Biblical Meditation no. 1

"But the wisdom from above is first pure [morally and spiritually undefiled], then peace-loving [courteous, considerate], gentle, reasonable [and willing to listen], full of compassion and good fruits. It is unwavering, without [self-righteous] hypocrisy [and self-serving guile]. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness (spiritual maturity) is sown in peace by those who make peace [by actively encouraging goodwill between individuals]."

James 3:17-18 [Amplified Bible]

Embrace the Word.

I spent a lot of time over the past two decades in Catholic mass and there comes a part in the service where they offer each other a sign of peace. And I think about how we often have the opportunity to share a sign of peace with one another and instead choose violence, selfishness, and evil. James talks about eternal wisdom shown in us by being pure, peaceful, gentle, reasonable, attentive, compassionate, good, and unwavering. These are signs of spiritual maturity. We could do a lot worse than using these traits as guidance for our interactions with one another. When we wonder if our wisdom is a sign of spiritual maturity, then it would be best to examine if we have these traits in our life.

Peace is an important thing to achieve in this hectic and saturated world. It is important enough that every week in Catholic mass, they talk about offering a sign of it to one another. And peace is something that is difficult to share if you don’t already possess peace.

I spent a lot of time not at peace. I was constantly at war. I spent a lot of time choosing violence. I spent a lot of time in conflict. And all that got me was more of the same. I ended up fighting with everyone including myself. And that was not the life I wanted. I didn’t want that life for my family. I didn't want that life for my friends. I didn’t want that life for me. So, fourteen days ago I made peace with myself. I came to terms with where I was and the change that needed to happen. And I am working on that peace every day.

I would like to tell you that peace gets easier BUT there are so many influences out there designed to take away my peace and your peace. A lot of influences that are trying to distract me from the eternal. The twenty-four hour news cycle needs a new distraction to freshen up fears. And even if you avoid the news, everyone else is getting injected with the distractions, the fear, and the evil. And they are sure to spread it around and share it with others and cough it all over you in public and private. It is a disease that wants to consume and cripple me and you.

I can’t let that happen to my peace. I need my peace. I need to live peace and share peace. There isn’t a lot of it going around. Once I found peace I truly treasured how valuable a commodity it is today. To have that peace and to share it with others in a world that chooses violence is a truly wonderful thing to enjoy. I hope you find the time to share your peace today. Have the day you want.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #BeTheChange #EmbraceTheWord #MakeYourselfGreatAgain

Personal Meditation no. 203

“Your beliefs are your actions. What you say is just what you think.”

Embrace the Within.

There is a lot you can do on your own. I am testimony to that simple idea. I achieved a lot by simply being afraid. Fear is a strong motivator of human action. Fourteen days ago I was afraid that my family was going to be cut off from the supply chain. So I chose to make a change in my supply chain and shortened my line to my backyard. There I steadily worked on building a place where I could turn for food.

There is a lot you can do on your own when you decide to make a change. You just simply need to decide to make that change. Once you get on that path of change, though, there is no telling where it is going to lead. I was just trying to get healthy and survive. I started working on myself and working out and changing my eating habits and changing my water intake and cutting out sugar and making myself better. Those changes led me down a path of mental, physical, and spiritual change that I was not planning on when this journey first began.

There is a lot you can do when you get yourself aligned. There is a lot to be said about mindset and how things line up for you once you get your thinking and acting aligned. When I started doing what I said I was going to do and started living in alignment with my beliefs, then a lot of the path became evident not by sight but by feeling. There was a path that unwound before me to lead me where I was going. And it took a lot of those fourteen days to get where I am today because I am stubborn. I want to do things on my own. And even though I accomplished a lot on my own, there were forces leading me to where I was going.

There is a lot that can happen when you want to live abundantly and joyfully. I started to see that even though I thought I was doing everything alone, there was work going on behind the scenes that I wasn’t seeing. There was a push around me to get me to alignment, there was a push to get me walking the path, there was a push to get me to continue on my journey despite the obstacles and challenges along the way. And knowing and better understanding that push was a greater motivator for me today.

You can only get so far out of fear. And I look around and I see the news and I hear the words being spoken today and there is a lot of fear being sold. There is a lot of violence being sold. There is a lot of fear in the temporal world. There is no hope, though. Another law isn’t going to change the hearts of men and women. Another march or rally or protest isn’t going to change the hearts of men and women. Another election isn’t going to change the hearts of men and women. This temporal world is not going to get better. There is only prophecy that it will get much worse. That people will get much worse and that the times will become more fearful, more violent, and more faithless.

So, I challenge you today to get out of that hamster wheel of earthly solutions, temporal solutions, finite solutions. None of those solutions are going to change you, change your community, change your world. You have to change yourself first. You have to get aligned with the supernatural solutions, eternal solutions, infinite solutions. Only then will you find peace and joy and abundance. You will be free from the fear that is all around looking to enslave your heart and soul. You will get the chance to embrace the change that was waiting for you all along. You only need to ask God to make that change real.

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin