Toy Soldiers

"I want to get away, I want to fly away...yeah, yeah, yeah."

Im so sorry for the hurt I've caused you. Life is so fragile. Life is like a car going 200 mph, where a tiny stone in the road could potentially throw us off course. Again, life is also like a frog in hot water. If you place him in hot water he will immediately jump out to save his life, but if you put him in room temperature water and then turn the heat up underneath him gradually, by the time he realizes he is in danger, he would have already been killed by the boiling water.

Why am I saying these things? Im saying them because I need a reality check! The long short of it is simply this: I cant live my life the way I want to! In fact, its not my life in the first place! When my life was surrendered to Jesus Christ, I in essence said, "More of you, less of me." Right about now, it doesn't feel like it's about Him at all. Ask me the last time I read my Bible. Well, last night I finally picked it up, but before then it was weeks! See that's a big deal. Let me show you why. How many days can you go without drinking water of kind? Personally, I cant go a day. If we stop drinking water, we'll eventually get dehydrated and die. So what Im saying is, the Bible is "Living Water" and right about now I am feeling spiritually dehydrated.

How did this happen? Well, it was a process. It's like when you pull a flower out of the ground. Even days after the flower's root has been disconnected from the ground, it can still look alive. But after a couple weeks, you notice the leaves start to wither, and the flowers start to fall off, and the overall color begins to change from the vibrant greens, yellows and reds, to a deathly, dried, brown and black. In a nutshell, thats how we become spiritually dehydrated. We think we're doing just fine by not staying in the Bible, by not being grounded in what we know is Truth, but really we're already dead, and we're just lookin "righteous".

Well, I'm tired of looking the part, Im tired of playing the part, day by day, I want to live the part. See, we all have patience as long as there isn't a reason to be anxious. We all have love so long as there isn't a reason to hate. We all have joy as long as there isn't a reason to be depressed. Well, thats not really patience, love or joy even though from the outside it sure does look like it. Just like Im not really righteous just because it looks like it. When trials and unbearable circumstances come, when we've lost a job, a loved one or just feel like life isn't fair. Its when we can experience these things yet still say, "though He slay me, I will still trust Him." It's knowing that we are taken care of every step of the way; and because of this we can do things with the strength of God where anyone else in our shoes would simply die. It's not us, it's simply His power in us.

Righteousness is simply being in right standing with God. Anyone can be in right standing with Him when were isolated from the world, but the true test of righteousness comes when we are mixed in a world filled with sin, and our actions become our greatest asset and tool for the Kingdom of God.

Good To Be Back

Wow. It’s been a while. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. A lot of trials, a lot of disturbances, a lot of turbulence, a lot of strain, a lot of stress. Yeah, I know, “good Christians” aren’t supposed to talk about how stressed out they are, cuz’ if they’re stressed that means they are defeated, right? Yeah, ok, let me know how that works for you. The fact is, it doesn’t work for anyone; keeping those feelings inside and letting them boil does nothing to help us overcome them. Just ask king David, or better yet read the book of Psalms [um, that’s in the Bible for my non-Bible reader friends.. I’m sure to hear about that comment later lol] But in Psalms we see David, better yet the straight forward and unadulterated heart of one that was considered a man after God’s own heart. So, let’s step back a minute. WE say don’t talk about being stressed and how pressed we feel because we are supposed to “name and claim” the way we ought to feel. David, the one whom God considers a man after His own heart, pours his heart out beyond tears subjecting himself to a realm of utter weakness and depression, only to be raised up EVERYTIME even stronger than he was before.

So, who’s report do you believe? God’s Word, or our fellow “Christian” do-gooders?

All I know, is that the road hasn’t been easy, and quite frankly, it shouldn’t. There was a time in my life when I was on EASY St. [I still live on NO WORRIES Blvd. however] but those days are gone, and I really don’t miss them. Life then was way too stagnant for my liking, but because my focus wasn’t entirely on Christ, I tolerated a lot of things and mediocrity began settling in. But now, I experience way too much turbulence to say I have a mediocre life. I’ve learned, first hand, that the minute you start to do something with your life, people hate you, try to pull you down, lie about you, or better yet, try to be your best friend. All of these we have to watch out for because satan does what he can to move our eyes off of Jesus, and onto the situation or circumstances at hand. See, satan can’t stop the plans and purpose of God for our individual lives, only we can. So, if he can cause things to be thrown right in front of you, and you choose to let your circumstances get the best of you, then satan has done his job in being a deceiver and destroyer. PEOPLE!! I hope you just heard that, because satan doesn’t want you to know that he really doesn’t have any power over your life except the power YOU give him! Do you know why people are demon possessed? Do you know why we live in bondages daily? Do you know why we live defeated lives? BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN DECEIVED!

I know personally I’ve been deceived many times, and even today I have to be so careful with where I put my focus. It’s kinda like driving 120 mph on the high way [not that I’m, um admitting to going that fast on an actual highway] taking my eyes off the road for a split second to pick up my cell that dropped could mean the difference between life and death. Well, 120 mph is about how fast many of our lives are going, and there are many things that try to take the place of where our main focus should be. The thing is, why do I care that my cell phone dropped on the floor? Well, my mind tells me that oh, I might miss an important phone call so I better pick it up. What my mind should tell me is that oh, you pick up that cell phone right about now and it could be the last thing you ever pick up again! Do you see how easily we can be deceived? Yeah, I know you were probably thinking about huge matters in your life where you might be deceived, but satan is sneaky, even driving a car he wants to mess with your mind.

The good news is however, that God sends His angels with us wherever we go. I’ve had some close calls, but the point is, they were just that, close. Angels step into our lives many times during the day and thwart away a lot of evil that we cant see with our physical eyes. That’s a reason why 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 can tell us that the will of God for our lives is to pray always, be thankful always and to be joyous always. It’s not a pipe dream, it’s not an impossibility to be that way, it’s very much a reality. But it all boils down to, “focus”. If we are focusing on our problems then 1 Thessalonians isn’t a reality. But if we keep our focus on Christ, a joyous life is certainly a given.