Month: September 2013

Ugly

So I started speaking about it on Facebook, but this is the better medium to get out all I wanted to say. Anyway, today has been very dramatic for me, although it is more internal than external, specifically because nothing happened to me directly. Still, my heart is heavy.

As you may have heard, the new Miss America is Indian. Yesterday I saw her and I thought she was pretty and kept it moving on to the next story. Then today, I hear that her ethnicity is some big controversy and people are calling her Arab. First of all she she is Indian (whether that is India-American or Native American I don’t know), which means she is NOT Arab, but even if she is, so what!. It’s disheartening to see the hatred people have in their hearts even in this day and age just because of skin-color. I’ll be honest and say that I am very sensitive, so to be her or any celebrity at that I can understand why so many succumb to drugs, alcohol, and move from one bed to the next so quickly. People are mean and ruthless and whoever said “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words do not hurt me,” was disillusioned. Words penetrate deeper and hang around longer than any punch or bullet. All in all, the heart of the matter is the heart of the matter, and some people are so lost in their own bitterness, hate, and ignorance it’s discouraging.

Then on top of that, very rarely do I watch the news, if for no other reason, it’s 97% negative and national or local, given the area I live in, and it’s easy to get depressed just hearing all the conspiracies, violence, wars, death, broken children, and so forth. This world is so dark, just considering all that is going on in Syria and then the Navy Base, things are chaotic and and just crazy, so much in so it’s hard to live and feel safe.

Also, I have already done a study on world religions, but today I was in a class of the same thing. The Bible talks about the wide and windy road that many travel, but there are few on the straight and narrow. Today that truth was again magnified, in that so many are lost and blinded. The enemy, the Father of Lies as Jesus called him, is on the prowl as he has been since the garden. He is pouring his lies into whoever chooses to listen. As an Angel of Light as Paul calls him, some of his lies sound so close to truth, but as children of God we have to be equipped enough to know his lie and know the truth of God’s Word, but most importantly be able to share it with others.

More heartbreaking than those, are all the stories I’ve read about, seen, and heard about children and youth, between abuse, abortion, suicide, teen pregnancy, lack of educational resources, and the filth in a lot of mainstream media, television and music. One could easily say my generation and the one behind me is dying emotionally, mentally, and physically. These young lives are conditioned to feel they aren’t loveable, they aren’t worth anything, they don’t matter, they have no purpose in life, and they look for truth, belonging, and love in all the wrong places. Their dreams are laughed at and trampled upon and aren’t given a chance to succeed or the hope of a bright and meaningful future.

This world is dark and this world is ugly, which only makes Jesus breathtakingly beautiful. Purpose, love, acceptance, and identity come from Christ alone. As one of my favorite songs says “Jesus is the answer for the world today,” and that’s what purpose is all about. It’s about a willing heart of a person making him or herself available to use the gifts,talents, dreams, and visions the Lord has given specifically to you to share and promote the light and beauty of Jesus Christ. So if you are reading this, know that the world so eagerly needs you and that your purpose is bigger than life. If you allow Him, God will take the very least you may have and do something remarkably wonderful if you say yes. The harvest, just from what I said prior, is plenty, your purpose is to be a laborer in whatever form God wills to gather the harvest for His kingdom. Wake up!! There is no time to waste on frivolous things and matters that won’t matter one year from now. We can’t live selfishly because this world is perishing right under our noses and for those of us that know the love of Jesus, it is sin for us to do nothing about it! The world is eagerly waiting for the sons and daughters of God to stand up and rise up (Romans 8:19). We have the remedy to the world’s sickness, so go give it away.

So I encourage you, live on purpose. Speak on purpose. Learn on purpose. Share on purpose. Give on purpose. Love on purpose. Do on purpose. Be on purpose. There is no better time than now.

I pray God burden’s your heart for the condition of the world and your respective communities.

Infamous Zone

This post is partly a continuance of the last post, although, this is one of the biggest things I’ve learned this year. Life is about adaption and finding that place in life where you can reside peacefully with the least amount of awkwardness and or apprehension. However, as we become older, patterns, habits, and ways of thinking begin to set in and many times it will dictate what we will or will not [want to] do. You call that your comfort zone.

This zone can become very hazardous and detrimental to fulfilling your purpose. Now people have their various reasons for doing or choosing not to do certain things, some practical and others that are more in depth. Living a life of purpose, you have to be willing to shift and to get out of your comfort zone. As many people can attest as I’m sure you have heard, many times God leads us to those unfamiliar places and unknown territories that can be frightening to be quite honest. Even more, it’s not uncommon for Him to answer prayers in ways that we didn’t want or anticipate, but it’s by His sovereignty. When either of these things happen, some people respond and are willing to take the risk and jump off the cliff believing He will catch them or teach them to fly, and they have soared ever since. Still, others clam up and live in fear.

This fear is another trick of the enemy to hinder God doing amazing things in our lives. We all have our place of comfort, let’s be real, but God often does His best work when we are willing to step outside of the box, trusting Him all the way.

In the same breath, too many people put God in a box, which is the craziest thing anyone could ever do. God is so humungous that no box can fit His very essence, so why would we limit Him, and therefore limit ourselves? More than likely, the comfort zone is rather small, but the world is so big and God is even greater, and the more we step out, the more our eyes our opened and the more we get to experience, taste, touch, smell, and hear. You can’t live a purpose-filled life never leaving your comfort zone; I am a witness to that. So I encourage you not to just start doing weird stuff all willy nilly for no good reason, rather with prayer, wisdom, discernment, and good judgment of course, get out of your infamous comfort zone! – whether it be taking online classes, joining a ministry, having children or adopting, trying something new, following your dream, or confronting an issue that has plagued your life – The more you do, the greater your life will be. I promise. Your faith will grow and your relationship with God will go to higher heights. If God is leading you, don’t be afraid, for His grace will keep you. Take a risk, in Jesus’ name ;).

OH! And be careful not to tell God what you won’t do (normally things outside of your comfort zone). I did, matter a fact I had a list of things, He laughed at me, and now I’m doing or have done them with in the last year :).

 

Never Too Early

This particular post was inspired by a conversation I had with someone yesterday. Before I begin, I must say that the conversation was a divine appointment in the bathroom (a lot of things happen in the bathroom), because I just went to charge my phone for a bit then get back to the event, and in the process a young lady I knew came in, that I had interacted with earlier. Long story short, I missed the rest of the event, but you know what? I didn’t care, God had set that bathroom forum up. He works in mysterious ways, which means we always have to be prepared.

Anyhow, as we were talking, one thing that stood out to me was toward the end of our conversation when she said that it was hard for her to let go of control and in one way or another said it was easier for me because I was older. It got me thinking. That is a mindset of a lot of people, specifically those of a younger generation. However, I find it disheartening that people have that mindset because there is no better time then the present to really pursue God and let Him guide your purpose. It makes sense though, because when you are young you feel that you have your whole life ahead of you before deciding to do one thing or another, particularly live a Christ-driven life. However, just hearing all the stories that are out in this crazy society, just in this country alone, life is precious and not promised to anyone, and there is no good reason to wait to get it together. Furthermore, there are so many others that are in fact pursuing their dreams and are doing it all in and they are being a shining light in this dark world. Therefore, if you don’t pursue and go after what God has special for you, someone else will get the task and your life will be empty, to be quite frank. The longer you wait the longer it will take for God to release on you all He has and wants to do by, through, and for you. Many times God is just waiting for us to come to Him and give Him the keys, which I found out to be the best decision I ever made.

As I remind myself and others, when I get to heaven I don’t want God to look at me and say “if only you had done this the first time I asked you” or “if only you would have let me love you” or “if only you had remained faithful” or “if only you didn’t give up.” How sad would that be?! Don’t wait to do what you know you have absolutely no good reason to not do now. God is waiting for you.Your purpose depends on it. It’s never too early to put into practice what you learned, because, those that did will tell you it’s not worth it. On the flip side, it’s never too late. God is awesome and can develop and bring out of you things you never knew to exist.

It’s never too early; you are never too young to start letting God transform your world by giving Him your all. It’s never too late; you are never to old to start letting God restore all that was lost.