Embrace the Healing

When you feel your strength returning and your lungs filling with air, don’t turn back.

When you can see more clearly and hear more accurately, don’t turn back.

When you can think more precisely and plan more purposefully, don’t turn back.

You didn’t mend to unravel.

You didn’t rebuild to deconstruct.

You didn’t heal to destroy.

Don’t regress. Don’t recede. Don’t retreat.

You fought for this.

Now, move forward. And win.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Galatians 5:1

Keep Healing

Sometimes, healing comes instantly, but more often than not, it’s a long and tedious process.

Just as it takes a broken limb weeks, even months to mend, the heart needs so much more.

We are emotional beings. We are thought-filled humans, and wounds are like a heavy broomstick lying atop a tangled web of cords.

You’re not going to move that stick without disturbing the cords. You can’t just grab it, swoop it up, and call it a day.

You’re gonna have to move slow.

You’re gonna have to breathe deep and exhale at a snail’s pace.

You’ve got to ensure the healing is there.

And sometimes, a tiny gesture, a simple word, a small memory can come crashing in to slam that stick back onto the pile and even twist it a good bit!

Slow down, one more time.

Breathe in deep, one more time.

Exhale slowly, one more time.

Now, go work on picking up that stick again, one more time.

You can do this hard.

It might be messy, excruciating and long, but I promise you:

The healing is worth it.

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.

Mark 8:22-25

Take the Challenge: Heal

Healing truly is a choice.

You can choose to remain in that pain, that sorrow, that grief, or you can choose to take those steps out.

Now, don’t scoff. Don’t ridicule. Don’t turn me off.

I know this isn’t an easy read.

You might be screaming I don’t understand.

You may be shouting I don’t see your space.

You might be shrugging I don’t hear you.

You may be screeching I don’t feel your struggle.

But I do understand. I do see. I do hear. I do feel.

Because I am there.

My place may not be yours, but it is mine alone.

And there is a hope for tomorrow, but it is mine to grasp.

Mine alone.

And you have the same. If you will but choose.

Don’t remain a victim of circumstance.

Don’t stay a martyr of the past.

Don’t settle as a casualty of the shattered.

Fight for the new day.

Fight for the brighter future.

Fight for the healing to come.

What you don’t fight for, you don’t deserve, and you can never declare as your own.

Fight for it with every breath.

And win.

Even when you feel you can’t.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

1 Corinthians 9:24

Grief … Part 742

Grief can be hidden and tucked away so deep, you almost forget it’s there.

Yet, when it peeks back through the shadows, it’s like a scream within that no one else can hear.

But you can sense it, even in the deepest shadows.

You can feel it, even in the stillest night.

You can almost see it, even in the blackest of eves.

And it will return with such fierce vengeance while no one else recognizes it’s deafening sound.

That is grief.

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Psalm 34:18

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Speak to Be Understood

The English language is so prevalent across the globe, and yet, so many people do not understand each other.

Spoken by 1.452 billion people, I’d say it’s the most popular language in the world. Mandarin Chinese does come in a close second; however, I’d argue that this isn’t for it’s prevalence but rather it’s dense population of people groups in China, Taiwan and Singapore.

But the English language can be just as confusing as a foreign language, even among those who grew up speaking it and conversing with it.

I believe this is for the simple fact that the English language has more lingos, innuendos, and implications than any other language on the planet.

As in the picture I’ve posted, even the spelling and pronunciation of certain words can be confounding.

But if we want to be heard, we must speak to be understood.

Yelling and screaming only reduce to chaos.

Hatred and angry words only reduce to lunacy.

Lies and manipulation only reduce to thievery and destruction.

What are your words saying today?

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:1-8

No Good Reason

For some people, there will be no good answer.

For some behavior, there will be no good reason.

For some things, there is no good explanation.

For some are just wrong, just bad, just inexcusable.

Stop trying to justify the evil.

Stop attempting to rationalize the nefarious acts.

In your explication, enablement is all that can be found.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

Isaiah 5:20-21

Read That Again

Not a lot more to add to this. Read it again. And if you need to, read it one more time.

*Disclaimer: I do not know Dr. Caroline Leaf, nor do I follow her commentaries. So, I do not vouch for her philosophies. 😉

The Greatest of These…

What principles define how you live?

Principles to live by… well, that can be a long list, I guess. But to sum it all up, I suppose the principle that all the rest would fall under would be a principle of love. Yet, if I start describing this in detail, it might look a little different than the societal demand for love these days.

In our current culture, there seems to be a demand to show love by accepting a certain opinion as truth. Or the demand might be that if I disagree with you, then, I’m not showing love but hatred.

Or if I’m not giving you what you want, then I’m not showing love. Or maybe if I’m not giving up something I want, or maybe I’m not suffering in a certain way, then I’m not showing the kind of love I’m supposed to be showing.

Pure, unadulterated love is sacrificial, gracious, and compassionate; yet, it is also full of truth, strength and courage.

True, unblemished love is is not one of these without the other. It is both.

If a parent loves his or her child but allows that child to run in the street to play while the truck is barreling down the path, is that really love?

If a spouse declares his love yet leaves and showers everyone else with his affections because he wants more, is that really love?

If a friend promises to share love and friendship yet breaks every confidence because she wants her liberty to share, is that really love?

If a child proclaims his love to his parents yet steals and destroys because he wants his freedom to live as he pleases, is that really love?

True love will rejoice in the truth, will bear all things, will believe all things, will hope all things, and will endure all things. Love never fails.

And love is impossible without abiding in the Only One who gave true love.

So, what principles define how I live? I guess I could begin with 1 Corinthians 13. I certainly don’t live it perfectly, but I strive toward it daily, only by seeking Him first.

Because He loved me first, now only can I begin to truly love.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. … And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13

Grow and Thrive to the Sky

The sky really is the limit of your success.

There can be hardships. There can be pain.

There can be obstacles. Don’t strive in vain.

But find your place. Find your niche.

Keep pushing forward. Don’t fall in the ditch.

Yet, even in the moment of falling.

You can always find your calling.

You only have to look up to the sky.

And you’ll begin to thrive when you seek the Most High.

Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established.

A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:3, 9

Living in the Vast Domain

How do we go about living in this vast domain call earth?

How do we survive on the blazing globe of fire that is hurling through time and space?

How do we keep breathing?

How do we not trip up and spiral out of control into oblivion?

Honestly, there is no way.

Except through Him.

He is the Author and Finisher of our faith, of our souls, of our very beings.

He is all powerful, Almighty, all knowing.

He is all gracious, all tender hearted, all merciful.

This is the God who can heal you our body and your mind.

This is the God who can pull you out of depression.

This is the God who can transform your very life.

With Him, all things are possible.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 1:8

For with God nothing will be impossible.

Luke 1:37