Don't ask how a watch works. Just keep a watch on the time.
Sponge up everything you see and hear. That's why you're here. Learn.
Not much will make sense to your ears now. You'll understand not much of what we do, not until the very end. Even when you think you know what we're up to, you won't. In the end --Then you'll understand.
Procedures and formulas don't win wars. Ruthlessness against your enemy does.
Move to a small town, somewhere away from here. There are wolves here, and you're no wolf.
Extreme experience trumps extreme empathy.
"He who digs a pit will fall into it" -- Proverbs 26:27
"But the Lord is with me like a dread Champion, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed, with an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten" -- Jeremiah 20:11
The Four Most Important Questions In Life:
WHO AM I?
WHAT IS MY PURPOSE, IN LIGHT OF WHO & WHOSE I AM?
WHAT DO I WANT, IN LIGHT OF THAT PURPOSE?
WHAT AM I GRATEFUL FOR?
Suffering isn't the beginning or the end. It is the process. Learn to love the God who allowed your setbacks. Sometimes you don't think you can handled one more rip or tear. It's hard to live a life you don't trust anymore. Stop waiting for the hard parts to be over and for things to be easy. Enjoy your life now. Let go of what you thought your life was supposed to look like. 'Though He slay me, I will trust in Him' -- Sara Jakes Roberts
GOLILOCKS & JESUS
Sometimes we are too much or not enough for some people. But, we're always just right for Jesus. He's always good, kind and encouraging; He's always happy to see us coming.
People need 3 things to be fulfilled:
Feel competent in what they do
Feel freedom to be authentic
Feel connected to others
Those who live to be past 100 have things in common:
Organic diet, working the lands
Intentionally make time for fellowship and community activities
Food, Fellowship & Fun are life's natural Rx's for longevity
Michael Phelps never took a day off, even after he won Olympic gold. Every day of practice you miss, you lose two days of progress. This is true when we fail to spend time with God each day. Consistency is key to gaining strength over time.
We all go through a Dark Night Of The Soul season in life. For some people it's weeks, for some it's decades. How we act during the dark years shows God how much He can trust us, and how much we can trust ourselves. Spoiler alert... We can't trust ourselves. God is our only light of hope. And realizing that is the purpose of the dark night.
Avoid getting our fulfillment and identity from others. If you feel like others, such as your spouse and children, are an extension of you, then you'll try to control their behavior. You'll want them to appear to the world as you hope to appear to the world. This will make you all miserable.
Some of us have children called to do extraordinary things. This may also mean they suffer extraordinarily in order to prepare their character. We can cripple our children by giving them an easy life.
The world will tell us we need a break from our hard labor, a reprieve from the suffering. It tells us we deserve to be happy. However, Jeremiah, the prophet of God, bore the suffering and punishment of a rebellious people. Moses toiled in the wilderness until he died, with a group of small-minded unbelievers. Jesus was murdered by the same types of people. The Bible mentions nothing of this idea of happiness. It does say "pick up your cross and follow Me" and "greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
God's men and women find themselves suffering long and hard because God asks them to do the jobs no one else wants. Some believe suffering is the doorway by which we know, understand and become more like our Savior. Sacrifice, pain and obedience are the highways to holiness. In the same way ... marriage, ministry, parenthood, careers ... none are designed to make us happy. They are assignments designed to kill the negative parts of our nature. They murder our impatience, selfishness and fears. These assignments birth godliness.
"He who has suffered much as ceased from sin."
The only WAY to the Father, Jesus, is by accepting the cross. The way has always been narrow. Impossible for us, but possible with God.
We must divorce ourselves from the God of happiness so we can get to know the Prince of Peace. Once we've found Him, then we find happiness was never the goal.
A monk was out hoeing the garden and asked, "If you knew Jesus was arriving here tomorrow, what would you do?" He replied, "I would be hoeing, found doing the daily stewardship of my Kingdom."
SONG OF THE CRUCIFIED:
Those nail scared hands shall know no more pain.
They shall lay hands on the sick and save.
They shall lift to the sky in praise.
They are here for You, Jesus, this day.
We must content for and participate relentlessly for the manifestation of our healing and our cross.
"Blessed is she who believed the Lord would fulfill His promise to her" -- Luke 1:45
Joseph's misfortune was promotion, not punishment. Do not fret.
I dreamed a groom came for me, but I was not ready. I want to be ready if Jesus comes in my lifetime.
Lessons from Elon Musk:
Failure is part of success and development.
Forerunners are a different breed. They take risks so others won't have to.
First 3 launches of SpaceX failed, but the 4th one made it.
It then took 7 years to learn how to successfully land the spaceship.
The return and landing are more critical than the ascent. It's easy to go up, but it's how you come back down that makes or breaks you.
Some women have never met a man smarter or stronger, but they'd settle for one kinder.
God used an inferior loaf of bread (army) to win against a great enemy. Don't be surprised if God uses an inferior method to bring you victory. -- Judges 7
Women like Tamar have suffered throughout history from the poor choices of men, as if being punished for their husband's and son's mistakes. Yet God had a long-term plan of redemption already in motion. Focus on the one who restores, not on the mistake.
Relationships, when done right, are consistent. Father never changes or lets go of our hand, no matter how many times we stumble.
God sometimes sends us friends to remind us who we really are. They tell us the truth about us, God and the world unapologetically. These friends usually don't stick around forever. They are temporary bursts of light... like the glow worms of North Alabama that only come out once each year.
Nehemiah rebuilt the wall in just days by putting families together.
People get free together. People stay free together.
God doesn't nourish us before the battle, but in the battle. Nourishment is found in the carcass of our enemy. (See Sampson eating honey from the Lion's carcass)
When we go through hard times, do not ask God, Why?
Instead, ask Him Who do You want to be for me in this situation?
"Don't let your happiness depend on something you may lose." - C.S. Lewis
If everything around seems dark, look again, you may be the light. -- Rumi
If Pharoah hadn't dreamed, Joseph would've died in prison.
If Joseph hadn't dreamed, Pharoah would've died in famine. -- Kris Vallotton
Tithe, test me in this, if I will not open for you the windows of Heaven, and pour out for you such a blessing there will not be room to receive it. I will rebuke the devour on your behalf. - Malachi 3
You know those people who see you suffering and do nothing about it? Those are not your people.
"Return to your chains, ye prisoners of hope" - Zechariah 9
As Jesus is, so am I!
"He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might, he increased strength" - Isaiah 40:29
THE VOICE OF THE LONELY
When life is stripped of all its illusions, you're left with reality.
Just reality.
Only reality.
A hard swallow ... that's all you have left.
Where is Courage, my old friend?
I miss you.
When my tiny apartment is silent, for days on end...
I call out to you, but you are not there
When I look to the year ahead, I faint within.
Another year without you, Courage, my friend.
Do we go to church for a fix, or because we feel like we have to?
A fix of hope? A fix for loneliness?
Be done with fixes. Be done with living for the next thing.
Either Jesus loves you or He doesn't.
Either you love Him or you don't.
"Do you know what I would do if everything I touched turned to crap? I'd stop touching things." -- Pastor from The Blind movie
AN INNOCENT PRISONER'S SONG ON NEW YEAR'S EVE
Sunshine, sunshine, I need you now
...................................................NOW
I need to hear the guard walking towards me with the keys
I need to hear her unlock the cell door
I need to be reminded there's a chance
A chance - one day - justice will be served
I'll be set free, be able to breathe clean air
Feel your light on my face
Shine on me, ye brightness of hope
Let me not die in this dark, stale box
Shine your justice as bright as tonight's lights and fireworks
You know I wouldn't mind dying today
Were it not for those who might need me in some distant future
So, shine on me this day, this hour
Set me free and high so that I might be light for others
Don't let me die in this cell -- unseen, unheard, forgotten
It's not my time to die
WHAT IF WE LIVED LIKE THIS?
What matters is not outer beauty, but inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty. Be gentle, gracious and kind, for God delights in that.
Honor your spouses, not anxious or intimidated.
Be agreeable, sympathetic, loving, compassionate and humble.
No exceptions.
No retaliations.
No sharp-tongued sarcasm.
Instead, bless -- that's your're job, to bless!
You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing if you live this way.
Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, do this:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
Run after peace with everything you have;
It is this behavior that will keep your prayers from being hindered.
Even if you suffer for doing good, you'll be better off.
Be willing to share your faith with others, but with utmost courtesy.
Live blameless and with a clear conscience before God, so when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll realize they are the ones in need of a bath.
Your past is behind you and you stand before Jesus with a clear conscience because of what He did or you on the Cross.
-- 1 Peter 3 (The Message Bible, paraphrased)
Lyrics lasting two decades....
Time to say goodbye to the past and embrace a new reality <3
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