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| Just wait a little longer...
This is a lump of coal. Nothing special about it. It can be used to keep fires going, a fancy paper weight, "security device", and amongst a lot of other things, it has no real value or purpose.
This is a Diamond. Valued and priced high by all. It is adorned by soon to be weds, rappers, on people's ears. There are many imitations of this rock, but none can match its toughness, clairty, shine and radiance. From Wiki "Diamonds that have come to the Earth's surface are generally very old, ranging from under 1 billion to 3.3 billion years old." The thing is that under a lot of pressure and a lot of time, Diamonds are formed out of lumps of coal.
The same is true of the life of a Christian. Through trials and tribulations and through patience...we are changed from the "lump of coal" we once were into the very image of something that everyone can see as beautiful. More and more we look like Jesus, as we allow Christ to change us from the inside out.
I'm no mineralogist (did I spell that right?)...but the principle here is not lost to me. I ask GOD so many times to refine me and make me more and more like him, but when he starts to...I emphatically start demanding that he stop...when the whole time he's telling me its for my good. For example, I long to be more patient, I long to be more loving, I want to be a better brother, a better son...so GOD places tests that by my own strength I cannot pass...but with his help...with Jesus IN me, GOD shows me that he can be trusted and that where I cannot, he can.
Where I cannot, he can. Where you cannot, GOD can.
It's funny we live this "Christian" life, and sometimes I think we miss the main point. While we're here on earth, we're never going to 'arrive' as the 'Christian' we're supposed to be. I heard a pastor once said: "GOD expects nothing but faithlessness and failure from us...and we should expect nothing from him but Faithfulness and rescue." When did it all of a sudden become that we had to make ourselves into this diamond? You cannot rush the process of a diamond...of something so beautiful, complete and valuable...you cannot rush it.
GOD is saying the same thing to you and me...that in His Time, he will make all things beautiful, in the mean while we ache, we groan and we ask him to stop making it so hard for us...when in reality what comes to mind is something like this:
When you're little and you get a splinter, it hurts...it's so small, but rub against it the wrong way and it hurts like no other. So you bring your hurt to your mom and dad after repeated attempts to remove it on your own. The bust out the alcohol and tweezers and while they try to remove it, it hurts, cuz sometimes you have to break the skin to remove the root of the problem. Other times its hard to grip on the splinter because it has oddly pierced the skin. I remember wincing, closing my eyes and being more fearful of the pain that was to come
...only to open my eyes and realize the procedure was done.
The same is true with our GOD, who loves us so deeply. There are seemingly "small" areas of our lives that he wants to help us change...sins that we don't think affect us, people we don't like, feelings we shove down...and it's not till we get tired and frustrated of removing these things ourselves that GOD can help us. Yet, we are so fearful, that it's going to hurt for GOD to remove "it" from our hearts, and our lives...how can we live without "it"? "What if people see this hurt?" "What if I fail?" And admist all we worry, when we COME to GOD, he is able to change and heal us.
Don't give up friends...you are the apple of GOD's eye. When he sees you, his heart beats just a little bit faster, his pace quickens even faster to run to you when you call out to him, he smiles when he thinks about you, he is giddy when you say his name, he is not mad at you, he is always on your side, he wants to hug you, he likes you, GOD is in love with you.
And sometimes loves says...just wait...I want you to be a diamond.
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| Note to self:Life is short, am I living past this life?
Instead of choosing to complain about the weather, remember those who have no choice but to freeze.
If Jesus came back, he wouldn't be at the church, but with the homeless, mental, retarded, suicidal, immigrants, addicts, homosexuals, cross-dressers, child abusers, molesters, etc...
Most people are too busy worrying about themselves to care about what I fret over.
GOD gives enough strength for today, and that's it.
Life is not about me.
Individually Uniqu
Moral Mirror
Authority to rule environments
God's Friend
Eternal Being
is everything.
Everyone deserves and desparately desires to be loved and significant.
No longer give power to those things I wish to be free from.
Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes at the end of the day it is the quiet voice that says: 'tomorrow i will try again."
Never take yourself that seriously.
Jesus loves _____________ too.
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| UniqueAs of July 27, 2007
I am
1 out of 5
I know
3 out of 5
Truly I am
1 out of 200
Amazing...here I come MTV.
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| DifferenceJust saw Harry Potter #5...(wow has it been that many already)
There's a part in the movie that struck me deeply. So whether your a fan or not, whether you plan to see the movie or not, all you need to know, is that between the main character, Harry Potter and the main bad guy, Voldemort, there somehow exists a connection where they both can feel what the other are feeling. They can both see into each other's heads and revisit past events and the movie depicts that Harry is actually pained by the things he "sees" and "feels" that Voldemort does.
There's a scene where Harry writhes and rolls back on the floor, where either he's gonna have his own mind, or it will be possessed by the one called the dark Lord. What follows is a rush of images, good and evil, light and dark, a voice that says "you've lost".
Dumbledore, Harry's headmaster, advisor and friend, a wizard of great stature and power, who just seconds earlier unleashed same major WHOPPA on Voldemort, just gently whispers to Harry
"Harry, it's not how you two are the same, but how you're different."
That's how life is, isn't it?
There's a strong condemning voice that says "you've lost", "you're done for...this is how you are, this is how you'll be" that causes us to be on the brink of losing ourselves. A shadowy connection we have with outselves that we cannot deny through distractions, but comes to us when we're low, when the music stops, when everyone's gone, the voice can come. A voice that reminds us there is a past, a habit, a feeling, a person that when the emotions rush in and we are faced by it, we're like Harry paralyzed...tormented and without hope.
But there's also GOD's voice that says "It's not how you two are the same, but how you're different." Now I know the analogy isn't perfect, yet it points to Christianity. To the still small voice that my heart needs "You are not the same anymore, you are forgiven." Some wounds and some sins may never go away in this life time, no amount of trying hard, thinking positively, popping pills, rewiring our thinking patterns might change it. GOD can use my weaknesses so I would understand who he is. My life in Christ is where "the old has past and the new has come" where "there is now therefore no condemnation" because "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ in me". Let the difference shine, and not what is the same.
My confidence is not in myself or my abilities, I have worth because GOD loves me. GOD says that he is on my side, even when I am at my worse. That does not mean he does what I want, when I want, what it means is GOD will love and give me what I need always. GOD "longs to be gracious to you...how gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears , he will answer you." Isaiah 30 *read it, its good stuff.
Heh, by the end of the posts, I never know if I make sense.
If I died today on the outside I may have
looked the same
sounded the same
acted the same
made the same mistakes
...ultimately seem the same
but I am not,
I am forgiven, and I trust you Jesus
...and that makes all the difference in the world.
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| Taken from some guy's journal..."What is my biggest road block to accepting myself?
I don’t’ think I am lovable and I don’t think I’m
lovable because people reject me. If I
was lovable then wouldn’t everyone like me?
I’m not lovable because I’m not perfect and if I’m not perfect, I must
not be physically attractive. If I am
not physically attractive, then women will not want anything to do with
me. I don’t think I’m lovable because I
don’t look like the cover of men’s fitness, because I don’t like what my
brothers like, because I don’t understand how GOD or why GOD would love someone
like me. If humans can’t love me, why
would GOD? Humans know parts of me and
those parts they know they reject and if GOD knows everything, then he knows
all my ins and outs, wouldn’t he push back and reject even more?
As a Christian I acknowledge I have a sin nature and before
I knew Christ, I had thoughts motives and actions only for myself and my
good. With you, now I am new. Apart from you, I am nothing, like a lamp is
nothing without its electricity source.
I cannot do what I was made to do.
I am worth loving, because I have worth. The people who love me, love me for who I am,
and that means even when I have bad days, moments or years. I am the keeper and caretaker of this temple
of GOD, it has been given to me and
I am thankful for all it does for me. I
am physically attractive, I like my bald head and my eyes, I think I look
cool. What do you think GOD? Women do like me, I have a lot of close
sisters and haha, if you asked them, it’s not because I’m hot. I’d say it’s because I care, listen, protect
am funny and am good company. I am
human, which means I have the propensity to make mistakes, but that also means
since I don’t know what tomorrow brings, my guess is just as good as the next
guy. I like heavy beats, jazz and
hip-hop and that’s ok, that’s more than ok, that’s who I am. I am always learning new things, because if I
was the best I’d always have to feel I’d have to defend my spot and I might
have nothing else to learn at the end of the day, except that I was obsessed
with a small corner of the world. I am
lovable because GOD says so. Just cuz I
don’t think so, doesn’t mean he doesn’t.
That’s stupid, like a baby saying they don’t feel loved by their parent
who pulls their hand from the stove.
Love is not an emotion, but a choice. A choice to put someone as more important
than self. I am lovable because I have a
special place in people’s hearts. I am
lovable, because secretly I think this guy Tim, is actually pretty darn
cool. Granted Tim you were a jerk, liar,
sicko, selfish person. But Tim
you are different and you don’t have to stay in prison.
But let’s get it straight, it’s not through will power,
positive thinking or even a decision you decide to make. It is by grace you have been saved and not by
works. That means Jesus did the leg
work, he paid the price and has given you the new life. You are new because you old life is
dead. You have worth as a child of GOD,
who is forgiven. Forgiven, the sins, the
old self, all wrong he did to others. Jesus paid for. Your record says “clean”. Tim, GOD has forgiven you, it’s time you
forgave yourself.
What would freedom and forgiveness feel/look like?
When I beat myself up, I replay my mistakes and belittle
myself to my old self in an effort to convince myself I am not lovable, because
when I am not lovable I can blame others, GOD , I can focus on me, and not on
others. Being free would allow me to
deal with problems face to face and see life for what it is and that it is about you GOD.
I am mad that I have been yelled at and hurt, I am sad I didn’t get what I
felt I deserved. I grieve the loss where things didn’t work out, people left me behind. I am
scared of what tomorrow brings.
But GOD
being forgiven, I know I can trust you.
Though you may have had to discipline, push back when I pushed, taken
things away to protect me, I will trust you.
I am going to trust you, my worship will be focused and I will trust
you. Trusting others is healthy only
when I trust you first. I will not be
discouraged for I know you hold me in your hands. I will not lose heart, for you love me and
that is good enough for me to walk by faith and not by sight. I am lovable because you love me.
Being free would mean that when seas billow, when trouble
rolls, I can trust it’s all for something bigger than me, yet it’s done so that
you can show me more who you are. You
are for me and how and why I don’t know, but you are.
Being free would let me play by your rules, the rule of love
and grace.
Where one gains by giving,
to
live is to die,
to be first you go last,
where time has no
bounds,
where your more blessed to be crushed than act like everything’s
alright,
where it is more important how you get there, then where you end up
(not withstanding heaven of course),
where it’s all about who you know, not
what you know,
where it’s not about how you dance, but that you dance,
where the one you give to always gives you back even more,
where the
inside matters more than the outside,
where a penny is more than a million
dollars,
where secret is common knowledge,
where the blind can see,
the scarred
are made pure,
where the lion and lamb lie together,
where you are, Jesus.
That’s your freedom, that is your economy.
…haha your nuts." "I will Praise you, O Lord,
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me.
Surely GOD is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid
The Lord, the LORD, is my strength and
my song;
he has become my salvation."
Isaiah 12:1-2
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