Don’t let a broken yesterday keep you from a destined tomorrow.
“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, But humility goes before honor.”Proverbs 18:12 NASB
Preaching to myself here, but when combining the above statement, verse, and photo it seems to me that the road forward to destiny rolls along a slow, unknown, bumpy, weathered, overwhelmingly beautiful road worn by the steady humility of those who’ve gone before us.
Love your neighbor. Rejoice in righteousness. Follow the best examples.
Reject the chorus of doubt and fear.
Have faith in the One who laid the trail.
Fire Dancer
I’ve been led to believe that at the heart of sexual addiction is the sin of lust.
It is there, but deeper than lust is something more real, dangerous, and insidious; shame.
Shame isn’t a sin, it is an emotion. An emotion fueled by pain and that pain lights a fire under the feet of lust until it dances.
Men determined to defeat lust lose until they face their shame.
I feel that my home strongly reflects a blend of who I am and who I hope to be.
The word that actually came to mind is “shrine,” as if it was a symbolic representation of who I am.
It’s important I believe, for us to recognize the ways we shape our perspective of ourselves and allow that image to be pushed and directed by God.
Following our conscience, and the Holy Spirit into recesses we wish weren’t there. The dark, cobwebbed corner of the closet that needs Lysol.
That is Sanctification.
Morning Breaks
The rhythmic wash of subtle waves drawing against the rough contours of the earth; smoothing its lines, cleansing the hidden rifts beneath the surface.
Coffee and salt bathe the senses.
She draws me back into bed; reminds my body we are one.
Engulfed in the softness of her touch, her passion swells in my breast, my strength fills her lungs.
Bottom line
I grew up in a Christian home, I went to a Christian school as a child and many of my early influences were Christian. None of that really mattered however when I was a teenager and hated who I was. None of that mattered when I was considering killing myself.
You see, the label “Christian” is really meaningless. Some of the worst people in history claimed to be “Christians.” Who you claim to be is significantly less influential than who you are in your heart.
The little secret lurking within every human soul is that you are “not good enough.”
Oh sure, we all have our coping mechanisms, our delusions and excuses. We have our self help dogmas, doting parents, and encouraging friends. Within and behind all of that is your self-awareness that you are unceremoniously and undoubtedly “flawed.” While simultaneously knowing that you ought not to be, aren’t designed to be, and with everything you are, wish that you will someday be “full.” It is for that reason that every society in history has flocked to those amongst them who promised answers to the fullness of life. Wise men, prophets, sages, medicine men, shamans…you get the point.
Humanity knows inherently that the spiritual world is just as real as the physical one. If you deny that, both you and I know you are lying to yourself. Deep within your psyche you know, when you look into the starry sky, that something ultimately powerful made it that way.
The question is then; Who? Why? Does it matter?
I believe that the Bible is God’s love letter to humanity. Within it’s sacred text is truth revealed. The person of Jesus is, was, and will always be the personality and explanation of God to man. His example and His teachings exhibit perfectly a definitive answer to all of man’s questions, longings, and quest for identity.
His Word; The Word offers the only complete solution for wholeness and direction of our life’s insatiable quest to be full. As it is only He who can fill your soul with what it was intended to be filled with.
Read it. Read the Gospels, read Acts, read Paul’s letters. He loves you perfectly, but you must admit that you need him.
Trust in Him
Our nations motto and the phrase imprinted on our currency says :
“In God We Trust”
Trusting God means that we align ourselves to His wisdom and submit our desires to the goodness of His character. Putting aside our selfish ambition and fleshly lusts to live according to His instruction and flourish with peace, hope, love and joy due entirely to His grace.
It means we believe in the Gospel of Jesus.
That we as a people are His and are for Him in this world.
That we fight for the innocent and defend the weak.
That we love and honor our neighbor and do unto him what we would wish him to do to us.
That we love all and expect nothing in return.
That’s why America is great.
Or it was.
Somehow that meaning has been lost into the hotdogs, flags, and fireworks.
Be encouraged. He is still worthy of our trust. It is we who have moved, not Him.
Trust in His promises and that He is who He demonstrates over and over again.
He is loving, tender, holy, forgiving, slow to anger, compassionate, sufficient, understanding, good, hater of evil and protector of the innocent and humble.
He shines light into darkness wherever his people are obedient and bold.
Our nation is heaving, shuttering, crashing against the rocks in the dark night of the storm.
If ever we were in need of light, it is again upon us.
Give Thanks
Be thankful for all God is and has done.
Look past the clouds of this life and focus on the fact that you know Jesus is good, loves you, has forgiven you and will never leave you.
Focus on eternity, knowing your father in heaven is there waiting with love, grace, forgiveness, mercy, understanding, justice and that He cares specifically for and about you.
A thankful and content heart is more valuable, rare, and worthwhile than anything earthly riches can buy. Pursue then thankfulness, contentment, and simplicity of heart with their fair share of your daily exercise of thought.
Forcefully defend your thoughts from the toxic effects of fear, worry, doubt, anxiety, and apprehension as well as the devils of greed, lust, bitterness, anger, and the most common of all, pride.
Seas of time
A racing mind, lost adrift in the swelling seas of opportunity and time.
A worn and weary, nearly desperate heart, draped in the consuming wet blanket of a past lover’s empty part.
The empty space in place of an old embrace, where fire met water and each vanished without a trace.
—
A beacon on the horizon, that approaching place where light still steady shines.
The assurance of a new day, warmth rising on her sides.
Take heart, young and weary sojourner, for your lungs again will breathe.
That breath so full of life, one cannot help but heave.
Here and there your wandering soul will see.
Your shipwreck once but a distant memory.
From lost to found on those seas of opportunity and time.
Here again, tis your time to shine.
Where I go.
“Why wilderness? Because we like the taste of freedom, because we like the smell of danger.”
-Edward Abbey
I had a moment this trip when I was deep in the forest, off trail, following this amazing raging river of white water ripping down the side of the mountain and I knew there were moose nearby. I’m far from an adrenaline junkie, but nothing makes me feel more alive than encountering mighty things. It is in those moments when the veil of superiority and control is removed and the simplicity of existence becomes exhilarating. There in the quiet places, beauty overwhelms fear and the supernatural is clear. The light that sustains all life is awake and in me. This is why I hike. That is where I go.
Time for choosing.
In this world of pain and love, people feel safe when the people around them expect that good has more power than evil. When people expect to be helped, encouraged, and inspired by the people around them, we are free to dream. When society loses that, which it is in the progress of doing, people will not feel safe. When people do not feel safe, desperation becomes their primary motivator and guide. Desperation, coupled with despair and helplessness leads people towards two opposite and eternally dueling realities; God’s love and Satan’s lies.So which side are you on? You’re in a holy war everyday and the future of your homeland depends mightily on whether or not it will be led and governed by people who will fight for the love of God or have themselves already succumbed to the lies of Satan. When Satan obtains state power, the world gets concentration camps and holocaust. It always has been that way…
From the earliest days of humanity.
Study the Word, know the world, and pick a side already, please…
You’re in a gunfight, it would be advised you return fire.
ascent du jour 