Embrace the Within no. 62

Shabbat Shalom.

Not everyone is going to approve of the changes you make. And they don’t have to approve of how you live your life. That is an exceedingly difficult thing to act upon and think about and actually embrace.

I have plenty of years of experience in doing things and thinking things and typing things and saying things that most folks, at one time or another, find unacceptable. Even I found it difficult to become a lot of those things. I don’t merely talk about doing things. I am not all philosophy and rhetoric. I transform my life to align with my principles. That transformation is at times slow and at times dramatic to external observation. BUT it has always been a process and a journey for me.

These are not whims. These are things I have immersed myself into studying and practicing. I don’t sit around and talk about any of these things. I put principle into practice.

Why? There are so many examples of folks that simply live without principles. And I see how that brings scorn and disdain from the unprincipled. I have a friend that is becoming principled and I hear her get the same backlash as I once did about being principled. I see the same backlash from former friends that want the old me to return. It’s not okay to change. Unprincipled folks don’t want you to have principles. And settled folks don’t want to get better.

I am a narcissist for posting my push up updates to raise money for nonprofits. I am wrong in believing people are broken and in need of fixing. I am weak minded for following The Way of the Lord. I am being preyed upon by religion. I am judgmental for calling out “Christians” for being fat. And that’s fine with me. It has to be fine with me because that is the way that I am being led right now.

The more I study and build my relationship in The Way of the Lord, then the more I learn that I have always and will always walk this path alone. I don’t get to let other folks make choices. I don’t get to push off my decisions on someone else. I completely and totally own everything I have ever done and everything I will ever do. Personal responsibility and self ownership are great things to talk about and celebrate BUT difficult to enact.

Shavua tov.

Shalom to your home. Bless your being. The reign of YHWH is now. Be a blessing to YHWH and others.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #ChristsLifeMatters #EmbracetheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH #GodKnows

Embrace the Within no. 61

"When you are suffering most [God’s] eyes are on you and he cares deeply about you."

Randy Alcorn

Heavenly Father, redeeming Christ, and comforting Spirit,

I thank you for all the obstacles and challenges I faced this past week. Your Grace and Truth have helped me hurdle those obstacles and face those challenges. Allow me to focus on all the good that is within my life and the thankfulness and praise that lie beneath every small kindness within my life. Let me be thankful that sicknesses, obstacles, and challenges are within your control. Let me be thankful that even though I may not see the way that You have already provided the path through. Help me, Lord, to know that there is nothing impossible when it comes to life. Allow me to be thankful for the time I have on this side of eternity to witness Your Power, Your Grace, Your Mercy, and Your Truth.

Thank you for showing me that since nothing I do matters in my salvation that everything I do matters in life. The pointless actions of a broken nephesh can never redeem my transgressions. You provided a way that relies not on my deeds BUT the sacrifice of Your Son in a plan for perfection. Thank you for providing a path to salvation and atonement that all can achieve through Your sacrifice.

Help me to remember the conversion of Saul and how you took one of the most deadly and dangerous enemies of the first century and turned his life into one of witness for Your Glory. Help remove the scales from the eyes of others as You restored my vision to see and embrace Your Way. I am thankful for the chance to move from the path of rebuker and malcontent in this world and into a testimony of Your grace and mercy. I thank you for all the understanding that I have gained through studying your Word and building a better relationship with You. I thank you for allowing that opportunity through Your Way and not my way.

I pray this week that those that are suffering from physical, mental, and spiritual weakness will find Your strength. I am thankful for the healing that awaits all of us this side of eternity. I thank You for showing me the power of prayer and the healing that can occur with faith and trust in Your power over this mortal world. And I look forward to an eternity to learn even more about You.

As I move forward with the ending of this week and the promise of a new week ahead, I ask that You look over my community. I pray for Your Church and all those that work for your glory in my community. I pray that Your Church is strengthened with resolve and commitment to spreading your love and grace to all in the community. I pray that you pour out more blessings for Your Church than they can hold. Help us all to live a life that is a beacon to those in our community and help my words and actions be a blessing to Your glory. Help us and those we meet along the way to see Your vision of the world to come, Your Truth in all those interactions. In all this I ask that it is Your way and not my way.

Hear, O Israel: YHWH, our Elohim is One! And I will love and worship and thank and praise my YHWH, my Elohim with all my nephesh!

Amen.

Shalom to your home. Bless your being. The reign of YHWH is now. Be a blessing to YHWH and others.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #ChristsLifeMatters #EmbracetheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH #GodKnows