In Our Wake

    When we go through the darkest of our days, we become vulnerable to regretable decisions because our focus is completely on ourself. We neglect to see the others in our destructive path, and once we reach the light, we turn around to find an impossible mess. So, caution to the wise: When you find yourself loosing sight... of the light, grab hold of someone who knows how to find it.

Amazement

       Over the past several weeks, I have been going through a transformation. It is as if I was in a dark, enclosed room, and suddenly someone turned on the lights. To my surprise, it wasn't an enclosed room at all, but a wide open field that only felt so small because I could only see what was right in front of me. Since the lights came on, my mind that was once focused on the negative qualities in my life has been redirected and is now seeing the blessings instead. My heart that was once burdened by what was missing in my life is now rejoicing over what is present. My attitude that once portrayed hate, sadness, anxiety, impatience, rudeness, selfishness, unfaithfulness, anger, and lack of self-control is now bearing the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. My life has gone from an inward perspective to an outward one. The difference is inward perspective only focuses on you. An outward perspective focuses on others. When life is all about you, you are never satisfied. But when it becomes about serving others, you find a whole new sense of self that you really were looking for all along. I attribute this radical transformation to God (Jehovah, Almighty, Lord, Heavenly Father.....) for I have tried for years to get to this point in my own strength and have failed. He changed me over night. I am constantly amazed by his love and grace. Praise him!

Desires

Do we ever really know what we want? I mean, we don't appreciate what we have and we're always looking for something better. Yet, once we no longer have what we had, we realize how good we had it. I think we torture ourselves because we secretly like the drama.

Knowing

To know someone, I mean really know someone, it takes more than merely exchanging information. It takes quality time, deep conversation, truly listening, selfless response, wisdom, and clear understanding. Don't assume you know someone until you've invested yourself in that quest.

Standards

    There is a natural fear within us that we are not perfect; that we are failures; that we are inadequate. The truth is, we're not perfect, we do fail, and sometimes we don't measure up. We have a standard in our minds of what a mother, wife, or father should be. We compare ourselves to the polished appearance of others while forgetting that, behind closed doors, they are struggling with the same insecurities as us. Have we forgotten what standard we are to measure up to? Have we also forgotten who is doing the measuring? When we stand against the ruler of the world, we may or may not make the cut. If we do, we get an ego boost. If we don't, we keep trying until we eventually give into defeat. We make society our judge, and they are harsh. We become overwhelmed with pleasing others that we neglect to please the only one that matters: the one who created us. You see, when we stand next to God, we cannot measure up to his holiness. We cannot be good enough. His standard is far beyond the worlds. His standard is perfection, which we can never reach. Knowing this, we can react one of two ways: we can hang our head and walk away realizing that we cannot reach that high standard, so why try; or we can allow that fact to humble us and draw us to fall on the grace of God which empowers us to walk in His Spirit and not our own, relying on Him to cover our pathetic inadequacies and deem us worthy for He is the one true and perfect judge. Once the scales fall from our mortal eyes and we see clearly the God who spoke us into existence, a zealous love beckons us to accept the free, yet costly gift of redemption offered by the only one with the authority to make us pure enough to make the cut. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, shed his blood, endured the pain, so that we could stop this rat-race that we are born into and rather be born again into freedom through him. This gift lies before you. It cost Jesus everything. He stands at your door, holding this costly, free gift of sustaining grace and freedom from the bondage of sin and death. He already paid for it. Will you make his sacrifice for you in vain? No, you didn't ask him to do it. His love for you compelled him to it. How will you respond to this amazing, unrestrained, immortal love?

Beyond Me

Sometimes we become so involved in what we are feeling or our circumstances that we forget that this life is more than just "us." When Jesus was on the cross, He was in such agony that no human can possibly imagine. He not only had been humiliated, mocked, and beaten beyond recognition, but he who knew no sin held the immense weight of the world's. Yet, in the midst of his torment, he took his focus from himself and placed it on others. He cried out, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." His thoughts were on our forgiveness rather than the pain we were causing him. He assured the thief on the cross beside him that "Today, you will be with me in Paradise." He was still willing to rescue another while his accusers were screaming, "who will rescue you?" He looked in his mother's eyes and saw her pain beyond his own and confirmed her well being rather than asking her to pray for his own. Jesus had the authority to call ten thousand Angels down to save him, but he chose to save us instead. He realized that his life was not about him, but rather about doing His Father's will and loving others. He exemplied the life we are to live. He taught us how to love God through loving others, starting with our own family, and then realizing that other believer's are family through the adoption of Christ. When we stand together as one, we win. We become a team. We are all fighting for the same thing, you know?! When we join forces, we can not be defeated. Yet whenever we become divided, we fail. We give Satan the opening he needs to work his way in and destroy the body of believers. There is a great saying that "we have just enough religion to hate, but not enough to love." When will we realize that Jesus' love is what drew other's to him, not his self-righteousness? Don't be a part of the only army that shoots it's own wounded. Pick up your brother and carry him to safety. Give him the tools he needs to heal so he can once again stand beside you in this war were waging on Satan. We are an army of One. It's all for One (Jesus) and One for all!

Expressions

     I am the type of person who loves to be free. I have always felt like I needed to be able to freely express my thoughts and feelings without sensor in order to be true to myself. Through the years, doing this has caused many misunderstandings, hurt feelings, offended friends, and rude comments. I was angered by others trying to suppress me. It made me want to fight back in total rebellion just to prove that I had the right to be me. However, I have learned recently that true freedom comes with self-control. When I speak freely, I hand out weapons for others to attack me with. Yet when I control my words, I have the upper hand. I decide how they view me and just how much they know. I have the power to choose the few who can truly know me. I become less vulnerable to the criticism from those who refuse to understand. Self-control brings about the privilege of respect that is not easily gained. The tongue holds the power of peace or war, love or hate, life or death. Use that power wisely and in that one, simple, difficult act, you will find true freedom.