Desperation

How desperate are you? When we become deperate we will find God there. Desperation is a loss of all hope. It is when we come to the end of ourselves and our ego. Have we ever been there? Have we ever been at a place where we were so desperate that we would do anything to find hope? Paul did:

At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

I am going to think that Paul was desperate to remove this handicap. He was begging God to remove this from him. It was in this desperation that he found God. It was here that he could say that he could appreciate the gift that he was given. It was in desperation that Paul could allow Christ to take over. It was in his desperation that he found out he needed to take things in stride and with good cheer. It was in his desperation that he allowed someone else to take over. It was in desperation that he found out that when he thinks he is weak he is actually becoming stronger.

In desperation we move towards God and in then we learn that God has all we need. It is in depseration, the loss of hope, that we search for something to find hope in. We begin to see that the "things" of this world are not important at all. We come into the world with "nothing" and we leave with "no things." Our only goal in the middle of our coming and our going is not to accumulate things, but to love and live life to the fullest. We are so deperate to remove any "bad" feelings, or circumstances, or anything that we deem "wrong" that we become desperate in our attempt to make it go away.

Here Paul, and we, learn that we do not need these things to "go away" as much as we need to learn from them and allow them to strengthen us. These things strengthen us by killing off our ego - the notion that we are in control and must define ourselves through things, titles, and others opinions. Let your desperation teach you something and move you to God, not away. When we are really desperate and coming to the end of hope in ourselves, like a person wanting water after days in the desert, then we will find and know God.

Namaste'

Persistence

Persistence is the quality of being determined to do or achieve something; firmness of purpose; the act of persisting or persevering; continuing or repeating behavior. This is also the definition of faith. Faith is never giving up and continuing to believe and know that God will be there to help. Faith is not worrying about what will or will not happen, but knowing that anything that comes your way - anything - is there for you to learn from. This takes a death to our ego, a knowing that we are living a lifestyle in the way that Jesus did and taught. We go forward with confidence and have faith. Faith meaning that we develop a state of mind that knows and is confident about will happen and we never sway from that. This takes a practice of continuous self suggestion to produce this state of mind.

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

James 1:2-8

You see faith and persistence is not about giving up when tests and challenges and "failures" come our way we continue to push forward and be persistent. Our faith-life opens up and we understand if we truly have faith. When we try to "get out of things prematurely," we make excuses, call it a "bad break," "misfortune" or "bad luck." We think that we have no control and we continue to believe that and we begin to act it out through worry and we feel tossed about in the ocean. We cannot connect to God in this place. We have stop tell ourselves (self suggesting) that we are loved, cared for, and can be confident. Having all our options open means that we have not come to faith about anything. We try to guess and control our own lifes through worry about tomorrow.

If we remain persistent, everyday repeating to ourselves what we will see and know, setting our goals, and knowing that there is no such thing as "failure" or "impossible," God will help. We must ask boldly, believing, and knowing. This is were we make a connection to the mind of God and God's infinite intelligence. God is always there but we finally clearly see, understand, and know God. How can God meet us when we think on the bad, the ugly, the anxiety, the failure, the misfortune? You see God does not think like that! Faith is thinking like God. God will work with us and for us when we connect to God like that, but it takes practice - persistence!

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Philippians 4:8-9

Namaste'

Trapped

Ever felt that way - "trapped?" My favorite definition of trapped is to place in a confining or embarrassing position. How often do we feel like that? I think many times most all of us feel trapped. We feel as if there is no way out and that there are no decision that we can make to get ourselves to a new place of living or being. We feel out of control in our lives. We think that our lives are left to the whim of others around us, their decisions, and circumstances that are beyond our control. We feel hopeless, depressed, angry and sad. We tell ourselves that their is nothing that we can do to get out of where we are, it is hopeless. I would like to challenge this notion.
I went with my family yesterday to watch people ride horses in barrel races. We were there for about four hours. It was great to be outside in the sun, perfect temperature, and watch those beautiful animals walk, run, and race. Some were being riden by adults, and some horses by children under 10 years old. Everyone one of them were able to direct that horse and tell it where to go, how fast to go, and which way to turn because of the simple piece of metal in the horses mouth. Some of these horses were huge, and they were being controlled by little girls weighing less than 80 pounds! How could that happen? I mean if the horse wanted to it could just buck them off, refuse to walk or turn anywhere, and race for freedom. So why do these beautiful animals do what a little girl tells them to do? Because they BELIEVE they are trapped. They truly believe that they have no other choice! We see that they do, but they believe they do not. It is like having a two ton elephant tied up at the ankle with just a rope and a stake. Why does that elephant stay there? Because it too believes it is trapped!
We do that too! We can only see what is right around us and we believe that we have no choice, that we are trapped and we are at the bidding of others or circumstance. But are we?

"Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I'll do. "

John 14:11-14

If we truly believe what Jesus is saying here then we are not trapped! We are the holders and masters of our future! We not only can do what Jesus did, but greater things! We are not trapped, we are not at the whim of others, their opinions, or circumstances. We are what we believe, what we will be persistant at, and how we practice faith. (see recent post) If a horse, or any animal is trained over and over to believe it is trapped - it believes it. If we train ourselves through the constant repitition of thought that we are trapped - we are! We can also train ourselves through that same repititon of thought to know and believe that we are not trapped. When we do we will begin to see the routes to escape and freedom. We will begin to live the life that God created us for and that Jesus came for - life abundant! Stop believing that you are trapped.

Namaste'

Pleasing

Who do you worry about pleasing? Do you order your life around them? Do you make decisions based on what these people will think? Do you hold yourself back because you are afraid of what it will cost you to pursue what you hold dear, to pursue your dreams, your pursue desires? Is that something that we should even give our attention to?

By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends." Their grumbling triggered this story.
"Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, 'Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!' Count on it—there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue."

Luke 15:1-7

It appears that Jesus was not worried about what the religious people thought about the friends he was making. As a matter of fact, there anger triggered a story that said that you may not understand what I am doing, but I am going to do it anyway and I hope you celebrate with me rather than get upset that it is not the way you want it.

I am beginning to really learn how often I place the pleasing of others over the pursuit of what God has placed in my heart. I am coming to a place of understanding about how often and how powerful this can be for me, so much so I think my best friend is going to down me for something because it may be wierd. Celebrate our freedom in Christ together and stop worrying about what others will think of that dream inside of you and just go do it. You will find joy out of that pursuit a hundred times more pleasing than the joy you may get out of pleasing others. There is a quote that I have grown to love that says that I would rather be hated for who I am that loved for who am I not.

Namaste'

Faith

Faith. We hear that word so much in our world. I began to wonder what it actually means though. When someone says "have faith in God" what in the world are they saying. What are we supposed to "do?" We all have gotten really bent out of shape by someone saying that to us in times of trouble, doubt, or depression. We have thought something like "that is easy for you to say, you are not going through this." I think we do that because we have no idea what faith really means, neither the one saying "have faith" or the one who is the receiver of such words.

By definition faith means a confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. A belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. You will notice one word that is consistent in this definition. That word is "belief." Faith really means believing something. Belief is the mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another. This is what faith is! It is the habitual mental act that creates a condition of, or state of mind that KNOWS something/someone else can be trusted. This knowing does not happen with just one thought. This knowing can only come through the habit of thought. To consistantly think the same things over and over again until they become a belief (2 Corinthians 10:5). Faith is something that is built and learned. Faith takes action to examine ourselves and our thoughts to make sure that we are connecting to God with them (Phillipians 4:8)

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see.
By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That's what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn't find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God." It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

Hebrews 11:1-6

We see here that it is not what you do that makes the difference, it is what you believe! Believing takes action, the action of daily, moment by moment, self examination of our thoughts so that we will know what we believe. I wonder if this is why the Bible says:

The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

James 2:26

Faith is working at, forming habits of belief. If you try to seperate those faith is dead. I think that is why we walk around getting upset when we are told "just have faith." We are not working, taking action on our faith. We think that we can just have it, without working for it. So today have faith, begin to examine yourself and your thoughts so that faith can become a working tool that connects you to God and allows God to work you into his most excellent harmonies!

Namaste'