Embrace the Within no. 32

“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.”

• G. K. Chesterton

God is good all the time. I just have a difficult time seeing that because I get too comfortable. Christianity isn’t about being comfortable, though. Christianity is about being comforted.

I used to be comfortable. I was living oblivious to my own brokenness. I had no idea that I was living a physically, mentally, and spiritually unhealthy life. I had no idea. I was surrounded by folks living with varying degrees of unhealthiness that were comfortable in that unhealthiness. And it is easy to be both comfortable and complain in this country without ever changing. I could easily find many ways to entertain and distract myself from the unhealthiness that was all throughout my life.

And then the fear hit me back in March 2020. Fear for feeding my family. A concern that took me out of focus on myself and into focus on those around me. And that is where the process began for me. In the midst of all that fear there was a light that appeared really faint on the horizon which started me on this journey. And I started making myself uncomfortable.

At first it was all about getting my body healthy because you are what you eat. It sounds so simple yet how many times do we make poor food choices, poor health choices, poor life choices out of comfort? So, I changed my diet and moved away from the bulk of what is for sale in grocery stores and started eating food I could identify as naturally occurring. And relying on making your own foods is uncomfortable when you can easily order out, buy prepackaged, or snack. And being uncomfortable began. Through physical and mental health came the work on my spirit.

I hear a lot of the metaphor about our bodies being a temple and then usually hear that followed by comparisons to temples in ruin, temples abandoned, temples overgrown. I don’t want that temple. I don’t want a temple that isn’t actively being used as a place for worship. I don’t care if that temple is a tent, a shack, or a mansion, that temple is going to be actively involved in worship. And that is the reason I am renovating this building. I am spending the time to get this temple in the best condition for God. And that is as uncomfortable as anything else in life can be. Working all my nephesh is part of that walk.

What am I modeling if this temple is a mess? If there are fast food wrappers and empty pizza boxes stacked out front of this temple? If the door is off the hinges and the windows are broken? If the roof is leaking and the ventilation doesn’t work? What is my model showing others?

Not every temple is built the same BUT every temple needs to be in the best condition it can get. And I can’t neglect one part of my nephesh and be comfortable. I need to work on the whole body, the whole nephesh, the whole temple. I can’t be skipping leg day. I can’t be just reading scripture. I can’t be just eating healthy. I can’t be just one of those things. I need them all in unison. I need that alignment of body, mind, and spirit in the service and worship of God.

God is comforting and God is uncomfortable. Find that uncomfortability that will help you change into the best temple for God to find worship within.

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

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #ChristsLifeMatters #EmbracetheWithin

Embrace the Within no. 31

Let all things their Creator bless, and worship God in humbleness, alleluia!

• St. Francis of Assisi

I don’t know about what your big BUT is, however my big BUT was all about how I approached The Bible and God. I approached everything with the perspective that I was the one that was able to do the judging. I had presupposed that I was the one with impeccable judgment, vast wisdom, and a track record of great decisions. Laughable I assure you, however, how many of us approached God this way? How many of us thought it was our right to pass judgment on the actions of God, the commandments of God, and thought if we were God we would be doing things differently?

I know I wasn’t alone in this perspective and I know I won’t be the last one saved from this perspective. I still see it among the main roots of big Christian BUTs. And when we approach things blamelessly we get a whole different perspective about God’s Word than if we approach the Word like we truly are, flawed, broken, and fallen. Simply switching that perspective allows me to read The Bible with a heart open to learning.

A lot of this comes from treating God and His Word like we treat other people. When we read what others write and hear what others say, we are easy to go to modes of judgment and criticism. Trying to find whether it fits my preconceived and preformed echo chamber of acceptable thought, I rate these words on my merits and not their own.

I read a lot and mostly nonfiction. This has helped my mind work in a more research based mode when reading than a critical lens as I would when looking at fiction whether in verse or prose. And I think that switch of reading nonfiction to learn rather than to condemn or judge has helped when I first started reading The Bible and assorted apocrypha over the past few months in context. I had read scripture before in pieces and standing alone BUT I had never read the entirety of The Bible from cover to cover. It is a process that helps make a lot more sense out of what I was taught as disjointed stories in my youth.

Seeing the whole story as one unified narrative across thousands of years gives so much more depth and understanding to my journey. When I read the scrolls of Torah, I get an understanding of how stubborn and unworthy even the people God chose were. As I continue through, I get to see more and more the failings of humanity and their stubbornness and struggles with God. And I can take those struggles and failings and apply them to my walk. And coming from that perspective now, I get to see the Word as something not for me to fight or judge or evaluate, BUT as instruction and lesson. And shifting that perspective has truly helped my journey become more aligned with God.

Maybe you’re approaching this the wrong way? Maybe your big Christain BUT is that you are enthroned? Maybe your big Christian BUT is that your culture is enthroned? Maybe your big Christian BUT is getting in the way of what God wants?

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

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