Embrace the Within no. 10

"Everyone chooses their level of involvement. We might share the same place BUT that does not mean we share the same space. Not everyone in the congregation is Christian."

Embrace the Within.

I think one of the problems I have and that I have seen in other Christians is that we forget that we’re human beings. We talk with God and study and get lost in living a better life that we somehow believe we have become better people. And that just isn’t the case. We are still flawed and broken and fallible. The only difference is that we have an ally in God to cover over those broken parts of our lives and embolden us to walk in truth. We start to believe we have something to do with our being special. And we don’t.

When the folks at the building you attend for praise aren’t perfect just remember that neither are you. When the folks you create as role models fail and fall just remember that you fail and fall too. I let the problems I had with the folks in churches get in the way of my relationship with God. And I see how dumb and silly and stupid something like that is. I wouldn’t allow the actions of other folks about another person get in my way with a relationship. How much sillier is it to allow others to be a stumbling block for my relationship with God? Other people have nothing to do with that relationship just like they don’t have anything to do with any of my other relationships.

Am I going to jeopardize my relationship because some biddies talk about folks? Am I going to jeopardize my relationship because someone isn’t doing Christianity the way I think they should? Am I going to jeopardize my relationship because someone thinks a different way about something biblical than me? It’s silly and pointless to act that way. No one can come between my relationship with God other than me. And to blame other folks for the failing of the relationship is the biggest lie I can tell myself. Because it isn’t what other people think that matters in any relationship. What only matters is between me and that other in the relationship.

People in the church aren’t making me leave my relationship with God and they aren’t strengthening my relationship with God, I am. What is between God and me is between us and no one else. My nephesh is responsible for making the choices for my nephesh and no one else. It’s time to stop acting like folks are gatekeeping our relationship with God. The only one that has control over that relationship is me.

Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of God is now. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin

Embrace the Within no. 9

“It may not be your fault but it is still your problem.” Embrace the Within.

The Lord does work in mysterious ways. You never quite know what to expect out of life despite having so many plans, ideas, and goals. I always seem to have a plan for my benefit BUT God has a plan that works out for everyone’s benefit. And I know that sometimes that plan that God has does not seem to be for our benefit or anyone else’s benefit. I know that I have trouble seeing the plan and how God’s plan is better than my plan. And then I sit back and think about the audacity of that thought. The audacity to question God and the plan.

I know what it’s like when I, with all my limitations and weakness, put together a plan that is questioned by other humans and then sit back and consider how imperfect my plan has to be compared to the time and detail put into any plan God has conceived and implemented. And that does give me pause to consider the audacity to think I could do anything better. You need look no further than my past track record to easily prove that I cannot do any better. I can do alright. I can get by. My plans are passable. BUT there is not, by any means of imagination, a chance I can do better for my life or the life of others than God’s plan. And I think that is a huge stumbling block for folks because we are so into our plans. Or maybe I am just into my plans. Maybe folks don’t have plans. Sometimes I question that as well BUT I am sure they have dreams and hopes and wishes.

Anyways, looking back over the time from March 2020 when the agents of state shut everything down and I started a new plan, I am totally in awe at where I am today. And I am nowhere without God’s plan for my life that I did not see back then. Then I was upset at a wrasslin show being canceled and scared that food was going to be a problem. And now, I have a garden and livestock and a firm grasp on my life. I mean I even grew tomatoes this year and that, in itself, always feels like something miraculous.

I have come a long way from those fourteen days ago in 2020 where I had no God on my radar and no plan for tomorrow. I grew up a lot more in these past three years than in all the four and a half decades prior. And that in itself is quite the mystery. Going forward, I look forward and eagerly await the new changes and challenges and destinations of this journey that I could have never planned or foreseen because the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of God is now. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin