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

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

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

Weights to Carry

We all have a weight to carry.

No matter where we go, what we do, or who we are.

Some choose to carry more, and others believe they’re not choosing to carry any, which that, in and of itself, is a weight to carry.

Those who choose to carry the weight have the ability to decide what they carry and what they let go.

Those who choose to carry the weight have the right to be confident in the fight; they have the right to be indignant of those who won’t.

Those who believe they’re not choosing by their silence and their apathy are truly choosing to drop the weight onto another.

Those who believe they’re not choosing by their lack and their contrived kindness are simply creating a cadence to condone the wrong.

Some choose to carry the weight with dignity, integrity, and strength, and they give their power to the masses.

And those who don’t only add the weight to the ones who choose.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

Beauty in the Miniscule

In the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon, one small tree branch can seem minuscule.

Just as my life can seem futile in the sense populate of the human race.

What can my life accomplish among so many?

How can my life make an impact within he density of the crowd?

And it would be so easy to stay tucked away in a hole, never reaching, never moving.

Yet, how is it with that little one by your side?

How is it with the coworker across the room?

How is it with the roommate on your hall

How is it with the ones surrounding you day to day?

If you quit, who will lead them?

If you let go, who will breathe life to them?

If you walk away, who will speak hope and truth?

That small branch on the side of the canyon might be the resting place for the weary, fluttering butterfly.

That small branch might be just the finishing touch for the next of a feathered friend.

The insignificance we feel might be just the highlighted reel of the one who can’t see tomorrow.

Don’t look out over the sphere and lose your way.

Look right in front of you, beside you and behind and reach.

Be hope. Be light. Be truth. Be life.

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

Matthew 13:31-32

Beauty in the Small

Beauty really does come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It all depends on your perspective and angel.

Viewing a brilliant mountain sunset can be all about the incline or all about the glowing orb in the sky. It can be all about the painted sky.

Or it can be about the tiny patch of flowers at your feet that will be trampled if you take another step.

Viewing an enormous crisis can be all about the chaos of sights and sounds or about the multiple dilemmas that have just been added. It can be all about the loss of time, money and energy.

Or it can be about the tiny hand grasping yours that is desperate for reassurance and comfort.

It all depends upon your vantage point.

So, what do you see?

Where is your focus?

Beauty is all around you if you can only open your eyes to see.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Jeremiah 24:6-7

Beauty in the Hard

If you’re growing, there’s going to be pressure.

If you’re moving forward, there’s going to be pressing.

If you have no pressure, no pressing points which have become uncomfortable, you’re probably not developing.

Just as a flower has to break through the seed and push up through the ground, when you are going to bring about change, there has to be a breaking, a crushing, and finally, a breakthrough.

So, if life is heating up, and you’re feeling the weight of responsibilities and decision making deepening around you, stand strong and walk proud.

Not in conceit or arrogance. Only in humility and respect can you truly survive.

But if you’ll rise to the occasion, grasp the reigns of opportunity and ride it to probability, you can thrive under the constraints.

You can succeed under the strain.

And when you do, not only will the blooms be beautiful, but the impact on those around will be spectacular, too.

My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10