Original date: Monday, December 12, 2005
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind"
(2 Tim. 1:7)
Thought: Fear knocked at the door Faith answered. No one was there.
Many years ago I listened as a friend of mine shared in a anonymous meeting he was very articulate and said that prior to getting clean the one thing he feared most was change, but being a man meant standing perpendicular before GOD and when he had made a decision to turn his will and life over to the care of GOD that replaced all of his fear. Then he said something that most people don't say in those closed meetings instead using the term "God of my understanding" or "Higher Power" he said the name of Jesus Christ. The room was quiet as he spoke loudly and bold and later those comments were made people refer to him as a spiritual giant he begged to differ by responding to them by simply saying "I'm no spiritual giant but there is a GIANT in my spirit."
That takes a lot of courage for anyone to admit to have any fears at all publicly, but many of us do. We often become complacent or get comfortable with our lives then don't realize that when we aren't challenging ourselves often we become stale, stagnate, and we stunt our growth. It's like eating the same thing for dinner every other day because it's routine quick and easy then on Saturday you treat yourself to fast food at McDonald's at the same spot order the same thing and every time it tastes good until one day it loses the appeal and taste. Another analogy would be to wear the same hairstyle everyday for a period of time never change the way you comb it even part your hair the same place. The hair style that used to get compliments somehow appears dull and played out.
Change comes often and people evolve just as quickly as the seasons change. We work hard at perfecting a routine with our friends, lovers, or spouses only to look up one day and find that they have drifted off in another direction and many times instead of accepting the fact we either run or walk quickly in the opposite direction because we lose the stamina to embrace them where they are at and the same thing holds true when we experience changes in our lives a need to shift gears or do something different to improve ourselves. We can also shift into reverse gear and do some things that destroy our character and ruin relationships.
But one thing that is constant in change, if nothing changes, nothing changes. As the saying goes where ever you go there you are. So you can't be afraid of what we understand or don't understand in life or death, sometimes it has no explanation. So many of us are never prepared financially, mentally, or spiritually and the end result is devastation.
When we are young their is a feeling that we will live forever or are invincible, can leap tall buildings in a single bound. As we mature and experience life we get some hard knocks and realize that some of those buildings just a tad to steep to leap across. That's when we become more practical in some cases people just ignore the facts. Some die young or live miserably because they foolishly believe they can trick life and end up the trick. Pay now or pay later the bill is always in the mail and one day you have to pay. So if you living in a comfort zone, maybe it's time to raise the bar a little, you can always become better - strive for change. Remain teachable, humble, and lovable. Don't be afraid to embrace change - because if you living a fruitful life you can surely count on an eternal peace when you exit the building (your body) a living temple.
We never know what God's plan is for us - remember that it's okay to make the plans but you can never plan the outcome.
Faith and hope is your best weapon to
overcoming fear. Prayer is your insurance policy. Love is unconditional keep an
open heart and willing mind. Even when it seems like your down you might be
down but not out. Like my friend said look straight up stand perpendicular to
GOD. Fear not. As Human beings we fall short and have many shortcomings but GOD
has never failed or come up short. Fact we can count on the sunrise and sunset.
Fact we know that there is a moon and will always come out in a way shape or form.
We know that the seasons will change and we always prepare for those changes.
Just like us we go through many seasons in life, but If we can trust GOD to do
all of that, we can trust Him with our own changes that affect our lives today.
Just for today, we can hope for a tomorrow and plan ahead. But no matter how it
all turns out we embrace it with humility without beating our chest in vain
glory.
Our faith shows us what we cannot see.
Our faith shows us what we cannot see.
An idea begins with a thought and then is brought forward into reality. An artist sees the painting in his mind before it ever touches the canvas. He touches the canvas until what was inside of his mind sets before him and the passion makes him more eager to bring it forth. Imagination is just an image in our mind we decide when begin - to make it a reality. Most of us go to bed at night convinced that surely they are waking up in the morning and that's okay too. That's called having faith.
Faith without works is dead being alone - change should not be feared but reverenced. It takes courage to color outside the lines step outside the box- change is an inside job with you the individual and often has a ripple effect on others. If Beyonce wakes up in the morning and decided to go short, blond, and curly. Just by changing her mind she will influence females to go blonder, short, and curly too because it looks so good on her, they are convinced that look surely will look good on me too.
Change allows you the luxury of knowing who really is for you and whoever stays around to see that person evolve til the end are the ones you come to love and trust. These are the people who are not afraid to be honest with you right or wrong, good or bad. They are your mirror, mirror on the wall. Always have one friend that won't lie to you even when it hurts and you can be reciprocal in love, spirits, and truth. Nine times out of ten this is the person you probably have even taken for granted along the way. Embracing Change brings you face to face with love, love of self, life, and GOD.
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