The Process of Letting Go…

 I can vividly  remember being 9 years old and gripping the rope I was holding on to with force that would rival a Python gripping his latest soon to be meal…Nervousness  was all over me like a bad suit and he had brought his friends fear and fear with him (yes, I said fear twice-apparently there is strength in numbers)  , but –  I being the stubborn hard headed punk I have always been ,  was determined to beat this…

Then it came – that one moment where this whole journey had led me to…The moment when I was forced to choose… To LET GO…

Seconds later I was submerged in the cool flowing waters of the Flint River..I HAD DONE IT!.. I had swung from the rope swing attached to the tree growing from the high bank of the river.. I had beaten the seemingly unbeatable  , little did I realize that the unbeatable wasn’t the rope swing that dauntingly hung high above the Flint River –  It was FEAR.

Fear  , a true “4 letter word” If I have ever heard it.. While healthy fear is often referred to as “respect” and is the only way to  begin to learn about God (Proverbs 1:7) – this is too often the fear we don’t practice. We give ourselves over to fear of failure,rejection,pain and a laundry list of other hosts that feed on the energy we give it..And with THAT fear , we open the door to sin and welcome it into our lives like the sickness it is  – But , like every illness there is treatment -and in this case not JUST a treatment  but a CURE…

LETTING GO.

For many of us , our understanding of “Letting go” is associated with weakness and it is in fact –  quite the contrary. True strength comes from doing what we KNOW is right NO MATTER the consequence – This is the birth of COURAGE and beginning of the Process of Letting Go.. So allow me give this encouragement :

GIVE IN – Give in to the will of GOD by submission of your own will to HIS… Submission isn’t a power struggle but rather a mutual relationship of love ,humility and respect.. Understand the PRINCIPLE of submission and you’ll understand the PRACTICE of submission. – (1 Peter 1:14)

GIVE UP – Not as in failure , but but in Prayer.. Give the things that plague you to God. Psalm 118:5 says “Out of my distress I called on the Lord;the Lord answered me and set me free” ..

MOVE FORWARD – Giving in to the Lord and Giving up your problems to him in prayer is absolutely the right and best way to BEGIN – but a beginning is ONLY  a BEGINNING if you move on..You MUST commit to moving away from where you came in to the fold ,lest you fall out.. For this read 2 Corinthians 5:17

Things are just things..and like everything around us -things decay and disintegrate..The harder you try to HOLD ON , the more they slip from your hands and take you with them on the path to destruction…Imagine for a second that you are at Heavens edge and God Almighty is standing there waving you to “come in” – only every time you make your attempt , you are blocked by a figure that you cant quite identify. The harder you try , the more its gets in your way..All the while God keeps bidding you to “Come in”..

Finally , you overcome your fear of what this figure will think of you, or what it might do to you ,or what it might say to others about you and you shove it to the floor and RUN TO THE LORD where he is patiently waiting for you to respond to his invitation..Just before getting to him you turn to look one last time at your menacing opponent only to realize that the ENTIRE time , the one in between you and the LORD – was YOURSELF..

What will keep you from God and his rest for you?..Nothing except YOURSELF and your FEAR…. So Let it GO – Let go of the rope that this life will ultimately hang you with and fall headlong into the cool  flowing waters of Christ… In him there is no fear ,only love.. No weakness,only strength.. No labor , only rest…

Linkin Park’s song “Iridescent” says it better than I’ve heard in quite a while..In the last line of the chorus that chant”Do you feel cold and lost in desperation? You build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known..Remember all the sadness and frustration..

And let it go.

I for one  , couldn’t agree more… The invitation to study the Bible is still open.. 😉

Revelation 21:4 -“  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Intervention

A&E’s Intervention is one of the only “self help” shows that I can really give any acknowledgment to in this particular genre. Maybe its because I can relate to both the addict and the family trying to help the addict as I have been on both sides of that battle..To see someone completely lost  and defeated ,surrender and give over their bruised and battered soul and submit to the invitation of the ones that love them to the begin the healing process , is nothing short of breath taking . It’s both brutal and beautiful to watch..

More than that though , I love the consistency of the process. For the loved ones to tell them with broken hearts how much they love them ,yet they will no longer accept their behavior and will cut them off if they don’t take the help that’s offered.. It’s through this “bottom line” that the addict decides whether or not the addiction is worth losing the ones that love him.. This whole process is done with LOVE and there is no doubt in my mind WHY it works EVERYTIME… because it’s BIBLICAL.

 It would be wonderful if the ties of fellowship were never broken by our sins. However, this is not always the case. It should make all faithful Christians mourn when one of our fellow brothers or sisters refuses to repent of willful sin and become unfaithful. We know from God’s word the conditions by which fellowship is maintained (1 John 1:5-7). However, the same inspired book which reveals unto us the means by which fellowship can be enjoyed, also records for us the means by which fellowship must be withdrawn (2 Thessalonians 3:14).

Any Christian who deliberately and persistently rejects the authority of scripture and refuses to be in fellowship with God and His people, must be withdrawn from according to God’s’ instructions. To do otherwise would mean that we are not in fellowship with God ourselves (1 John 2:3,4; 1 John 1:7; James 2:10; John 8:31). We must love God more than man (Matthew 10:37). We must obey God, NOT man (Acts 5:29)

However , this topic isn’t looked on as favorably as it is on the show Intervention , although the very tactic they use is modeled after this … and this is more heartbreaking than any episode of that show.. The truth is  , most people are TOO SCARED of being viewed as harsh or judgmental by MAN’s standards , rather than GOD’s.. We run,  and it is WRONG.

The act of Withdrawal is NOT unkind nor should it be viewed as such.. it is in fact the OUTPOURING of TRUE LOVE for a family member that has lost their way.. It is a “Spiritual Intervention” … To see a fallen one restored is also truly breathtaking ,at times brutal – but ALWAYS beautiful to watch..

If we were determined to be valuable enough to DIE for by our creator , then surely we also are worth FIGHTING for by each other..

With MUCH love –

Read Mathew 18:15-18 and Luke 17:3      😉

The Harvest..

I love Saturday mornings.. It’s the only day of the week I don’t have to get up early. but do anyway. It’s peaceful , sort of like Christmas morning before everyone gets up. Everything is magnified and yet simplified … Its reflective.

I will sit here with my coffee , laptop and my bible and my deep concern for a lost world – wondering “What part I can play in  this? Can I do more ? Am I serving myself, or serving others?… What more can I do to change things?.. These thoughts and I mentally wrestle while I sit in the silence  of my Saturday morning and the answer is always the same –  I will never be able to do ENOUGH , but I refuse to do NOTHING…

Psalms 126:5-6 says “Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him” … He is referring to The Harvest. One of the most moving stories I ever heard came from an evangelist working in  West Africa. He tells of family in a village and the process of “The Harvest”..

  In this region all the moisture comes in a four month period: May, June, July, and August. After that, not a drop of rain falls for eight months. The ground cracks from dryness, and so do your hands and feet. The winds of the Sahara pick up the dust and throw it thousands of feet into the air. It then comes slowly drifting across West Africa as a fine grit. It gets inside your mouth. It gets inside your watch and stops it. The year’s food, of course, must all be grown in those four months.

October and November…these are beautiful months. The granaries are full — the harvest has come. People sing and dance. They eat two meals a day.The grain is ground between two stones to make flour and then a mush with the consistency of yesterday’s Cream of Wheat. The sticky mush is eaten hot; they roll it into little balls between their fingers, drop it into a bit of sauce and then pop it into their mouths. The meal lies heavy on their stomachs so they can sleep.

December comes, and the granaries start to recede. Many families omit the morning meal. Certainly by January not one family in fifty is still eating two meals a day…By February, the evening meal diminishes.The meal shrinks even more during March and children succumb to sickness. You don’t stay well on half a meal a day.April is the month that you hear the babies crying in the twilight. Most of the days are passed with only an evening cup of food.. Then, inevitably, it happens. A six-or seven-year-old boy comes running to his father one day with sudden excitement. “Daddy! Daddy! We’ve got grain!” he shouts. “Son, you know we haven’t had grain for weeks.” “Yes, we have!” the boy insists. “Out in the hut where we keep the goats — there’s a leather sack hanging up on the wall — I reached up and put my hand down in there — Daddy, there’s grain in there! Give it to Mommy so she can make flour, and tonight our tummies can sleep!”

The father stands motionless. “Son, we can’t do that,” he softly explains. “That’s next year’s seed grain. It’s the only thing between us and starvation. We’re waiting for the rains, and then we must use it.” The rains finally arrive in May, and when they do the young boy watches as his father takes the sack from the wall and does the most unreasonable thing imaginable….Instead of feeding his desperately weakened family, he goes to the field and with tears streaming down his face, he takes the precious seed and throws it away. He scatters it in the dirt!

WHY? …Because he BELIEVES in “The Harvest”..        And so do I.

To truly find yourself , you MUST lose yourself in SERVICE..   So I’m going to go , and get lost.. How about you?

read Mathew 9:37 and Luke 10:2

 

Only in knowing God…

Only in knowing God can you ever really know yourself , and in breaking my own heart – I found him ,although it wasn’t him who was lost… And I am better for it.

Innocence…

I woke up one day and I wasn’t as young as I used to be…My youth had gone to my children and years of poor choices and bad habits had taken their toll on my body… Looking into my own eyes I see what is left of what used to be young and beautiful. I had changed….but I am better for it.

We don’t realize what we have when we are young and it’s only in losing it – that we are ever able to dig down deep and truly find ourselves…When we lose our youth , we lose our looks…this is hard for most of us… but we also lose our arrogance , our ignorance and immaturity – and we are better for it.

My only regret is not coming to know God sooner…Only in knowing God can you ever really know yourself , and in breaking my own heart – I found him , although it wasn’t him who was lost… And I am better for it.

The trade offs have been well worth the trip so far , although the cost has been high at times.. Clearly getting “Better” comes with a price. But what I wouldn’t give for to have back my Innocence… …Have a great day people.. 😉

Rappers , Female dogs and the like….

Jay Z has vowed to never use “B”-word again… Good for him , better late than never I suppose ( although the song”99 problems” is gonna have to be re-worded , but that’s really for the best).. Don’t misunderstand me – I applaud him for this and I am pulling for him to keep his vow.. This is typical of all of us though ..it takes something drastic for us to really consider a change in our lives doesn’t it?

For those of us who have kids , it is a game changer for sure. We realize now just how valuable of a creature women are , and we make these types of vows to protect them..to honor them..to love them – because their presence in our lives has affected us for the better.. It has changed us ..and MADE us better…because they have made us FATHERS… Often referred to as the “weaker vessel” , we as FATHERS realize just how “weak” they aren’t …Sure , maybe not as strong as we are physically – but there is no other creature that God created that possesses the unfeigned will of a woman.. To witness child birth is a beautiful demonstration of the will of a woman , and to recognize the POWER of it will bring any REAL man to his knees.. The strength of a woman is unmatched.. Her strength is personified in her love and compassion… making her bold , yet feminine ,soft yet unwavering… tenacious yet delicate…In a word- LOVELY..

My darkest moments , when I have felt the most undeserving of love , tenderness or forgiveness – were quickly squelched by the heart of the most beautiful creature I have ever laid my eyes on… The love a GODLY woman , a woman who loves her God MORE than me and because of that love for HIM , chose to love me even when I was UNLOVABLE…once again making me BETTER because SHE was STRONGER than me… There is no doubt that she is going to help me get to heaven.. Can you put a price on that? …. You already know my answer. Could everyone profit from following Jay-Z’s example? No question.. If you are a Christian – you don’t use that word anyway , but the truth is NO ONE should… Not only do we diminish the value of EVERY woman when its used , but you degrade yourself when you use it..James 3:10 says “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

So , don’t let them be so… If you don’t agree – Study the Bible with me..! Read Proverbs 31:10-31

Paula Dean…

Accountability. It’s word that Americans don’t like very much. We see it in every facet of this life…the current scapegoat is Paula Dean. Paula Dean has concealed her diabetes and therefore “duped” America into eating butter laden foods that has intern , made us fat and unhealthy.. Bologna (not the food – just an expression to otherwise say that “I deny it”).. Paula Dean didnt make ANYONE eat ANYTHING that they didnt already CHOOSE to.. Neither have I ever heard her say “Eat ALL of this”..yet , she is catching all the heat for her health and her “celebrity responsibility”… Maybe America is looking in the wrong places for its influence?… Don’t misunderstand me – Paula Dean made a mistake , after all – is she not human? Everyone always screams about “Tolerance” and “forgiveness” ,and yet when we have someone else to blame for our shortcomings – we nail them to the Proverbial CROSS…Again , maybe Americans are looking at the wrong PEOPLE for influence. The person we SHOULD be looking to for influence , has already gone before us – our perfect “scapegoat”.. The one who has taken ALL of our imperfections , our flaws..our SIN – and nailed them ALL to the CROSS…. Giving us ALL a new start… if we CHOOSE it. There is no one else to blame for yourself… we all have a choice.What will YOURS be?

What are YOU prepared to do?

The invitation to study the Bible is STILL open to all… 😉 Read Mathew 12:36-37 , Romans 14:12

State of the Union

I didnt watch the state of the union – I didnt have to … I knew that so many would be here this morning either making complaints or praise regarding what was said.. It is no shock that there are more negative than positive… SO , My thoughts on this are the same as yesterday – so will my daily post be. Should we be vigilant? Absolutely…. Belligerent? Never…

I have made some pretty crass statements in the past regarding my political stance and position – and I regret every one of them .. when I compare those statements that I made to statements I made in an attempt to be Godly , the contrast was clearly stark to those very claims…I think we should speak boldly the things of God and let the politics be politics…

I believe that choosing the lesser of 2 evils , you still have to choose evil.. Proceed with much care, thought and caution.

You cannot convince anyone of anything , they must convince themselves… I see so many arguing the politics of men , but to what end?… People who claim to be Godly ,yet speak with malcontent and condescension to their fellow man -nullifying any validity to other self made claims as being Godly.. People – I don’t have all the answers , but I know hypocrisy when I see it… If you talk the talk – WALK the WALK… At election time -vote appropriately and then TRUST that God is STILL in control – God has used man for his purpose since the beginning of time- AMERICANS are NOT EXEMPT…maybe our actions as a nation are deserving of unfavorable consequences.. That statement may not be popular , but be honest with yourself – do you believe God is approving of our behavior as a nation?- I DENY it. I would encourage everyone to watch your thoughts – these become words and from words they become actions… If you are know by your words and deeds , how then do YOU want to be known?..

The invitation to study the Bible is still open 😉 Read Mathew 7:21-23

Consumers..

It is staggering to think about , but its everywhere… It is scary how much we as a people consume on a daily basis. I’m not just relegating this to food ,although it certainly lends itself to that and Americas obesity issues – but just in general , we as a people cant seem to find contentment until we are literally busting at the seams…

My first reaction, like most would be , is disgust…this graduates to irritation and then the most common reaction – apathy… The unwillingness to care..But apathy also comes with silence , and in that silence I hear something else…however faint , I hear a cry for SOMETHING.. So my apathy changes to sympathy , and then to interest… This then graduates to caring and now I am ALL IN.. So I listen harder…

In the feeding of our over active appetite to fill ourselves , we completely ignore that real problem – we just cant seem to ever be really FULL..? Why cant we be filled by all this stuff? Why do we constantly crave and consume MORE and still wind up EMPTY? Why? and THAT’S what I hear.. I silent cry of “why?”.. “Why do I have everything my heart desires and yet I am STILL so unhappy”.. Maybe , your heart is desiring the wrong things? Maybe , YOUR conscious is trying to tell you something that YOU don’t want to hear? Maybe ,just maybe you KNOW what is right,but are not willing to do it because of what it will COST you????

Speaking from personal experience – NOTHING will cost you MORE in your life than SELFISHNESS.. I cant think of ONE good thing that the sin of selfishness EVER brought me – not ONE thing… Don’t allow another moment to be stolen from you – break the cycle… Empty yourself of YOURSELF …and fill it with the ONLY thing that wont leave you EMPTY.. ,but still desiring MORE of it – -The LOVE of GOD.. The invitation to study the bible is still open.. 😉

read Hebrews 13:5-6

Liars…

UNBELIEVABLE …. I am beyond disgusted. On the today show they just encouraged mothers to lie to their kids , supporting the encouragement with phrases like”white lie” and “fibbing” and that by doing so they can just “keep their lives moving” and not get bogged down with “the truth”….You gotta love liberal media….. A LIE IS A LIE and if YOU LIE – you are a LIAR…Period…

There is is no such thing as a “white lie”… The definition they used was “sprinkling a little untruth into the truth” … I wonder how much poop I could sprinkle into cake mix before you wouldn’t eat it? ..I don’t know about you , but the answer is none. This is the problem with our country… We have been taught that as long as it suits you , then lying is ok. The UN-Politically Correct way to say that is that “You lie because your selfish”…. We have been fed this enough, and we have eaten it up..If you are reading this and think I’m wrong, maybe you should refer to the last sentence in the previous paragraph… This mentality has spread into every outlet in our country – the media , the school system and sadly , the last place that it ever should… the Church. To increase member base and revenue , churches have adopted false teachings because “they better suit the people”..because “we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings”… (2 Timothy 4:3) This wont be popular , church isn’t about YOU… It’s about GOD , and he doesn’t care very much for lying (Proverbs 12:22)…So don’t do it in HIS HOUSE…much less your own. I know that NO ONE likes being lied to , and when it comes to our kids even more so – as parents we keep our kids away from liars because we don’t wont them influenced.. So what if the LIAR is YOU? Why would YOU lie to them? Inexcusable. Tell the truth… and if you don’t agree , then I beg you to study the Bible with me.. Read Proverbs 6:16-19