I Know Why

Whether you're scaling an uphill battle or finding peace and quiet

Remember why you do it

Focus your eyes carefully to see the grand prize

And be careful how you do it

Check your attitude and altitude

Turn on your light and bear the truth.

To forget the lesson in the blessing

Turns a spark into a vapor

So think again of the beginning

How God moved to prove the evidence of His orchestrating

Intentionally rise to meet it and consider how you treat it

If it's His work you will be sharpened and transformed to persevere

It's the necessary heat and pressure forging a diamond so rare

He did it before so let Him do His work again

Ignore your own understanding

You can't lean on it nor depend on its meaning

He certainly brought you this far and He keeps on giving

He only asks for good works, faith, hope, and love.

But Love will cover it all if you'll keep looking up.

Inspiration:  Galatians 6:9

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