatives, the vanities and the grim outlooks of this life. If we are not careful, if we allow the Solomon attitude to grip us, we risk the very thing that Solomon experienced:
We risk our journey defying us, instead of us defining our journey.
A journey by definition is "To travel or the act of traveling from one place to another." Biologically and psychologically speaking, a journey is "any course or passage from one stage or experience to another."
Whether a journey be physical or spiritual, one can conclude that there must be a drive and there must be some type of desire. It is a combination of these items which allows the person that is on the journey, to walk down the intended path. It is at the time in which the drive is gone or that the desire is lost, a person stops walking and could be found sitting.
When a person finds themselves sitting down and pondering the many things in life, the danger of a Solomon mindset begins to creep in. They begin to get down on their efforts. They allow the pains of life to catch up. Depression and oppression sets in. The very danger of the proverbial throwing in the towel, becomes a realization. It is at this moment, the person unconsciously allows their journey, to defy them.
A quick flip through the pages of the Bible finds many journeys. There was Abraham who followed God and went to Canaan as instructed. His due reward for following that journey was being blessed by God and becoming a great nation. There was Moses who was instructed to go to Mt. Sinai. He comes face to face with a burning bush and was given further instructions from the Lord. So Moses does as he is instructed and goes on the journey.
Many successful journeys are found within the pages of the Bible. But then, we see the likes of Sampson. Sampson was a man who has a relationship with God. He was given abilities that many of men only dreamed of. Yet somehow, Sampson chose to allow his journey to defy him, instead of he defining his journey.
Sampson strayed from the path when he went into the city of Timnah. He strayed once again when he went into Gaza. It was his straying, his temptations, that took him to places he should of never have gone. Sampson was blazing trails were not to have been blazed.
He was a man set apart for God's service. He was a man of power. He once took apart a lion with only his bare hands. With a jawbone from a donkey, he slew thousands. Yet, Sampson had a fundamental flaw in his life and that flaw allowed his journey to defy him.
In the end, Sampson's eyes were gouged out by the Philistines. The hair he had grown as part of his Nazarite vow, was cut off. The feet that led him down the wrong paths, were now weighed down by shackles. Sampson was hooked to a grinding stone like a donkey. Around and around he went. No longer on a journey with intent and purpose, but now aimlessly going in circles.
After parting ways with Abram, Lot wandered from his intended path, to take his cattle to the well watered green valleys of Jordan. He wandered off the path to camp out right outside the gates of the city Sodom. Instead of staying on the right path which was far from sin city, he chose to camp right next to sin.
The journey he once defined, was now defying him. As fire fell upon Sodom, and Lot and his family fleed, the very sin he cozied up next to, had destroyed his wife. Lot could of seen the warning signs there and ran back to the proper path, but he didn't. He chose to continue on down the wrong path and ran to the hills to hide. It was within those hills that his daughters became the next victims of his choosing the wrong path, the wrong journey.
Choosing to stray from the journey has its consequences. Sin has a price. It will cost you and your family much. However, if you choose to stay the course, to walk within the set of footprints provided for you, then no wind, no wave, no false teachings, no fads or relevant gimmick will cause you to leave the path.
The question presented then is a simple one. Are you defining your journey, or is your journey defying you? Are you deciding in your heart that you will only follow Jesus or are you allowing sin, temptations and things of this world to defy you?
Look at your path today. Which one are you residing on? Are you able to carry on a conversation with Jesus or are you finding that He is off in the distance walking a different direction?
“Wisdom and knowledge are granted you. And I will give you riches, possessions, honor, and glory, such as none of the kings had before you, and none after you shall have their equal.”
Yet somehow, in all of this,in all of the wisdom, in all of the riches, in all the best things life had to offer, Solomon had failed. Solomon was found lacking.
While he was trying to define his journey, In the end, his journey had defied him.
Solomon found that no pleasure, no possession, nothing he had was bringing a complete happiness. Nothing he pursued was fulfilling. His journey was for happiness,but he ended up with frustrations.
As he stopped in to ponder in his journey, Solomon found that he was hating life.
Solomon said that most of the things we strived for on this journey, proved to only be vanities. He realized that even the wisest of men, found themselves to only be fools. He found that for all the sweat, tears, and energy he put forth in the journey, that life was nothing but labor, sorrow and grief.
On an on, Solomon paints a grim picture. He describes the whoas of life.
He shows the despair, the hurts and the disappointments. In the end, he leaves the readers of the scriptures feeling depressed and hopeless about life. "All is vanity," he says, "all is vanity."
As we travel this journey called life, we will find moments of happiness, moments of frustrations, and moments of sadness. Many things will fall within our path.
Things like: Heartache, pain, change,stress,being let down,failure,success, confusion, misunderstandings and hopefully on many occasions, happiness.
If we really wanted to get down to it, and to be real with ourselves
We can admit that like Solomon, that we too can find the negatives, the vanities and the grim outlooks of this life. If we are not careful, if we allow the Solomon attitude to grip us, we risk the very thing that Solomon experienced:
We risk our journey defying us, instead of us defining our journey.
A journey by definition is "To travel or the act of traveling from one place to another." Biologically and psychologically speaking, a journey is "any course or passage from one stage or experience to another."
Whether a journey be physical or spiritual, one can conclude that there must be a drive and there must be some type of desire. It is a combination of these items which allows the person that is on the journey, to walk down the intended path. It is at the time in which the drive is gone or that the desire is lost, a person stops walking and could be found sitting.
When a person finds themselves sitting down and pondering the many things in life, the danger of a Solomon mindset begins to creep in. They begin to get down on their efforts. They allow the pains of life to catch up. Depression and oppression sets in. The very danger of the proverbial throwing in the towel, becomes a realization. It is at this moment, the person unconsciously allows their journey, to defy them.
A quick flip through the pages of the Bible finds many journeys. There was Abraham who followed God and went to Canaan as instructed. His due reward for following that journey was being blessed by God and becoming a great nation. There was Moses who was instructed to go to Mt. Sinai. He comes face to face with a burning bush and was given further instructions from the Lord. So Moses does as he is instructed and goes on the journey.
Many successful journeys are found within the pages of the Bible. But then, we see the likes of Sampson. Sampson was a man who has a relationship with God. He was given abilities that many of men only dreamed of. Yet somehow, Sampson chose to allow his journey to defy him, instead of he defining his journey.
Sampson strayed from the path when he went into the city of Timnah. He strayed once again when he went into Gaza. It was his straying, his temptations, that took him to places he should of never have gone. Sampson was blazing trails were not to have been blazed.
He was a man set apart for God's service. He was a man of power. He once took apart a lion with only his bare hands. With a jawbone from a donkey, he slew thousands. Yet, Sampson had a fundamental flaw in his life and that flaw allowed his journey to defy him.
In the end, Sampson's eyes were gouged out by the Philistines. The hair he had grown as part of his Nazarite vow, was cut off. The feet that led him down the wrong paths, were now weighed down by shackles. Sampson was hooked to a grinding stone like a donkey. Around and around he went. No longer on a journey with intent and purpose, but now aimlessly going in circles.
After parting ways with Abram, Lot wandered from his intended path, to take his cattle to the well watered green valleys of Jordan. He wandered off the path to camp out right outside the gates of the city Sodom. Instead of staying on the right path which was far from sin city, he chose to camp right next to sin.
The journey he once defined, was now defying him. As fire fell upon Sodom, and Lot and his family fleed, the very sin he cozied up next to, had destroyed his wife. Lot could of seen the warning signs there and ran back to the proper path, but he didn't. He chose to continue on down the wrong path and ran to the hills to hide. It was within those hills that his daughters became the next victims of his choosing the wrong path, the wrong journey.
Choosing to stray from the journey has its consequences. Sin has a price. It will cost you and your family much. However, if you choose to stay the course, to walk within the set of footprints provided for you, then no wind, no wave, no false teachings, no fads or relevant gimmick will cause you to leave the path.
The question presented then is a simple one. Are you defining your journey, or is your journey defying you? Are you deciding in your heart that you will only follow Jesus or are you allowing sin, temptations and things of this world to defy you?
Look at your path today. Which one are you residing on? Are you able to carry on a conversation with Jesus or are you finding that He is off in the distance walking a different direction?
Friday, January 1, 2010
Where to from here?
What a month December was.
Many visited churches for the first time this year for Christmas specials, others partipated in children programs and Christmas choirs.
Many then soon afterwards found themselves amongst friends and families, hopping from house to house attending parties and gatherings, and being wrapped up in the love and joy of the festive season.
Then finally on Christmas morning, many families gathered around their respective Christmas trees and opened gifts while spending time celebrating one of the many sides of the holiday season.
Many people quickly begun taking down their ornaments from their walls and from the tree and some dived into the disassembling of that artificial Christmas tree. Maybe some even began pulling out the boxes to store the outdoor Christmas lights and door wreath for yet another year, even as the last piece of wrapping paper was still falling to the floor.
As quickly as Christmas 2009 came, it is over and the Christmas season is behind us now. All the building up, all the Christmas songs played since Halloween day, all the lines in the stores and the must have presents and toys, the time has come and went.
We all can look at this season and confirm, it is now behind us and we now sit in a new year, a new decade and the question I want to present is a simple yet hopefully impacting question.
Where to from here?
Where to from here is the question that rattled thru my mind as I read the Christmas story particularly the part about the visitation of the magi to Bethlehem.
Where did they go after that memorable night?
What impact did a visit to a baby in a manger have on these advisors to a king?
In hindsight, you and I can see just WHO this baby is, we understand the importance of such a birth that had concluded that night.
Thru scripture, we can understand that the birth was not just another birth.
This birth was a special birth.
This birth was a miraculous birth.
This birth was a birth of a baby who would grow up to one day be hung on a tree, dying for the sins of you and I.
Had it not been for this birth of the Godhead wrapped in human flesh, This world would have no hope.
Humanity would have no chance.
You and I would not comprehend the taste of salvation.
And as it was that night, The Magi followed the Easterly star that lit their path to this newborn King. They came upon the child and they presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They honored the worlds chance of hope by showing up to that birth. They paid due respect to the moment.
The aspect of the story that caught my attention was not the obvious of the way they came or why they came or even what they presented to this newborn King. To me, the intriguing part was,
What did the men do afterwards?
What happened to these men after an encounter with the Christ Child?
Did they leave the same way they came or did they leave differently?
Did their encounter cause them to be changed?
What became of the moment?
Where did they go to from there?
Scripture indeed gives us some insight to the moment of that night.
Luke 2:20 tells us that these men returned to the fields glorifying and praising God for what they had seen and for what they had heard.
Matthew 2:12 tells us that they departed into their own country ANOTHER way.
Even back on that starry night many years ago, in a stable in Bethlehem, we find that when these men encountered Jesus, they did not leave the same way they came. When they encountered the savior, they left praising and glorifying Him for who HE was and more importantly what He would become for you and I.
Something tells me that somewhere throughout time and space,
Somewhere along the way,
Somewhere mixed into the passage of time,
The saints of the most high need to get back to that precious day.
They need to have an encounter with Jesus again.
They need to have a trek in which there is an eager pursuit.
They need to come to the king bearing our souls,
Opening their hearts,
Giving all they have without asking for anything back.
They need to have an encounter that causes a desire to praise and glorify God.
They need to have an encounter that causes them to be forever changed.
They need to have an encounter that causes them to leave differently than the way we came in.
Oh if one could just have an encounter that causes one to proclaim:
I have just been with Jesus…..!
I have just seen the King!
Where do you go from here?
Where does the world turn?
What will 2010 bring?
What will this next decade develop?
Where to from here?
The world will follow its shallow and empty hopes.
They will continue to follow the latest fads.
They will glue their eyes to the latest gossiping sagas.
And somewhere along the way, Jesus will be pushed back, and even left behind.
It was Mary and Joseph who had made their way to the temple in Jerusalem during the feast of the Passover.
They brought with them the 12 year old Jesus.
But somewhere during the hustle and bustle of the festivities,
Somewhere in the distractions of the events,
Mary and Joseph had taken their minds off of Jesus.
They packed up their belongings and began the trek back home.
The most important aspect of the journey was left behind.
He had been forgotten.
After a miraculous birthing of the Christ child,
After the encounter the magi had with the child,
After the 12 years of raising the savior of this world,
Mary and Joseph had left Jesus behind.
Where to from here Mary?
Where to from here Joseph?
You left the most important thing, the most important person behind.
It’s time to go back and get your Jesus!
It’s time to cling to Him like never before!
Just like that Christmas song,
Mary did you know? That your son is going to walk on water?
Did you know that He would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that He was going to give sight to the blind?
Did you know that by the raising of a hand the storm would cease?
Mary, you had to know that your encounter with God forever changed you.
You had to realize that you were walking amongst the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
You had to know that the miraculous birth would forever change the course of History.
I believe with all my heart that no man, no woman, no angel, nor demon
Can come into contact with Jesus and not be changed.
Whether you left him at the altar many years ago, or you have been holding him at bay,this is the moment for you to get back in touch!
Where to from here my friend?
You should already know the answer to that question.
This is not the time to be lax.
This is not the time to be indifferent
This is not the time to become confrontational.
It is time you let your front down that hides the very depth of your soul
And to let the Lord God Almighty go to work.
He wants to heal you.
He wants to lift you up.
He wants to save your soul from a burning hell.
He wants to teach you things you have never known.
Show you things, you have never seen.
Where to from here?
It is all up to you.
We do not serve a forceful God.
He stands at the door, but it is you that needs to open it.
He is ready to answer, but it is you that needs to make the call.
Where you going to go from here?
When you have an encounter with Jesus…you will be changed.
When you have an encounter with Jesus, you will be blessed.
Deuteronomy chapter 28 says:
That if you will listen obediently to the voice of God,
That God,
Your God,
Will place you on high,high above all the nations of the world.
All the blessings that will come upon you will be so much that they will spill over.
Your land will be blessed.
You will be blessed coming in.
And you will be blessed coming out.
Your enemies will be defeated.
When you have an encounter with Jesus, you will be changed.
When Jesus encountered the dead girl in Matthew, she arose from the dead
The sick that had encounters with Jesus, were healed.
The blind received their sight
The lepers were cleansed.
The crippled walked
All because of encounters with Jesus….
Many who had encounters with Him left with power.
In His name, they casted out demons.
In His name, they spoke in new tongues.
In His name, they laid their hands on the sick, and they were made whole.
Where to from here I ask of you?
As we start a new year, a new decade,
Do you just continue on the same content path?
Do you continue on in a backslidden state?
Do you continue on fighting against the calling on your life?
Do you continue on refusing to let it go and let God have His way?
Or do you quit asking yourself, where to from here? And start saying,
Why not here…why not now!
We live in a day and age in which time is short.
We live in a day and age in which Jesus is being pushed out of
Every workplace,
He’s being pushed out of every school house,
and He’s being pushed out of every home.
I say the time is nigh in which you make a decision.
You are either for Him, or you are against Him.
You are either living it, or you're not.
You are either going to be hot or you are going to be cold.
The magi left praising and Glorifying the Lord
They left differently than the way they came.
The challenge for you
Is to find that place, to find that secret place and not leave it until something changes.
Not leave it until you have gotten ahold of the horns of the altar and cried out unto the Lord.
I know where I want to go to from here dear Lord…
But I cannot do it without you!
Where to from here?
Something stirred in Abraham as he fell to the earth and begged for the Lord not to pass by his servant.
It was the Caananite woman who cried out “Have mercy on me dear Lord”
Bartimaeous and the other blind man found themselves crying out unto the Lord
It was the woman at the tomb who fell to the feet of Jesus, grabbed ahold of them and began to worship Him.
It was Paul who realized he had been in the wrong too long and fell down crying Who are you Lord!?
Where to from here?
When you encounter Jesus,
When you come into His throne,
Something has to give in your carnal nature.
Something inside of you should cause the very strength of a strong man to falter and bring him to his knees.
Something inside of you should stir saying, I do not want to leave until the blessing of the Lord is upon me.
It was Jacob in the Testament of Old who found himself face to face with an Angel of God.
It was Jacob who grabbed hold of that Angel and proclaimed, “I am not letting go.”
With tears of supplication, a deeply repented heart of his wrong doings, he pleaded for the promises of God.
All night long Jacob wrestled with this Angel.
Even with a touch from the Angel on his side, and the dislocation of his hip, Jacob continued on.
The pain of his body, did not deter him.
His faith grew more earnest as he persevered unto the break of day.
Even as the Angel argued with Jacob, Jacob responded “I will not let go unless you bless me!”
If you could just find a grasp onto your faith.
That you would get ahold of your promises
Get ahold of your blessings
And proclaim, I will not let go!
I will not give in,
I will not give up,
Until I am changed!
Until I am healed!
Until I am saved!
It was the Angel that spoke to Jacob during the wrestling match.
He reminded Jacob of his wrong doings.
He was tested.
He was tried.
And his faith was put on the line.
Whether you are a sinner or a saint.
Whether you are saved, or unsaved.
One thing is for sure…
There is an altar you can approach.
There is still a hope for you. You do not want to miss it.
Where to from here?
I have had an encounter with Jesus, now what?
That "what" is you grabbing ahold of him.
That "what" is you getting closer to Him than ever before.
That "what" is you wrestling with the angel until you are blessed.
That "what" is you not letting go even when your past is used as a test of your faith.
That "what" is you saying, I am tired of my old self.
Where to from here?
I think you know the answer. Straight ahead, straight up!
As you enter into this new year,this new decade, it is time to move forward and grasp that which awaits you. It is time to claim what is rightfully yours. It is time to go deeper in your relationship with God.
Many visited churches for the first time this year for Christmas specials, others partipated in children programs and Christmas choirs.
Many then soon afterwards found themselves amongst friends and families, hopping from house to house attending parties and gatherings, and being wrapped up in the love and joy of the festive season.
Then finally on Christmas morning, many families gathered around their respective Christmas trees and opened gifts while spending time celebrating one of the many sides of the holiday season.
Many people quickly begun taking down their ornaments from their walls and from the tree and some dived into the disassembling of that artificial Christmas tree. Maybe some even began pulling out the boxes to store the outdoor Christmas lights and door wreath for yet another year, even as the last piece of wrapping paper was still falling to the floor.
As quickly as Christmas 2009 came, it is over and the Christmas season is behind us now. All the building up, all the Christmas songs played since Halloween day, all the lines in the stores and the must have presents and toys, the time has come and went.
We all can look at this season and confirm, it is now behind us and we now sit in a new year, a new decade and the question I want to present is a simple yet hopefully impacting question.
Where to from here?
Where to from here is the question that rattled thru my mind as I read the Christmas story particularly the part about the visitation of the magi to Bethlehem.
Where did they go after that memorable night?
What impact did a visit to a baby in a manger have on these advisors to a king?
In hindsight, you and I can see just WHO this baby is, we understand the importance of such a birth that had concluded that night.
Thru scripture, we can understand that the birth was not just another birth.
This birth was a special birth.
This birth was a miraculous birth.
This birth was a birth of a baby who would grow up to one day be hung on a tree, dying for the sins of you and I.
Had it not been for this birth of the Godhead wrapped in human flesh, This world would have no hope.
Humanity would have no chance.
You and I would not comprehend the taste of salvation.
And as it was that night, The Magi followed the Easterly star that lit their path to this newborn King. They came upon the child and they presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They honored the worlds chance of hope by showing up to that birth. They paid due respect to the moment.
The aspect of the story that caught my attention was not the obvious of the way they came or why they came or even what they presented to this newborn King. To me, the intriguing part was,
What did the men do afterwards?
What happened to these men after an encounter with the Christ Child?
Did they leave the same way they came or did they leave differently?
Did their encounter cause them to be changed?
What became of the moment?
Where did they go to from there?
Scripture indeed gives us some insight to the moment of that night.
Luke 2:20 tells us that these men returned to the fields glorifying and praising God for what they had seen and for what they had heard.
Matthew 2:12 tells us that they departed into their own country ANOTHER way.
Even back on that starry night many years ago, in a stable in Bethlehem, we find that when these men encountered Jesus, they did not leave the same way they came. When they encountered the savior, they left praising and glorifying Him for who HE was and more importantly what He would become for you and I.
Something tells me that somewhere throughout time and space,
Somewhere along the way,
Somewhere mixed into the passage of time,
The saints of the most high need to get back to that precious day.
They need to have an encounter with Jesus again.
They need to have a trek in which there is an eager pursuit.
They need to come to the king bearing our souls,
Opening their hearts,
Giving all they have without asking for anything back.
They need to have an encounter that causes a desire to praise and glorify God.
They need to have an encounter that causes them to be forever changed.
They need to have an encounter that causes them to leave differently than the way we came in.
Oh if one could just have an encounter that causes one to proclaim:
I have just been with Jesus…..!
I have just seen the King!
Where do you go from here?
Where does the world turn?
What will 2010 bring?
What will this next decade develop?
Where to from here?
The world will follow its shallow and empty hopes.
They will continue to follow the latest fads.
They will glue their eyes to the latest gossiping sagas.
And somewhere along the way, Jesus will be pushed back, and even left behind.
It was Mary and Joseph who had made their way to the temple in Jerusalem during the feast of the Passover.
They brought with them the 12 year old Jesus.
But somewhere during the hustle and bustle of the festivities,
Somewhere in the distractions of the events,
Mary and Joseph had taken their minds off of Jesus.
They packed up their belongings and began the trek back home.
The most important aspect of the journey was left behind.
He had been forgotten.
After a miraculous birthing of the Christ child,
After the encounter the magi had with the child,
After the 12 years of raising the savior of this world,
Mary and Joseph had left Jesus behind.
Where to from here Mary?
Where to from here Joseph?
You left the most important thing, the most important person behind.
It’s time to go back and get your Jesus!
It’s time to cling to Him like never before!
Just like that Christmas song,
Mary did you know? That your son is going to walk on water?
Did you know that He would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that He was going to give sight to the blind?
Did you know that by the raising of a hand the storm would cease?
Mary, you had to know that your encounter with God forever changed you.
You had to realize that you were walking amongst the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
You had to know that the miraculous birth would forever change the course of History.
I believe with all my heart that no man, no woman, no angel, nor demon
Can come into contact with Jesus and not be changed.
Whether you left him at the altar many years ago, or you have been holding him at bay,this is the moment for you to get back in touch!
Where to from here my friend?
You should already know the answer to that question.
This is not the time to be lax.
This is not the time to be indifferent
This is not the time to become confrontational.
It is time you let your front down that hides the very depth of your soul
And to let the Lord God Almighty go to work.
He wants to heal you.
He wants to lift you up.
He wants to save your soul from a burning hell.
He wants to teach you things you have never known.
Show you things, you have never seen.
Where to from here?
It is all up to you.
We do not serve a forceful God.
He stands at the door, but it is you that needs to open it.
He is ready to answer, but it is you that needs to make the call.
Where you going to go from here?
When you have an encounter with Jesus…you will be changed.
When you have an encounter with Jesus, you will be blessed.
Deuteronomy chapter 28 says:
That if you will listen obediently to the voice of God,
That God,
Your God,
Will place you on high,high above all the nations of the world.
All the blessings that will come upon you will be so much that they will spill over.
Your land will be blessed.
You will be blessed coming in.
And you will be blessed coming out.
Your enemies will be defeated.
When you have an encounter with Jesus, you will be changed.
When Jesus encountered the dead girl in Matthew, she arose from the dead
The sick that had encounters with Jesus, were healed.
The blind received their sight
The lepers were cleansed.
The crippled walked
All because of encounters with Jesus….
Many who had encounters with Him left with power.
In His name, they casted out demons.
In His name, they spoke in new tongues.
In His name, they laid their hands on the sick, and they were made whole.
Where to from here I ask of you?
As we start a new year, a new decade,
Do you just continue on the same content path?
Do you continue on in a backslidden state?
Do you continue on fighting against the calling on your life?
Do you continue on refusing to let it go and let God have His way?
Or do you quit asking yourself, where to from here? And start saying,
Why not here…why not now!
We live in a day and age in which time is short.
We live in a day and age in which Jesus is being pushed out of
Every workplace,
He’s being pushed out of every school house,
and He’s being pushed out of every home.
I say the time is nigh in which you make a decision.
You are either for Him, or you are against Him.
You are either living it, or you're not.
You are either going to be hot or you are going to be cold.
The magi left praising and Glorifying the Lord
They left differently than the way they came.
The challenge for you
Is to find that place, to find that secret place and not leave it until something changes.
Not leave it until you have gotten ahold of the horns of the altar and cried out unto the Lord.
I know where I want to go to from here dear Lord…
But I cannot do it without you!
Where to from here?
Something stirred in Abraham as he fell to the earth and begged for the Lord not to pass by his servant.
It was the Caananite woman who cried out “Have mercy on me dear Lord”
Bartimaeous and the other blind man found themselves crying out unto the Lord
It was the woman at the tomb who fell to the feet of Jesus, grabbed ahold of them and began to worship Him.
It was Paul who realized he had been in the wrong too long and fell down crying Who are you Lord!?
Where to from here?
When you encounter Jesus,
When you come into His throne,
Something has to give in your carnal nature.
Something inside of you should cause the very strength of a strong man to falter and bring him to his knees.
Something inside of you should stir saying, I do not want to leave until the blessing of the Lord is upon me.
It was Jacob in the Testament of Old who found himself face to face with an Angel of God.
It was Jacob who grabbed hold of that Angel and proclaimed, “I am not letting go.”
With tears of supplication, a deeply repented heart of his wrong doings, he pleaded for the promises of God.
All night long Jacob wrestled with this Angel.
Even with a touch from the Angel on his side, and the dislocation of his hip, Jacob continued on.
The pain of his body, did not deter him.
His faith grew more earnest as he persevered unto the break of day.
Even as the Angel argued with Jacob, Jacob responded “I will not let go unless you bless me!”
If you could just find a grasp onto your faith.
That you would get ahold of your promises
Get ahold of your blessings
And proclaim, I will not let go!
I will not give in,
I will not give up,
Until I am changed!
Until I am healed!
Until I am saved!
It was the Angel that spoke to Jacob during the wrestling match.
He reminded Jacob of his wrong doings.
He was tested.
He was tried.
And his faith was put on the line.
Whether you are a sinner or a saint.
Whether you are saved, or unsaved.
One thing is for sure…
There is an altar you can approach.
There is still a hope for you. You do not want to miss it.
Where to from here?
I have had an encounter with Jesus, now what?
That "what" is you grabbing ahold of him.
That "what" is you getting closer to Him than ever before.
That "what" is you wrestling with the angel until you are blessed.
That "what" is you not letting go even when your past is used as a test of your faith.
That "what" is you saying, I am tired of my old self.
Where to from here?
I think you know the answer. Straight ahead, straight up!
As you enter into this new year,this new decade, it is time to move forward and grasp that which awaits you. It is time to claim what is rightfully yours. It is time to go deeper in your relationship with God.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Communication
You would think that in today’s world, and the several methods of communication, that people would be able to communicate well. For some reason though, people are unable to hold meaningful conversation. One might ramble, the other snaps at something said, one might not be listening, or someone might be completely misinterpreting what is being said. It might be that one might just not want to know or they just hear only what they want to hear. Regardless, communication suffers.
The biggest problem is that everyone seems to be subjective. No matter how objective one might try to be, people still only want to see their point of view and never attempt to see the bigger picture. This results in minor misunderstandings to complete breakdown in communication. These breakdowns in communication result in many possible unresolved and unfortunate events ie: friendships ending, family feuds, introverted personalities, built up anger, disappointment, hurt, depression, etc. It also causes walls to be built that further complicate the communication methods even the more.
I believe the subjective, “All about me…”, “What’s in it for me…”, “Tell me what I want to hear…” type of listening, whether it be purposely done or unintentionally done, it is a very dangerous skill to possess. In fact, these things if done with a pretense, or in a meditated manner, while one portrays to be innocent of these motives, can be hypocritical of that person. They, like a person at a masquerade ball, have placed a mask on their meditated and subjective goal for the conversation and are hiding what they really are or what they really want the end result to be from that interaction.
When one steps back from their agendas, hang-ups, or erroneous communication skills, and begin to hear and see things in a more objective manner, then the communication level begins to develop into more meaningful content. It allows the walls to come down, it removes any false pretenses and it gives the ability for two or more people to not only have a meaningful conversation but also the ability to resolve any conflict or mend any issues that are unresolved.
Phillipians 4:8 says “Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper…”
I believe that scripture, compiled with John13:34, helps people keep an objective mindset and reduces much misunderstandings, miscommunications and breakdowns in the communicative effort. I further believe that if a vertical communication is constant with God, then a horizontal human communication will be constant and objective and done all in Christ like manner.
When one has done their best to be forthright and honest with their communication efforts, yet it seems it was all for naught and their words falls on subjective ears and in turn their good might of been evil spoken of, then we can remind ourselves with what 2 Corinthians 6:8-10 says: “We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.”
I leave you with this thought....
Lines of communication might break down, but that does not mean they have to forever remain broken.
The biggest problem is that everyone seems to be subjective. No matter how objective one might try to be, people still only want to see their point of view and never attempt to see the bigger picture. This results in minor misunderstandings to complete breakdown in communication. These breakdowns in communication result in many possible unresolved and unfortunate events ie: friendships ending, family feuds, introverted personalities, built up anger, disappointment, hurt, depression, etc. It also causes walls to be built that further complicate the communication methods even the more.
I believe the subjective, “All about me…”, “What’s in it for me…”, “Tell me what I want to hear…” type of listening, whether it be purposely done or unintentionally done, it is a very dangerous skill to possess. In fact, these things if done with a pretense, or in a meditated manner, while one portrays to be innocent of these motives, can be hypocritical of that person. They, like a person at a masquerade ball, have placed a mask on their meditated and subjective goal for the conversation and are hiding what they really are or what they really want the end result to be from that interaction.
When one steps back from their agendas, hang-ups, or erroneous communication skills, and begin to hear and see things in a more objective manner, then the communication level begins to develop into more meaningful content. It allows the walls to come down, it removes any false pretenses and it gives the ability for two or more people to not only have a meaningful conversation but also the ability to resolve any conflict or mend any issues that are unresolved.
Phillipians 4:8 says “Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper…”
I believe that scripture, compiled with John13:34, helps people keep an objective mindset and reduces much misunderstandings, miscommunications and breakdowns in the communicative effort. I further believe that if a vertical communication is constant with God, then a horizontal human communication will be constant and objective and done all in Christ like manner.
When one has done their best to be forthright and honest with their communication efforts, yet it seems it was all for naught and their words falls on subjective ears and in turn their good might of been evil spoken of, then we can remind ourselves with what 2 Corinthians 6:8-10 says: “We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.”
I leave you with this thought....
Lines of communication might break down, but that does not mean they have to forever remain broken.
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