Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
There is a scene in the movie Forrest Gump that Forrest’s Jennie goes back to her childhood home. It is a childhood that was wrought with all kinds of abuse at the hands of her dad. As she stood in front of this now abandoned house anger welled up inside her. She started to grab rocks and with yells she hurled them at the house. One rock after another after another pelted the symbol of all that was evil and horrible in her life. In the end she lay crumpled on the road in tears as the house stood silent.
Forrest said, “Sometimes there are not enough rocks.”
Sometimes you just have to walk away from whom or what has been a sour time in your life. Throwing rocks in anger at those who have hurt us is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. We only are hurting our self.
We need to let go of the rocks. We need to let them fall to the ground and walk away. All the rocks in the world won’t knock down what symbolizes our pain. Holding something over someone’s head will not bring the peace your soul covets.
We do this out of a need for reckoning – justice. It only opens up the wounds again and doesn’t allow healing.
It will not cleanse you of heartache. We fail when we try to right a wrong with trying to inflict a measure of pain on another.
In the movie Forrest did what Jennie couldn’t do. He bought the property and bulldozed the house down.
Only God can bulldoze down that or whom represents your pain and anguish. But He doesn’t do it by eliminating them. He does it by flooding you with His grace and mercy. When we teach our heart and mind to focus on all that is good and can be in our life it eliminates the power of the anguish. God renews your focus and outlook. He will if you let the rocks slip from your grasp and surrender it all to Him.
Speak no longer of that which represents pains in your past. Leave them there and focus forward.
Intentionally,today……and every day….Let go of the rocks
“Do not grow weary in doing good for in due season you shall
reap if you faint not.” Galatians 6:9
In Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, poor Charlie feels like he did all he could to show that he was deserving. His grandfather was downright pissed at Willy Wonka. Charlie was the only one who showed honesty, gave respect, listened and obeyed Willy Wonka. Yet, still, Willy said no way. Charlie was all right with it. And Willy Wonka rewarded him with the whole factory. He had to test him. He had to see that Charlie had character and integrity; that Charlie would show composure and a good attitude even if he was treated unfairly.
You too will be treated unfairly.
You will stay true and you might get penalized for it or the very least, no one will notice.
But God does. He notices. He watches.
The Hebrew name, El Roi, is the God who sees.
He too allows you to go through testing. God wants to observe your attitude and demeanor when everything is going out of whack. Are you staying true? Will He see that you have prepared yourself to receive what He desires to give you?
Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with little. Now more will be given. – Matthew 25:23
Don’t give up, don’t give in – stay true.
It is hard. It can be frustrating. Stay true. Don’t compromise.
Honor Him with your life today. He will be faithful. He will preserve and honor you. It will be a blessing to you.
Intentionally, Today……and everyday…stay true, even if all around you is not.
One day long ago, God’s Word came to Jonah, Amittai’s son: “Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They’re in a bad way and I can’t ignore it any longer.”
But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from God. – Jonah 1:1-3 The message
God desires [even] the least degree of obedience and submissiveness more than all those services you think of rendering Him. – John of the Cross, Spiritual Maxims
Jonah going to Nineveh was just as much for Jonah as it was for the people of Nineveh. Even though Jonah was a “good” Jewish man there are paradigms within Jonah that God wants to change in Jonah to grow Jonah. Jonah would rather do a whole bunch of anything than to bring a message of salvation to an evil people. But that is exactly what God wants Jonah to do in order for Him to transform Jonah.
Jonah just sees pain for himself and goes the other direction as if God will lose his scent and let him be.
Have you tried to ignore the convictions that God has made you aware of?
It’s easier to justify other “good” things we are doing as being in place of what we try to ignore that God would have us do.
There is a reason that God won’t let it go even if it seems you aren’t hearing it anymore because you have put in enough noise to provide static.
He loves you so much He knows that whatever it is He wants you to confront is going to enable you to grow more in fulfilling His purpose in and through you. You may be continuing going around the same mountain over and over. A vicious circle that drains you. God knows what need which will bring you up and over. It will allow you to venture farther into achieving peace and contentment.
I want to encourage you to faithfully be obedient and allow God to direct you to where you THINK you don’t want to go; from where you THINK you need to stay.
Being obedient is faith. Faith is trusting that God has your absolute best interest in mind.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding – Proverbs 3:5
He must become greater and greater, I must become less and less. – John the Baptist. John 3:30
For our God is a consuming fire. – Hebrews 12:29
We must learn the art of losing, fading, yielding, surrendering.
And it is an art form. It is something that we have to conscientiously intentionally seek to do.
My relationship with God wasn’t my choice.
The Holy Spirit grabbed a hold of me some 25 years ago and shook me. I have heard every once in a while “Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost” when I went to church as a kid, but I never really knew or believed of a God really truly being a Spirit that is active in and around you. Kind of fairyland-ish. Well…He is very real. And it freaked me out.
But He led me to an incredible place reading, studying and praying. I became so consumed by the Living Word, memorizing and meditating on It. He led me into leadership and teaching positions at church. I was asked to come on staff and work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He started writing through me and I was being asked to speak other places and individuals were asking for my advice.
I got so busy with all of it that I got away from the personal time with God that got me there and got focused on what I wanted to do and how I was going to increase in these endeavors.
I began to get dry. I pulled away more and more from the Source. It became less about the Holy Spirit guiding Me for His purposes and Will and became what I wanted to do and how.
What I learned was that God will allow you to make it about you – and then you, limited in the flesh, will become limited in what you offer to others. It leads to frustration and confusion.
I had to lose self in order for His presence to take over once again. I had to decrease me in order that He would increase through me. And then again God flourished through me.
The question for each of us is – where, in our lives, do we need to decrease? Where does it have to become less about us and more about what God desires to do through us? Are there endeavors in your life where you feel that you should be doing but have been frustrated, road-blocked and stymied?
Have you surrendered it to God?
Has it become about you instead of Him through you?
Take your desire and surrender it to God today. Tell God that it is all His and to guide you in it.
We must decrease in order for Him to increase. In order for us to see the unlimited God produce through us, for us, what we have desired in our heart to achieve and realize in our life.
And HE….gets all the praise for it.
Intentionally, Today……and everyday…decrease, lose, yield, fade and surrender that He may increase; and you will be blessed to and through.
Jesus said, “If you follow my teachings you will truly be my disciples. You will come to know the truth; and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32
Famous Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov serendipitously stumbled onto an experiment that demonstrated respondent conditioning. Respondent conditioning means that someone/something is conditioned to respond the same way every time to a certain person, visual, words, sounds, situations either to receive reward or punishment. He used dogs that he was studying on for something totally different. He would ring a bell and then serve food. He did this consistently, repeatedly. The dogs became conditioned to salivate every time they heard the bell expecting food. It wasn’t the sight of food, but the anticipation of.
We each have been conditioned to act a certain way, decide a certain path, speak a certain word, have a certain behavior in anticipation of the reward or in trying to escape punishment.
What it does is make us a slave to flesh. It takes control away from us. A lot of our responses to a certain thing or person have already been predicated from the last time we had the similar situation. We allow ourselves to be manipulated, coerced and unconsciously lead to the same results every time.
What’s the truth?
The truth is that you are no longer a slave to the flesh (Galatians 5:24)
You are no longer under the curse of Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22, Romans 8:12)
The bell in our lives is the ubiquitous advertisements, speaking heads, and the culture in general. And we become like robots doing and being who they tell us to be because of the rewards/ punishments that come from doing, or not, what they are trying to order you to do or not.
Wisdom and insight come from Jesus’ teachings. Those same teachings tell us how empowered we are regardless of how we “feel”
We must be cognizant all day of why we are saying or doing.
Is it fear that is pulling us one way? Is it instant gratification followed by regret? “I just can’t help it!” “Get’s me every time” “It’s my weak spot”
Jesus says that we are empowered by Him to be obedient to Him and not undisciplined to the “bells” of the world (2 Peter 1:3, 1 Timothy 4:7)
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit living in you.
–Romans 8:9
Carve that into your mind’s eye.
Every time the bell rings you do not have to begin to salivate or tremble – You are free to act and be in a way that God would have you be.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lively, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. – Philippians 4:8
Interesting how we become afraid of that which doesn’t exist. A baby/toddler doesn’t cry when they are in the pitch black with the door shut to their room. It is only after they/we are exposed to what television and books offer. After that our mind plays tricks on us and we are afraid of someone or something under the bed or in the closet. We need a bright night light and the door open with the hall light on. All that after one of our parents does a thorough check underneath the bed and checks and shuts the closet door.
Though in a different context, it is the same for us as adults. Our powerful mind plays tricks on us. We believe in that which doesn’t exist. We allow fear of what could possibly happen affect our living. We absorb all the horror, tragedy and negativity spewed throughout news and conversations. It has an impact on our psyche whether we are conscious of it or not.
Truth be told, there are certainly things that could happen to us. But, still here you are, alive and kicking!
The problem we have isn’t that there could possibly be that which could happen – struck by lightning, hit by a car, terrorist attack, etc. No, it is that our mind, in some aspects of our lives, has been conditioned to dwell on and focus on these that are unhealthy for us. After 9/11 many people developed disorders because they were so affixed on the attacks and their mind continually went to worse case scenarios to the point that they needed professional help.
We are told in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
Be aware of any patterns that you have developed that are focused on negative outcomes that do not exist. Subtract them out by adding what is good, empowering and invigorating. Avoid and ignore the doomsday and the negativity that is rampant all around us. Cultivate excellence in your mind by continually inundating it with that which is uplifting and encouraging.
Take ownership of what your mind puts in your consciousness.
Make an advanced decision to intentionally seek out these thoughts that will develop godly sound thought patterns. Create new empowering mindsets to live the abundant life.
Intentionally,Today……and everyday… avoid and ignore the horrors of what could, focusing instead on all that is good and godly excellence.
Then Jesus said, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
In Greek mythology, King Sisyphus is punished for his chronic deceitfulness by having to push an immense boulder up a hill for eternity. He is cursed with the fact that the boulder continues to roll back down every time he gets it to the top. He continually, with no hope or future, repeats this action forever.
Have you self imposed yourself to pushing an immense boulder up a hill only to see it come rolling down again? And then foolishly trying, exhausting yourself, to push it up the hill…..again and again?
Do you have to?
Why?
For who?
What if you stopped and just walked away?
You might think you can’t, but you can.
You might think you don’t have one. But before you so easily dismiss this, think and pray about it. It might be of the most subtle unconscious boulders.
You have an advocate who takes up your cause for you.
A fierce storm came. The disciples went and woke Jesus up shouting that they were going to die. When Jesus woke up, He rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then Jesus asked them, “Where is your faith?” – Luke 8:23-25
He calmed the storm to a whisper. – Psalm 107:29
Do you get calmed down? Or Do you allow yourself to be calm?
There is a difference.
I have 3 girls. When the youngest was 8 and there was thunder she would come running into our room; she is scared. She has a fear. My wife and I, though the thunder can be very loud, were not.
My 8 year old daughter needed us to calm her fears. Why? Because her fear was based on the unknown. She doesn’t know, like we do, that we are safe from thunder. We know that it is lightning that can hurt you. But, we also know that we are safe in our house. Because of this knowledge we were able to stay calm. Because she doesn’t possess this, my baby girl needed for us to give her security by transferring our calm to her.
If we were acting scared and fearful it would make it worse for her.
It is our allowing ourselves to remain calm that bring her that security.
We, in many instances, are just as my 8 year old. We don’t have enough knowledge; therefore we lack security, and need to be calmed.
God wants you to have the calmness already inside you. That is made possible when we learn more about Him. That He that is in us is greater than he of the world. – 1 John 4:4and to haveno fear for I have overcome the world – John 16:33
It is overcoming fear with Truth, Jesus Christ, dwelling within you and having authority in your life by surrendering that very life to Him. Knowing Truth more and more in your life. Knowing that nothing can separate you from His love in all of creation. (Romans 8:38-39)
Knowing that all the stuff you see and hear about going on all around the world, the Bible has already told us that it was to happen.
It is knowing that in the end, God has already won. Therefore, you too are already victorious….in Him; you are saved through His grace. Protected by His sovereignty. Your peace comes from Him.
Worldly – knowledge is power
Spiritually – knowledge is peace, calmness, and assurance
It’s knowing that you can remain calm in the storms. God is sovereign over all of yours.
“He has shown you, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you-
To do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” – Micah 6:8
We can get so caught up in religion. The do’s and the don’ts that we can miss the essence of what pleases God.
Right, Mercy and humbly.
In those three words you see both the law (do what is right) and grace (mercy)
And to do both with a humble heart. Knowing that God’s mercy on you is so much greater than His judgment which you were completely pardoned by the sacrifice of Jesus, nothing but humility should be our posture.
It is the living word of God that you feed, speak and meditate on that leads you to be able to walk in those three dictates from God.
Be intentional, throughout the day, to have those three words on your heart and mind with everyone that you come in contact with. Knowing that in so doing you are being Jesus. You couldn’t please God anymore than that.
Intentionally,today……and every day…. Live out Christ
True Life Abundant 