Spiritually Stunted

“Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:3-4 (NKJV)

Spiritually Stunted

Have you ever felt like life is at a standstill? You’ve worshipped, you’ve praised, you’ve given everything to God and now you just sit and wait to see what happens? Oh, sure you continue to read the Bible daily but again, you’re just going through the motions of everyday living. You feel spiritually stunted just waiting for a new season to blossom into sight.

At mid-life, God granted me a season of change that certainly wasn’t expected. I got a dreaded life-altering disease. He let me know point blank that I could wallow in self-pity, roll over and die, or I could face this season of life with CHANGE in my heart and soul. I had been meandering down the road of life, but this was like plowing a car into a wall at fifty miles per hour.

Everything halted. I had to stop and reassess life and prioritize what had the most meaning. God had the most meaning in my life so I needed to strengthen my faith in Him; trust Him like never before. My husband and son were a priority, not so much so taking care of them and meeting their needs, just being a friend and companion to each one on different levels. Then there was family, not really a priority but love still flowed from me to them, and that had meaning to me. What was top priority was living! 

The winter of 2017-18 came with a vengeance, blizzard and all, still clinging well into April! As the mid-life crisis has not gone away, I’m still growing and learning, waiting to blossom.  The arctic-like winter put another roadblock in my way as I became idle and unwilling to walk on ice and brace the cold horrendous winds. My stationery bike became the only source of exercise and even that was not welcomed. I felt bitter and angry at this cessation of my spirit.

Sure I woke daily and read my bible, I still wrote, and preached about loving the Lord, then Lent had me in a fasting state of reassessing my priorities, while winter held onto what the calendar says is spring. Next week will be May 1st and the trees still look as barren as they did in December. They too are waiting for the arrival of spring. They want to wake up and greet the world but it gets kind of hard to do when you’re left sitting idle for months, dormant and chilled. Onward I go, realizing I myself, have become the stunted Christian I’m always writing about.

“Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.” 

~ Hal Borland

The one thing I don’t have a problem knowing is that the enemy is underfoot. His goal is to steal, kill, and destroy. Steal any form of hope and happiness, kill any joy, and destroy all strength that resides in you in bringing forth nothing more than defeat to his hellish stance.

We do have a choice who we listen to and I can honestly say I don’t think God has been speaking loud enough for me and the only voice left to hear is not the one of my choosing, thus leaving me spiritually depleted. How do I know this? Because I’m feeling depressed knowing full well that the warmth of spring is going to come but the lack of sunshine makes me feel down. I hear doubts and fears whispering in my ears, trying to take a stab at me and I know full well, God is not of doubt, fear, and anxiety. 

I can usually curtail the doubts quite easily with a good vigorous walk but as I said, winter has disabled me and it is lingering for far too long. I’ve had to start on different supplements because I’m thinking maybe my system is becoming immune to some of the supplements that I’m taking. Now I’m taking a lot of letters of the alphabet A, B, C, D3, E, and K! Some of my old ones remain because well, they have to. 

I have also turned to God as He has given me His Word and Spirit to tap into to strengthen me. I do feel His protection during these times as if I’m wearing the armor suit He bestowed upon me, but maybe the helmet fell off, y’know? I think maybe it became too comfortable.

I call to mind this scripture that enforces my wisdom:

Ephesians 6:10-18 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

I’m wondering if that is what has happened to the world these days; they’ve just become too comfortable in the mundane routines. Do people just start taking God for granted until they’re shaken to their knees? Then they either turn to Him or turn against Him as if to blame Him for all the wrongs in life. 

I do have to make my husband and son understand that it isn’t God to blame for my condition, I am to blame. I didn’t take care of myself. In their selfishness, they’ll feel it was God’s fault and become further stunted and that will be a sad day. I pray for them daily but must work toward healing and seeing myself alive in ten-fifteen years. I'm still young so I'd love to see twenty more years, God willing.

I will live with Christ in me, I will put on the full armor of God, I will lead the remaining stunted people to the light so that darkness doesn’t become who they are as a people, as a nation. I may only reach a few but it is a few more than none at all, right? 

Remember, don’t blame God, blame yourself when things take a turn for the worse. When things go bad, you and I, are the only ones to blame for the stunted Spirituality.

Galatians 6:8 (NIV) “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” 

May you accept God’s blessing as the fruit of life and be blessed in all you do!

Col. 1:27-28 (KJV) “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:”

Gateway to Health: Spirituality

 John 4:24 KJV “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

Some people are defined by the religion they practice whether Catholic, Methodist, Baptist etc., the list goes on and on. I like to think I am defined by my spirituality, not a religion.

A healthy spirit is needed to get through the muck and mire that life deals you. Just as a healthy body gets you through illnesses attacking you and an unhealthy body has your immune system putting you on notice that, guess what, you’re not healthy.

One might ask how to obtain a healthy spirit and I can honestly wholeheartedly say, this is one thing on earth you can’t get with the almighty dollar. You can’t tithe and donate your way into a healthy spirit, you can’t buy candles or stones and think your way into a healthy spirit, you can’t get a vaccination against the evil spirits lurking the wild; a healthy spirit needs to be tended from within every second of every living day. Hard work but not impossible.

I’ve heard people call me a ‘Jesus freak’, a ‘bible thumper’ and even ‘a hypocrite’ all because I nurture my spirit in ways maybe no one else does. I like to think we’re all the same but just as this disease that has taken up a home in my body is unique to my body, no two believers are the same. We are all unique in our own way.

When you attend church, are you there to worship God or are you there to see who else is attending? Do you look at the shabby clothes one is wearing and compare the suit and tie guy to him? Are your eyes fixed on the extremely short skirt that Mildred is wearing compared to your ankle length skirt? Or are you there to praise and worship God?

Read this story and let me know if you fit in here. 

I realize I don’t fit in anywhere. I am a homeless person among onlookers. I am a leper among the unscathed. I am a fellow sinner among men. I am Spirit-filled to the end. My spirit is full of God and that is why I don’t fit in. I love all that He created, I love my fellow man even the ones who don’t seem to be wanting or in need of love, I love them anyway. My spirit is full because of LOVE. God is my breath in the morning, my lunch in the afternoon, a delectable filling dinner, and my companion at bedtime.

2 Cor. 6:17-18 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

We cannot all be the same, God never intended us to be that way, we’re unique. When we are filled with the Spirit we sometimes look the same and are like magnets drawn to one another but we soon realize while we are like-minded we are all different on different paths, different roads, different purposes and different completion. God wanted us different but united by one thing… by our love!

We become children of God when we drink in His Holy Spirit. One can be an avid reader of the Bible, attend church weekly, wear the garments of being a Christian but still not be filled with His Spirit.

Deut. 30:1, 6, 19-20 “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Did you read that? Obey His voice, cling to Him, He is your LIFE and the length of your days. This is no small fete. He’s not asking you to passively get to know Him, He’s asking you to LOVE, LISTEN, and OBEY! He is the only one who gets to choose whether you live or die. So many humans are riddled with selfishness that we don’t quite comprehend this. We cannot hold fast to the materials of this world, the food, the books, the clothes or the money, it is not ours to cling to and if you say, “I worked for it!” Yes, you did but let me ask, when God calls you home, are you going to take your money with you and tell Him how you can’t leave it behind because ‘you earned it’?

Our spirit doesn’t know money. Money is of the materialistic physical realm. God is not money, God is Spirit! Spirituality is a connection, a relationship with God IN you not God outside of you. Meaning, God is not bits and pieces of the religious you. That is the physical you and what you’ve shaped in this physical world. That is your way of trying to connect to the Spirit of God. Remember what I said earlier, God is love? The Spirit of God is already in you and your free will allows a choice to stray from Him, embrace Him, or become ONE with Him. When your spirit is so full of LOVE that breathing hate is no longer a part of your being, you are becoming one with the Spirit of God.

You become one with everything living and breathing. Your soul opens to nature and all the natural beatings of the rhythms of the sound of the earth. The vibrations awaken in you a sight of God that you formerly never saw because you were too busy with the physical aspects of loving your Father. Spirituality is the meditations of the soul connecting with the Higher being dwelling within you that has now been awakened, God.

Matt. 22:37-40 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Until you live and breathe these commandments, you have not soulfully or spiritually connected to the Holy Spirit. God is LOVE! Once you connect to the Father-board, boot up your system, you will feel the love course through your veins; for all those around you, your enemy, for those you formerly hated, and for those you disagree with. LOVE becomes your new way of living a spirit-filled life. You will now find yourself full of the Spirit

This is what God intended when He created us. He wanted us to be so full of love the world couldn’t view the hate. Instead what’s happened is the world is so full of hate it can no longer see the love. Sure we go to church, view people, see the steeple, hear a message but how many times in a week do you carry the message home with you, and actually LIVE the message of LOVE? Well, let me just say if more people carried the word, the world would not be the train wreck we have in front of us. You’ll find spirituality underneath the rubble.

Jer. 1:16 “And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

May the Word of the Lord bless you all! 

Gateway to Health: The Mind

Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (NIV)

Gateway to Health: The Mind 

Today we’re going to venture into the power of the mind, the weak mind and the powerful mind. Please note, a weak mind does not in any way mean a weak person, it just means you don’t have a powerful mind. There’s nothing wrong with that. I think the mind works in an optimistic or pessimistic flow of thoughts. A powerful minded person is usually an optimist, who sees healing powers whereas a weaker minded person is a pessimist and doesn't necessarily believe the mind holds any power.

“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” 
― Marcus Aurelius

I know there’s a scripture that says there is strength in numbers.

Ecc. 4:9 “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour."

Matt 18:20 KJV “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

In context, strength in numbers means people out of context suppose it means THOUGHTS.  Two [thoughts] are better than one.

Where two [positive thoughts] are gathered together…

Think about it. The world would be a much better place if optimism ran rampant in the minds of humans. Such as it is pessimism [is not realism] it is negativism! Doubt and fear are humanistic but fear and doubt are not of God and all He stands for. Being born a pessimist is quite hard to change, just as being an optimist has its hurdles too, but the mind IS a powerful thing to waste.

“Any fear is an illusion. You think something is standing in the way, but nothing is really there. What is there, is an opportunity to do your best and gain some success. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
~ Michael Jordan

The gift of disease can be a blessing to the optimist, devastating to the pessimist. Where I see a time to change, they see a time to give in and give up. Where I, an optimist, see my diagnosis as a positive change, a blessing, to the pessimist they will see a diagnosis as the end of the line, a curse to reckon with.

When I got the diagnosis almost a year ago to the day I asked two oncologists, an M.D. and a P.A a question. If I don’t for one minute believe chemo will work for me, will it work? All four said, “Absolutely NOT!” They all agreed that the mind is very powerful and what I think and believe will shape the outcome.

So when someone (usually pessimists) questions the route I’m taking, I point them directly to my BELIEF that this is healed and the path is already laid out, I’m just following the yellow brick road, so to speak. I obviously have a very strong mind. I sleep eight hours, of good restful sleep, I exercise, eat right and healthy and am an eternal optimist!

The doctors tried to use fear to get me to succumb to their line of treatment. We NEED to slice, dice and radiate you! NOW, we can’t wait, the longer you wait the less chance you have of survival. “Okay. Doc,” I said, “I’ll take my chances with faith.”
Some (pessimist) see this as crazy. Faith doesn’t mean to carry a serious diagnosis like this lightly, is what they think. Then I’ll ask them, just what DOES faith mean to you? 

I read the link from The Truth About Cancer, if you also scrolled to the bottom and read the comments, the one lady says how this is not a gift, it is tiring always looking over your shoulder and hoping. Sad to say, but I don’t feel that all the supplements in the world are going to heal that woman. I read too much negativity from her and she sounds like a pessimist at heart.

If you are a pessimist [realist, whatever you call yourself] there is no easy alternative treatment for you. Go to the doctor, believe your doctor and your doctor will heal you, or at least the drugs you think will can. I am an optimist, I don’t believe for one second a doctor or his drugs can heal me and I have every ounce of faith that my Eternal Healer has already healed me. This does not make me right and you wrong it makes us different, just the way God designed us to be, different.

Pss. 143:5 “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.”

The mind is very powerful. I believe the nation is in the troubles it is in because of the culmination of negative thinkers, the pessimists of the world. Pessimists, by no fault of their own mind you, but by the very power of negative thinking have shaped the world with their doubt and hate. The collective conscience of society has had a detrimental effect on society as a whole. 

While I see the positive beauty in the world, I see hope filtering through from behind a veil obscured from view, yet the negativity shines in the night as a planetarium; it is full of light in the darkness of the cosmos, not the other way around.

Through my Gateway to Health series, I will try and lead you all onto a lighted path. A healthy mind is ESSENTIAL to healing! Please leave your pessimism at the door I just mopped the floor. If you are not willing to TRY and change (I’m not talking about religion here, I’m talking MIND) then you really don’t want to be here. I’m all about ooey gooey optimism and the power of positive thinking. Granted I live for my Lord, positivity can be had believing in light, love and spirituality.  The choice is yours, not mine, I’ve already made MY choice. 

Next up: Spirituality and Meditation

Wait On The Lord

1 Cor. 2: 4 “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:”

Wait On The Lord

Waiting on the Lord requires no rocket science, it requires a faith in the unknown like no other belief.  Faith alone will not guide you into the hands of the waiting Lord when eternity comes your way, faith alone is like having a tree with no leaves. You have the solid trunk (faith) but without leaves, you’re left feeling naked among men, and to many, that’s not a pretty sight.

A part of waiting on the Lord is preparing. Preparing and being prepared for the day He arrives when your naked tree is looked upon by Him. Did you tend the tree? Did you give it the utmost care and nurture it so it would grow? Then why does it have no leaves? Don’t tell me it’s fall, either! 

We are being attacked in our daily lives by satan himself. He’s present in our negative thoughts, gives us nasty scenarios to distract us from the Lord and your tending of the tree. If your tree is naked you more than likely have fallen victim of satan without even knowing it. You’ve tried to tend the tree (your faith), you’ve kept vigil by being true to His word, but you allow what you think is good and right into your world not knowing you’re doing battle with satan and losing even some small connection to the bark of the tree.

1 Cor. 10:3-6  “And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.”

We allow our strong faith to be swayed by the lusts of this world. That is where many people go wrong in their walk, they’re easily swayed not fearing the Lord or satan for that matter. I sometimes think people believe in God but not satan. Well, let me just say, if there is good there is also evil. They both walk and talk spiritually to lure but one sits in the midst waiting to devour you with pleasures that will lead you away from the righteous path. Demons, satan's followers -the third that were cast out of heaven and were denied the chance to be born on this earth are among the living. Spiritual forces -both good and evil- permeate this existence

When people say they are believers and followers of Christ, how can they NOT believe in satan? Especially when the Bible states that Jesus cast out demons. Is that a lie? Was that just folly to scare us? I’m not one to dwell in the dark hemisphere and I try not to bring any bit of darkness to this world that hasn’t already touched me in some way shape or form. 

Rev. 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

To wait on the Lord, the demons inside you must be cast out. There is a way to be rid of the darkness and that is trusting in the Lord solely for whatever you choose. Do you choose hate over love? Do you dwell in darkness instead of Light? 

Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV) “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

With ALL thine heart does not mean a portion of it, it means ALL of it. Sometimes you’ll feel queasy because satan is tugging at you but you need STRENGTH in the Lord so He can and will direct your path.

This month is Creepy Movie month in our household where we watch creepy scary movies. I like tales of ghost hauntings (Haunted Honeymoon, The Others, The Sixth Sense) but I despise demon possession (Exorcist, Conjuring) for a reason no one would understand without calling me a freak but I normally draw the line on those demonic types of movies. 

We take turns picking a movie and the month has been going pretty good with movies like The Addams Family, White Noise, (animated) Monster House, Awakening, The Haunting, just good fun creepy movies.

Last night hubby’s pick went south, too far south for me, the movie The Conjuring was about demon possession and I don’t think even he knew it was that blood-curdling scary. But then again he’s never experienced such a thing, his family kept a well-guarded shield of Christianity around the family spanning generations. 

Going a little off topic here (I’m sure it will circle back to Waiting on the Lord) but I don’t know how my hubby and I were even brought together except for that of a Higher Spiritual force! My upbringing, I was always enmeshed in ghost stories. When I was three years old (or younger) I REMEMBER a black cat circling my crib waiting to pounce on me before jumping out our second story window. Mother said we never owned a cat at the time, Hmm. Then my older siblings thirteen and eleven owned a game called Kabala that they thought their little three-year-old sister would like to see. My life was shaped all the way up to ghost stories from my aunts to I myself owning a ouija board. The paranormal was just a part of my upbringing.  My only saving grace was the attendance of Catholic school which in a way brought MY own shield of protection. 

Hubby was raised in a Baptist family where they attended church regularly, bible school weekly, and summer camp yearly. They played cards and normal board games and when I asked had he ever owned a ouija board he said no. They didn’t tell ghost stories (lest it be about the Holy Ghost) and they didn’t meddle in the paranormal. As he grew he had a season where he turned AWAY from God and church whereas I turned TO God and the church. I have to say we’re a 50/50 couple. We’re fifty percent alike and fifty percent different from one another. I guess that’s why it works for us in this season of our lives.

I had a friend recently comment, “I know I don’t wait on the Lord the way I should.” My reply was that there is no certain way that one, ‘waits on the Lord’. We all go through different seasons in our life and our experiences whether good (hubby’s) or bad (mine) will shape what we become and how we wait differently on the Lord.

God Himself decided to reach down and mold me into who I am today, while others might not have FELT the hand of God and had to seek and find Him first before they could THINK of waiting on the Lord. I will not stop my Creepy Movie month of watching movies because, in all honesty, it is the season we put to rest all that has shaped the year. With these movies, I can reflect on how far I have come, while hubby can see the season he missed. You know what I mean?

Exodus 13:10 “Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.”

Quotation Saturday

Prov. 26:24 "He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;"

MASKS

“We understand how dangerous a mask can be. We all become what we pretend to be.” 
― Patrick Rothfuss

“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.” 
― Nathaniel Hawthorne

“We all wear masks, but it's the one we choose to wear that makes a difference.” 
― Kim Yannayon

“It's good to see the snakes revealing themselves. They weren't actually hidden at all. People hide behind the masks, but eventually you see them for who they truly are.” 
― Amaka Imani Nkosazana

DECEIT

“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” 
― William Shakespeare

“Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.” 
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” 
― Noël Coward

“The only thing more frustrating than slanderers is those foolish enough to listen to them.” 
― Criss Jami

“God hath given you one face, and you make yourself another.” 
― William Shakespeare

“A rumor is a social cancer: it is difficult to contain and it rots the brains of the masses. However, the real danger is that so many people find rumors enjoyable. That part causes the infection. And in such cases when a rumor is only partially made of truth, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the information may have gone wrong. It is passed on and on until some brave soul questions its validity; that brave soul refuses to bite the apple and let the apple eat him. Forced to start from scratch for the sake of purity and truth, that brave soul, figuratively speaking, fully amputates the information in order to protect his personal judgment. In other words, his ignorance is to be valued more than the lie believed to be true.” 
― Criss Jami

PRIDE

“I am not proud, but I am happy; and happiness blinds, I think, more than pride.” 
― Alexandre Dumas

“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.” 
― C.S. Lewis

“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.” 
― Dale Carnegie

“Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune. ” 
― C.G. Jung

TRUTH

“I say what other people only think, and when all the rest of the world is in a conspiracy to accept the mask for the true face, mine is the rash hand that tears off the plump pasteboard, and shows the bare bones beneath.” 
― Wilkie Collins

“RAINBOW VOICES

I ask people of the world and children of light to start reflecting the stories of their souls to vibrate wisdom around the earth. Pick up a paintbrush or microphone. Press the inks of your pens to paper or tap words onto your screens, and start sharing what you know and have learned with the masses. Turn your personal painting into a piece of the earth's puzzle so that our unified assemblage of thoughts, experiences and lessons reveal common truths that cannot be denied. Imagine the changes that could happen if everyone suddenly stopped acting like someone else, became true to themselves, and celebrated the beauty of their uniqueness. Only after people have willingly removed their masks and costumes, and have begun pouring light from their hearts to reveal their vulnerability, dreams and pains, will we be able to see that beneath the surface we are all the same. After all, how can the world collectively fight for truth, if soldiers in its army are void of truth? We must first all be true by putting truth in our words and actions. And to do so, everyone must learn to think and react with their conscience. Imagine what Truth could do to neutralize the clutches of evil once this black and white world suddenly became embraced by a strong rainbow of loud powerful voices. We could put color back into every home, every school, every industry, every nation, and every garden on earth where flowers have been crushed by corruption.” 
― Suzy Kassem

“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” 
― Mark Twain

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” 
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

SPIRITUALITY

“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.” 
― Carl Sagan

“The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God.” 
― Rob Bell

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” 
― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong.” 
― John Lennon

Pss. 117:2 "For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD."

Finding My Place

2 Cor. 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

A week into the new year and I’m just trying to find my place. I thought I knew where I was heading last year, but I got caught in a tailspin then it all went haywire and out of control. An illness attacked my body and a dark force tried pulling me down, but I kept the Lord front and center (as always) and with Him by my side, I am overcoming many obstacles.

I have come down heavy on the Social scenes this week because that is one of the dark forces that tried swallowing me up. I say dark force because it distracted me from what God had intended for me to do in MY life.  To many, Social Scenes are their life, to me it is just a fun playground, where I ran around and lost myself in the zany crazy aspect of life but when I started losing sight of my goals (see Mondays post) I realized it was time to move on into the new year and into the Light.

To find your place, you need to embrace the reality that is before you. Sure you can drown in your virtual world, pretend that you’re working, tell yourself this is what you enjoy doing and this is fulfilling to you, but really think about what you’re saying. A technological gadget, has swallowed hours upon hours of your time, you wake up to drink coffee with a virtual social world. You sit all day updating a status and liking and when it is time to go to bed, you wake mid-morning and find yourself sitting at the Scene, posting that ‘you’re awake.’ Is this what God had planned for your life?  A lot of people pray, asking God for things, but did you ever pray and ask Him what He WANTS for your life? Do you hear what He says when He speaks/answers???

While I love my friends dearly that I’ve met in the virtual world and would not trade one of them for anything. They are my friends and know me respectfully and know that it is time for my mending and healing. This string of posts are all about me and how *I* need to change my life. If, for some reason, you see yourself in these threads, then maybe that is God speaking to you, not me. 

While Social scenes might be to some, their world, it can not be my world. My healing is physical, my  life is going to gain spiritually and the waves coming through a machine, sometimes hinders that flow of the spirit. You can ‘post’ a hundred scriptures a day, it doesn’t bring you (or anyone else for that matter) any closer to God, than when you speak to Him directly. The reason I posted scriptures was because I am sharing my walk with Christ. If someone gets moved to Christ, well then, All Glory to Him!  My motto, “Don’t talk the talk, if you don’t walk the walk.” This is where I walk...

It is Monday, and I have written five days of blog posts including this one, over 3000 words, and that’s not including all five days for next week, and my journaling, etc.!  I’m focusing on NOT giving up writing, because that is a part of my spiritual healing. As I move into the second week of January (lookout people. This series of threads will drift into a more promising outlook), my healing along with My Savior, is right beside me, and we shall move forward into the Light that I need to be in. I’m finding MY place, are you?

Gal. 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.