He said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says: ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’ – Jeremiah 42:9-12
Sometimes obedience isn’t an easy thing. Sure, it sounds great when we think about the things that God tells us when it comes to pursuing our dreams. It is awesome to think about how our obedience can lead to us reaping rewards that we have always dreamed about.
But what if those same tasks that God has given us cause us to confront things that we don’t want to see?
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ – Jeremiah 6:16
Sometimes it is hard to see where you are going. In the famous Psalm 23 David talks about walking in the valley of the shadow of death. But then he said that he will fear no evil because God is with him.
Let’s make 2011 the best year yet. Every day is a new day to take another step forward on the path toward our dreams.
With this in mind I thought I would help us get 2011 started off on the right foot. Here are some of my and your favorite posts from last year on faith and pursuing our dreams. Check them out and be encouraged!
Let’s work together to make these dreams become a reality. And never forget, if you can see it in your dreams then it can become the live that you live. Believe, work hard and have courage in the face of fear.
I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. - 2 Corinthians 10:2-4
If it’s not already abundantly clear, Paul was a spiritual gangsta.
Does anyone else hear the swagger in his voice when you read those words? Maybe it’s just me but good gracious. Paul wasn’t playing games with nobody.
But you know what this makes me think of? It makes me think of the idea of turning the other cheek.
It is one of those ideas that sounds totally and completely crazy on the surface but it is what Jesus instructed folks to do. We saw this strategy at work in the civil rights movement as folks braved police dogs, lynch mobs, sit ins and fire hoses without fighting back. They allowed their love to be the weapon used to defeat hate.
And when it comes down to it that is the foundation of the weapons that Paul is talking about. When we have love in our hearts combined with the faith necessary to fuel our actions then the terms of our battles change. We make all conventional weapons of this world obsolete. Their power melts in the face of love.
And through this love it is possible to fight battles and wage wars that build rather than just destroy. Through violence we can never accomplish peace. All we can do is destroy and then dominate what we have taken over.
But with love we may break down walls and destroy strongholds. This isn’t done with bombs or bullets. It is done through forgiveness, sacrifice and grace.
I wonder what the world would be like if all of the disgruntled and frustrated folks decided to fight their situations with love. How would the world change? What would the new rules of engagement be? I believe this world would be one of boundless possibilities. New horizons would be cut out of old, desolate landscapes of unforgiveness. And the rays of new hope would shine brightly to warm the mornings of tomorrow.
I’m foolish enough to believe that these kinds of things are possible. I believe in the power of each individual to change the world around them. If each of us decide to stop living in fear, and start living in love, then we can’t help but to start a cleansing fire that will overtake the world. The old trees of fear that choke the futures of so many of us will make way for new seedlings of hope for our future.
Today is a new day. Plant a seed and watch it grow.
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:37-39
I love this. Paul is so absolutely ride or die with his faith. This is one of those spiritual pep talk scriptures for Christians.
But there is an important thing to remember here. The part of this passage that hits me the hardest is “through Him who loved us.”
Paul lists off all of these things that seem to be more powerful than us: death, life, angels, principalities, powers. Against these things we are to be more than conquerors. We shall persevere through the trials of the present and the future. There is nothing that can separate us from God and what God has for us to do.
But this statement isn’t a statement of one’s own power. It is a statement of what we can do when we connect with the love of God. That’s what “through Him who loved us” means to me. When we tap into that love that goes beyond human understanding then nothing can stand in our way.
Proof of this for me is the example that I always go back to; the Civil Rights Movement. It must have seemed so strange when black folks in the south and their allies from various cultural backgrounds resisted the violent policies of Jim Crow intimidation with peaceful measures. I remember learning about it as a kid and thinking that it was crazy.
But I get it now. As King said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
It takes a love beyond my understanding to live like this; and for me, that love can only come from my connection to God.
It has not only been helpful in the extreme environment of social struggle but it can be helpful for all of us in our day to day lives. The same love that was required to turn the other cheek during the sit-ins is what powers our forgiveness of those who have wronged us. It is what allows us to take another chance on love when we have been hurt in the past. It is what allows us to reach out and help those in our lives who take more than they give.
The power of love cannot be defeated in and of itself. It only yields when we have lost our faith, when we have lost the courage to get up, carry on, and continue on love’s journey.
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. – Romans 7:14-15
I recently had lunch with two inspiring fellows, Jim and Joe. We were talking about all kinds of things related to our spirituality but there were two things from our time together that jumped out at me when I read the words above.
The first was a conversation that centered on hypocrites. They asked me how I came to where I am spiritually. I explained how some people who claim to be “Christian” are the same folks who seemed to be doing so much ill in this world. I had to understand how these people could claim faith in the same God that I believe in but act so contrary to what I believe. So, I dove back into the Bible for answers.
As we discussed this idea further Jim said something like this:
It is the hypocrites that are the courageous ones.
Wow.
Shortly after the meal was over we walked back toward my car. Jim bid Joe and I farewell and we were left to our own one on one conversation. We started talking about Hip-Hop and artists that we like and Joe brought up Kanye West. He said that one of the things he likes about Kanye is his honesty. Kanye discusses some Christian values in his songs but in a way that shows his struggle with them. And he does it for the whole world to see.
Kanye is one of my favorite artists today and someone that I actually look up to. These two exchanges are the reason why.
It takes courage to stand up and speak out for what you believe in.
Regardless of one’s particular faith, most of us have certain core concepts of decency that are shared across the board. We say that we believe in the golden rule: treat others the way we want to be treated. But even in this seemingly simple task all of us fail. We all have our moments where we fall short of this and the other standards we hold ourselves to.
This is why I am so impressed by those brave individuals who are outspoken about their beliefs. They speak candidly about the way they feel the world should be, knowing that they too cannot live up to their standard all of the time.
When they fall we trample upon them. We terrorize them with words of judgment and ridicule. We call them hypocrites for saying one thing and acting another way.
But aren’t we all hypocrites? Yes, we are.
It’s just that the majority of us don’t have the courage to step out in front of the world and loudly proclaim what we believe. And even fewer of us have the strength and courage to stand back up after we have fallen, after the world responds to our shortcomings and failures with slander and disdain.
Kanye is not perfect nor has he ever claimed to be. But the power of Kanye West is in his faithful courage. It is in his fearlessness to stand in front of all of us and speak his truth. It is in his audacity to stand back up again after he has fallen and proclaim his truth again and again.
Like many of his fans I am encouraged by his journey. I wish him the best and hope that he has the strength to maintain the courage he has shown us over the years.
You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are theynot in Your book? When I cry outto You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because Godisfor me. In God (I will praiseHisword), In the LORD (I will praiseHisword), In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?-Psalm 56:8-11
It’s interesting to me to see the change that happens from the first verse to the last. He starts off by talking about his tears and wanderings. Then he quickly proclaims what he believes God will do for him.
Maybe I’m wrong here , but I see doubt in all of these words. I see him in the last three verses trying to breathe life into his withered faith.
And on the real… I see nothing wrong with that.
Doubt is just another form of fear, and fear is a natural thing in our lives. There are many things to be afraid of. When we get up in the morning and go out into the world there is no guarantee that we will come back home again. There are very real things out there that are very dangerous. Often times , the fear that we have is logical and smart. It keeps us out of danger.
Here’s the catch though… we cannot let our fears and doubts stop us from living.
Don’t beat yourself up if you become afraid or doubtful. Just make sure that they don’t stop you from moving forward. Never stop searching for a way through. Continue to seek out understanding.
Because when we do persevere and overcome those doubts and fears , we will find that we have grown from them in ways that we never would have known.
We become brand new, and all the more capable of turning our dreams into reality.
(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) – Romans 2:13-15
This is one of the more fascinating things in the Bible.
I had a conversation with some folks recently about the whole Christianity, Jesus, salvation thing. They asked me what the Bible says about someone has never heard of Jesus? What then? Do they go to hell? That doesn’t seem right.
Well… read the passage above…. There’s your answer.
But what is more interesting to me is this notion that we are judged by what is in our hearts. It is whether or not someone shows the work of the law in their hearts, not what they say or do.
It is vey disappointing when we have people in our lives that say one thing and consistently act totally differently. Sure they might get over on folks in the beginning but reputations are not built by words. They are built by deeds. And not just deeds, but the consistent patterns that lie in the foundation of our actions.
These actions are dictated by our hearts. An angry and bitter person will only act nice for so long before that bitterness seeps out of its hiding place.
So it seems to me that the key here is to work on our hearts. If we look within and endeavor to grow in love and forgiveness for all of those around us, something magnificent will happen. Each decision to let go of the pain that we feel inside will result in an outpouring of love that will be there for the world to see through our actions.
The less pain we hold on to, the more love we can share.
This is one of the greatest challenges of life; forgiving when folks don’t deserve it, letting go without apology, trusting that the more we give love to the world, the more will come back to us.
It just takes that leap of faith to take that first courageous step.
So next time that you are struggling to forgive someone that has hurt you remember this. The quicker we are to forgive others, the more we will be able to give love. And in the giving of that love we in turn will receive more than we can imagine.
Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. "For the last fourteen days," he said, "you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven't eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head." After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. – Acts 27:33-36
So, in this part of our story Paul and friends are on a boat that is being tossed about the sea by some crazy winds and waves. Everyone thinks they are going to die; except for Paul, who received word from an angel that they’d be alright.
When everyone on the ship had given up hope, Paul came through with the words above. Instead of focusing on the current danger he wanted to help the crew prepare for the next day.
This made me think about how I am when I go through trials. I tend to be a worrier. I focus, at times, way too much on the bad of a situation rather than on the solutions that will help me grow in to the person I am supposed to be on the other side of the struggle. This is important to remember because a current hardship may set us on the wrong path if we let it.
Often times the mountains that we have to climb in the present are revealed as speed bumps when they have become part of our past. A trial always seems worse when we cannot see a way out of it. But we tend to find our way, sooner or later; often times after spending way more energy worrying about the trial than overcoming it.
No matter how rough things get, we must never stop preparing for the new day.
The new day will come no matter what. If we can learn to stop worrying, and spend that energy on endeavors that will prepare us for the next steps that we need to take, we will be much better off.
If you are down and out because you lost your job, don’t just look for a new one. Put together a budget so that you can prepare to get yourself back on track when that job comes. If you are sad because you are lonely and have been single for a long time don’t just go out into the world looking for a mate. While you are waiting on that special someone try to figure out why the last situation didn’t work. Do some soul searching. Read a book. Seek good counsel from folks that you trust.
This is hard to do because the pressures of today tend to blind us to what is coming tomorrow. But if we can become the masters of our worry and use that energy to relax and plan for better times, those better times will be much better indeed.
Wow… “for the sake of your name lead and guide me”.
There is something so striking about those words. It is not just their beauty, but also the force, power, love, affection, and faith behind them. What do they say about the relationship that the author had with God? When I read those words I feel like I am being let in on a secret conversation between two best friends, or two life companions. It is just so intimate to me.
The author is pleading for help. He is asking to be heard, listened to, and rescued. He is seeking salvation from life’s woes and has chosen to ask the one that he trusts the most for help in his time of need.
And that one is God.
I have never had faith that strong. In these types of moments I have always searched within myself rather than searching outside of me. And of course when those moments refused to relent I was forced to recognize that I didn’t have enough.
That’s what humility is I guess… a constant recognition that we are not alone, that we need help, and the courage to reach out from the solitude of self to find true power in the community of God and others.
I cannot wait to find out what life is like when I am able to fully let go; fully put my faith in God rather than myself or my fellow man. It’s funny because when my back gets pushed up against the wall and I decide to finally put my trust in God, miracles do happen.
It’s ok though… just like everything else in life, faith is a work in progress. It’s just amazing to see how far along the writer has come; and how far I need to go.
Psalms has always been one of those books that I have kind of taken for granted. It wasn’t until recently that I started to understand how valuable they are.
Proverbs are my bread and butter. Part of it comes from my background in philosophy and my outside studies of different books of wisdom. But also another part of it is the form that they are written in. The Proverbs are very specific and direct. They provide guidance, advice, and instruction in a way that is undeniable and unambiguous.
The psalms are quite different. I am starting to understand their importance in my life in a very specific way. They provide me with guidance but in an emotional and spiritual sense. This isn’t to say that the proverbs don’t do this, but the Psalms speak directly to my heart. Much like Job, they articulate things that I have felt but couldn’t express. They are filled with joy and sadness, pain and pleasure, fear and courage.
They are a collection of the range of human experiences and emotions. It is impossible for anyone to read them and not see themselves in at least one of them.
That’s pretty powerful for works that are thousands of years old.
It wasn’t until I started really facing my feelings and my fears in an honest way that I was able to feel what the psalms were talking about. The honesty in them requires a certain level of openness and courage within the reader to face all aspects of who they are. That is something that I am still working on.
So hopefully you will enjoy them as I am learning to and feel free to teach me what I don’t know.
Cause oh buddy is there a whole heck of a lot that I don’t know.
When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. Acts 9:26-27
You couldn’t have paid me to accept Paul into the fam if I was one of the original disciples.
No sir.
He was a major enemy of The Way. He was the main cat going after them, trying to persecute them into abandoning the faith. And now this Johnny come lately is all of the sudden trying to be on their team? Is he a spy? What are his motivations?
This man is not to be trusted.
It makes me wonder... What in the heck did he say to Barnabas to sell him on the fact that he was trustworthy? I imagine that he had to put in substantial work to get in his good graces. He’d have had to sweep the floors, do some heavy lifting, clean the kitchen…
Man, he’d have had to really humble himself for a cool minute.
Of course he was doing what he was supposed to do so God made a way for him to enter the fam; but oh buddy would my intellect have gotten in the way of accepting him.
It’s a good thing that we don’t just experience life through the prism of the mind. We have our physical senses, our emotions, and most importantly our spirits.
Our intellect tries to interpret the world based upon knowledge… and knowledge, by virtue of the fact that it focuses on the past, is dead. Is there anything that we “know” that still “is”?
Things like love, trust, courage, and hope may be supported by our intellect and knowledge but when you think about it, knowledge is not the foundation of these things.
Faith is.
The most important things in life are not known, they are lived. And to truly live is to believe.
It is through faith that we can activate the core of who we are and engage in the now. Without this faculty we are limited to experiencing life through the view of the past. We are limited to viewing life through what we think we know, rather than what actually is.
Living in the present is a tall task. After all, there is more comfort in the predictability of the past.
But once we realize that this predictability, this sense of control, is an illusion; we can be free to open our hearts and spirits to the present and all of the magic that it contains.
Even if in that present we are challenged to accept a person or thing that doesn’t seem worthy of our acceptance…
Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the LORD his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered. 2 Chronicles 31: 20-21
So I was chillin the other day in a flu induced stupor and I started thinking about some things. There’s nothing like the flu to get you to start thinking about life.
I’m one of those people that stays running around in entirely too many directions. I try my best to meditate, focus and all of that good stuff; but sometimes I lose track of what is important while chasing the urgent things in life.
The flu sure fixed me man…
On Monday I was trying to push myself through work while shivering from fever induced chills and I started thinking… man, this ain’t right.
So I stopped, chilled for a minute, and then that little voice spoke to me.
Not the one that tries to lead you astray but the ones that tries to get you to do the things that you have always wanted to do but were too scared to try.
Well yeah, we actually had a bit of a conversation. It went something like this.
Little Voice (LV): What up homie.
Me: Sigh… you again huh… You always come around when I’m laid out.
LV: I been here fool… you’re the one who chooses not to listen.
Me: Touche… what’s good?
LV: When are you going to do what I say?
Me: *crickets*
LV: I have a challenge for you… why don’t you try to do what I say without question for the next month or two and see what happens.
Me: That again huh?
LV: You’re hard headed… you should have been listening.
Me: Touche again… I’ll shut up now.
So yeah. That’s what I’m gonna do. The first time I did this I ended up reading the Bible from cover to cover. The last time I did this I started this blog. Who knows what this next time will bring… but one this is for certain… gotta live life to the fullest.
Life is about stepping out on faith... challenging ourselves to follow that little voice inside that whispers our dreams.
So… let’s get it!
Stay tuned for periodic updates. I’ll be sure to share the miracles when they come.
“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 27 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.” - 2 Chronicles 6:26-27
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"
David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD.– 2 Samuel 6: 20-23
For a long while I was ashamed to identify myself as a Christian.
This had nothing to do with my faith in Jesus; that never wavered. But it did have a whole lot to do with how popular culture viewed “Christians”.
The 2000s were an interesting time for me. There was so much change. I went to college, 9/11 happened, I studied abroad in Brazil, I graduated college and entered the “real world” trying to figure out what kind of man I would be.
It was at this time that my Stepdad told me something that I’ll never forget. “This is the time in your life when you decide what kind of man you will be.”
I believe that we are always becoming who we will be in the future but he did have a point. It was one of those crucial turning points.
But as I really started to think about my spirituality I started looking around at the world got confused. I saw wars being waged in Jesus’ name, an epidemic of child abuse in the Catholic church, and many other fellow Christians being led astray by media designed pull at their spiritual heart strings.
And if that weren’t enough, how about the absurdly dogmatic hypocrites making the lives of “sinners” miserable while these same church leaders were guilty of the same sins…
Sigh…
I was frustrated and hurt. Where are the good Christians? Where are the “love your neighbor as yourself” Christians? Where are the Christians who will admit that they don’t have all of the answers; the ones who aren’t scared to ask questions?
Where are the other folks who just want to be the best that they can be and to spread their love to those around them.
You know what I finally realized?
What me and God have going has NOTHING to do with any of these folks.
When I figured out that I was focusing on the wrong things, that I was focusing on other people rather than going straight to God with my questions and concerns things got a lot easier.
God answered with the quickness.
It became easier for me to be like David, to dance and sing and enjoy the life that I have been blessed to live.
Because, when it comes down to it, only God can judge me… being concerned about what others think or do can only distract from what I need to do.
Now I feel free to be the Christian that I am, not the one that others try to make me into, to fit their frame of mind.
