Embrace the Within no. 212

"Also we have come to know and trust the love that God has for us. God is love; and those who remain in this love remain united with God, and God remains united with them. Here is how love has been brought to maturity with us: as the Messiah is, so are we in the world. This gives us confidence for the Day of Judgment. There is no fear in love. On the contrary, love that has achieved its goal gets rid of fear, because fear has to do with punishment; the person who keeps fearing has not been brought to maturity in regard to love” (1 Yochanan (1 Jo) 4:16-18 CJB). A long time ago in my life I had a difficult time reconciling the God I read about in The Bible with the way God was presented on the pulpit by many preachers and adopted by their congregations. I can remember as a child being scared of God after one of these sermons, and there were many. And I found those people constantly looking for reasons to make me afraid all throughout my life. Fear in the church drove me away from the church. Fear made me question Christianity. Fear made me look for another way. And fear led me back to Him.

When the plague hit, I was afraid like many folks. I was afraid that the plague was going to take us out. I was afraid that the supply chain problems were going to cause my family to starve. And fear led me to realize that I was tired of being afraid. Folks had been using fear to control me for way too long. And I was tired of having another reason to be afraid. So, I undertook a journey to no longer be afraid. And that journey started with fixing my supply chain. That journey continued with fixing my health. And that journey continues with knowing a loving God.

I spent a lot of time studying and teaching influence over the last decade. Knowing a lot about influence does not make you immune to influence. It does allow you to see when it is happening and recognize how it is making you act. Influence is a human art form that we use consciously and subconsciously. And I was tired of folks having the power to influence fear into me. So, I made a lot of changes.

And I learned that God does not want me to be afraid of Him no matter what I heard from the pulpit or what other folks tried to tell me. Churches wanted me to be afraid. Pastors wanted me to be afraid. BUT God didn’t. When He created people, it was to share rulership with them. He spent all this time trying to fix the relationship we broke. He died to mend that relationship. That does not sound like God trying to scare me. That sounds like a God that wants me. A God that would do anything, including die for me, in order to fix the broken relationship. That sounds a lot more like a loving father than a boogeyman.

I got tired of being afraid. I have come to accept that there is nothing I can do to fix my relationship with Him. He fixed the relationship. There is nothing I can do to be worthy of His love. He gives that love to me regardless. What I can control is how I live after understanding that He loves me. And I choose to live like He loves me.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

Embrace the Within no. 210

“Not that I am saying this to call attention to any need of mine; since, as far as I am concerned, I have learned to be content regardless of circumstances. I know what it is to be in want, and I know what it is to have more than enough — in everything and in every way I have learned the secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need. I can do all things through him who gives me power” (Philippians (Php) 4:11-13). Am I content regardless of my circumstances? Paul writes he “learned to be content regardless of circumstances”. Paul has known prison and freedom. Paul has known plenty and poverty. Paul has known persecution and acceptance. He has seen the ends of the spectrum and what lies between the poles. And Paul writes that the “secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need. I can do all things through him who gives me power”. Am I content regardless of my circumstances?

Paul is not secret about his struggles, “Therefore, to keep me from becoming overly proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from the Adversary to pound away at me, so that I wouldn’t grow conceited. Three times I begged the Lord to take this thing away from me; but he told me, ‘My grace is enough for you, for my power is brought to perfection in weakness.’ Therefore, I am very happy to boast about my weaknesses, in order that the Messiah’s power will rest upon me. Yes, I am well pleased with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties endured on behalf of the Messiah; for it is when I am weak that I am strong” (2 Corinthians (2 Co) 12:7-10). Regardless, he has found the “secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need”. And that simple secret is that God allows him, God allows you, and God allows me to “do all things through him who gives me power”. Am I content regardless of my circumstances?

If I am not content, then why? And that is a great question to ask both myself and Him. “For this mitzvah which I am giving you today is not too hard for you, it is not beyond your reach” (D'varim (Deu) 30:11). He will not make following Him difficult because I cannot do difficult things. He will not make my contentment difficult because I cannot do difficult things. Am I content regardless of my circumstances?

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH