God gifts whom, He pleases

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 1 Tim. 4:12 (NIV)

The verse above tells the young to not let others look down on them the youth. Sometimes God honors the young with unexpected gifts that others older, or have been in the game longer desired or coveted. Age has nothing to do with Godly wisdom. Remember, if God places a person in a position of authority it will be accompanied by His wisdom to guide the person to success and growth.  It does not matter if you are literally young because of age, or figuratively green in the particular field or profession. One should not be despised or look upon with contempt as a result of what they do not control, and because they accepted God giftedness. Rather we should embrace it, and encourage it. See, we do all the work to provide a platform for the young , those that come behind us, so they do not have to go through what we went through in our life. Then, we begrudge them, set traps for them, or make up excuses to not be there for them to show them just how much they do not know.  Yet, we praise, preach about the wisdom, authority, courage, spiritual discernment of these individual Samuel, David, Solomon, Daniel, Mary the mother of Jesus, and others. Something is amiss, I say because there is an inconsistency in our logic. The question is- why?

Yes, why are we unkind to the young, literally and figuratively, specifically when it comes to them being in a position that supersedes us? I suggest to all this - God is not a respecter of person but principles. He is not delay in His provision or negligent in His selection of individuals, but an on-time God and lays hands upon whom He pleases, to do His will, according to His way. Yet, the issue has never been about the youth anyway, what we see is just the symptom of a bigger issue. The denied gratification of our own self promotion that gets no love, or placement; in this life self-promotion has a negative effect because of the myopic perspective- about us, for us, and only us. The, I am the latest and the greatest attitude we embrace is detrimental to giftedness God has endowed within us. What we have never really understood in all these years in our aged wisdom is this -our life shall speak for you us and leave the legacy for us.  We must come to terms with self-promotion is short lived in its affect, and leaves to destructiveness in the long run. And lastly, the scriptures are true 1Peter5:6  -Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. NIV and  Matt.  23:12-For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (NIV)…

But what do I know, I am not necessarily old in the game of life or Christianity in the bigger scheme of things…

The Crossing

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. (Acts 9:3-9 NIV)

The crossing, when we realize what we know is not all there is. We see what we have believed is not enough, limited, or wrong. We begin to walk the path toward changing, transforming, and experiencing life with new eyes. At the crossing the bible verse Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid? NIV…It becomes our mantra when struggles and chaos comes; it is real for us. We now fully grasp Paul's life-faith that he embodied, and we read about in the bible. The crossing manifested. The tough call has been made to walk the life of faith, and improvement and blessing showers are seen. What is needed provided in unexpected ways, by unexpected people; we see this because we now understand God does move in mysterious ways. His logic is not ours, yet His choices are bulls-eye hit with what is needed, and we get more than the desired results.

The crossing is the moment we get new eyes, not new landscapes. We finally do what we are capable of because we trust the word of God. The crossing is when a momentum change occurs…When Obama ran for president, a crossing; MLK decided to act, a crossing; When David decided to fight Goliath, a crossing; Abigail gave supplies to David, a crossing; when the widow feed the prophet Elijah, the crossing, Deborah lead the battle, a crossing, Abraham sacrifice of his son, a crossing, and the crossing that granted us grace, when Jesus cross through the line that separates eternal to limitedness, and went from being the lamb slain before the foundation of the earth, to our living sacrifice, and we were granted grace and mercy.  Now don’t get it twist, as we saw with Jesus, so shall it be for us, but God knows we are not Christ and cannot bear the same..wink..The crossing the moment that changes everything, and Psalm 23 is lived, and we know, that we know Jehovah-Shammah -The Lord is Present. our choice….wink.

Moving to the next level is difficult but blessed...

Luke 9:62 - Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." (NIV)

We cannot move to the next level and hold on to all we had, continue to do what we always have done, and continue all in the same manner as we did at the previous level. It does not work. We will need to give some things up, as we move to the next level. We see this happen every day in people lives as a natural order, a seamless unconscious transition. It can be best illustrated in the maturation of people, as they go from elementary to middle school, some friends, change how they act, and how they do things, and the same thing happens again throughout our lives. If this does not do it for you, then remember Jesus, and the mount of transfiguration and all He had to let go of for us? However, for some reason, we adults do not think it applies to us, because we have become attach to our ways, and thoughts. We even have a saying for it - ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’ Really?! I guess no one told God that about His creation, as he brought forth life from what shouldn’t have in John the Baptist parents, Isaac parents, and Moses in the bible. So, yes we can teach an old dog new tricks. The problem is this; we are unwilling to accept that what we see as truth is not necessarily the truth. It is our perspective we have, through our varied and rose colored lens. But the bible tells us to be mindful of this - Prov. 12:15 -The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. (NIV), and Prov. 16:25 - There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death (NIV). We know these verses but do we believe them to be true is the questions because truth does not change because of situation, friendships, or our hurt.

At some point, we must stopping looking back, holding on to all that was there, and move and have our being in the place God has chosen for us. For what HE ordained, He will maintain, and provides showers of promised blessings; this is not for some of us, but for all of us! This is not to say, it will be easy but He will maintain you and keep you. I am not saying everything need to go in a ‘everything must go’ sale but we do have to let go of some ‘stuff’ otherwise accept you are inviting confusion, drama, and/or chaos into your lives, and it shall me your new Siamese twin…It is our choice, choose wisely…Its wise…Its important…Its for our good….

God has not left you alone....

Job 1:12 - The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. (NIV)
Job 2:6  The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”(NIV)

Even when we think God has left us, He has not. As you see from the scriptures above, God has His hands on Job through it all. Although, if you would have asked Job, he would have thought not so much; so even it does not seem like it, God is presence. Even when it seems that Satan is running havoc over or in our life, know what God allows or does there is a blessed promised at the end of the tragedy. For every trial we have, we become a living testimony. For every struggle, we become the new standard for success for those coming behind us. So, when things look like it is out of God hands, or He is nowhere near just remember Job. God really did have his hands on him, and the Father taught Job a lesson as He provided him a blessing.  God has not left you, no matter what is happening in your life. Never forget that; its important, it matters, and it is your choice.

Who do you serve?

Joshua 24: 15 - ‘But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Who do you serve? This is a good question because many times our actions do not depict truly who we are serving, other than ourselves and man’s logic. We seem to forget, that what God ordains, He maintain. We need to be secure and unwavering about this truth; who we are serving. When we waffle, and waver on who we serve, we find ourselves, more likely than not, focusing on the wrong thing. For we serve with our mouth, but our actions tell a different story than we want told about us. Then we wonder why this happening to me, or why this did not happen for me? Well, why would confusion not be part of your life, if confusion is part of your disposition, persona, or who you are every day. See, when you serve Him as you profess you do, you can sing ‘You Covered Me’ by Donald Lawrence with tears of joy, not shouts of convictions because of the hypocrisy we are living.

When you are clear on who you are serving, it gives us a compass that does not change by a new magnetic force. We are able to be sure, we are going in the right direction, and our path clear. We walk with the unyielding peace in the midst of the chaos, although tears warming our face, grace reign in our mind, and ringing in our soul, even if the Father does not deliver, does not mean He is not able 'not my will, but Thy will be done!' Who do you serve is each of our choice. Choose well, and be blessed.

Key Performance Indicators

‘I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit,  out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.’ Psalm 40:1-4

There is not much to say after this verse for me today. It says it all. It has the key performance indicators in which we should use if we are progressing in our relationship with the Father. One waits patiently, if we cannot do that, we are already done because chaos will soon ensue. Two, as a result of you, me waiting patiently, the LORD turns to and hears our cry. He does not stop there, He lifts us out of the madness, chaos, and confusion we are in, it does not matter if we put ourself there, or someone us puts us there. Glory!! Then, he sets us free, and puts us in a safe place that is secure. Three, because he did, we have a renewing of the mind, and a have new song in our mouth. We can’t really sing a new song, unless we have an authentic new, transformed mind predicated on the God’s attention to our need, we now see. Lastly, we fear and have trust in the LORD. It changes things when the key performance indicators are in place. We choose them…

Do you really believe?

Do you really believe? Is a question we all must be able to answer, not just with scripture rhetoric but heart, soul and mind (so there will be no scripture reference because you know them but believe them, well that is the point of this blog).

See we have this cognitive understanding, and we spew out the verses as if they are the absolute truths. Yet, when it occurs in our personal life, as it does, we begin to compartmentalize God omniscient power by our faltering and posturing. We begin to put our hands in the mix to assist the Father with His work. We seem to have forgotten what lane we are assigned to, and step into God’s way. Then we wonder why things did not work out, promises not fulfilled, or change didn’t come. We begin recruiting others with like minds and disposition who guide us down a path of easy going but chaotic end. Rather than say, I believe, and thou none one go with me, no one understands, and it seem like crazy on an ordinary day; don’t count me out. Yet, don’t count me in with the number of negative Nancies or Nathans. God does not appear in the ‘expect to see worldview’. God moves in the way, that makes no sense to our sensitive sensibilities. Transitioning with God is a messing matter because it does not fit in our conscious or unconscious seamless understanding of things; it is a new thing as we do not see what God sees. 

Now do you really believe the words that you speak, preach, teach, pray with, or do you need to shore up on some things…Choose this day, who you will believe to trust and obey God or man's way?