Light, it shuts out darkness. It can be blaring in the morning when you wake up. It can be invigorating from the sun. Lights can be dimmed to set a calming ambiance or can be shone to set the tone for an atmosphere. It can be used in x-rays to see inside the body. It can be used in the elements in appliances to cook with. Light on a button can indicate if a device is powered on or not. Light can also be in you. It is the light given from the source of knowing Jesus Christ, the light that shines His love.
And then there is the spotlight. This light is not necessary one on a stage. It is a moment. It is the trust people have in you. It is the integrity they see in you. It is them looking to you for counsel, for answers and for an example. Many want to rush to get in the light, but we must become it first. That way, when the light shines, they will see that the light within is not fabricated but given by the Holy Spirit. It is a privilege to carry the light, and it is a responsibility to be in the light. Night moments will come, but the morning light will show up soon. You are a light to someone. And for many of you reading this, the light is on you in this moment to shine the way of Truth. Do so with integrity, humility, and grace.
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Anger is a primary emotion. It is one that all of us feels. The Bible tell us to be angry but sin not (Ephesians 4:26). The problem with uncontrolled anger is that it has the potential to turn us into another person if we allow it. Anger can cause irrational decision-making as well.
The point of this blog is to point out that unresolved trauma can cause anger, and it can cause us to be upset with the wrong person. For those who have experienced abuse of any kind, have you found yourself taking the abuse from the abuser but turn around and be upset with an innocent person who had nothing to do with the situation? Have you ever blamed someone for your own decisions and self-inflicted wounds? Have you taken a bad day out on your spouse or close friend? You are angry at the wrong person. Having anger is natural but knowing what to do with that anger is spiritual. We need the Holy Spirit to help us release the anger we feel in the right place, His Presence. We need His wisdom on how to resolve and handle conflict. And we also need His grace and boldness to apologize to those we wrongfully accused, blamed, and became distant. They are not the enemy; the devil is the enemy. Take your anger out on him, not those who have nothing to do with the pain that was caused. Ephesians 5:15-17 (AMP) “Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), 16 Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.”
Parents, have you ever given your children money and they squander it quickly on frivolous things? How did it make you feel? Of course you did not expect them to invest it in stocks and bonds, but you also did not expect it to go away so quickly. The key to managing money is stewarding value. It is not just about how much something costs; it is about the value it brings. Time is a gift. Though we do not always treat it as that, God gave us time. But it is up to us to steward it wisely. We do not always use it correctly. We spend it on actions that do not produce fruit like spending hours on social media, allowing the commentary of others to infiltrate our decisions, causing us to get upset, or comparing ourselves to others. And we somehow convinced ourselves that we are too busy to pray though we have time to invest junk in our souls. In the Scripture above, foolish people live life with no aim, no target, no goal. They live as though there is no life after this. But wise people live intentionally. They live purposefully by asking God what His will for their lives is, and they build their plans and schedules around His will. How are you investing your time? Do you invest daily meaningful prayer time with your Father? Have you spent years being upset, holding grudges, and waiting for people to apologize when there is a possibility you may not get it? Jesus is soon to return. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us live this gift of time purposefully so we can firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is. Contrary to belief, Christ followers do not walk through the tulips of life every day. There will be ups and downs. There will be challenges. There will be moments where we hear the Holy Spirit, and there will be moments where we will not hear anything.
And just because we do not hear anything in those moments does not mean our relationship with God is not strong or that our hearts are filled with sin. It just means that we must have faith in the wait. Some question their prayer life if they do not hear anything specific in prayer every day. Let us not put ourselves under so much pressure. Sometimes, being in His Presence and allowing His peace to consume our hearts is Word enough. And let us not try to force a Word or make up something God did not say when we are experiencing moments like this. There is nothing worse than the effects of creating something that is not endorsed by God, writing a song He did not sing over us, preaching a sermon He did not speak, and prophesying a Word He did not say. In the Bible, David, who was a man after God’s own heart, dealt with silent moments in His relationship with God. Psalm 28:1-2 (KJV) says, “unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle." I challenge you to wait until you hear Him. Do not move ahead of Him. Do not try to create something because it seems He is taking too long. If someone asks you are you hearing anything, and you’re not, simply say, “no,” because it’s far more integral to tell the truth and be honest than it is to lie on the Holy Spirit in an effort to prove something to people. Wait on Him. He will come through. Rejection is a big deal. It is a major fear that most people have. We do not like being told “no.” I’ve learned that one of the reasons why it’s hard to tell people “no” is because we may have a hard time receiving a “no.”
But could it be that the reason why we are so afraid of a two-letter word is because we have conditioned our minds to believe that life is over when the rejection comes? This is simply not true. There is life on the other side of “no.” You see, anyone God used in the Bible, even if they were not specifically told “no,” they were treated like a “no.” Look at David. When the Prophet Samuel was given an instruction from God to go and anointed the next king, David’s Father, Jesse, pulled out all his sons to meet the Prophet except for David. Can you imagine what David must have felt like? He was rejected by his Father. All his brothers were there to meet the prophet to potentially be the next king, but he was left forgotten in the pasture with the sheep. But the one who was rejected was the one who was anointed to become king! Matthew 21:42 (GNT) says, “Jesus said to them, “Haven't you ever read what the Scriptures say? ‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all. This was done by the Lord; what a wonderful sight it is!’” The stone here is referred to as Jesus. He knows what it feels like to be rejected. He came unto His own and they received Him not (John 1:11). He was not honored in His own country (Matthew 13:57). “No” did not stop Jesus from going to the cross and fulfilling His assignment. “No” did not stop Him from being who He was called to be. Therefore, if “no” could not stop Jesus, it should not be able to stop us. The assignment He has given us originated in the Spirit. Therefore, it outlasts betrayal, abandonment, and pain. There is indeed life on the other side of “no.” Meekness has gotten a bad rap in the culture of this world. People say, “don’t let them run over you. I wouldn’t take that if I were you.” But as a Christian, this is not what the Bible declares. Matthew 5:5 says, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” The Passion Translation says it this way, “What blessing comes to you when gentleness lives in you! For you will inherit the earth.”
Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit. It is evidence that God’s Spirit lives in us (Galatians 5:22-23). “Meek” in this verse not only means “gentleness,” but it also means, “to be mild.” Mild means, “not bitter, or harsh.” The world will tell us to get people told, to give them a piece of our minds, but doing this shows that our hearts are bitter. Yes, people and situations can make us angry, but we do not have to be driven by anger. The Word says, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26). Anger is an emotion the Lord knows about, but He does not desire anger to control us to the point where we make rash decisions and anger turns us into another person. Remember, the world has a culture and the Kingdom has one too. As believers, we must daily depend on the Holy Spirit to help us shed the culture of this world and walk in the culture of the Kingdom of God. Meekness is a manifestation of following Christ. There will be times the Holy Spirit will tell us not to say things in a harsh way, or simply not to say anything at all. Our pride and flesh will not agree with His instructions, but just because that happens does not mean God is wrong and we are right. God knows everything and following His instructions puts us in a place of safety. So, according to Scripture, meekness causes us to inherit the earth. That is not so shallow or weak after all. Many may know of the show called, “Hoarders.” I know we can cringe when we see rooms stacked up to the ceiling with stuff that will not be used. And because of all the clutter it leaves room for rodents to find a home there. Sounds horrific, right? But some of our souls look like that, full of clutter and attracting infection.
The thing about clutter is that it makes us feel like we have company. We keep certain numbers to call just in case. We keep clothes because they hold memories (even if the memories are toxic). And because we do not see ourselves past our past, we will hide in its clutter and settle for a false façade of safety. See, grieving does not just take place at a funeral; grieving is when we do not see ourselves beyond our past. It is when we celebrate who we used to be, not understanding that God has more for us. Yes, we may have been the great cheerleader or athlete in high school. We may have had a great shape and was popular back in the day. But just because we are evolving does not mean there is no purpose to fulfil. Because there’s still breath in our bodies there’s still purpose in our lives. What are you holding on to that has cluttered your soul and clouded your vision of who God says you are? Receive God’s grace to see beyond the familiar, who you used to be, and embrace who you are in Him. We are waiting on you… Many of us have made the statement, “if I get this, I will be so happy!” We fix our eyes on a new house, a new car, maybe completing a task. But the problem comes when we receive what we said would make us happy, only to find out that the happiness lasted only for a few weeks after. And then we settle back into living a sad, disappointed and frustrated life all over again until we fix our eyes on something else to be happy about when we get it. And the cycle continues.
So if we keep aiming for things to be happy about and the “high” only lasts for a few weeks, the issue is deeper. I believe the issue is discontentment for life itself. We thought that having more things would make us happy, all to discover that it is not things that can do the job. Discontentment brings with it so many things, disappointment, frustration and being unfulfilled to name a few. I know this can be a bitter pill to swallow, but our lives were never meant to be fulfilled by things. Our lives were meant to be fulfilled by God. The Lord did not say we could not have things; He just does not want things having us. Matthew 6:19-20 says, “Don’t keep hoarding for yourselves earthly treasures that can be stolen by thieves. Material wealth eventually rusts, decays, and loses its value. Instead, stockpile heavenly treasures for yourselves that cannot be stolen and will never rust, decay, or lose their value.” (TPT). Heavenly treasures in this verse gives us the indication that they are not measured the same way material wealth is. Heavenly treasures do not have to be received only when we get to Heaven; they are derived and ordained in Heaven. To name a few, peace of mind, Godly identity, and fulfilling purpose are some of those treasures. Things cannot give us this, though we have tried a long time to be defined by them. I believe the reason for temporary happiness is that deep inside, we know what we desired is not enough. We need something more. But because we live in a world that feeds us the notion that things equate being happy, we must depend on the Holy Spirit to show us what it truly means to live. So ask the Holy Spirit to show you the bottleneck in your heart that is keeping you from living a fulfilled life. Do you know who you are in Him? Are you secure in that identity? Do you find yourself under the pressure to prove to people because you are afraid you will not be taken seriously? Allow Holy Spirit to reveal to you what is causing your contentment to be held up. He is a wonderful counselor. Independence is celebrated and valued. It is taught by parents to their children, so they do not need anyone to depend on to make a life for themselves. It is taught by teachers to students, so they can think for themselves and not rely on the work of their classmates. Independence is self-reliance and self-sufficiency. It means that you assume all responsibility to provide, cultivate and nurture a life for yourself. You assume all rewards and take all losses. But there is an independence that is not so healthy. This, what I call “unhealthy independence,” is derived from experiencing abusive, toxic relationships. It is a learned behavior based on painful past events of people dumping their issues on us with no intentions or sign of helping us through our challenging moments. It speaks the language of, “I will do it by myself. I don’t need anyone else.” It suspiciously looks at help as an insult because it trained our minds to expect that those who seek to help us usually has a string or two attached to their Samaritan efforts. Unhealthy independence wears us out. It is afraid to receive help from others. It is prideful. It will have us struggle in silence when the very help we need is in reliable people around us. But it does not have to be this way. Unhealthy independence must be unlearned. We must choose to believe that every person is not like our past traumatic experiences, and there are some great people in our lives. We must believe that receiving help is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength, trust and vulnerability. We do not have to do life alone. It was not meant to be that way. Three words can mean so much. They are powerful. They can change the heart of both the person offended and the offender. These words can let a person know we care. When used correctly, they are words of humility and consideration. When spoken, it shows a desire to reconcile, to bring some sense of closure and some form of resolution.
We know that we will not always agree on everything, so apologizing is necessary for any healthy relationship. If these three words bring so much healing and reconciliation, why aren’t they often used? Aren’t relationships based on truth and love? Why is it easier to get the other person told rather than apologize for our portion of the wrongdoing? Because it is easier to place blame on others than it is to take responsibility and be accountable. No one likes to admit when they are wrong. It is embarrassing. It is disappointing to us and the other person. We do not have a desire to let others down. And we can struggle with being perfect which applies unnecessary pressure to us. The perfection God requires is not to dot every “I” and cross every “t.” His definition of perfection is to receive and walk in His love. “I am sorry” is not only significant in the health of great relationships, this statement is key in our relationship with God. To be truly sorry is to repent and change. See, the motivation of this apology is that our hearts are tender to the hurt the other has experienced. When we repent to God, we are saying that we are sorry for hurting His heart and that hurting Him hurts us. This is the same in our earthly relationships if experienced in a healthy way. I am sure you have had people to hurt you and never apologize for how they treated you, and some will never apologize because of pride and embarrassment. But this does not give you the right to allow your heart to be cold. You were created to receive love, love yourself and love others well. And in the language of love are three beautiful words that bring healing, “I am sorry.” Let us not allow this statement to become a stranger to us, especially as Christians. Selah. |
I love to journal my thoughts I receive in prayer. "Chronicles" is my journey I'm sharing with you. Archives
December 2022
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