You Know You're In Trouble When

When you chase your dreams more than you seek out His plan and purpose.

When you love spending money more than you love spending time in His presence.

When you need intimacy with another more than you desire intimacy with God.

When you try to bend others to your will while ignoring His will and His Word.

When you justify sin for a million different reasons and extinguish the Holy Spirit.

When you're praying for a change but reject the transformation of your mind.

When your pride gets in the way so you resist the Way, the Truth and the Life.

When you fear rejection and failure more than you fear God.

When you value having company more than you value the temple that is your body.

When you need another person or thing to make you feel whole but decline the call to be Holy.

When you think you're happy but still haven't experienced perfect peace.

At any time and any of these moments, you can still turn back and ask for His grace.

It's never too late to pray that His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

He will never stop chasing after your heart and He will send for you again and again.

Answer Him.

Inspiration:  Proverbs 9:10

Straight Paths

In all of the Godly wisdom, directions, counsel and help set forth in the Bible, I believe His promises were left for us because every one of us has the will, ability and authority to choose its manifestation in our lives.  Not one sentence of His Word is haphazard or unintended; in fact 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that "All scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."  Obedience is a prerequisite to fulfilling our purpose in serving God and others, and performing good works as He equips us to.

So many of us flail and fail through life trying to make our own way; trying to lean on our own understanding of people, career, success, relationships and opportunities while we outwardly claim devotion and faith in God.  Yet we make no time for meditating on or sharing His word.  We lack fervency in prayer and worship, despite the Word's countless directions to do so ceaselessly.  We incessantly refuse to repent of - which in Biblical context means to 'turn away from' - sins which guarantee our certain separation from God.  Like rebellious, ungrateful teenagers, we say we love our parent(s), but we ignore their caution and authority as we decide we know best and choose a more appealing path; God calls that path the way of death in Proverbs 14:12 and even says it is the way that seems right.

Genuine love, devotion and faith require tangible work.  Without works, God says our faith is dead.  Without authentic agape, our words are useless noise. (1 Corinthians 13:1)  He equipped us with a  roadmap and gifted us free will to reject or accept it.  It is nothing short of grievous when we neglect our Father's wise counsel, warnings, pleadings, assurances of victory, heavenly joy and perfect peace.  If only we would deny ourselves and take up our own cross, we can truly follow Him and have life.  Jesus said it is the only way to follow Him.  (Matt. 16:24-25, Luke 14:27)  Still, how many of us choose the passing pleasures and temporary gratifications offered by this worldly home - a life that is ignited for just a moment before it's gone like a vapor - instead of choosing eternal life?  That choice is very telling, as it speaks to our faith and what we truly believe in.

I was allowed to be weakened, succumbing to brokenness just before His power was revealed in all of its perfection. (2 Corinthians 12:9) When I made choices which separated me from God, I felt so close to death it was hard to take my eyes off of it for fear of its advance. The worst times of my life will never be forgotten, because they are like a pinpoint on a map and the exact coordinate where my path was corrected.  

The former woman I identified with has been made new, and every day He continues to transform my mind.  I remain ever grateful as I steadily sacrifice and acknowledge the truth that people and things will always fail to bring lasting happiness.  I was misplaced in places which masqueraded as escapes, the pastimes I knew as simple pleasures, innocent indulgences, and viral vices.  Now they are in their proper place so that I can make a straight path; and I watch in awe as the healing unfolds with each passing day.  I admitted that I would need help and accepted that I was having a hard time envisioning life without its common and familiar comforts.  So, I prayed he would fulfill me in all things new, that he would reveal true purpose and introduce me to people who glorified Him.  Now, I've never felt more free, more like the me He intended me to be.  A slave to no one and nothing and while the struggle is a fact, I can lean back, because my Father is right here with me.

Inspiration:  Hebrews 12:13

Catch the Foxes

Those cunning little foxes.  

The damage they can do is tremendous. 

Jesus called the monarch, Herod a fox.

Solomon's bride-to-be warned her future husband of foxes in their 'blossoming vineyard.'

A psalm of David described becoming the meal of a fox.

In Ezekiel they are compared to prophets who prey on the people and hide in the wilderness.

These foxes are always referenced in the context of a warning or certain demise.

Small as they are, you can be sure they lead down a broad path to doom.

Name and catch the little foxes; it is never too soon.

Inspiration:  Song of Solomon 2:15

Counting Blessings

I will never forget hearing a calm, clear whisper tell me to "leave" and so I did.
I later learned that by only a few minutes I missed an encounter with someone of ill intent.
There was the time I felt powerless and thought I had no way out of a hopeless situation.
My prayers and His ordering of my steps introduced me to a new friend and a beautiful safe haven.
When sickness knocked at my door, I refused to accept it and I claimed my healing;
A routine checkup revealed a miraculous recovery that the doctor kept questioning.
She suggested there was some misunderstanding but I knew it was His doing.
When responsibilities piled high and needs being met seemed unlikely, I gave my cares to Him.
He was always on time and all the needing and wanting was met with plenty.
When work caused me to grow weary and I felt mentally exhausted, I laid it at the alter.
Now He's caused me to work in a new way and provided opportunities to be better.
I asked Him to prepare me, to grant me favor, give me the courage to be bold.
He showers me in His love and I become clean in the testimonies told.
This will never grow old as even the end brings a new beginning.
Always remembering and never forgetting, as I keep counting blessings.

Inspiration:  Romans 12:12

The Highest High

Recently, I was watching a movie in which a heart broken young man was explaining his perception of love; he likened it to a drug addict chasing that next high.  He went on to say that scientific research proves his sentiment is actually biologically founded.  Essentially, the love drug sends us on that coveted ride to cloud nine, but it always leaves us wanting - and needing - more. I was intrigued, so I looked up some of the science on love.

True enough, biology unveils all the buzz around the birds and the bees. The intoxicating admiration and the waterfall of illogical and fantastical expectations are the end result of a cocktail of chemical reactions. The stimulus of touch, the pleasure in the pursuit, and the pride of acquiring the object of your affections are all fueled by them.  Quite perfectly, the healthy brain produces dopamine, the key player of the 'reward pathways' (responsible for signaling the mind to experience or anticipate rewarding events), and oxytocin, also known as the "cuddle hormone" activated by physical affection and sex. Then, there's the complex dance between cortisol and serotonin, sending us hopeless romantics on that world-famous roller-coaster ride of emotions known as 'falling madly in love' or being 'crazy' in love, as Mrs. Carter coined the phrase.

Scouring the net led me to countless sources citing varied methods of igniting the same chemical reactions which result in these euphoric states of being, sans the object of your affection.  I'm going somewhere with this, but I learned of some healthy and beneficial ways which have been proven to increase some of these feel-good hormones:

• Listening to music
• Getting or giving a massage
• Meditating (on the Word or in the context of prayer)
• Yoga or exercise
• Spending time with and/or bonding with friends
• Cooking and eating with someone
• Hugging
• Petting dogs
• Giving gifts
• Riding a roller coaster (ironic?)
• Soaking in a hot tub
• Being generous with the 'L' word.

Naturally, anything can become problematic when done in excess or used in unhealthy ways, but there is also some obviously risky modus operandi which some people use knowingly - or unknowingly - to achieve that state of feel-good.  Addictions to all sorts of vices bring passing pleasures.  What's your drug?  Alcohol, sex, food, smoking, work, money or (fill in the blank)?

I couldn't help but consider exactly how God says He intends us to experience and extend love.  I trust that God's design is intentional and for His glory, and for our own good.  After all, God is love.

In the Word, Jesus tells us that we should "love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, with all of our souls and with all of our minds".  He says this is the first and greatest commandment, but the second commandment is "like it" and we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  If I understand correctly, these are the most important things we can do with our hearts, souls and minds.  

He designed our bodies, our hearts, our souls and minds with the purpose of loving.  It is awesome to think how our spirits, ambitions, efforts and achievements would be transformed if we were obedient to this first and second commandment which He calls our greatest purpose.  They are so important that He even hard wired us to experience this wonderful, sustaining, fulfilling emotional and physical experience when we practice it.

How much more profound would falling in love be, if we first loved Him with all of our power, loved ourselves, and loved our neighbors?  I suspect we are falling short of our highest calling when we rely or build our lives upon feelings of love and happiness outside of the context and order He clearly prescribed. 

Imagine, if we were all obedient in just these two commandments; how many of the aforementioned vices and pathways (even the healthy ones) would we depend on less?  He promises that He will supply all of our needs.  I believe God intended us to experience the greatest love every day of our lives, and through our obedience we would ultimately want for nothing.  Now that is what I call love. 

Inspired by Matthew 22:37-39

Whoever You Are

We are being called to a higher standing and it's time to seize the blaring opportunity.

So, if all you can see in this is civil unrest, you're half sleeping, or maybe your eyes are just resting.

Historically speaking, this would be called revolt, rebellion, an outcry.

This is exactly what we have here; the inevitable and eventual response to generations of unanswered miscarriages of justice.

The threat of asphyxiation is not just a notion but it is as tangible as the blood spilled throughout our dark history.

It's enough to make any man of any color a little bit crazy if a target like that was on his back - indefinitely.

This time, George Floyd had to die to start yet another dialog about human rights.

Do we really need to explain the need - the God-given right - to breathe?
Or how we know all lives matter, yet it is only our communities which have good reason to fear for theirs?

From the outside, where the privileged peer in, they often remain silent onlookers, ashamed or in denial about the protection and potential in their skin.

While another man was born with the gift and curse of melanin.

For him, it's not just a hurdle or an inconvenience, sometimes it's hopeless, as Floyd came to see.

Equivalent to a lifetime sentence of closed doors, glass ceilings, and opportunities which never come knocking.

Success is defined by his ability to be an exhaustive hoop jumper, bullet dodger, and sometimes carpenter, as he will certainly have to construct his own table and the seat he'll need to sit there.

All this to procure a chance for a chance at the so-called dream his color-free counterparts enjoy by just being.

Everywhere he will go, there is the concocted probable cause for neglect, hatred, fear, profiling, and stereotyping.

In fact, these motivating factors have been commonplace for so long they are weaved into the fabric of society, in laws, unspoken rules, and perpetuated attitudes.

If you the naysayer are willing to live with malignant hate in your heart, we both know only God can bring about your healing.

For those of you who live like they know He is watching, it's time to say something.

The end result of silence is deafening and life threatening.

The stakes still remain highest for that man with the brown skin.

While you feel like there is nothing you can do, realize it is you who has the privilege of nothing to lose.
We are all called to speak up but the caring is in the doing.

If you have the resources and breath still in your lungs, this is a calling.
You were born with infinite possibilities built right into your skin.

So I'm shaking my head at all this sin allowed to rear its head again and again.

God placed us here intentionally, a heavenly design detailed to His liking.

Thank God we were meant to be a colorful tapestry of infinite shades of beauty in unity.

The only support for inequality is rooted in greed, fear, and delusions of superiority or inferiority.

But if you choose to remain quiet, carry on, you lucky heir of safety and security.  
Know that you are a silent saboteur, a benefactor, a bystander, and enabler of horrific injustice and crime.

Whoever you are, there's still time to find love within you.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend so I will continue to speak the whole truth.

The kisses of the enemy are profuse and so are my prayers for you.

Biblical inspiration:  Proverbs 27:6

Breathe

A new reality came suddenly, mostly resembling an apocalyptic movie.
Fear delivered swiftly and relentlessly by way of news and media saturation.
Spilling every where as it blanketed the world and seeped into every nation.
Three months and counting and the time is flying.
I always said I wanted to, but it took a pandemic to work from home, and it's working.
Without the cubicle and the commute, I'm sort of free of the ball and chain.
Commissioned with finding, remembering and redefining meaning daily.
Focusing on the spiritual, dodging the mundane.
Wondering what all of this will eventually mean.
Tomorrow, next week, next month, next year.
Is this really temporary, or will the repercussions ripple on forever?
Living in a mystery and not the kind that's entertaining.
Dreams, money, romance and plans.
With endeavors on hold, the social distancing - and even the fear - is growing old.
Starting to feel bold like I'm ready to break the mold.
Thinking, writing, and planning for the tentative; there's potential to achieve the incredible.
Once again, here I am, eyes watching God as He turns the impossible into the inevitable.

Biblical inspiration:  Luke 8:14

Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies

Attractive distractions have been the single greatest hindrance to my productivity, peace and spiritual growth.  Knowing what I know now, if I had a do-over I would have hastily returned them to sender. In my countless confrontations with detours and delays, one thing I am learning to trust is that He is still in control and His plan - perfect and unchanging - remains my best and highest calling.  It is the blueprint for the abundant life He promises.  

So while I fumble and stumble about in a life that is currently far from abundant, leaving much to be desired, I have the freedom to choose.  At any time I can stop, look up and yield to Him, taking the very first step on the path less traveled and He promises to walk with me every step of the way.  The prospect of which should be far more alluring than the instant gratification that comes and goes with fulfilling my short-sighted needs and unholy goals. 

It's no coincidence that the distractions I fell victim to came custom made, appealing to every deep and shallow desire I could harbor. At first glance, they appeared 'all good.'  A second and third glance would have been more revealing, but the initial impression caught my attention and it became easy to hang on to the fantasy; it was polished, smelled delicious, sounded like heaven, wrapped like God's gift, melted in my mouth, boasted status, came with recognition, promised 'now' versus 'later', shined like gold, and felt like it would never get old.  

In retrospect, my peripheral vision picked up, but couldn't quite make out the finely printed disclaimer: "This prize that has attracted your eyes will temporarily feed your ego, mask insecurities and create the illusion of happiness and satisfaction.  Side effects and reactions may include dreams deferred, blessings deterred, oppression, depression, faith shaking, excuse making, disillusionment, delusions of grandeur, broken hearts, years of healing, compromise, and your possible demise."  Instead of looking closer, it was easier to hope for the best.  A false positive.

The Word takes much of the mystery out of it, if you let it.  It assures us that just as we encounter false apostles, deceitful workers, and people in disguise, we can be certain that even Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13-14). We have an enemy and he is prowling around like a lion. So, if you think life is happening at lightning speed, or you're being pressed for a quick decision, and it feels like you don't have the time to present it to God and ask for wisdom and direction, that's your cue to make the time. 

God gave us free will and we weren't created to be slaves, not to alcohol, drugs, employers, spouses, emotions, hopeless romance, and certainly not to the stories of our past. We are free to choose.  I want to use those chances to choose wisely.  I've learned the consequences (and blessings) are far reaching.

Every friendship, relationship, pastime and opportunity will have an effect on you or someone else, even if unbeknownst to you.  It wasn't always second nature, but now I can consciously ask myself a few questions which personally help me make decisions I can feel at peace about: Is it encouraging me to please God, or to grieve Him?  Is it desensitizing or numbing me to something I know or feel is wrong?  Is it forcing my adoption of values and ideals that are not mine (and certainly not God's)?  Will it place me in an environment where the mention of Jesus Christ, salvation, faith and prayer is taboo or opposed or outright rejected?  Is it building me up, or depleting me?  Whatever the life story is that I choose to write, it will start and end somewhere.  How it starts usually sets the tone.

I need God to be the beginning and the end. If you drive a car or travel anywhere at all, you can attest to the necessity of knowing where you are going, or at the very least, having a sense of direction.  Recognize your enemy and plan for victory.  The road map will always be in His Word.

Biblical inspiration:  1 Peter 5:8

That's Herstory and She's Sticking With It

God is good, all the time, even when we don't understand or recognize His plan.  So, we as believers are clinging desperately to the promises of His goodness despite the daunting nature of current uncertainties.  Normal life and prospects are changing drastically with each passing day.  We are at a crossroads, just before an uphill journey, and I believe it is more important now than any time before, to remain watchful but sober-minded, to pray and not worry.

Life is being altered in ways that are inducing fear and insecurity, sometimes purposely and strategically, other times out of ignorance and blissful blindness.  If you know like I do that God did not give us a spirit of fear, there should be no doubt where it does comes from.  As of this posting, I am not writing about the figurative nor speaking in general.  This is not my regularly scheduled blogram.  We are at the dawn of a new normal, and I don't know one person who hasn't been affected.

Physically, the world is fighting against an invisible and previously unknown enemy of zoonotic origin, a disease known as COVID-19 that is indiscriminately spread by a new betacoronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 and within a few months it has reached pandemic proportions.  The CDC and the world alike seem to be learning about this viral predator as we go, so in the meantime I am using the wisdom and common sense that God gave me.

The world has seen and survived pandemics before, but none which changed our way of life so thoroughly and drastically, in such a short amount of time as this one.  It is to this phenomenon that I believe many of us will need to fervently apply prayer, wisdom and action in order to acclimate successfully.  While we are defending and protecting our health and livelihood, it is also important to remember Ephesians 6:12-13 if we are to fit ourselves in a complete armor.

Just weeks ago we could have never imagined the reality of life as it is now, outside of an apocalyptic movie plot.  The year 2020 has truly shown up, and it has proven to be a show-stopper, literally.  Companies like the one I am employed for, which have traditionally been staunchly against full-time remote work have sent us home indefinitely, to work remotely.  Other companies have sent non-remote workers home with pay, and some without.  Thousands of workers nationwide have simply been laid-off.   The indefinite closing of church doors, businesses, restaurants, and the cancelling of college graduations, sports seasons, concerts, conferences, and even funerals has made us recognize the unprecedented and serious nature of what we're up against.

Times like now, when I am spending so much time working alone at home, social distancing, working out alone, watching church online alone, and trying to spend my down time reading the Word and entertaining myself (again, alone), I can understand with clarity why the Word places so much weight on loving yourself and your neighbor in Mark 12:31.  It says there is no commandment greater than these, and yet our new stations have caused many of us to realize how we have neglected to be obedient in this way.  If we couldn't before, we are forced now to be still, to spend quality time alone with ourselves, our closest family, friends, loved ones and neighbors.  Yet, it is without the usual vices and venues we so commonly use to distract and amuse ourselves.

Our privilege and frivolity is being challenged, and many of us are forced to count our blessings - even if only on one hand.  The Word reminds me in James 1:2-4 that I have a choice, to consider trials of many sorts a pure joy, so that ultimately I won't lack anything.  This is not happiness being described, but heavenly joy, as a result of the peace offered as only He can give it.

The holidays, Christmas, New Year's resolutions and my birthday celebrations are still so recent that I can smile upon their memories as if they were just yesterday. Spring arrived only days ago and this is just the beginning.  New beginnings can be revolutionary, blessings in disguise, but when they are unanticipated they can also be upending and disorienting, even destructive.  In its aftermath we will need to replenish, rebuild and reinforce.  Such is life and this too shall pass, but we will always need an anchor to avoid being driven by the winds and tossed by the sea, and for me it will be Him.  He is, has always been and He will always be.

Biblical inspiration:  James 1:6-7 and Psalm 46:10