Writing My Way to Clearer Thinking

Years ago, when I was very uncertain about where my Life was heading, I used to write in a journal.  Day after day, I would pour my feelings out on its pages and very slowly, but very surely, I began to have greater clarity in my mind and peace in my heart.  There's something about putting thoughts on paper that makes things very clear to me.

A few months ago I found those journals and in reading a few of the pages I saw how far I have come.  I went from a state of utter confusion to a state of complete confidence.  What I realized was that I was most confused when I was led by my own confused mind (but yet I blamed others for confusing me).  It's like I was driving without a map, going nowhere fast.  The Bible encourages us to renew our minds and focus on God, to cast our cares on Him and not worry.  It was by surrendering my worries and fears to God that I increased my confidence and decreased my confusion.  There is a lot I still don't understand, but that doesn't decrease my faith.

I started writing again a few days ago, but the tone has changed.  I question less where my Life is going and affirm more of what I know God has purposed for me.  This process took y-e-a-r-s!  I didn't just wake up one morning and have it all figured out.  I still don't have it all figured out.  What I realized is that I don't have to.  Many of the battles I had been fighting (and losing) weren't mine to fight in the first place. I stopped operating in my own strength and I learned to lean on God, let Him lead me and let Him fight on my behalf.  It's an awesome feeling to know that the One defending me is One who cannot lose!

It may sound silly but I encourage you to take some time and write.  Write your feelings, your thoughts, your dreams and goals.  Get things on paper and see them clearly.  Sometimes there's just too much going on in our heads and it's a helpful release to write it down. It's hard to "read" yourself when you are in the middle of a difficult time, but writing your thoughts down can bring clarity and peace, and direction.

Remember that you have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. If you want your Life right, get your mind right.  If you want your mind right, Get your thoughts right.

I Can Do All Things

What would you do if you believed nothing could stop you?

I'll give you a minute to think about it...

Listen; the only thing you can't do is the thing you believe you can't do.  Nothing can stop you from achieveing a goal.  Nothing except you, that is.  It isn't the obstacle that stops you, it's what you do with it.  Do you stare at it? Do you give up and walk the other way?  Or do you find a way to get on the other side of it?  Climb it. Walk around it. Fly over it.  But don't let it stop you in your tracks.  What's the point of being on a path and not getting to your destination?

Most of the excuses we make are just that - excuses.

Do it.  You can.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

ALL THINGS.

Guard Your House!

Yesterday's sermon text was Mark 3:27 (Contemporary English Version).  I had to share what I got from this message:

"How can anyone break into the house of a strong man and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man?  Then he can take everything."

How often have you let yourself get tied up by the opinions of others about you?  How often have you been tied up by limiting your potential because you were too scared to do something new?  How often have you been tied up because you didn't have the faith to ask God for direction and guidance and you tried to do things in your own strength, only to end up more entangled in the mess you created?

We do it all the time.  We rob ourselves and allow ourselves to be robbed.  This is a strong man's house we are talking about.  There's a reason we have to be tied up for things to be stolen from us.  If we weren't tied up we would defend what is rightfully ours.  It's because we are strong that we would have to be tied up.  Had it been a weak man's house the robber could just walk in and take what he wanted because he wouldn't see the weak man as a threat.

People can only steal from us if they break in, we let them in or we let our guard down.

We need to recognize our strength and we need to  have a defensive mindset.  The devil is roaming around like a raging lion, seeking whom he may devour.  He wants to bind you and keep you down so he can rob you of every good thing God has given you and of what He has in store.  But in the same way that he wants to tie you up, understand that through Christ you have the strength to do all things - including tying up the robbers in your life!  That includes the devil himself and anything or anyone he uses to keep you bound.

The lyrics of one of my favorite songs says that "there is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain."  If you feel like you're tied up in chains, the key to your release is your faith and your willingness to call on One who can deliver you. You don't have to sit there, struggling to break free, watching all you have be taken from you and feeling powerless to stop it.

What God has set apart for you is for you.  Don't let anyone take that away.  There is a Purpose for your Life and your Gifts are tied to that Purpose. Guard your house!

What's your PIN?

Imagine this:

You say you need some money, so I give you a debit card, but I walk away without giving you the PIN.  So now you have a card that is linked to a bank account with money in it, but no way to access that money.  That's no use to you, is it?

Each one of us has a spiritual "bank account".  Held in that account are our blessings, our potential, our success, our Life's mission, our very Purpose, and so much more! Each one of us holds a spiritual debit card that we can use to access that account, but few of us can make withdrawals, because few of us know our PIN.

So how do you find out what your PIN is?  Ask The One who opened the account in your name.  Your PIN is not a code of numbers, but a code of conduct - a code of  perspective, a code of belief, a code of speech.  Your thoughts, actions and behavior towards God and other people will determine whether or not you can access your spiritual account, and how much you can withdraw.  Your PIN is a relationship - the closer you are to God, the more you are able to access.

Sure, you can work hard.  Sure you can give 100% every day and be rewarded for it.  But no effort in your own strength can match what you can do when God provides the inspiration, the motivation and the power you need to succeed.

Stop wearing yourself out!  Your Creator will provide all you need, and it will seem so much easier when you allow Him to carry you through all you do - in work, in relationships, in school - it doesn't matter what your need is.  God has an account where you can withdraw good health, love, wealth, healing, favor, mercy, peace, wisdom, joy, blessing, compassion, protection, and much, much more! 

Don't let your account just sit there.  It's there for you to use.  And as you are blessed, bless God for His Blessing.  It's a win-win!

The Plantings of The Lord

I recently bought a few plants for my home.  I asked a lot of questions, but specifically about plant size.  How big would it get?  Would I need to change the pot after a while?  Will it take over my house?  The lady informed me that some plants can grow quite large, but if you keep it in a small pot you can stunt its growth and keep it small.

In Bible Study last night the leader said we are "the plantings of God".  But where are we planted?  Because of free will we make our own choices.  God has placed a seed of potential within us but we have to be careful about the size of the pot we choose to grow in.  If a plant could choose its own pot I doubt it would choose a small one.  You don't ever have to tell a plant not to grow.  It won't grow is if its growth is restricted by lack of space to spread its roots and find more nourishment, or it's deprived of the light of the sun.  So, we too need to be deeply and widely rooted in our faith and ensure we get enough Light from the Son.

Not all plants are the same.  Some need lots of water, some thrive in shade, some in direct sunlight, some are sensitive to touch, some have thorns, some bear fruit, and some have poison. We're the same - some of us need constant encouragement, some like to be alone, some like to be in the spotlight, some are very sensitive, some lash out when people get too close, some are givers and some poison all they come in contact with.

Which type are you, and where are you planted today?  Do you have room to spread your roots and grow?  Are you firmly planted?  Like fertilizer, the Word of God causes growth - but not always the type of growth you can immediately see.  We have to grow inwardly before it's seen on the outside.  We have to grow in our thought processes, habits and even our desires.  Then the way we behave shows what is really inside us.  We cannot do what we have never thought of.  Action always comes after thought.  Be careful of the seeds you allow to be planted in your mind, your heart and your spirit.  Some seeds are lovely and bloom into beauty and some are like weeds, choking the good things that are trying to grow in our Lives.  Weed regularly, fertilize often, and give yourself room to spread your roots.

The roots of young plants can become entangled as they grow and spread out, so it's often recommended to plant seeds a certain distance apart or even in separate pots, to be transplanted later. As these seeds grow separate from each other, we too must grow separate from each other.  Your growth rate may be differrent from another and here you are with your roots bursting out of the pot you were put in, ready to be transplanted to a bigger and better pot, while another is struggling to keep a single green leaf. 

Be resilient!  I've seen trees that burst through concrete because the roots spread so much.  It had to grow, and it wasn't letting a slab of concrete get in its way.  So what more are you than a tree?  Are you letting something hard block your growth?  Push through it!

My plant is stuck where I plant it, but you have a choice.  If you aren't growing, you can change your "pot", or you can change your fertlizer.  What are you feeding yourself daily that will cause growth in your Life?  If you want the flowers and the fruit, you have to be willing to put in the work.  Do something every day that will encourage your growth - feed your spirit, read books, develop skills, learn something new, spend quality time with loved ones.  What you feed in your Life is what will grow.

The pot you are planted in is your mind, and like a plant will not grow well in a small pot, you will not grow until you open your mind to the possibility of achieving your God-given potential.  The Japanese art of Bonsai turns what would have grown into a huge tree into a table-top miniature version.  God planted the seed; what you do with it is your choice.  Do you want to be a full-sized tree, or a table-top tree?  It's your choice.

If you plant a seed this year, and you see that first little leaf pop out of the soil, by next year you should have something that is much, much bigger.  We can't look the same way this time next year.  If we do, it means we haven't grown.  Nurture yourself where you are planted.  Where there is good nourishment, push your roots deep, spread them out...

Now grow!

Delete

I woke up this morning from a dream: I typed the word "god" and wanted to capitalize the "G".  So I deleted only the small "g" and replaced it with a capital "G".  I did this a few times, and every time the small "g" would reappear on the screen.  Frustrated, I deleted the whole word and re-typed it with a capital "G".  Finally, the word stayed as I typed it. 

In getting aligned with God we can't just change one thing, we have to change everything and start over.  So just as I was changing one letter of the word and it kept changing back, so too when we change one thing in our Lives we can keep changing back to our former selves.  We have to change everything.  We have to delete our old ways and start again with a new mindset and new habits. 

The awesome thing about starting over with God is that we get a full set of instructions on how to move forward with our new Life.  We can't lose!  Don't be afraid of the delete button. It doesn't matter if you've only written one word or many chapters in your Life Story, God will write something new, something better.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  -  2 Corinthians 5:17

Go ahead.  Click "delete".

Wisdom is Wealth

I was talking just yesterday about the need for Wisdom, and was led to Proverbs 8 in my morning devotion time.  This verse stood out: "for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." - Proverbs 8:11

Are you chasing a dream?  It could be your dream job, a dream companion, a dream home... Whatever it is, it won't work out if we don't make wise choices. Sometimes we get just want we want, only to watch it slip through our fingers.  Unwise choices will make us mess up.  It's possible to pray for the thing but never seek the ability to manage the thing we desire.  God in His Divine Wisdom often witholds from us what He knows we will mis-use.  If we're not ready, why give us what we cannot handle in the right way?  Sometimes we feel God is cruel.  But in every situation He is wise.  A child may need to learn to write, but you don't give a pencil to a 2-week-old baby. They won't know what to do with it, so you wait until they show signs that they are ready.  Often when we hear "no" God is saying "Not yet...you aren't ready."  So get ready.  Get Wisdom.

In Proberbs 8 Wisdom is portrayed as a woman speaking, saying that she was present when the world was made.  God made everything to work in harmony.  Things that seem unrelated working together to create the universe.  He had to think of every detail.  That took Wisdom.

Wisdom isn't found in books.  It is found within our spirits when we align ourselves to God's Will.  One of my pastors defines Wisdom as the practical application of God's principles to daily Life (I'm paraphrasing).  Wisdom doesn't come with gray hair and a long beard.  It's not a shimmering purple mist that sits over our heads.  It's not for "certain" people.  It's for those who ask for and seek it out.  It comes from sitting at God's feet, paying attention to the movements of His Spirit and acting on what He deposits within us.  God downloads all the directions we need for Life.  We just have to keep the connection open.

So what happens when we get this Wisdom?  I will let her tell you: "With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity." Proverbs 8:18  Did you hear that?  Those things come when we seek Wisdom.  It's a package deal!  But instead we seek the things and work ourselves into the ground to get them.  Wisdom will show us not only what is right for us but how to manage it well.

If we want more than we have now, we have to be more than we are now.  Challenge yourself today to find Wisdom and keep her close.  She will prove to be a good friend.