Embrace the Within no. 39

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”

“A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing.”

• Augustus M. Toplady

God is good all the time. I just fail to see it a lot of the time. Well, at least I used to see the goodness of God a lot less than I do now. I used to have to fake being excited. It was a persona that got me through the day. Now I am no longer faking my excitement. I have a song to sing in my soul and a voice to make that song appear and a mind to focus on the joy. I get to choose to be joyful.

There is a lot of focus on happiness in society. Everyone deserves to be happy. No one deserves to be sad or depressed or anxious or worried. And that just simply isn’t the case. Happiness is my interpretation of the world around me. And if I am looking at this secular world, there is a lot to be unhappy about. When I keep my focus on God, when I look to spiritual things, when I see the goodness around me, then I have something beyond happiness. Something that isn’t based on how I feel at the moment. A joy that transcends the past, the present, and the future. I can have a joy that is constantly present.

I support what I love. I spend time learning about and understanding and knowing the things that I love. My youngest son is entirely into lore. He has to research the history and background of whatever his current favorite thing is. He wants to know that thing inside and out. And he will talk my ear off about that thing as soon as he gets my undivided attention. That is the kind of obsession we need with learning about our faith. That is the kind of passion we need for Christ.

I spend time and money and attention on the things I love. I spend time and money and attention on the people I love. I spend time learning about and understanding and knowing the people I love. I can’t build a relationship with anyone that I barely know. Relationships take time and trust and intimacy and knowledge that just doesn’t happen overnight. Relationships take time to build and only seconds to ruin.

I sing through the spirit and I sing in truth. I have a voice in my spirit to say and sing my love for God and neighbor. I have a body to daily act out of love for God and neighbor. I have a mind to consider and reflect on how to love God and neighbor better. I have a whole nephesh that needs to be aligned with those commands.

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’ The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments”(Matthew 22:37-40 AMP).

Peace 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

Embrace the Within no. 38

“All God accomplishes is flawless, faithful, and fair,

and his every word proves trustworthy and true.

They are steadfast forever and ever,

formed from truth and righteousness.

His forever-love paid a full ransom for his people

so that now we’re free to come before Yahweh

to worship his holy and awesome name!

Where can wisdom be found? It is born in the fear of God.

Everyone who follows his ways

will never lack his living-understanding.

And the adoration of God will abide throughout eternity!”

• Psalms 111:7-10 TPT

A lot of times I fail God. I am not proud of that fact BUT I think that is a fact that I and others need to admit more often than we do. I acknowledge that I am far from perfection. Despite my routine of waking every day and working my path, I still fall short in thought and action. I don’t say this to discourage anyone from walking with God. I say this to encourage folks that no person this side of eternity is going to get it completely right all the time and every day.

The point is working toward that perfection. The point is working toward that goal. The point is having an ideal to attain. This walk on this side of eternity is practice and failure and trial and error and learning and revising and returning. This life is a process.

So, even though my sight is set on a “flawless, faithful, and fair” YHWH. A God that is “trustworthy and true”. Oftentimes I am none of those things in word or deed or thought.

And that is just the nature of my brokenness. There is nothing I can do or say to redeem myself. There is nothing I can do to make up for the rift between God and me. There is no amount of deeds, no number of words, no multitude of thoughts that can bring me close to God on my own. YHWH paid the price. YHWH created the path. YHWH made the thought a reality.

And that is my consolation in failure because I do fail a lot. I am consoled that I don’t have to do anything because He did it all. I need only accept that I am powerless in this whole situation. I need to accept that there is no plan I can work, no thought I can have, no action I can take to make anything right. And I don’t have to because YHWH has the plan. I just have to work His plan.

That doesn't mean I feel justified in failing. That doesn’t mean I feel good about not meeting the standard. That doesn’t mean I stop trying to reach the goal. It just means that when I do fail that I realize that none of this is about me anymore. I chose to do things His Way and not my way. And we all get to choose YHWH our our way. Am I choosing YHWH or my way?

Peace 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