This blog is about my experience with childhood physical, emotional and sexual abuse that led me to addictions and mental health issues and how I found a #BetterLifeInRecovery.I share the tools that have taken me #FromDealingDopeToDealingHope in the hopes you can use them to rebuild your life! Together we are #TransformingLivesBySharingRecovery! #HopeDealer #StigmaKiller
What happens when we go where we are not welcome? Simply put we are asked in no uncertain terms to leave.It becomes evident when we have strayed from our fenced in lives and head into territory that is claimed by Satan himself that he will pay attention and rise up against us.The last several weeks have been the hardest but most rewarding of my life.Starting Living Free at our church during the training process basically felt at times like a social club of sorts.Yes we all had a common mission and goal to serve but the truth is during our training period we were serving ourselves. Its not that its bad to focus inward before you minister outward but it just doesn’t feel real.Brothers and Sisters it got real today.
My family almost died tonight coming home from Living Free.I was so excited to talk about my group and how we were connecting as a family.I was so passionate in telling everyone in the car that my group is awesome and I know God is doing amazing things.That is when "It" happened my little car encountered a turn that I was not ready for because I was on cloud 9 and not paying attention.I went through a ditch hit a pole kept going did a hairpin turn in a field with weeds not less than 8 feet high came back out the same ditch and back onto the road.IT DID NO DAMAGE.I had a trunk full of food and supplies from group IT DID NOT SPILL OR UPSET ANYTHING.God completely protected us from harm. We sat in shock and after investigating this miracle we as a family gave Goda prayer of thanksgiving.To him be all Glory for this Miracle.
This “Ain’t no game” and I see now two things.
#1- People are praying for us and God is protecting us
#2- God is bigger and has more power than Satan and HE is protecting us.
We in the ministry of helping others should never forget that this is WAR and we the people who chose to fight this “Holy War” will NOT QUIT, NOT SURRENDER, AND NOT LAY DOWN.We are going to take back souls from Satan and they will impact their own lives, their family legacy, and their worlds.
It is an honor to serve God in Living Free and I know we are protected and we will take back what Satan is trying so desperately to steal.
We talked about Jonah and the big fish in church on Sunday. This was a discussion that quickly begin to lower itself. Major thematic points.
God loves you and is relentless in His pursuit to fashion you for his good pleasure
God's grace is extended to you because it is His nature to love you and bring you to repentance
Prayer sometimes changes the situation, but it most assuredly changes us
God is the God of the second chance
God wants you to have a heart for people like His heart for people
So, getting to the first point, that God loves you and is relentless in His pursuit. Dan Call, our pastor, likened God in this case to Pepe Le Pew. Do you remember the skunk in the cartoons that would always chase after the cat, declaring his love for her? That is how God is for us, He will pursue us no matter where we go. He will give us His grace (read His grace as saying His favor) no matter where we have gone. Prayer does have the power to change us. God will give us a second chance, but it is up to us what we do with it. Finally, God wants us to love others as He loves us........whether we deserve it or not, and whether other people deserve it or not. I can and will vow to the first 4 points.
You see, in my past, I had felt that my sin had led me to a place where God could not reach. I knew that because of my criminal conduct for 20 years and my drug and alcohol abuse that began in 7th grade and lasted until I was 37, that I had walked away from Him for good. I found out that kind of thinking was fallacious. I truly was the prodigal son, who figured he had removed himself from his father's good graces. I knew that God would no longer want me. When I came back to Him, after 27 years of agnosticism and 25 years of drugs and debauchery, there He was waiting to comfort me. He took my hand and walked me out of the haze of my addiction and into recovery overnight.
There are many out there who would tell me that my experience with the Holy Spirit was only imagined. There are atheists and agnostics that would tell me I have lost my mind. There would be psychiatrists and psychologists who in the past would have told them that they were right, I had gone crazy.....in the past. To them I have a reply. If you have ever been in the depths of addiction, you would not say that. I have been in the depths of my addiction. Everyone has a different rock bottom, here is mine:
I have shot up ice water, because the batch of meth was not ready or I was waiting on the person to get back from filling their morphine prescription.
I have woken up at 4 AM in a urine soaked mattress to get up and drink a couple of shots to put me back to sleep and stop the shakes.
I started smoking cigarettes in 6th grade and had never been able to quit.
I had been to county jail often enough that I would stay in for several weeks to catch up on sleep when I had the cash in my wallet to bond out.
I had slept with enough women that I was in the mid-triple digits. I would go to parties and sleep with 2 or 3 girls when I was a drug dealer.
I was drunk 30 minutes after I got out of prison, and spun out on methamphetamine that night.
I dealt drugs and was involved with the manufacturing of methamphetamine for over a decade.
I had been to rehab, but the longest stretch of sobriety I had since I was in the 7th grade was 3 months.
I had been diagnosed with Bi-Polar with Psychotic Features, borderline personality, antisocial personality, sadomasochism, generalized anxiety, major depressive and substance induced psychosis disorders.
I used the "F" word and cussed every other word even when I was happy and in normal conversation.
I have been found passed out in my own blood after slashing my wrists and rushed to the ER.
I have totalled 5 cars drinking and driving (including flying a car off of a cliff traveling 97 feet and getting 32 feet in the air) yet continued to drink and drive every night.
I have overdosed on several occasions and yet used within 24 hours every time.
I do not say this to brag. This is simply the truth. I want you to know where I was in my life, in my addiction, in my slow suicide when God found me. One night, it was finally too much. As I have discussed before, I began to pray to God. I put it all on the line. I was ready to try it His way, because my way was killing me. I was living in misery. Since the night I prayed to God and asked Him to take all of this from me, I have had a complete life change. I have not used drugs or drank, I have not smoked a cigarette, I have not had premarital sex, I have not been to jail and I am on no medication for any mental illnesses. I have not cussed since I do not know when. If all of that is not proof of God, than I ask you what is?
I had tried counselors, psychiatrists, drug rehabs, interventions and Narcotics/Alcoholics Anonymous, all to no avail. I had worked the 12 steps, but it was never quite enough. I came to Him in prayer, and He gave me a second chance. That was all that I needed to do, truly turn my will and my life over to God. I had tried using a random higher power, such as the community in 12 step groups, and it was not effective. God was!
I like how Dan saw God yesterday. I see how He can be like Pepe Le Pew, but He is so much more than that, too. I see God much as my wife sees Him. God is like Yoda. He is this wise, mild, unassuming person that has the ability to draw us to Him from other galaxies. He is mild, but acts with conviction when it is warranted. He sometimes stands by and lets the war happen, and other times he intercedes and fights. And when it is time to fight, there is none more able or more passionate in battle for what is right than He is. Yeah, my God is not a jedi, my God is the Jedi of all Jedis. Trust when I say that "the force" is strong with this One. You can have your little "g" gods, mine is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, mine is the one and only BIG "G" GOD!!!!!!
I watched a video on youtube that stated it had questions for Christians. I figured that I would watch the video. The video ended by saying that God is 100% imaginary and stated that people who believe in imaginary people are delusional. It stated that we live with fantasies and that relying on faith was a childish thing to do. People of faith needed to grow up and think rationally. After it was over I left a comment.
The comment was as follows, "I would say that due to the breaking of laws of physics and thermodynamics as well as the statistical "miracles" that had to occur in order for the Big Bang to be successful that this route is also delusional. So how are we here? That is the question that you have to answer? I would argue that both Christians and scientific answers rely on faith. The only difference is that the Christian will truthfully tell you that faith is part of their answer. There are proofs, but faith is needed."
I immediately got a reply, "You would say that, you expletive expletive." I asked why the profanity, and the reply was, "It's how I talk to retards, morons, cretins, idiots, imbeciles, deluded losers and mental spastics."
By this time, I was of course impressed by the intellect of my speaker, so I replied in kind, "Oh, so it was self-directed. At first I thought that it was directed at me, but I am the one talking intelligently. Or is vulgarity what passes for intelligence with you?"
To which he retorted, " It's obviously directed at you, you lying expletive expletive expletive."
I replied, "Wow, I have to stop replying. I refuse to stoop to your intellectual level. Food for thought: Why is it when someone disagrees with the view point of the unschooled/unintelligent, they automatically resort to profanities and insults? Is it the lack of vocabulary that stops you from being able to elucidate your view without them?"
His reply was, " I have a 2:1 honours degree in English Literature, but I found that theists are too stupid to understand complex arguments so I have to gear down to your level just to be understood, and even then you won't get it, as you have sold out to a superstition/delusion that is inherently irrational. I could tell you are an idiot by your assumption that science requires 'faith' which is trying to pretend that everyone is really just as deluded as you are, which is wrong and offensive."
My reply was, "So there is proof of evolution.........let me have it. Show where we have ever seen a species evolve into another species. We can adapt to enviroment, but never change into another species. Nonliving matter has never created living matter. The universe creating itself refutes the first two laws of thermodynamics. And if believing in God makes me stupid, than I will proudly sit in the company of Einstein, Hawking and Schrodinger who believe that there is a God and are "stupid."
He says, Christians love "authority" figures within Christianity so you should really check out the work of FRANCIS COLLINS, Director of the National Center for Human Genome Research. He is openly Christian and his work in the field of Human Genomes has led him to conclusively accept that evolution is real."
My turn, "And Francis believes in God. If you want to use him as an example, he is a Christian. I have read his book. So are you arguing that he is right because he is a Christian, or because he believes in evolution? He says that statistically it is impossible for evolution to occur without the hand of God to stir the pot. I disagree with what he says. My point was that if I am stupid for my beliefs, then I share that title with some people that changed the face of science."
His reply, " "So are you arguing that he is right because he's a Christian or because he believes in evolution?"
"No, I am just suggesting him because Christians pander to other Christians as authority figures.
Personally, I couldn't care less what he "BELIEVES IN". Evolution is a fact. It doesn't require belief."
I replied, "If evolution is a fact, then you are right. It does not require belief. A fact is verified through observation or experience. When has nonliving matter been observed turning into living matter? Where is the link between bird and reptile? What did the platypus evolve from? When have we observed something, especially infinite something (galaxies and planets), created from nothing?"
His reply, "You know what, I can't even expletive talk to you. Evolution is a fact and I am done here."
Why so serious? I only figured that since evolution was a fact that he would have a lot of evidence to back it up. I have factual basis for my beliefs. They are backed up by extreme faith, but I have facts to back it up. I know that I am right, but I can also have an intelligent discussion with someone who believes otherwise. I just find it sad that there are those out there that cannot have a discussion that goes against their beliefs without anger and expletives.
What is an atheist? I had one tell me that an atheist was the default position for rational thinkers not to believe the unbelievable.Yet he believed evolution and did not feel that evolution was unbelievable. How is that rational? I do not know what to think about other people sometimes. I just wish that they would rely on reasoning and honesty instead of their emotions.
I do know that I have faith that God is real. I have this faith based on rational thoughts, factual evidence and being intellectually honest with myself. If my beliefs were based on blind, emotional faith than I would get angry, cuss and shout names at the people who disagreed with me. But I do not.
Why so serious? I am not serious, I am simply right!
When I hear "Sometimes when you lose you win" the sound of Rosie Perez's accented voice resonates in my head. I really like sports movies, and White Men Can't Jump is one of those movies I watched a lot when I was younger. It is fitting that the movie would come to my mind, as it is a sports movie, when I think of playing softball last Friday. I got several reminders that I, in hindsight, needed to hear on Friday.
I am not making any excuses, but it was hot outside and we had a triple header! We had the 6:20-7:20-8:20 games for our triple header on Friday, and our two big hitters where gone. Oh yeah, and the sun was in my eyes, the team dressed in shorts, long sleeve shirts and ties to set us off and they heckled us the entire time. I have tons of excuses for our day, but I will stop making them now.
To be honest, our team beat ourselves. We did not hit well, and we had a lot of errors over the course of the game. Before this game our team was undefeated. I think we where 14-0. We were used to walking over teams, and would come into each game pretty lackadaisical. We had gotten cocky somewhere along the way, and I had not even noticed it. I guess that we needed a reminder that we were just like every other team.
We got our butts kicked at the 6:20 game. All I could do was be frustrated, mostly with myself. I want my son to play in a league that keeps score so that he can learn to win and lose, but I found Friday that I need to learn how to lose too. I beat myself up about the loss. I let it affect me. I even was at bat and got the last out of the game. It was in my head when the game ended.
As I walked away disgruntled to the second game of the night, I heard my team captain's wife say, "You guys needed to lose. You were getting pretty cocky. You had rolled over everyone and expected it to happen every game. You guys had stopped playing your best and were just playing good enough to win the last few weeks. This loss is good for you." This instantly resonated with me. She was absolutely right, and I knew better then to be cocky and to get angry. As a competitor and as a Christian.
Proverbs 3:34 says, "He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed." I had become prideful. There was a definite lack of humility in my life on Fridays. I had not even noticed it. It took a loss and my friend's wife to remind me. Galatians 6:3 says, "If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves." For starters, I am not that great of a softball player. I am one of the weaker links on my team. I was getting a big head, and I needed the reminder that I was not that big of a deal. God is deserving of all praise, not me.
Obadiah 1:3 states that, "Theprideof your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’" Who brought us to the ground? It was God by using a team that we had already beat 2 or three times this season. It was a lesson that I needed to learn, but it was not my last lesson of the night.
The team that we met for our 7:20 make up game was the same team that we played at 8:20. We beat them soundly the first game, but their shortstop made a couple of really good plays on hard hit balls and I got two outs the first game due to his glove work. I was still frustrated from losing to a team that we had beat several times, and he had an error in the second game. My mouth reacted before I could stop it!
"You can't get lucky every play," I yelled from the dugout. My friend Kelly was sitting next to me, and he turned and said, "That doesn't sound like something you would say in your blog, David." All I could do was look to the ground, partly in shame and partly because he was right and there was just nothing I could say.
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 says this, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."
That scripture states that we are to be ambassadors for God. He makes his appeal to people through us. Reconcile means to reestablish a close relationship between us and someone else. How am I to establish a relationship with someone when I am not showing good sportsmanship? One way that God makes a relationship with other people is through us, and here I am throwing a temper tantrum over losing and taking it out on someone on the other team? How is that beneficial to God or to me? The Bible also lets us know that what we have done to the least of man, it is like doing it to God Himself. When I mocked and ridiculed the shortstop out of frustration, that was the same as me ridiculing God.
As I thought on the night and the reminders that I had gotten from my friends, one of my favorite scriptures popped into my head. James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." I needed to regain my composure and remember that all that I am and all that I do is due to God, period. I am merely an instrument for Him to reach others through.
So once again, I was taught a valuable lesson. The thing that I need to remember is that I seldom learn life lessons from my victories. Most of the most important lessons that I have ever learned have come from my defeats and set-backs. Why get mad when I can get wisdom?
In closing I need to thank God, Felicia and Kelly not only for the inspiration for this blog, but for a much needed reminder of things that I already know. Be a good sport. Be gracious in victory and defeat. Do not ever get cocky, for all things are from God and God alone. The higher I sit, the further the fall. I needed to be knocked back down to Earth. Hopefully I will not need to be reminded of this again..................but I am sure that I will!
Principle 1: Realize I'm not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.
"Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor." (Matthew 5:3)
Step 1:We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.
"I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:18)
What are you holding on to? Are we racked with guilt or shame? Do we not realize that these are the feelings that will keep us trapped by our past. We will remain unable to forgive ourselves and remain where we are instead of making positive steps forward. What is the answer? The Bible tells us what we should do when there are things that slow us down or keep us stagnant:
"Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up, and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)
2 Points about the verse: 1.) God has a particular race, a unique plan, for each of us. A plan for good, not a life full of dependencies, addictions, and obsessions.
2.) We need to be willing to get rid of all the unnecessary baggage, the past failures, in our lives that keep us stuck
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past" (Isaiah 43:18)
"The Lord is my Helper and I am not afraid of anything that mere men can do to me." (Hebrews 13:6)
"Where God's love is, there is no fear, because God's perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18)
ARE YOU WEARING A MASK OF DENIAL?Before you can make progress in your recovery, you need to face your denial. As soon as you remove your mask, your recovery begins -- or begins again!
WHAT IS DENIAL?Denial is defines as a "false system of beliefs that are not based on reality" and a "self-protecting behavior that keeps us from honestly facing the truth."
EFFECTS OF DENIAL
Disables our feelings
Energy lost
Negates growth
Isolates us from God
Alienates us from relationships
Lengthens the pain
Disables our feelings When we repress we freeze our emotions. Understanding and feeling our feelings is freedom True test of freedom is not what am I free to do, but what am I free not to do???
2 Peter 2:19: “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.“
Energy lost A side effect of our denial is anxiety, which causes us to waste energy running from our past and worrying about and dreading the future. Change can only occur today
Psalms 146:7-8 “He frees the prisoners, He lifts the burdens from those bent down beneath their loads.”
Negates growth We are as sick as our secrets and we cannot grow in recovery until we are ready to step out of denial into the truth
Psalms 107:13-14 “They cried to the Lord in their troubles, and he rescued them! He led them from their darkness and shadow of death and snapped their chains.”
Isolates us from God God’s light shines on the truth, denial keeps us in the dark
1 John 1:5-7: “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
Alienates us from relationships Denial tells us we are getting away with it. We think no one knows, but do they?????? What is the answer?
Ephesians 4:25: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body and when we lie to each other we are hurting ourselves.”
Lengthens the pain We have the false belief that denial protects us from the pain. In reality, denial allows our pain to fester and grow and turn into guilt and shame.
Jeremiah 30:17: “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,' declares the Lord, 'because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.'
"Know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32)
STEP OUT OF YOUR DENIAL SO YOU CAN STEP INTO JESUS' UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND GRACE. THAT IS HOW YOU CAN BEGIN YOUR HEALING JOURNEY OF RECOVERY.
QUESTIONS TO ASK OUR SELF:
1.) Am I going to let my past failures prevent me from taking this journey?
2.) Am I afraid to change? Or, what are my fears of the future?
Well it happened again another great session of Living Free at our Church. Living
Free is a Living Breathing thing that has a tendency to be much more tedious than
anticipated. Please don’t read into this a complaining winey attitude. I am just expressing
that the elements are many, there are so many moving parts to a program like this it’s
amazing and at times overwhelming. We have 24 adults registered so far, that sounds
easy right? Well… not so much. You see we have a meal before our sessions (For 50)
There are copies to make, attendance and contact information, Bibles that need to be in
place, Facilitators that have there own lives and families, Set up of three rooms, Video
preparation, copies of materials, lesson book sales etc. The list goes on and on and on.
Truthfully without the excellent support of my amazing wife Rachel who serves as Co-
Coordinator, our Core Team of Facilitators, my daughters who serve as teachers for the
children, the workers who assist with Babies and children, and last but certainly not least
our prayer warriors, Oh yes and the support of our church it just couldn’t happen.
Living Free Kids
Beyond the adults thee are children, 18 so far to be exact that we are privileged to serve
we feel strongly not to make this a daycare, watch a Disney movie, setting. Our Kids
have a teacher, an assistant and a lesson with a purpose. Going into this I would have
never suspected the fringe elements to helping people it’s so much bigger it’s helping
families as well as individuals.
I serve this program not only as Coordinator but also as Facilitator for “Stepping Into
Freedom” that is a Christ Centered Scripture Based 12 step program. Sitting in my group
it hit me this week that we have been so focused on starting a program that I feel we
forgot the objective really is to help people by running a program with excellence. This
is so much more important than the many elements it takes to make this run smoothly it
comes down to impacting lives in a group setting. Thank God he gave me a wake up call
as to why it is we do what we do. I’ve got everything together…… or do I – Answer --- I
Do Not. God does and what he started he will not let fail.
“Gods Got This”
Blessings and RespeCT-
Scott
So I just completed my third week of Weight Watcher's for Men. I have lost 8.6 pounds in the 3 weeks that I have been following what they call the "Lifestyle Change." For those unfamiliar with Weight Watcher's, they do not suggest using it as a temporary diet, but instead as a new way of eating for life. You permanently change the way that you eat. For the unschooled let me explain how Weight Watchers works.
Weight Watcher's has a point system that you follow. You are given a set number of points to use each day that is based on your sex, age, weight and height. You are then given 49 cheat points a week for splurges. If you exercise then you are also given extra points daily for the completion of your physical activity. As you lose weight each week (if you weigh a lot over your ideal weight like I do you have a lot of points daily to begin with), you have points taken away based on how much weight you have lost.
This week, there was a warning given to me that I am losing weight too fast. It stated that losing 1-2 pounds a week is safe, but that losing more than 2 pounds a week consistently is considered to be unhealthy. I thought that was a fair warning. I need to be aware of not losing weight too fast as it may be unhealthy. I can live with that warning. Then I went to my points for the day to log in what I had eaten for breakfast and I had lost a point each day due to losing the weight that I did. So I was told that I was losing weight too fast, then the amount of food that I can intake daily was reduced???? How do you lose weight slower by eating less food?
Those sound like completely contradictory things, or what I call mutually exclusive goals. They are not congruent to accomplishing the same thing. That does not make sense to me. I have been set-up to fail. Why would you tell me that something is dangerous for me then insure that I do the exact thing that you are warning me about? As I thought on this, modern day Christianity came to mind. Some of the authors whose books I have read recently came to mind. We shall review those books by name in later blogs.
The things that are confusing are the commandments and requirements for Christians to live by that are found in the Bible. They are being subverted by people claiming to follow God. It is actually sad to see how sick some of the churches here in America have gotten. It may be that way every where, but I have only been to churches in the United States. I see the way that people take parts of the Bible and use them out of context so that it makes Christianity more user friendly, instead of taking the Bible in its entirety and following what it truly says. Following are 2 prime examples of what I mean:
1. Once Saved, Always Saved - This is repeatedly tossed around. It says that once you are saved, there is really no reason to live a sanctified life. To do so is a form of trying to earn salvation. They say that if someone subverts, than they were never truly in a relationship with God. Yet the Bible warns against this numerous times, and even says that we can fall out of relationship with God. In 2 Timothy 2:12 it states, "if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us." You have to be in a relationship with someone in order to disown them. Or how about Matthew 7:21-23 that says that there will be those who have given prophesy and who have healed and driven out demons in Christ's name. Sounds like someone who operates with God's authority. Yet Jesus states that He will tell to get away from Him. Driving out demons and healing would seem sure ways to tell if someone is in relationship with God, yet they will not be in His heavenly kingdom.
2. Grace - Next is the grace card that so many pastors and authors speak about. They mislead millions by saying that since God is a God of grace, it should reason that it is okay to sin. Often Romans 5 is used, where Paul said that if sin is abundant, then God's grace is surely big enough to cover it all. Some use that as saying we have a license to sin, a "get out of jail free" card. But if you continue to read, Romans 6:1-2 says, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"
Paul in essence says, "Do we continue to sin since grace covers sin. Ummmm, Hello! Have you not been listening to me? We have died to sin and been born again!" In John 8:11, Jesus instruction to the woman caught committing adultery was to, "go and sin no more." He did not tell her to go and try not to sin like many churches preach. He told her not to sin at all.
Does this mean that we will never sin. No, Romans tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What I am saying is that we should not get stuck in the sin cycle. I used to set aside days to sin because I knew that I would be forgiven. "I am going to get drunk tonight, I shall ask forgiveness tomorrow" or "She looks cute, let me see if I can have sex with her. If I do, I can just go to God in prayer in the morning. He expects me to sin, so it is okay."
I wanted what was promised to me at church; I was attracted by the music, to fit in with the crowd, the promise of wealth and happiness. But did I truly want what God had to offer? I think that we often do not take advantage of the true gifts of God, because He wants to give us more than we really want. I want to believe in God, but not follow all of those rules and commandments. The real question is, why do I want to believe in God?
It is not enough to simply desire to be saved. We must also desire to be more Christ-like. If I am truly "born again" or have had a "conversion," then the Holy Spirit lives in me. Are you going to tell me that the Holy Spirit wants us to sin? Is the Holy Spirit okay with us sinning? Let me give an example:
When my son lies, do I forgive him and still love him? Of course, but do I want more for him? Do I want to be able to trust all that he says and does? Should I settle for anything less than full honesty when he grows up? Of course not, the older he gets the more he will understand the difference between right and wrong. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me."
As we learn what is right and wrong, we should begin to live differently. But how do matured Christians live their lives? How do we know what we should or should not do? What is the ultimate guide? I would say that our choices in life should be guided by several things:
1. Prayer is the first thing that we should use as part of our guide. 1 Thessalonians 5:13 tells us that we should, "pray without ceasing." That sounds like a vitally important thing to do.
2. Apply the Biblical principles to our lives. It will allow us to live our lives and be successful in becoming more like Christ. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,so that the servant of Godmay be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
3. Obey God's commands in all that we do. The commandments are not multiple choice. This is a pass or fail test. John 14:21 says, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
4. Seek Godly counsel. Use those around us as mentors and advisers. Proverbs 15:22 states, " Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."
5. Follow the leading of God through the Holy Spirit. John 16:13,14 says, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
If we can apply these 5 steps to our lives, we will begin to make huge steps in becoming more Christ-like. Do not accept the road that is so often traveled in watered down, or what Francis Chan calls "luke warm" Christianity. We need to take the road less traveled. In Robert Frost's poem entitled, "The Road Not Taken" the last stanza tells us all that we need to know about going against the mainstream and how it will benefit us:
I was listening to some music today, and the song "Blessings" by Laura Story came on. In this song, Laura looks at the things in our lives that we pray for, the things that we do not think are fair. She also looks at how we may come to doubt God if these things happen to us. We may come to doubt the goodness of God, we may doubt that he loves us.
This made me think of how our relationship with God looks sometimes. We come to God all of the time to ask for healing, forgiveness, successful job hunts, to be content, to be happy, protection, etc. We have changed the Our Father Prayer to, "Our Father, who is in heaven, gimme gimme gimme!" Don't get me wrong, I think that healing does happen, and we can ask God for it. I just think that we look more at what we want and less at what God's will is for us. What if we have cancer, or were molested, or have a sick parent. Should we pray to be cured? I think that we should. We may not get our prayers fulfilled. God sees the big picture that we do not. So what if God does not answer our prayers the way that we want him to? Some feel that He should answer, and that He should cure us of our afflictions.
In fact, as I have recently been reading in Charisma magazine, there are some who feel that God performs miracles all of the time here in America. The problem is that we do not have enough faith in God, or we would be able to be cured of all ailments both mentally and physically. Bethel Church was in the magazine, and one of their church leaders said that that the problem is not that we ask for too much. The problem is that we don't ask for enough. It is not enough to accomplish worldly goals such as building churches in South America or digging wells in Africa. We should be curing the blind and making the lame walk, that is the the power of God and the power of the Holy Spirit according to the article written in Charisma magazine.
I do not know how I feel about that. I feel that God cures people sometimes, other times He gives us the ability to persevere. Iron is used to make steel. Steel is nothing more than iron that has had an impurity, carbon, added to it and then is remade in the fire. I feel that we too are made stronger in our fires. Even more than that, I feel that our fires can make those around us stronger too. How many of the Christians that have been executed over the years have brought non-believers to faith, not through their deliverance from death, but from their faith and compassion that never wavered when they were executed.
In the song Blessings, the song looks at how God's greatest gifts just might be the trials of this life, the illnesses, the loss, the spent tears, the persecution. We grow through adversity and hardships. When do not get strength and our faith is seldom bolstered if life is lemondrops and lollipops. We grow not on the mountain tops, but in the valleys. What if we are supposed to feel pain and hurt. What if every time that we work through this it makes our faith even stronger, makes our resolve to worship even greater and brings those around us closer to Christ? What if we are made how we are because that is how God wants us?
Psalms 139:14: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
God made me, and because He made me I should be happy with where I am in life. I should make the most of my opportunities. I think of one of my favorite inspirational speakers, Nick Vujicic. His ministry is called "No Limbs, No Limits." Nick was born with no arms and no legs. He does not ask God to cure him of his "handicap." He does not see it as a handicap. Instead, he is able to reach thousands of people and let them know that faith in Christ will allow you to accomplish all that you need.
My wife is legally blind. She was taken to a healing conference by her youth pastor so that her vision could be fully restored, and she was not cured. She was told by some people that it was because she did not have enough faith in God. Wow, how that had to hurt a legally blind teenager. "God did not cure you because you do not love Him enough," she was told. She, on the other hand, did not think that healing was what God had in mind for her.
Today she works at Global University (an Assembly of God missionary college) as their video editor.......a legally blind video editor. She has been to multiple countries to film Christians all over the world. To hear her talk about her "disability", she feels that God created her to do what she does, "I can see better through the lens of a video camera than I can with the eyes I was born with." Does she need to be healed? I think that she is wonderfully made!!
I do not know about you, but I feel that many Christians come to a point where we feel that God owes us something. I believe in God, I tithe, I attend faithfully so He should cure me. If trials pop-up, if I get sick, God should make it go away. I just do not feel that is true. God made me the way that He wanted me. This world to many may be full of sin and disappointment, but what if that is what makes us realize that there has to be more than just this world we now live in? I yearn for something that I know I cannot have on this Earth, but that I know I desire and I know exists. I yearn for hope and happiness. Where do I find that?
One of the most influential people that I ever met was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He was given 3 months to live by the specialist. He told people not to pray for him to be cured, but to pray for God's will to be done. He died with a smile on his face, and got to meet his heavenly father. That is what he talked about in his final days. He was consumed by pain that the opiates could not touch, but he lay in bed and would talk to us about how lucky he was to be going home. He died in pain, but he remained positive and peaceful.
His death was the instrumental piece that brought his estranged son, who was an atheist and a drug addict, to Christ. His son was by his side for the first time in over a decade when he died. His son came to Christ less than a month after his father's death. If his father would not have died as happy and hope-filled as he did, his son would not have been redeemed. He told me this. I was was not friends with the man who died, I was a friend of his sons. But that is his testimony, not mine.
I am saying that if he would have been cured, his son would not have gotten saved. I know women who have been raped and beaten that have turned their experience into a ministry to help others going through the same experience. I am a former convict and drug addict who works with convicts and drug addicts. I am proud of all that I have been delivered from. But there are also things that I have not been delivered from. I no longer obsess over drugs, but I desire them on occasion. I am okay with that. The Holy Spirit allows me to work through the desire. I have been transformed, I have been healed but not cured.
Cured is a medical term to me as a clinician that means something has been beaten or suppressed. Healed on the other hand could mean that the pain was embraced and that we moved forward from it. Curing asks, "what needs to be fixed?" Healing asks, "how can I grow?" My friends dad may not have been cured, but he was healed and allowed his son to be healed through his death. Why are we often not cured?
2 Corinthians 12: 7-10, "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." You see, God can grow in the face of illnesses, weaknesses, trials and tribulations whether they are cured or simply healed.
I am no greater than Paul was. God spoke to him personally. He saw Jesus in the flesh. He wrote 13 books in the New Testament. If he was allowed to live with a handicap and not be healed, a man who talked to Jesus face to face, than who am I to expect more? I thank God for the mercies in my life that came disguised as hardships. In the end, they have made me stronger and brought me closer to Christ!
You see, this is the paramount difference between Living Free and many other programs that are available for people with Life Consuming Issues ( LCI ). I have come to believe that I have been transformed and can not be defined by a label. The reason this is possible? I have been healed by the amazing love and power of Jesus! Sounds cheesy, right? Inside church settings and programs the terms we throw around lose translation to the rest of the world, especially the secular world. I really can’t speak for you, a group of people, or anyone in generalizations. I can only speak for me.
I have been changed by the power of God and now I have the Awesome opportunity to help other people. Not because I have the answers, but because I know who does. I serve only as a simple sign pointing upwards that says, “ hope and healing is possible and available. All you have to do is ask!”
I have been asked to speak weekly via this blog regarding the beginning of a program my wife and I serve as coordinators for in our church called Living Free. I admit very candidly that I have never participated in a blog but I am a man who will be honest and open as I proceed with this task. If it somehow helps someone or serves to point them to a new beginning of hope, it is worth it.
The journey began January 20th with the first open facilitator training at our church for Living Free and culminated with the graduation of my team of facilitators. June 21st we began and I am pleased to report a positive start: 17 adults, 10 children, 8 facilitators and 6 children’s workers. That results in a total of 41 people involved in Living Free at our church for the first night. Wow, to God be all the Glory and praise. This result is right at ½ of what had pre-registered, but I know the best is yet to come. We are not discouraged. This is amazing!
As I close this first Blog let me just say to you what my team has been saying for months
This is a list of countries that have visited the Spiritual Spackle site, and I will add more as they visit. I am amazed at the different places that have visited to read about everything from the power of the Holy Spirit to Christ's Grace to Apologetics to the dangers of addiction and ways to overcome it. This site is my outreach to those who suffer from the consequences of life in this world, whether it is childhood abuse, addiction, grief and loss, anger, bad relationships, depression and other things that are thrown at us to separate us from Christ. I also look to build upon my faith and strengthen not only mine but those who read. Only the Holy Spirit will suffice in healing us and instilling life-changing hope. Everything else is only temporary!
The Truth Project this week looks at what is truth and introduces us to a new word (read that Truth Project created Latin) that the lesson calls veritology, or the "study of truth." Dr. Tackett shows us what we will be studying over the course of the Truth Project, which ranges from God to Man, Truth to Social Order and a lot in between.
There are several questions that are asked during the course of this lesson that really stuck out to me. The first question was, "What is Truth." His answer for this was from an 1828 copy of Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language that defined truth as "Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be. We rely upon the truth of the scriptural prophecies."
Wow, right there in Webster's Dictionary we are told that Truth is found through reliance on the scriptural prophecies. That is a huge statement, and one that assuredly would not go over in today's touchy, feely mainstream. It looks at scripture, which might leave some people out. It even looks at Biblical scripture, which not only leaves out atheists and agnostics but also those who do not use the Bible. That means that not only are some people left out, but some people are wrong. Acknowledging that fact makes some people mad (mostly those who are left out and/or are wrong).
I am sorry, but life leaves some people out. Some of us are right, and some of us are wrong. Case in point, I am an Illinois fan that lives in Missouri. I am surrounded by Mizzou fans who are as proud of their team as I am of the Illini. We both want our teams to win when they play each other. Last year I stated proudly, as I always do, that the Illini would win the Battle of the Border. My friends argued that Missouri would win it. No matter how much faith each of us had in our position, one of us was wrong. In the end, even though we both used statistics and history to validate our claims and postulate them as facts, one of us was wrong (Sadly enough, it was I who was wrong last year).
The next question I liked was "How does man react to truth?" The Bible gives us numerous scriptures, such as 2 Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
It is becoming less and less popular to be Christian. We go off to school and are taught by a lot of the professors in the secular institutions that evolution is a fact, and only someone uneducated would believe in God. Even worse, we have those who profess to be Christian who do not teach fundamentally sound doctrine. They take parts of what Jesus said and use it out of context in order to gain followers, or to get more money into their coffers. I think of many of the evangelists that I see on television, or those who teach that God loves us just as we are and is happy with us even if we continue to sin.
The Bible warns us of these people. In fact, the Bible states that man will suppress the truth (Romans 1:18), distort the truth (Acts 20:30), reject the truth to follow evil (Romans 2:9) and even exchange the truth for a lie (Romans 1:25). This tends to be the popular choice, to live a lie even when we know the truth. There is a battle that is being fought constantly today. The Truth Project refers to it as the cosmic battle.
The cosmic battle is the ongoing fight between God and Satan, the truth versus the lie, reality versus illusion. There is a battle of worldviews that is erupting in our culture, and we need to be more than evangelists and ministers. We need to be ambassadors of the message. Think of us as the public relations department for Jesus. Are we living in a way that brings people to God or are we polarizing people because our works do not match our words? Do we follow the truth, or do we live a watered down version of the truth.
Even a half-truth is a lie, and lies are from Satan. The Bible clearly tells us this in John 8:44, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Are we living as children of God, or does the way we live our lives indicate that we are living as children of Satan. So we need to live our lives by not lying. We need to live our lives by telling the truth. So, what is truth?
Ravi Zacharias says that the single most important question that we can ask ourselves is what is truth. Zacharias defines it as, "That which affirms prepositionally the nature of reality as it is." R.C. Sproul defines truth as, "That which corresponds to reality as perceived by God, because God's perception of reality is never distorted." As defined early, truth is not subjective, but objective. Just because I believed that my team would win did not make it so. If you say that the sky is blue and I say that it is yellow, one of us is surely right and the other is wrong. If you say that there is no God, and I say that there is........one of us is wrong and the other right. I know that God exists, period. I can prove this fundamentally, historically, philosophically, scripturally as well as logically.
The final question that is asked in Week 1 is this, "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?" If you do believe that it is real, can you intelligently defend your beliefs? Do you have the knowledge to defend your position and the ability to do so civilly and intelligently?
Even more importantly, if we do believe it to be true, than we would follow the truth that Christ laid out for us. So if what God tells us is the truth, why do we shy away from it? Most of us would argue that we do not, and that we follow God's commands. If that is true, does your life truly reflect that you follow God's commands? Have you allowed your faith to become watered down? Do you treat the word of God as your guide book, or do you constantly look for loop holes so that you can do as you please and feel that you get away with it? Do you listen to the authors and preachers/pastors who tell you what you want to hear and not what the scriptures truly say?
Examine your life, and ask yourself this question: Do I really believe that what I believe is really real, and do my actions reflect that what I believe is real really matters?
In this day and age, there needs to be more superheroes. I know that this may seem like an absurd statement, when there seems to be a new superhero movie released every other week at the theater and there are a lot of everyday heroes who step up when others will not. Those are the people that I am talking about, not the ones with the spandex tight suits, but the guys who step up and do what should be done when there are so many others who refuse to do the right thing.
I am really more of a Wolverine guy, but I would like to tell you a little bit about the guy that I called Superman. He was not named Clark Kent, but he was mild mannered, gentle and unassuming like him. He was mild-mannered in that when I would get into fights, he could never understand where my violence came from. I have seen him get hit and just stand there and take it, because he believed in the literal turning of the other cheek. He was gentle in that I know that he never hit any of his children, nor did he get into any fights after his teen years. He was unassuming because you never heard him brag about his achievements, even though there were many things that he did over the course of his life.
This is where I come in. Today I am going to tell you about the real life Superman that I had the pleasure of knowing, much like the people of Metropolis who loved the man who always saved the day and told grandiose stories about him. Some of my stories of Superman will be grand and some will not, but they will all be honest.
Superman was born to parents who were German immigrants who actually had their name changed at Ellis Island so that it would sound less German. He was born in Illinois, were he went to school and eventually joined the Army. This was a time that he never talked about, his time in the Army. Yet he did it, and he left the service with an honorable discharge. Some would say that serving his country makes him a hero, and I would agree with that. But it did not make him Superman.
He jogged all of the time, and running was one of his passions. Once a week he would run 20 miles to work, complete a 12 hour shift, then run 20 miles back home. He was inspired and at peace when he ran. Some would say that the focus and ability to run like he did was superhuman. At least I would, because I cannot run more than 10 feet without needing to be given oxygen. But it did not make him Superman.
He had a knowledge of the Bible that was unbelievable. He actually worked at the world headquarters for the denomination that he believed in for several years. He loved to talk to people about his faith, and how life without God was miserable. He would minister and evangelize to people he had just met because he was worried about their eternal salvation. That takes courage that many of us today lack. But that is not what made him Superman.
He dealt with Bipolar Disorder, or what is commonly referred to as Manic Depression, his whole life. He lived with it and was still nice to those around him. He had his episodes because he would get feeling well and then wrongly think that he no longer needed his medication. He would then stop taking his prescriptions, then have a manic episode after a year or two and have to get stabilized on the medication again. He did this for decades without giving up. But that is not what made him Superman.
If someone met him, they were instantly friends. He was able to joke around with people standing next to him in line, and he never judged or looked down on anyone. I remember seeing him one day at the bus station in a state that he did not live in. As he left the station he had probably 30 people yell goodbye or shake his hand on his way out. That was the charisma that he had. But that is not what made him Superman.
He was a recovering alcoholic. He had drank for years and was given to excess, especially during his manic highs. He never made excuses for his drinking, and he had 20 plus years of sobriety. He also would help those at church who were given to excess, and was always there to share his strength, faith and hope of overcoming addiction through a relationship with God. Battling addiction and overcoming it is something that 90 % of alcoholics fail at. He did it. But that is not what made him Superman.
After his first wife left him and took his three children with her (two biological and one step), he would travel 6 hours one way (12 hours round trip) to see his children every other weekend. He did this for two and a half years, and he never missed a weekend. He put his entire summer on hold when he had his children with him, and would spend weeks at a time with them giving them his undivided attention. This made him an incredible dad. But this is not what made him Superman.
When he got the opportunity to get custody of his son, he jumped at it. He brought his son home and raised him as a single father for several years before getting remarried. He always put his son first and foremost, and his son never wondered whether or not he was loved, because he knew it. This also made him an incredible dad. But this is not what made him Superman.
Dad, tomorrow is father's day. You have been gone for 3 years now, and I miss you incredibly. I wish that my son would have gotten the chance to meet you, but he never did. The reason that I wish my son could have met you is because to me, you were Superman. Not because of the spiritual influence that you gave, not because you worked through your own addiction and mental illness, not because you could always run me into the ground on the track, not because my mom left you and I never heard you say a bad word about her, not because you served our country, not because you were charismatic, not because you never judged or looked down on anyone, not because you never hit or spanked me, not because you loved people enough that you wanted them all to know Christ and have the opportunity to live forever, not because you always carried me on your shoulders, not because you never once told me you were too busy to play ball(baseball, basketball or football), not because you never missed your weekends with me, not because you loved me unconditionally through my addiction/jail/prison and not because you were a stand up man and a dedicated father.
You are not Superman for one of these things or some of these things, but for all of these things. You taught me how to be a man and how to be a father. Even though I did not get it for 3 decades, I get it now. You never gave up on me and you loved me no matter what, because that is what fathers do.
You are Superman because you had faith that I would eventually grow into the father and husband that I have. You are Superman because thanks to you I will be an incredible father, because I will pass on all that I learned from watching you. You are Superman not for some of what you did, but for everything that you did.
Dad, I just wanted to say a few things to you on this father's day. I wanted to say that I love and miss you. I wanted to say that you were always a great dad even when I was not a great son. Finally, I wanted to let you know that my son will get to know you not just through pictures and stories, but by seeing how I live my life and raise him. He will know you because he knows me, and you live through me. I am and always will be a living legacy to who you were Dad!!! I hope that you are proud of the father I have become. I'll see you when I come home!
I am starting to attend a small group called the Truth Project at my church on Wednesday nights. It was created by Focus on the Family. They describe the series as follows:
"What is Focus on the Family's The Truth Project®?
In a recent study, the Barna Research Group revealed a stunning statistic that continues to reverberate throughout the evangelical world. Only 9 percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview.
Because of this, today's believers live very similarly to non-believers. A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced, we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy and we begin to wonder what life's ultimate purpose really is. We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation.
To counter this slide within the body of Christ, we are launching one of the most ambitious and powerful projects in the history of our ministry—Focus on the Family's The Truth Project.
The Truth Project is a DVD-based small group curriculum comprised of 13 one-hour lessons taught by Dr. Del Tackett. This home study is the starting point for looking at life from a biblical perspective. Each lesson discusses in great detail the relevance and importance of living the Christian worldview in daily life.
We believe this one project represents the possibility for exponential change within the body of Christ, as we expect that thousands will be transformed by this curriculum. As it has been throughout history, God continues to call ordinary people to make an eternal difference in our world.
We invite you to be a part of this cultural change by participating in or leading a small group of your own. Contact us to learn how you can get involved in Focus on the Family's The Truth Project!"
I am excited to begin this small group, and as each week passes I will let you know the things that really stuck out to me and what I have gotten out of the group. I feel that we should all have the ability to defend our beliefs while not being confrontational, and this series is possibly a great way to do that. I once had a professor define intelligence to me this way, "An intelligent person is someone who can equally debate both sides of the discussion."
I hope to learn not only the Christian perspective better in this small group, but the secular world's view too. In learning better what the secular and Christian worldviews are, I can then better defend my position by learning about both. I also hope to see ways to improve upon how I am currently living so that I can become a better father, husband, friend and counselor. I hope you will enjoy reading my blog on The Truth Project so that you can take the 13 Week journey with me.
Pride is Biblically one of those things that we are to not have. It is a character trait that is not to be admired. In the King James version of the Bible it states, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
I quote the King James Version because it is very fitting that the King James version would give this warning to someone that is also referred to as King James. To others he is known as simply LeBron James. Today I would like to personally thank LeBron and the Miami Heat for reminding me that pride does not lead us to be successful. If anything, pride sets us up for destruction.
Last night, in game 6 of the NBA finals, the Dallas Mavericks led by Dirk Nowitzki defeated the Miami Heat's trio of all stars led by LeBron. I was glad to see Dallas win after the way that Miami and LeBron celebrated his signing with them at the beginning of this basketball season.
"Not one, not two, not three, not four," James said. And he wasn't finished. "Not five, not six, not seven." He trumpeted from stage as he guaranteed multiple championships. I believed him, even though I am a Chicago Bulls fan. I thought that the combination of LeBron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh would be unstoppable. I would have never predicted that they would not have the best record in the league (they had the third best) or that they would not win the NBA championship. He and I both seemed to forget the warning the Bible gives us multiple times:
Obadiah 1:3 "Theprideof your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’"
Isaiah 23:9 "The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring low theprideof all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth."
1 Corinthians 13:4 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is notproud."
Even in the Biblical book bearing the last name of LeBron, James 4:6b states, "God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble," which is actually a quote from Proverbs 3:34.
Pride, boastfulness and haughtiness are all things that we should avoid, or we will find ourselves in trouble with the person who truly counts, God. I do not care if I am poor or if I, like LeBron, were to reach his goal of being a billionaire. I would rather be poor in this life and live in bliss for eternity than store up treasures on Earth to find myself on the wrong side of God.
This leads us to the question how should I act? James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves, and He will lift you up" and 1 Peter 5:6 says to, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time."
This means that we are not the most important thing in the world. We need to get over ourselves and realize that there is only one with true power, and it is not us. If we are humble than God will give us the power to overcome all things. If we are boastful and prideful, then God will not. We should all take a lesson from the first step of recovery, which states that we realize that we are powerless. LeBron seemed to believe that he was all powerful, and thus has alienated some fans and possibly God Himself.
In the end I thought that maybe LeBron James does get it. His twitter post after the game said, "The Greater Man upstairs know when it's my time. Right now isn't the time."
That sounds like a man who has come to realize that there is a greater power than he. I was happy for LeBron after I read his twitter in the sports news. I was beginning to think that maybe he was the young man who had his head on his shoulders and not in the clouds like I had thought, before the past year had occurred. Then I read his after game interview quote:
"At the end of the day, all the people that were rooting for me to fail ... at the end of the day, tomorrow they have to wake up and have the same life that [they had] before they woke up today. They got the same personal problems they had today. And I'm going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things I want to do."
His pride has once again reared its' ugly head. I only hope that we can take a look at how he has acted and reacted to others and learn a lesson. I know that he is only reacting to what others have said and done, but two rights do not make a wrong. Even though the Bible tells us in what is commonly known as the Golden Rule to do to others as we would have them do us (Matthew 7:12), I would tell us as Christians to go one further and treat others better than you want to be treated.
Remember Matthew 25 says that what we have done to the least of man, we have done to God Himself. When you are wronged by someone you should still treat them with love and respect, for when we stand before God do we want Him to treat us as we on this world treated others? Do we want Him to treat us as we deserve? I know that I do not, how about you?
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple."
Our body is God's temple. That is said because the Holy Spirit lives in us. But do we live our lives that way? For the most part we do not live our lives as if we have even read the Bible, let alone as if we are a temple for the Holy Spirit to live in. A lot of us treat our bodies more like a garbage disposal or an amusement park. If we cannot control our consumption habits, how can we possibly control other habits such as lusting, lying or being a gossip?
When I say garbage disposal, what I mean is that we will throw any and all trash into our bodies. This ranges from junk food to eating too much food. Just because we have mega-Churches springing up does not mean that we need to have mega-waist sizes so that our personal temple matches the one we worship at. This is called gluttony, or overindulging.
Ever heard of gluttony? I hear that it is a sin! The Bible has a few things to say about gluttony. Proverbs 23:21 says that the glutton will come to poverty. Proverbs 23:2 goes as far as to say "put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony" and Phillipians 3:19 says that those who will come to destruction will treat their belly as their god. Does not sound like gluttony is a good thing. It sounds like gluttony is something to be avoided. Maybe this is something we as Christians should attempt to focus on. After all, sin is sin.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."
Now we will look at treating our bodies as amusement parks. By that I mean we smoke cigarettes, have premarital sex, overindulge in alcohol and abuse drugs. Is that honoring God with our bodies? I should certainly hope not. That may be honoring the little "g" gods, not the big "G" God that I worship. We tend to take the path of least resistance and focus on what we want to do and what is popular and cool. This is not how we are to live, though. We are to live like the Holy Spirit resides in us, because it does. We should desire what God wants us to do.
Romans 8:5-6 says, "Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."
Somewhere in the course of our lives we have to ask ourselves if we are living as though our mind is governed by the Spirit. Are we doing as we have been instructed to do. I would argue that we are not. The way we live our lives shows that we have no self-control, which is a very important thing. 2 Peter 1:6 says we are to supplement knowledge with self-control, and Galatians lists self-control as one of the fruits of the Spirit. If we are led by the Spirit, then we will have self-control. If we have the Spirit, you will know it by our fruits.
We may have trouble acting with self-control, but there are ways that we can build it. We need to acknowledge that when Christ died he brought us salvation that allows us to deny our worldly urges (2 Titus 2:11,12). In order to take advantage of this salvation, we must be baptized (Galatians 3:27), cleanse ourselves from the impurities of flesh and spirit (2 Corinthians 7:1) so that we can pursue peace and holiness and through them see God (Hebrews 12:14).
We show that we are truly following Christ by doing several things. In Acts 8:22 the Bible tells us that we should repent and pray so that our hearts can become right with God. Prayer and meditation will open us up to receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Just because it is there does not mean that we use it. As an example, I use public rest rooms all of the time. It has been my experience that almost every one that I have ever been provided both a sink and soap to wash your hands. Yet, I frequently see people walk out of those bathrooms without washing their hands. So it is with the Spirit, accessible to us but left unused.
Another thing that we need to do is surround ourselves with people who are living their lives led by the Spirit. There is a reason to do this. Birds of a feather, flock together. The Holy Scriptures also tells us that not only does bad company corrupt good behavior (1 Corinthians 15:33), but being around positive Christians who are like-minded allow us to be built up and encouraged (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
When we get rid of the negatives in our lives, we need to replace them with positive things and people. If we do not, then bad things are surely going to seep back into our lives. I would rather be in relationships with healthy people than those who are living in sin, positive Christians as opposed to those who continue to make negative choices and accept no responsibility or hold themselves accountable for their actions.
In my life, I have decided I need to make some changes because there are areas of my life that I could improve in, that I do not have self-control in. The area is gluttony. I overeat all of the time, I do not know moderation when it comes to food and that has began to add up, leaving me with a waist that is almost as big as my chest. I will keep you updated on my progress as I attempt to overcome my last addiction, which is eating pleasure food in abundance, and drop 55 pounds and keep it off.
What I have decided to do is join Weight Watcher's, because it is a lifestyle change as opposed to a diet. I have tried juice fasts for a week, and the Daniel Fast for 40 days, but I have always returned to my addiction to food after it was over. I do not need a phase, but a permanent change. I need a change in lifestyle and a community to support it. I have done that with my other addictions, choosing to attend church for the community it provides, removing myself from those who were engaged in the lifestyle I was trying to leave behind me and actively associating with people who are accomplishing what I am striving for.
That is what Weight Watchers offers me: support, hope and encouragement. I know several people who are active Christians that are also involved in Weight Watchers and have been successful that can offer me support and encouragement in our journey. I will win in the battle with obesity and overeating, because my God is an awesome God. Don't forget what it says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all this through Him who gives me strength."
My son is still surprising me every day on this vacation. He walked all day long once again today. This is the same son who cannot walk from the car to the tram at Silver Dollar City. He walked today from 10:30 - 7 at Walt Disney's Hollywood Studios. Two straight days of walking, running and jumping when he generally just perches on my shoulders.
He asked all of the time for me to bend down, just like he does when he wants to be picked up. The awesome part was, when I would bend down he would give me a kiss and keep walking. He loves me with his whole heart, and that heart is huge.
This vacation has been great, and I have been awed by his affection.
Do not get me wrong, his love overwhelms me often. Everytime that he sees me, when I drop him off at daycare and when I tuck him in at night he gives hugs and kisses and lets me know that he loves me. He even acts that way when I put him in timeout after he gets out of the corner. That is love.
I want to rely on God like my son does me. I want to love Christ the way my son loves me. Don't get me wrong, I try to love God with all that I have and all that I am. I feel that I could do a better job, and my son has shown me what unconditional means.
My son has me there to pick him up when he feels that he cannot make it on his own. He gets tired, and he is confident that all he has to do is look at me and put his arms up and I will swoop down and pop him up on my shoulders, making his day easier.
I know that all I have to do is turn things over to God when they get to overwhelm me. I know it, but it is sometimes hard to do. I pray for his will to be done, but I sometimes forget that his will and mine are not always the same. If I do what He wants me to, I find that my life is easier. When I try to do His will, he pops me up on His shoulders and insures that I suceed. But I sometimes forget to do that.
My son shows me that he loves me no matter what. If he is having fun or in trouble, if it is just me or it is in front of his friends he is unafraid to show me how much he loves me. He will scream "I love you whole wide world" across his daycare with it full of kids.
I want to continue building my relationship with Christ to the point that I am unafraid to vocally claim my love. I will be unafraid to pray no matter who is around. I will tell others of the changes that the Holy Spirit has wrought in me regardless of who might judge me. I will raise my hands in worship no matter who is next to me or watching, even if I am the only one in the room who worships that way.
I spent my whole life in agony denying there was a God. I will spend the rest of my life in love with the force that recreated me and gave me a life that I can be proud of. I will praise God in the peaks and valleys, the feasts and the famines, the sunny days and in the storms. I know how miserable my life was without Christ, and I know how blessed I am now with Christ.
