Discipling the Undisciplined no. 21

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness”!(Matthew 6:22-23). That was where my journey began four years ago, taking ownership of my darkness and deciding to work on making it light. I was unhealthy as so many of us are. I wasn’t so unhealthy that it was noticeable BUT just unhealthy enough to realize that things were not right. And I would try doing little things here and there to quick fix BUT never made any lasting changes. And then something in me clicked to start taking my health seriously. Whether it was fear or God’s plan or just time, pinpointing exactly what it was is much less important than the actual change. I hit the floor and started working out. I hit the lunch box and started looking at what I was eating. I hit my cup and started to look at what I was drinking. I hit my brain and started to look at what I was studying and thinking. I hit my screens and started to examine what I was putting into my eyes. And I started to take the baby steps at getting healthier. Health is a struggle in a society that profits off disease. 

I was tired of darkness in my life. I was tired of seeing the worst in people and judging them for those ills. I was tired of being unhealthy. So, I made the change and God led the way even though I had no idea. And I was struggling to do push ups. I was struggling to do sit ups. I was struggling to do jumping jacks. I was struggling to eat fiber. I was struggling to eliminate processed foods. I was struggling to eat real food. I was struggling to eliminate sugars. I was struggling to read helpful things. I was struggling to eliminate the news. I was struggling to get out of political debates. I was struggling to make amends for being a jerk. I was struggling to change my life. I was struggling with a philosophy to govern my life. And then I started reading The Bible, cover to cover, for the first time, all the books, apocrypha and the like, all of it. And I haven’t stopped struggling BUT I have a new way of life.

It’s easy to get frustrated by the struggle to change. Five push ups and five sit ups were a struggle at first BUT I continued. I built on the routine. Giving up soda wasn’t tough for me BUT lemonade and tea were. And now I’m drinking water all day long. Reading and studying in the morning wasn’t easy BUT I started carving out the time to read into my routine. Building and maintaining a garden took trial and error and patience. All change takes time. And we so easily get frustrated and want to just go back to the rut. BUT the rut is not going to save anyone. And we need to save ourselves first through the grace of God. I needed to let Jesus work in my life before I was ever going to be a help to anyone else. So, let me encourage you that we all can start making changes. And God will meet us where we are. 

God doesn’t change everything all at once. So don’t get frustrated with the journey. I didn’t wake up one day unhealthy and then wake up the next day healthy. Both of those paths took a series of choices and habits to achieve. So, let’s be realistic about ourselves and our expectations BUT also be aware that God can change anyone and anything. Once you give Him the control, He can do wonderful things for your health. He wants us to be free. And making choices to increase our health spiritually, mentally, and physically help us achieve that freedom.

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH

Discipling the Undisciplined no. 20

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). That is a tough one for most folks, me included. We live in a material world, thanks Madonna, and we are folks that surround ourselves with things. BUT the most important things are not of this world. Grace, mercy, truth, and love are not of this world. Those important things come from God.

I have never been too awfully tied to possessions. I am more attached to the memories and comfort those possessions provide. What I need to understand is that those memories and comforts are not conditional on those things. The memories reside within my mind and the comfort comes from the peace of God. 

I can spend my life making money and never be happy. Folks will enslave themselves to money and material things. Folks will pick jobs based on the salary. Folks will leave doing what makes them happy to pursue money. And, I hate to break it to you, BUT money isn’t real. It once had value. There was some sort of material thing to which money was related. Whether it was gold, or silver, money was once related to some other material. Today, money has imaginary value. The value that our collective agreement has given to the money is what drives its value. Nothing more. So, I think it is time to really examine why we are chasing something with imaginary value when I can find true value in my life through a relationship with my creator.

I look out over the gardens I built through God’s motivation and all the sweat and tears put into that labor and know in my heart that I could do it all again. I might be a little bit older and a little bit slower BUT the lessons I have learned from God in that experience are with me still. And those lessons, that walk, that time of wrestling with Him was worth a lot more than the garden itself. Learning to trust in His time and working on patience and peace were much more valuable than that garden itself. My treasure is in learning what God has for me this side of eternity. My treasure is in walking with Him and learning daily what He has for me to do. My treasure is in learning more about Him and myself. My treasure is eventually spending eternity working in partnership with Him so I am going to practice that today and every day. That is my future and my present, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH