Being Watchful

Num.16:28-30 - Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt.” (NIV)

We must be watchful of those we surround ourselves with because everyone that says ‘got you’ don’t care about you. Everyone that supports you are not into you, but are into what you are attached to. Everyone who says, I will help you are not there to help you, but to harvest what you have and go. Everyone who say, I will mentor you and provide guidance, is not there to direct you, but rather to divert you. Everyone who pushes you is not pushing you forward and onward, but out of the way. Everyone who say they want to change, only want to put old wine in new wineskins so that it looks like different but not. Everyone who wants you to get it right, is not necessary telling you, they are going to be right, or do the right thing. Lastly, everyone who gives you responsibility and authority will not always give you the right resources, or tools, because they do not want you to succeed and/or want you to stay dependent on them… But when you are watchful, and pay attention to the signs you are able to know and see, what is God, and what is not!...Being watchful matters…

Breaking the curse

John 13:34-35 -“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (NIV)

Breaking the curse requires us to first acknowledge and reveal in order to be healed and grow into our testimony. This makes you a part of the solution to the problem. Intentionally choosing to not repeat the mistakes of the past, in our life and willing to surrender self to God totally. To do so, we must step outside ourselves, our familial standards that are taught through words and actions; through our authenticity. We overlook, what we know is issue, and not own it's a problem for ‘me’. Forgetting God can not heal, what we do not reveal to ourselves but also to others. Don’t get it twisted, not everyone is ready to hear your truth. We need to choose wisely, otherwise we will be destroyed by those who we speak to, and you are around these kind of people, then you should know they are there for a reason, not there for you…

Many cultural core belief  hold to the old adage of - what done or said in the house or family, we do not tell- thus, we feed the cycle and guarantee its continual existence of the curse, we say we desire to break. We begin a diet of anorexic existence, what say we do not desire we create because we are consumed fear, insecurity, and confusion. It is not easy to let go, but we must if we are to live this earnestly with our Father, and fulfill our destiny in its fullness – 1Pet. 3:8 -Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble (NIV).

See, I believe we cannot live out our promised destiny, without living beyond our cultural, traditions and our secret sins/hurts. We only desire to reveal and acknowledge, what we think are palatable sins, hurts, secrets, that our societal norms deem acceptable to share. However, God ask for it all, so we can see and feel His all-consuming love. This cannot be done if we are hiding in plain sight with our tangible success or delusional denial of destructive behaviors. You cannot have peace, balance, and faith, with fear, insecurity in the same place; they are mutually exclusive. Perfect love teaches us not to be afraid of our fear, and  takes out the dark to the light when we are willing to reveal; unconditional love never stops...You do not get truth, if you do not give truth, thus curse is not broken. We choose; its tight but right…wink

God is always there

Isaiah 43:2;5 - When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze… Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.

God is always there. He is in been, not been, as well as the not yet; God is still present. He is the wide-eyed providing light in the pitch black night guiding our way. He sits on the still calm cooling waters reminding you, it's all good smiling with every ripple. God never takes a vacation, a furlough or a sabbatical from us, although we take extended leaves intermittently from him. Thinking I just need to be away for a minute because of a choice, I made. As we construct our truths with left over perspectives from another age, or maybe we are so fearful of own greatest, we are paralyzed, because we just do not understand the depth of what it was done or said. We need, must understand God  logic does not work, operate on man's standard, but rather God reconcile man to himself. God is there, even when we do not see HIM.

God is there in the words of the poet or the preacher linking, connecting our soul, mind and heart to Him. He is present there in that space seemingly nothingness to you. He is the still small voice reassuring you, you are straining to hear because of weighty issues in your heart, confusion on your mind, and your soul is overwhelmed. We do not quite grasp, we cannot have complete fear and complete faith in the same moment and feel the presence of God. See, He does not take mental break, we do. God is there with loving eyes, outreach arms, and an open heart. We just need trust, and rest in the ‘must’ as a absolute He is…wink

Do you have the buy-in….

Judges 15:11-12 - Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?”  He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.” They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said, “Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves.” (NIV)

Do you have the buy-in?  For anyone leading others, this is important. In the verses above, Samson did what he thought was right, and his people did not buyinto what he did. Maybe he did not tell them because he felt that he did not need to do so, or he knew the people would not go for it. As a result the people decided to hand him over to the Philistines; he did not have the buy from the people but they would not kill him because they still have love for him. How many leaders move forward without the buy-in from the people they lead, and then get upset because the people do not support what they have done? Yes, you might say, but they agreed to be on the team, and I am the leader, thus follow me ,or why did they speak up?. We humans are curious bunch, and we might give a glib acceptance or silence, yet we have no intentions of doing anything. We have this thing of – I can show you better, than I can tell attitude. In this situation we learn in vivid color, two wrongs don’t make anything right or godly. But more importantly, we see no collaboration and not anyone working together.  What we see is parallel play, with no intention to interacting. This is because there is no trust in the leader, as everyone acts selfishly.

You will never get a buy-in from those you lead, if they do not trust you. They will never trust you, when your actions, words, and goals are selfishly motivated, and your track record with them is sketchy. This will result in your being a leader of none, and have a team of choas following leadership. If the leader is self-motivated, focus on my world, what I want, thus, so will the people because we teach not only with our words, but what we model for others to see. If what is shown and what is said, conflicts, we will always defer to what is done. So, if you desire others to buy into your vision begin building their trust and model the behavior you desire. Because even if you come out on top later, the seed of distrust and chaos has been planted festering until it can appear to get you…Having buy in is important.  The irony to all of this is – if we are walking according to God, and follow His leadership, He will reconcile the leader and people unto Himself, thus all shall align…We make the choice, but never the consequences or its impact…

Truth and grace is the way...

John 1:17- For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Truth and grace (NIV)

I have a student-worker who says this whenever, I correct her – Truth and Grace Dean – because she knows my correction is not only for her good, but it is delivered with a pure intent. Truth and grace says - I am going to give you the truth that is not about hurting you, but helping you with pure intent. Conversely, many people like say about themselves or about others, I am brutally honest, or I am just blunt. This is done when they are referring to telling someone the truth but the problem here is the underlying intent is not the truth told, but mean-spiritedness, a dig, a rebuke, or a snub to someone. We are all good at this,  but my Christian brothers and sisters we make an art of it. We spend time on crafting it just so right before we deliver it. We seem to think, believe, we have the right to do this within our religious, saved, sanctified, and hallowed holiness; not so much. Life is too short, let’s get it right, and focus on what Christ did to bring love, unite the diversity, and open the doors to all mankind. They have the right to reject on its own merit, and it has nothing to do with the underlined negativity. See, God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to fulfilled truth shrouded in grace, unmerited favor, because He loves us. We as Christian, in our seeking to be more like Him, would do well to consider and re-examine our brutal honesty and blunt approach because all it does is pushes the lost away. The funny thing, we know better because we cry ouch, when others do it to us…We choose, don’t we…Truth and grace is definitely the way!

Did King Kong have to die or not….

No bible verse today, just my musing...Did King Kong have to die, and did the people have to destroy him. Had they both been open to change, and willing to expand their perspective beyond for the good of all, we would have seen a different outcome. However, as a part of our innate, intrinsic part of molecular DNA or cultural DNA shedding of the blood is the door to monumental paradigm shifts, change in context of our human existence. When you disconnect what is part of you, there is a scar but before a scar there is the blood. Sometimes it is literal, other times it is metaphorical but the unambiguous call for the sacrifice of blood is necessary. There is no other way, if you seeking change, paradigm shifts with an earnest, resolute mind, it has to happen. I am not saying this is easy, or without some difficulty; believes me it is not. Yet, changing does not come without a cost…So, did King Kong have to die, yes because neither were open to change without it…if you do not believe me, check your historical timetable, and the Book…wink..it is, what it is…

The Passion

Isaiah 40:31 - But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (NIV)

Gal. 6:9 -Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (NIV)

As we prepare to celebrate Palm Sunday, and the resurrection of Christ, Easter, I wanted to pause a moment and consider the journey. We hear about individual events that occur from riding on the donkey to the beating to the grave, and sometimes there are combination of these preached. However, it is the entire journey, the amalgamation of all those moments that bring resurrection significance for us; not discounting any event of it impact. I was speaking to a friend about this, and how this is important. I am not saying preaching about individual aspects is wrong, or we shouldn’t. I am just saying, we would do well to pause, and take into consideration the journey because the pain, the betrayal, the being spiritually alone, taking the beating only he could have endure, and being mock by others teaches us lessons we would do well to remember in our 21^st Century mindset. We were grant grace and mercy instead of justice, a clarion sacrificial offering of blood, body, and soul for our transgressions. It tells the story many gospel singers sing about - even when it does not look or feel good, we must remember to keep trusting and obeying because it is never just about us, and it is for our good. Because when you know, that you know, that you know, you know this is the path God put me on; at such a time as this; you are able stay the course.

The passion of the Christ echoes through ages the butterfly effect is in full effect with this happening, reverberating call resonates, paradigm shift of truth makes straight, transfiguration of spirituality quiets in storms, and the benchmark is the cornerstone to build upon. Resulting in plethora of illustrative wealth base information to guide every generation that goes beyond the popular person we attach ourselves to for the moment. So we will submit to the reign, realm, the rule of God, while accepting Him as the prophet, priest, and King in our life. The decision to do so, not only changes the person but all connected we will never know. See, whether we intend to or not, we create legacy and longevity with our actions, words, and connections. Don’t believe me, go back and re-examine the Passion of Christ