Reality?

She walks through reality

Of what she sees as life

All she knows is pain

She’s surrounded by strife

She tried to escape

But there was no way

Reality was too strong

And it truly made her pay

Suicide was not a success

All it earned was extra pain

A discouragement profound

And simply more shame

But then she met love

A power so strong and deep

She met the Lord her God

A love that made her weep

But now she is in a mess

She doesn’t know how

To truly absorb that love

And still live in the now

Two realities fighting

In the depth of who she is

She knows what she sees

And wonders how it’s His

Two realities are pulling

At the core of who she is

Can she let go of what she sees

To the truth of what He says

Finally she purposefully lets go

Of all that experience screams

She steps into the unknown

Into His true place of dreams

Is she going crazy?

She truly doesn’t know

She really doesn’t care

His reality has to show

So she cries as she waits

In the place of the unknown

She waits for her lover

So silent and alone

Faith

            I’ve been wrestling with the concept of faith for the last couple of weeks. I don’t think I understand it, it is such a deep subject, but there are some thoughts that I have had. I figured I would write them out.

I guess I will start with Luke 17:5. The disciples see their lack of faith, and cry out to God “Increase our faith!”, Jesus’ response is a little strange. He doesn’t give them a “yes” or a “no”, or something they can do. He basically tells them that they don’t need more faith. He says “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you”. A mustard seed is very small, so it would seem that it’s not about the amount of faith. It is not more faith that they need, but something else.

I started looking to the following verses to find what that “something else” could be. Vs 7-10 states “Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” This section of scripture has always puzzled me. I thought it was referring to us as God’s servants, specifically because of the last verse. But I began to think about it in another way. What if the servant is creation, and we are the Master? That we have authority over creation and it must obey us. The miraculous then should not be shocking, it should be expected, like a servant simply doing his duty. It seemed like somewhat of a radical thought, but I decided to search it out more.

First I came to Psalm 8:4-8 “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.” This verse basically states that God has given us authority over all of creation. God has made us the master, creation is the servant.

I still wanted more, especially in regards to authority, so I looked up Luke 7 where Jesus was going to the centurion to pray for his servant. “He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: ‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come’, and he comes. I say to this servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, ‘I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.’ Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.” Vs 6-10. Why did Jesus say that the centurion had such great faith? It was because he understood authority. He knew that all it took was one word from someone who had authority, and he knew that Jesus had the authority. I find it interesting that in the first passage when the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, he also talked to them about authority.

What is it about authority that we do not understand? The centurion knew that Jesus had authority, and that’s where his faith came from. Do we need to know that we have authority? Jesus says in Luke 10:18 “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Is our problem not necessarily that we need more faith, but we need to use the faith that we do have; we need to see and understand the authority that Jesus has already given us?

Or to put another spin on it, what about the fact that Jesus is in us? John 14:20 “On that day (when Holy Spirit comes) you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”. So, if Jesus is in us, would that not mean that all the authority that he has would be inside of us as well? Maybe it’s not even realizing our own authority, but realizing His authority, and the power of that authority inside of us.

So could it be that faith for the miraculous is not so much about trying harder to “believe” in something, but simply understanding our authority. It is understanding “his incomparably great power for us who believe” Ephesians 1:19; knowing that we already believe in his ability to do it, we now need to believe in our ability to walk in it.

Fire Walk

I walk down the path

The path of pain, the path of fire

And I really wonder why

These flames keep getting higher

The pain is so intense, so raw

It scalds my entire being

Deeper and deeper it burns

These flames are seething

I run and I try to hide

I scream and I wretchedly cry

I fight and violently shake

I really don’t understand the why

Is this what love looks like

Is that what I’m called to

Is this the pain of what it is

And all that it has to do

Jesus I’m looking to you

You are the perfect picture

In love you gave everything

In devotion you were sure

Your love goes far deeper

Than any pain I can see

Your love is far greater

I know it covers me

The flames are subsiding

I’m finally seeing your grace

My selfishness is gone

With only ashes in its place

I pick up those ashes

And in brokenness I turn

I give this gift to you

It’s the love I had to learn

I have nothing else

Nothing left to give

But my undying love

And the ashes on my grave

Focus on what you have.

We live in a world of great excess. We have so much that we do not need. My question is, what do we focus on? How much do we focus on what we want rather than what we have? How much of our lives are run by “more, more, more”? I was sitting one day thinking, and I believe God downloaded something into my heart. That was the verse, “He who has will be given more, and he who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” I wondered about that verse, and decided to look it up. It actually occurs five times in the New Testament in three different contexts. It’s not just something that Jesus stated once. It is something that he used frequently in his teachings. So why? What is the significance of it? Why was it so important to Jesus?

I was pondering this for a time, and believe I got a revelation on it. It is about what we focus on! Are we focusing on what we have, or on that which we do not have? If we are focusing on that which we have, the gifts God has given us, we will use them, and in the using we are given more. But if we are only spending our time looking at those things in which we lack in our lives, the things where we don’t have, we forget to focus on those gifts he has given us, and in so doing they are taken away.

Let me explain it this way. If I have a friend who is deeply struggling with something, I can look at her situation and say “I just don’t know what to do”, and in that helplessness I do nothing. Or I can look at her situation and say “There are some things that I can do”. I focus on that which I can do, even if it looks like it is something really small, and in so doing, I am given more that I can do. I can make a greater impact then I even imagined. It’s not in the big things that we do in life; it is about those little things. So if we focus on those little things that we can do, and do them, the big things will be accomplished. If we focus on our lack, we will not do those little things, and the big things never come to pass. Don’t look at a situation and think it is too big; look at a situation and think “What is there that I CAN do in this situation”, and then go and do that!

This principle applies to many areas of our lives, not just in situations. What about our relationship with God? I have always struggled with looking at that which I do not have. I always want more. But what if I looked at those things that I do have; those things that God has blessed me with, and was thankful for them? I started making an effort to do that, and the result has been astounding! First of all, I feel thankful because God has given me so incredibly much, and secondly, God has been pouring himself out more and more into me as I give that thanksgiving. He truly is giving me more, as I’m looking at that which I do have.

I have found this to be a powerful principle in my life, and I wanted to share it to inspire you as well! Focus on what you have, God WILL give you more. Focus on what you can do, that is what builds your faith! Don’t focus on your lack, that kills faith.  

I want to see you

God I want to see you

In the life that I live

I long to feel your touch

In what you have to give

But I’m afraid there are times

When my vision is not so clear

I do not see you moving

And I give in to fear

I see the loss in this life

I see the rejection and the pain

I don’t understand

What is there to gain?

But I need to remember

It’s not about here and now

I’m living for eternity

For my future somehow

God I look to you

Even when I do not see

I surrender all to you,

The things that I want to be

I pray that you show me

Yourself in the place

I need to have your touch

Oh Daddy, I need your grace

Thank you that you are here

Even when I do not feel you

Even if it doesn’t seem like it

I know your promises are true

This World Has Nothing for Me

This world has nothing for me

I’m learning to let go

This world is full of sorrow

More than one can know

This world has nothing for me

All I see is pain

This world with all its pleasures

I see nothing for me to gain

I’m chasing after Jesus

Cause he truly is my all

I’m leaving all behind

To simply follow my call

I don’t know what it looks like

Or how to decipher this world

But I’m following my Jesus

On Him my burdens hurled

I choose to look to heaven

Where worship will abound

I’m looking to my future

I’m not looking around

Cause this world has nothing for me

But broken dreams and thoughts

I’m fighting for my Jesus

Because for me he has fought

I give my passion to Him

With everything that I got

I feel I have nothing in me

But I give as I’ve been taught

This world has nothing for me

I’ve decided to let it go

There is nothing to be desired

So into His Kingdom I will sow

Decisions

There are some times in life when everything just seems to be confused. There are some decisions that just seem too big to make. There are questions that just don’t seem to have answers. There are times when you know God is there, but He just seems to be silent. What do you do in those times? Do you just wait them out? Do you just stand on faith and believe that you will get through and just wait? Or are we called to fight? Are we called to fight for the truth? Are we called to fight for what we believe is right? How do we know? How do we know how to say “no” to some things, and “yes” to others? How do we know what it is that God is saying when we don’t hear his voice? How do we know when we don’t understand which way is up. Do we just stand and wait, or do we fight for that knowledge?

I believe that there is direction! I believe that there is direction in Christ! I believe that there may be a battle, but the war is already won! I believe that even when we don’t see what way is up, when we don’t know which way we are to go, we can trust on the promises of God. We can trust his word! He says in Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” That means to me that we can plan all that we want, we can get stressed, we can try so hard to do what is “right”, but in the end, the Lord will prevail. Why do we get so worried? Look at Proverbs 16:9 “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps”. Very much the same concept; we can even try to do something against God, we can be independent and try to plan our own way, but God still is the one who is determining our footsteps. Why do we worry so much? God has promised us guidance. Look at Isaiah 30:20, 21 “Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it”.

            He will be there for us, especially when we are looking to follow him. Take a look at Matthew 6:33,34 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”. Or Proverbs 3:5,6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight”.  Those are some pretty amazing promises. I think instead of trying so hard to plan which way we are going in life, let’s just take some time going after God. I think what we need more than anything is closeness to God.

Proverbs 16:33 states “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” He is the one that plans our footsteps. Jeremiah 10:23 says “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps” According to these verses, it is not even our job to plan our steps. God is the one who is directing us. All we got to do is simply rest in him. I like the way that Psalm 37:3-6 states it “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun”. We don’t have to do a whole lot, just delight ourselves in the Lord; trust completely in him. Stop having so much faith in our own capability to make decisions and trust in God’s.

Can we stop spending all our time worrying about which way is up; worrying about hearing God’s voice; worrying about whether to say “yes” or “no” to things in life, and just spend some real quality time with Him? Can we focus on what really matters and trust him to take care of the rest? I know, I know, all that comes up is the but… but… but… what about this decision that needs to be made today? What about the money that I have to have tomorrow? What about the person I have to give an answer to? What about the business that I want to start? Just stop thinking about these questions for a moment and start meditating on the verses above. Once we truly let go, I believe that God will make the answers abundantly clear to us. Look at the promises, meditate on the verses, and then step out and do something! Stop spending your time wallowing in your own indecision. Make a decision, and then stand on it by faith. By faith believing that the above promises really are true and that He WILL guide us! Don’t be so afraid to make a mistake! There IS victory in Christ!

Gandi… Wow, I just watched the movie last night, and it powerfully impacted me. What impressed me the most was the power of influence. Gandi did not just live for his own life. He did not just try to be the best person that he could be in himself; he went out to influence people. Imagine telling an entire nation not to fight. Imagine trying to impact that many people, to tell that many people that it is for their benefit that they lay down their anger and do not resist those that are against them with bloodshed. Imagine telling an angry mob that they should not fight! And then imagine actually believing that they will listen! Wow. Gandi knew what he believed, and he knew it so strongly that he was not afraid to tell the entire nation to live it. Imagine the doubt that must have went through his mind. Imagine how he could have questioned “What if I am wrong?” But he simply stood strong on his position, and he literally changed a nation. He caused a nation to quit fighting simply by believing it was possible and living that belief out!

            Imagine believing so strongly in your cause that you do not only live it, but you also influence others to live it!  I am deeply challenged. I live my life generally feeling like I am only responsible for myself. I allow others to have their own beliefs, and live their own lives even if I feel like they are completely wrong. I do not seek to impact. I allow the Bible and the words that I read to impact only myself, I do not seek to allow them to impact those around me. I see the life of Gandi, and I see the incredible power of influence. By myself I can make a small difference in the world around me, but if I seek to influence others, if I seek to make my life a call to others to follow Jesus as well, then I can make a huge difference in the world. There is such an incredible power in influence! I have realized that I am so wrong, so terribly wrong. My job is not just to live for myself, its not just to follow Christ myself the best that I can. It is to influence.

            My challenge and my question today is, how strongly do you believe in Jesus Christ? How strongly do you believe in his power to change lives? And are you willing to allow that belief to permeate who you are so strongly that you are willing to actually take responsibility for leading a nation in that direction? There can be no questioning “What if I am wrong?” You must be so strong on your position that you believe without a shadow of a doubt that you are leading many people in the right direction.

            It is not until we are that strong on our beliefs that we can make an impact. But if we can say “I know whom I have believed”, and truly mean it, I believe that we can change a nation. Psalm 2:8 says “Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” God wants to give us the nations, but we got to believe him! Are we willing to stand on what we believe, to be confident enough in the truth of it that we are willing to impact nations? How big do we believe that our God is?

Purpose within longings

I was thinking today, thinking about purpose. Like what is my purpose here on earth? I’m sure that is a question that has been asked many times, by many different people. What is my purpose? Is my purpose simply to enjoy life, to do all that I can do to make sure that my life is comfortable, or does my purpose possibly go deeper than that?

I look around me, and I see so many people. People all going for some dream, or longing for something or wishing life was different in some way, and I wonder, what is the purpose in that? I’m not saying that to have desires in life is wrong. I do not think that it is at all, I believe, in fact, that God wired us with desires. He wired us to long for things, to dream for things, to live, and to love. But I guess I just had a thought, and maybe it’s not that great of a thought, but could my purpose be found in those longings? I mean the unmet ones? My question is not if the fulfillment of those longing could help me find my purpose, but that simply the existence of those unmet longings are my purpose?

Let me try to explain. The existence of unmet longings makes me more aware of my pain. They allow me to see those things in life that I want; I long for, but maybe never will have. Now once I see that pain I have two choices; either focus on the pain and try to do everything that I can to alleviate it, or focus on God. Focus on God may seem like a cliché answer, but bear with me.

Pain, rejection, losing someone, loving, but not being loved in return, losing what you have fought for all your life, lonliness; these are some of the greatest things that cause us pain in life. But could it be that these are the things that make the greatest gift to God?  Is it possible that we can thank God for these things because they give us the opportunity to bring more glory to his name? Is there more depth to a trial then the trial itself?

Maybe, in these longings our job is not to do all that we can do to get rid of the longing, to find a solution, to fix the relationship, to get what we want. Maybe our job is simply to find out how to have joy and peace in God throughout the trial. Maybe our focus is totally wrong. I know there are things that we want, and we want them really bad, and then those things become our focus instread of God. But God has said that he is enough for us. That means that he is enough! That means that no matter how deep a longing can be in our hearts, our purpose is not to fulfull that longing, but to find God in a way that goes deeper than that longing.

I believe that the root of all of our longings in some way is God. So instead of focusing on that longing, why don’t we allow ourself to let go of the longing and focus on God? This may sound overly simplistic for those who are truly struggling with huge loss, with legitimate struggles, with pain that is unexpressable. But I believe that God can go deeper than even that. These struggles are indeed a gift from God, an opportunity to truly find Him in a deeper way. Paul stated that he learned to be content in any and every situation. That truly is a gift. Can we learn to find our contentment within our circumstances, within the places that we have that pain? Can we find our purpose in God within our longings?

The Mirror

          
           The word is like a mirror is it not? I have been looking into the word, I have been reading it, I have been studying it. But I haven't really been seeing my reflection in it. Maybe I am not reading it in the right way?

            So when I look at verses like James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world". I wonder how much of me this reflects. How much do I actually look after those widows and orphans? I'm so wrapped up in my own life that I forget to see those around me! This world is so incredibly full of needy people.   

            Then there is the verse that states that we are to remain in him. John 15:5 "If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing". And I wonder, how much am I actually remaining in him? He says that "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you" (John 15:7). I don't see that happening in my life. I have been asking, but I have not yet been receiving. Is that a good indication of the fact that I am not yet remaining in him?

            And then what about 1 John 3:6 "no one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him." And I realize that there is still a lot of sin in my life. I do continue to sin. I am not living the perfect life that I wish I was living! So does that mean that I have not even seen him?  

            So I'm looking at these verses, and there are so many more, and I'm realizing that I am really looking into a mirror. And I'm not really liking what I am seeing. I am seeing an imperfect human being with so incredibly many faults. I do not match up to what I want to see when I look at the word. I do not want to be like the man in James 1:23,24 "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like". Is that not the easy route? To realize we can never make it, and so give up and just continue on the way that we are living? Is there somehow another option?

            Then I realized that it doesn't stop there, and that is what can give me hope! James 1:25 states "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does". That is the man that I want to be! I want to continue to look intently into that perfect law, and then live in it!

            And I believe that the perfect law that gives freedom is not the traditional law that we look at. When Jesus died on the cross he made a new covenant with us. The rules to this new covenant are found in 1 John 3:23 "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us". Its actually pretty simple, but so incredibly complicated. But we just got to believe in the name of his Son. And when we do that, all of our sins are washed away!

            Hebrews 10:14 states that "by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy". So truly when I look into the mirror of the word, I need to look at this mirror with the sacrifice of Jesus in my mind. He has washed away all of my sins so before him I am completely perfect! So by the amazing grace of God, that mirror now only reflects His perfection.

            This is the only perfect law that could bring freedom! There is no way I could ever live up to the traditional law. Romans 3:23 states "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". I cannot, ever, by my own works make myself perfect. I can look into the mirror of the law all that I want, and try and try to "do" all these things written in it, but in the end I will only be condemning myself. It is not my righteousness that allows me to look intently into the perfect law and continue to live it in. It is the righteousness of Christ!

            Galatians 3:2 states "Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heart? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" And that is what I so easily do. I look into the traditional law and I try to be perfect, but when I step into faith, realizing that I am not perfect, nor can I ever make myself to be, then Jesus makes me perfect. Then I can look intently into the perfect law, I can live in it, I can keep it ever before my mind so I do not forget it, and I can know that I stand perfect before Christ. I can look into that mirror, and instead of seeing my own mess, I can see Christ's perfection. And then, through that faith (its the faith, not the works that count), I can be blessed in whatever I do.

Living on purpose

           So I was thinking the other day about living life. How much of it do we do on purpose? Now that may seem like a little bit of a funny question, but let me explain. Think about the things that really matter to you in life. The things that, in a way, define your life, these are the things that if people would ask you what really matters to you, you would think of first. To me, these are God, family, friends, relationships, people and ministry. Other people may have others. Then I wonder how much of the time do we really prioritize them? Like do we fit these things into our lives on purpose, or do they just happen to somehow, maybe, fit in around everything else around us?

            Its easy, its so easy just to take life as it comes, and sometimes it does get crazy hectic and busy, and its all we can do just to keep our heads above water. But are we stopping and thinking about these things that are making us busy, and really analyzing whether or not we want them to take precedence in our lives? Are we really living on purpose, or are we just letting life happen to us? Think about one of those things in life that you have just always wanted to do, but just never had time to actually get down to it and do it. Maybe we have to stop just long enough to actually think about what we do want in life. Maybe we have to take the time to live on purpose. Like maybe go for coffee with that person that we have always wanted to, but just didn't get a chance to. Or go hang out with a family member. Or most importantly, purposefully take the time to spend with God.

            I don't want us  to just let life happen to us. I want us to actually decide what we want, and then go for it. I want to see us bulding relationships on purpose, not just to let them happen, if they do. I want our lives to be defined by purposeful choices, not just default choices. Can we each take the time to choose what we really want, and then live our lives on purpose in that direction? Can we find and define our values and then live for them, instead of whatever comes our way? Can we actually truly live our lives on purpose?

Are you thirsty?

I was thinking about hunger and thirst this morning, and how I always feel that I am so hungry for God, or that I am so thirsty for God. But God has promised in Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” I would take that as a promise. I have many times taken that as a promise and even quoted it for others. I see in others a hunger and I am assured that God will fill them. But then I question, why do we not see that filling more often? Why does it seem like this world is so incredibly full of hungry people, but I do not see very many filled ones? Are we missing something?

I look up John 7:37b-38 “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” Now that is a promise! That’s an incredible promise! All we have to do is come to him and drink if we are thirsty. Is that maybe our problem? We do not know how to come? I wonder why are we sitting here out in the desert crying out that we are thirsty when God has promised us water? And then he says that if we believe in him those streams of water will flow from within us! Now that is powerful! So, is our hunger and our thirst simply because of a lack of believing in him? We don’t know, or believe who he is, we don’t truly understand his power and his ability to fulfill us, so we sit in starvation waiting to be filled? Could our problem be that we just don’t know how to come?

John 4: 13,14 says “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, that water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” So that promise is very similar. The water that God gives is a spring of water. It is something that never ever stops. So in other words once we truly come to God, we should never thirst again. I meditate on this promise and it is so unbelievably powerful. The water that Jesus gives is a spring of water! So when I have that spring inside me, I can flow out to other people and I will never run dry. That is an amazing powerful spring of water!

So then why am I still always so thirsty for more of God? Why have I not seen that spring in my life? Why do I not feel satisfied in him at times? I believe that it could be because I don’t come to him. I don’t come to him in faith that he WILL fill me. I don’t believe these promises. Can I come to him and believe that he truly is able to fill me, to not only fill me, but to allow that spring of water to well up within me? Can I believe that my father truly is good, and that he wants to fill me?

Once those streams of water flow within me, they got to come out! You cannot have a continuous stream inside of you. Eventually you will explode. When we truly commune with God, those streams of water start to flow, and they got to come out! God longs to fill you, can you come to him in faith and believe that he will?

Vision

I was just thinking about vision this morning, and I realized how much power there is in vision. I see people, many people in this life that do not have vision. There are people who simply work their nine to five job every day for years. They do it cause that is life. They do not stop to think about life, or their purpose. I am not saying this to be judgemental, because I do the same thing at times. But it makes me wonder. Where is their vision? Where is my vision? Why do I do the things I do? I think it is a very good question to consider. Am I doing what I do just because it is what is in front of me, or is there a deeper purpose? How many times do I actually just sit down and think about what the deeper meaning in all this is?

            I am not saying all this to get into depression or discouragement. I think that we need to realize more what our vision in life is. I think if we do not have a vision we need to start praying and asking God to show us a vision for our lives. We only have one life to live. Are we going to simply sit by and just do that which is in front of us to do, or are we going to live with passion, excitement, and vision; with a purpose and a passion for that purpose. I believe that every single person on this earth has a specific purpose for which they can get incredibly passionate about. So are we going to search for that vision, or are we going to let life pass us by simply because it is the easier path to take?

            I want to encourage others to find their vision. I believe very strongly that everyone can find vision. Vision makes life worth living. When we are passionate about what we are doing we become more passionate about God. I believe living with vision is one of the most spiritual things that we can do! I want to just sit down for a while, take some time to just think, and analyze what I am passionate about. Then start to dream. Think about this question “if you were guaranteed that you would succeed in anything you tried, what would you do”? Or, “If money was not a limiting factor, what would you do”? Those are the type of questions that pull out your vision.

            We are limited in our vision because we are so afraid of failure. We limit ourselves because of our fear of not having enough money. We bind ourselves because we look only at our limitations instead of our capabilities. I believe this is why there are so many of us who live without a vision. We are paralyzed by fear. But I think we need to start to allow ourselves to dream! Allow vision to open our eyes to possibilities.

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.  ~Howard Thurman

Busyness in life

Sometimes I question, why do we get so busy in life? I see people, many people, people all around me, each with their dreams, each with their plans, each with their lives to live, but each with a focus on themselves. Where does God fit into this picture? I see sometimes the culture of third-world countries. They don’t have the technology that we do. They don’t have the ability to get more accomplished in less time like we do. But they are never hurried. You see them all the time just chilling with each other, just hanging out on the side of the road. Why are they not too busy? And then I wonder, just what is their life like? I would love to just spend a month or so living in one of their homes. I want to see what poverty is like, but also I want to see what relationship is like. Sometimes I wonder if they actually have more than we do in the end. Are their lives richer than ours because they take the time for relationship? Does all our busyness really matter in the end?

 I was thinking today, there really are only two things that will last for eternity, and that is relationship with God, and relationship with people. Why then do we care so much about everything else? Shouldn’t we just focus on what is really important? Or how many times do we actually take the time out of our busyness to think about what is important? I do this myself, all of the time. I get myself so busy that I do not have to think. But I don’t want to do that. I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with being busy, but it is when that busyness takes priority over living life that it becomes wrong. Let me rephrase that. When we are so busy doing that we don’t have time to actually be with God while we are doing, then we are running into our busyness as a way to hide from God. Should God not be a part of everything that we do in our day? Can we not do everything that we do with him? But we forget do we not? We spend our “time” with God in the morning and then we are free for the rest of the day. Free from guilt because we put in our “time”.

But what about relationship? I want to see God as an integral part of absolutely everything that I do in my day! I want to see God in the relationships that I have with those around me. Isn’t that what God put people around us for? For us to find God in them? For us to live out love toward them? For us to express God? I believe there is something far deeper than what we see, in every single relationship that we have. Relationships are a spiritual experience. So then why do we get too busy for those relationships? I go back to my original question, what do we think is so important in life that we forfeit the things that matter the most?