Holding On...In Order To Let Go

In life we are presented with two simplistic choices...right and wrong. All said and done the bottom line is right and wrong, good vs. bad or yin and yang if you will. The next step is who dictates what is right and what is wrong? Who decides all this and for us? Essentially there is one who does and did decide all this. God! However, the trickiness begins when God enemy, Satan, masks himself as an angel of good and tries oh so hard to dupe us into making the wrong decision when it is seems it is actually the right one. So how do we know that the decisions at hand in our life are from God or Satan? This is tough because the only way to know is when you are with God, reading His Word, being with His people and so on.

You see when stop to be still and know that God knows precisely what he wants to do with your life it makes things a bit easier to swallow. The hardship comes is when we choose to go off track to fulfill our inner lusts of our hearts and indulge in pleasure from this world. As the title of this blog states -"Holding On...In Order To Let Go". What is it or better yet, who is it that you are holding into? Is your life in chaos and disorder, when you start making decisions based on emotions, or you become super self introspective? I can't begin to tell you the most difficult step to do in order to get out of that rut, but the step is.... create time to be with your Heavenly Father, ask for help, learn to accept who you are and embrace where God has you.

James 1:2-5 (NLT)
2 Dear brothers and sisters,s when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

The Lies Were Told...The Ones We Believe

There are moments in this life when things just aren't "clicking" the way you had planned. Somewhere along the road it went a rye and you wonder, "what happened?" You plot and plan your goals, ideas, passions, direction and seemingly everything.... except we forget to think about the unknown even more we forget to plan for failure. Not to come across negatively but the reality is not everything we do will succeed. Alas, we get to a place where we begin to question....EVERYTHING... then in turn begin to question God, his plans and purposes for our lives. And it is at that exact moment when we realize that we have been attacked by the enemy and have been convinced of the lies we were told.

For me, it is so easy to just think about how easy is it to give up, give in, to question my skills as a husband, father or the like. I want to believe that everything I will attempt in my life will be a failure because it is easy to and easy to just not even try. I know I cant. I know that those are the lies that the enemy wants me to believe so that I become ineffective and useless but I cant, I won't and in fact I MUST fight back....

As an encouragement to you- take some time to just write down the lies that are being told to you, because when you see them in front of you, you can then find truth to each one and disband the horrific lie.

1 Tim. 1:18-19 it says at the end, "...fight the good fight.(19) To do this you must hold firmly to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck in regard to the faith.


FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!

Starting Over

There is truly nothing more difficult then starting over. Whether it be with a large project we have been working on or just simply having to retie our shoe laces. It's annoying and frustrating and frankly.. a lot of work. And for me, that's where I'm at right now. I'm starting over with learning what it means to be a child of God, husband, father and soon to be pastor of a new church. With a child coming soon, again, I am scared and worried... for obvious reasons but also the fact that I don't know how I will perform as a dad and husband all the other hats I wear. When it comes to starting over I have a tendency to go with the thought process of fight or flight. I want to fight for how things should be and try to keep things where they are, or flight, fly off to my own selfish world where everything is justified and I am "god" so to speak. Lately, I have been flight mode, trying to find satisfaction and justification for my sins and temptations. No more. Due to God-given moments and revelations that I have recently experienced I have a new thought process. FIGHT or FLIGHT! I am going to fight for my family and the hats that I have chosen to wear and chosen to be a part of. In conjunction with flight, fleeing from the past temptations and justifications from my past. I know it seems such a simplistic and elementary thought, but often those are the things that are the most powerful.

2 Tim. 2:22 - But run away from the evil desires of youth. Try hard to live right and to have faith, love, and peace, together with those who trust in the Lord from pure hearts.

The Unknown Future

As I re-read my prior blog posts and see where God has taken me, and the hard lessons learned through those times, I am extraordinarily grateful for God's patience and development within me. As I look to my unknown future of this year nothing but excitement and fear are running through veins. Between the future of my to-be child, starting of a brand new church, looking for a new career in general and a slew of other things that are going to come up this will certainly be an unforgettable year by far.

Hebrews 11:1 (NCV)
"Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it."

A Place of Choice

As I reflect on nearly a year ago, I realize how much growth has taken place with my job, and mindset about everything. I know I have certainly matured, however, I wonder sometimes that the maturity that I have gained was it something that was momentary or permanently. I still have times when my desires of future ideas, hopes and dreams are prominent and that is what I am aiming for, but then I read a story like Joseph and all that he went through and I catch myself asking, "am I pursuing my dreams or God's reality?" and the bigger question I ask myself, "which one is more important?"

As of now I am standing at the crossroads of hard choices, do I embrace the reality that God has placed in my life and work through the grind of everyday (not just job, but also home and routine of life) or do I contemplate all other options? I know what I should do but to be honest, it seems/feels so boring and repetitive. I suppose every Christian follower goes through these moments.

So what now? I know what I should do and I know what it will take, do I let go of all that pride that lives within me and truly LET IT GO so that I can honor God? YES and YES again. Letting go of your pride is by far the hardest choice to make as a Christian. So that is a relief but that is just one area of life that is being transformed, what about others? That is another blog in its self. :)

Ecclesiastes 7:8
Something completed is better than something just begun; patience is better than too much pride.

The Desires of your Heart

When I first heard this phrase from Psalm 37, I wondered what my desires and passions are in my heart. I know what I would LOVE to do, I know what my dream job would be. I read books, blogs, Twitters and everything else under the sun about leadership and those who push/challenge those to live your dreams.... but how? How do you take where your at and become what you think you want. I read dozens and dozens of stories and the one common thread between them all is that God blessed them and something amazing happened. So what does it take to receive such blessing? I know it isn't anything I can do other than being faithful and prayer. But why does God make me/us wait. I keep hearing a song on the radio by Brandon Heath "Wait and See" and that seems to be the only thing that is keeping me going.

I love the church I work at, I'm so blessed to have a job in a church and get paid for it especially in this season of our country. So on one hand I can't be taking anything for granted and on the other when could I start DOING the passions of my heart without complaining and grumbling. Cynicism is my new enemy.

God, what do you want me to do with my life? Just wondering.....

Wanting the Curve balls of life

Earlier this month I read a book about chasing God. And in it, it talked about wanting to change the habits of which we put on ourselves. We get in to a good rythym of life and feel like everything is godd. Being human we like being on the mountain top and flying. However, no one likes to climb the mountain nor come down it. We would rather stay up there and the longer we stay up there we become more and more apathetic to life, I think.

Solution: Change the habitual routines we have to create a more sharper perspective of life. You see the more we get into a routine, the more life becomes dull. Where's the fun? Where's the excitement? Where's the childlike joy we once all had?

Reflect on the habits you have. For instance when do you read the Bible? Is it sporatic or always the same? Prayer- sporatic or consistantly at the same time of the day? Maybe even your drive to work? I am sure you have found the best way to get there but could you change that up? Sometimes it is the smallest things to keep us sharp.

My challenge to you is simply change up the routine of your life and wait and see the difference it makes.