Turn up the Light

    Hello monster, how is your love walk going. I know that my blogs usually focus on the inner you, on the spirit you, on the you who walks and talks with God. Today we will venture outside of ourselves a little bit. We will take a look at the world around us. Recently we have been assaulted with horrific events. Mass shootings across the country with the culmination of them being at Sandy Hook Elementary. There are no words for the loss of so many lives. There are no words to express the hurt and the pain that these events cause. It seems like no one is safe. That the innocent suffer and we are helpless during the onslaught of evil. We offer our prayers and thoughts to the families, we mourn as a nation. We look towards lawmakers, government, and others to protect us, to make this right, to stand in the darkness. We feel helpless against all the evil in the world, what else could it be but evil? 
   
This is not true monster. We are not powerless. We have a power beyond our power, a strength beyond our strength. We have dominion over the enemy, he is already defeated. It is time, time to shine monsters. We have a job to do, a calling, we are the light in this world, what good are we if we don't shine in the darkness. 

This blog, today, is a call to arms. This is why you have been praying, you have been working on you, you have been immersed in the Word. Not for yourself, but for the world. The world needs you monster. What makes you so special? so powerful? The God in you. God lives in you. He lives in the innermost part of you and He uses you to show his love and his power in this world. You are a warrior, you are Daniel in the lions' den, you are David with a sling, you are Joshua bringing down the walls, you are Moses, freeing your people, You are Esther, speaking out against injustice. You have been placed here, at this time to be a light. 
The world needs a savior like never before, you are not the savior but you are the light that shows the way to Him. 

Do you see how important you are? How powerful, do you see know why your life has been under attack? The enemy wants to keep you busy with all the drama that used to consume you. He wants to keep you distracted by those around you who are dragging you down. He uses fear to control your thoughts, to diminish you to make you unsure. Today I am telling you that it is he that should be afraid of you. Turn up your light. 

What does that mean? What do you mean light? You should stand apart. Apart from the darkness. You, monster shine because the Love of God lives in you, Faith, Hope, Kindness, Peace, Patience, and Goodness all reside in you. These are fruits of the spirit. When you show these attributes to the world when you practice them daily you are shining! The more you practice them, the more you make them part of your character the brighter you shine. With each act of kindness you push back the darkness, with each act of love you beat the enemy over the head, when you live what you believe you are a living, breathing, word of God. There are a multitude of verses in the Bible urging us to be the light, to put on the light, to walk in the light. The world is in darkness and it needs your light. Badly. 

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

    Ephesians 5:8 For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" 

Romans 13:12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

1 Peter 2:9"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light"

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to pray. Yup, that is all you have to do for now. Pray. All day, when you wake up, while your driving, while your working, in your quiet moments, during your loud moments, before you go to bed, while you brush your teeth. Pray. Get into talking to God. Bring all your mess to Him and leave it there. Eventually you will run out of things to talk about where it concerns your self. If this happens pray for those you know pray for their health and strength, pray blessings over their lives, pray for protection over them.
 When you run out of those people pray for your mailman, the lady who rang up your groceries, the guy you pass every day on the way to lunch, the lady in the cubicle next to you. Branch out and pray for complete strangers, your neighborhood, your workplace, your employer, your elected officials, your police officers, your firefighters. Are you getting this monster? 
Pray. For everyone. Make it a habit. While your praying do random acts of kindness. Be patient. Be loving, Be good. Be all the things you love and admire about God. You won't be perfect, no one expects you to, but you will be walking in love, you will be speaking love into the world, you monster will shine. If each and every one of us practiced this even for just a week how different would our world be. Changing the world starts with one person at a time. 

Be the light, monster, be the light. 

Growing Pains

     Hey monsters, It has been awhile since I dropped some wisdom on you. But like all truth seekers know you have to go through some tests to get a testimony, and through some mess to get a message, so now that I have passed some tests, waded through some mess, let's get to the message.

           Let's talk about growing pains. I have been experiencing them lately, and I am sure you have to. After all you have been working on you. Cleaning out your past locker, healing what needs to be healed, basking in the blessings, congratulations monster you are growing. Growing is a great thing. It is an awesome thing. I know that I felt about 2 feet tall when I was in my most recent between time. I wasn't working, I lived back home with my mom, and I was so far from my dreams they didn't even feel like mine anymore. The between time is a scary time, it is a time when God strips away all the crutches we hang on too. He strips away all the things that we think define us, make us, give us a place in the world we have built for ourselves. This is not for your harm monster, but for your best. God needs to strip away all the outer things, all the external things, all the superficial things to teach us that without them we are still His.
Psalm 139:13-16 
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."




 We are created in His Image. We learn that we are not defined by who we know, who we date, how much we make, where we work, live, etc. We learn that we are sufficient and complete and that all that stuff, all those people don't get to define us. We are enough. God has seen to that. He has planned us, and our lives, even though we may drift from where we need to be He still has a purpose and a plan for us.
Ephesians 2:10  "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Thus we begin to grow.

    The downside to growing is of course things start to not fit. Things get tight, they don't look right, sound right,  act right, there is not enough room, its not good enough. The "it" in any of these sentences can be replaced with anything, your relationship, your friendship, your home life, your job, your whatever. It does not fit anymore. You are growing. Its time to move on, to find where you fit, to find with who you fit, don't worry you won't have to actually look for any of this God has a great way of bringing the right fits into your life. Not to beat a dead horse but like I said before He has a plan for you. So what do you do when you have all this growth going on in your life? You're moving forward, you're learning, you're becoming but everything around you is stagnant, its not growing, its not changing, its getting tight, it doesn't feel right, etc.
Two words, move forward. Monster, it's time to move forward. It's time to let go

        Here is what it looks like. You are hanging with all your old friends, and nothing they say interests you, the life they are living, that they used to live with you feels awkward. You don't party like you used to, you don't gossip, you don't fight, you don't do a lot of things you used to so they feel like you have changed, like you think your better so in order to fit in you pretend to go along. You become a master of pretending to be who you used to be just so they feel comfortable. Until now. Now they irritate you, you would rather be anywhere else but there. You have no desire to pretend any longer, you move on.
How about this one monster, you have an ok job, one where they don't expect too much of you, and you don't expect that much of yourself. It is a good job but you know you can do better, you know that you have the skills, the talent and the drive to do so much more. What do you do? Move forward.

Its is scary to move forward, you are comfortable, it feels safe, it is a place, person, situation that you know, but it just doesn't fit the new you. God has intended you for greatness. Good enough is not enough. Those pains your feeling, those irritants, insecurities, temper tantrums, they are all part of your growth, monster. You don't need the safety of your situation anymore, it's time to move forward. Trust me, your ready, God has and is preparing you for the next stage in your life. Grab it monster. Move forward. There is a story in the bible about a lame man who could not walk. Jesus healed him. The man had a choice he could stay where he was, fully healed, fully restored, with an entire future before him of he could get up, move forward and walk into his future. "Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” John 5:8 

Monster, pick up your bed, and walk, better yet leave that old bed right where it is and walk away. Move Forward.