Our Manure-His Fertilizer!

Trash, much like manure is universally viewed in a negative connotation. The aroma and the site of it seems to evoke the most grotesque of feelings. As we would all agree, "trash needs to be taken out" and is NOT an appealing thing to revisit. From other perspectives, however, trash and manure are both positive and necessary components for life! Eh? How is that? How can something so vile be considered as good? The burning of trash emitts and provides for alternative forms of energy (biofuels); recycling of trash takes a once waisted material and makes it reusable and of course manure (treated of course) in enriched with nutrients and organic materials that serve to enhance fertilizers. Its safe to say that these negatively viewed products can be transformed and useful for growth byproducts and promoting life in other areas! Our pasts (filled with its mistakes, years of waisted wandering, chasing after futile desires) can often be viewed in a negative light as well. When I look back on years I waisted foolishly engaged in what I thought would satisfy me, I cringe at how blind and numb I was. I shake my head in efforts to relieve my emotional regret and linger on thoughts of wishing I would have done and known better. To me, my past is like trash and manure; putrid in smell and embarrasing to revisit. But when scrutinized from other angles and after meditating on the by product of it all, I see the how what I deem worthy to be "taken out" is actually a transformational product. How can running from God and knowingly rejecting His love by prostituting myself to my own lusts be positive? Because He used it to bring me closer to Him. To show me that if I wanted to search other avenues of love--I was free to do so by choice. But as I've read and memorized, I will come to understand and experience that those 'loves' pale in comparison to His. As I push Him security and protection aside and seek for success in my own strengths--He sits by lovingly waiting for me to come to the end of a rope that promised fulfillment but whose satisfaction could not pay off. And there He was offering me true fulfillment and satisfaction in His manner. He patiently awaits our return, and proudly uses the nutrients of our adultery to enhance the quality of our lives by proving Who He is and what we are without Him. All this transformation and recycling occurs without condemnation as He relentlessly pursues us, unbeknownst to us! Our past is, in essence, a biofuel reusable for His Glory! NONE of it is a waist!

Left Path; Right Reason

The ABC's, the books of the Bible, lyrics of age old songs all have one thing in common for me: They were all memorized rote-style so much so that I could recite them verbatim without thought!

The same is true of Psalms 23. It was a passage that was taught and recited through Vacation Bible School and Sunday School so much so that the true meaning of the passage was easily missed. Over time, like pieces of a puzzle, I began to merge scripture with meaning and as I heard various speakers give their breakdowns and read books that explained the excert from the context perspective, I became more acquainted with this familiar passage.

Just the other day, verse 3, "He restores my soul, He leads me in the paths of righteousness, for His name's sake..." struck a chord with me. God, leading me, in order to make HIS name/reputation look good? Hmmmm, I'd never seen it from that angle before. I understood my role as a sheep to mean that I needed guidance and as a believer that guidance would need to be along paths of righteousness. But again, my perspective was that it was for my good; namely because I'm so foul and capable of straying away from my Shepherd. While this is true, I find this simple refrain to indicate that my primary purpose for needing guidance is to protect the Lord's reputation from damage. He, being the jealous God He is realizes the importance of His name being unblemished as the method through which people will 'hear' and accept His Son and that drives His desire to not only restore us when fallen, but to then lead us in the right direction.

Desperate Heart-wise

"The heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" ~Jeremiah 17:9

On Wisteria Lane lives a handful of women who daily work through domestic struggles, while dealing with secrets (their own and those of their neighbors), and crimes hidden behind closed doors. Meanwhile, at the surface their homes are beautiful and seemingly perfect as they are decked in pearls, trendy outfits, and driving acceptable cars. How desperate is that?

Deceiving people into believing that your life is happy when inside all you feel is emptyness all for the sake of appearances IS INDEED, a desperate move.

People who feen for something will stoop to desperate measures to fulfill their desires.

To be desperate is to have little or no hope, to be in an extremely bad and/or dangerous situation or state.

Much like the prime time soap opera, our heart is referred to as "desperate" in Jeremiah 17:9. Its not enough that the prophet conveys how wicked and deceitful it is, fooling us to believe we are one way when we really aren't; but it goes beyond that and states that its wicked! No where in our heart is there a palpable pulse for good! In fact, our heart, like a drug feen, would kill and rob in order to fulfill its need for wickedness! Our heart has little or no hope, it is truly in an extremely bad and dangerous state and cannot be trusted!

So then, where does this leave us? Are we really to 'follow our hearts'? Are our emotions (which flow from our hearts) a trustworthy tourguide through life's decisions? I contend that the ONLY person we "give our hearts to" should be the Lord. And not in the conventional, lovey-dovey sense, but because He is the ONLY HOPE worth resuscitating it and who the only ONE who "really knows how bad it is".

The Sin of Gomer

They say, "If you love, let it go..and if its real it'll come back to stay". We get so bent out of shape when we give ourselves in a relationship and the gifts aren't reciprocated. We love and aren't loved, trust but are betrayed, open our hearts and are shut out then resentment fills our hearts as distance grows between two "supposed lovers". Complaints cry out "Why didn't you...why won't you...?" Character is attacked, "You are so selfish..." Revenge is sought, "I hope you..." Nostalgia seeps in "I remember when..." We are often the harlot we look down our noses at. We'd never admit to it, of course. She (Gomer) had the affection and pursuit of a faithful man. We have that pursuit and affection at a cost too pricey to imagine and from One who remains faithful and yet we repeatedly seek fleeting pleasure. Meanwhile our Hosea (Jesus) sits back crying out "why won't you?...I remember when..." and we are the selfish ones deserving the karma of revenge. But instead He relentlessly chases us down, destroys our brothels, steals our hearts back and we attest to our unfaithfulness as our hearts yearn to never leave His side again. Evaluating real love in human relationships truly causes you to re-evaluate that of your First Love (between a Believer and their Savior).

In the Eye of THE BEHOLDER!

Since Reality TV and social networks have become the breeding grounds for selfish justification of the First Amendment, its no wonder the art of beauty has become as rare as a Da Vinci or a Donatello.

Women cursing at each other, hosting cat-like fights, tearing their sisters down in hopes to draw blood are the entertainment of our day. But their foolery only prove that money doesn't make one more classy than the other. As a matter of fact "A(n) (outwardly) beautiful woman who acts foolishly is like a gold ring in a pig's snout" (Prov. 11:22)

How would YOU define beauty? If someone walked up to you and classified you as Beautiful, what would they be referring to? Your outward appearance for the time being, or possibly your ability to consistently keep up with the latest fashions? Perhaps their comments would reflect your selfless deeds, or possibly your passion to serve others?

Of the aforementioned, in only one is beauty as lasting a quality as that which develops as slowly and reaps such refined products as a foreign object in the mouth of an oyster does a pearl. In the other, however, beauty is as shallow and fleeting as the grass which is here today and gone tomorrow. Fighting for this beauty can be as seducing and temporary as chasing an iridescent, hollow bubble.

Culture frowns upon the things that take time to form. Long gone are the days where grandma would start a roast in the wee hours of the morning, or clean and soak her collard greens for hours. But anyone with great appreciation for food would attest that the quality of the food, nutrients found within and flavor that dripped from each bite is unparallel to that of any conventional method could ever dream of producing. True beauty isn't much different, in fact, "be beautiful in your heart, because this kind of beauty will last and God considers it very special!" (1 Peter 3:3-4)

When Good people do Bad things...

We always hear about "why bad things happen to good people?" but rarely do we hear about what happens when 'good people' choose to do 'bad things'. So I thought I'd address THAT phenomenon.

Well let me first start by saying NO ONE IS GOOD! Not what you wanted to hear?

"No one is good, no- not one!" ~Romans 3:12

So since no one is considered 'good', technically we are people who crave what is bad for us anyways. Ok, now that that has been established we can move on to how people handle the natural things they want to do.

Two general responses normally arise when people make choices against their better judgement:

*Condemnation

and

*Conviction

If a person is driving along and realizes they passed up their designation, they can make one of two choices. They could pull over, stop, turn the car off and give up OR they could turn around and head in the correct direction of their designation. THAT is the difference between Condemning yourself for the choice made or accepting Conviction.

Condemnation is an element of our conscience and is spiritual in that the enemy uses it to torment us into a pit of destruction. We inevitably psych ourselves into believing the worse about ourselves until our thoughts render us incapable.

Conviction is an element of our conscience and for those who are Believers ("Good" because of Christ, not within ourselves), also a component of and benefit from our Helper (the Spirit of God who resides inside us. It too is spiritual in that He serves to lovingly bring up our mistake and reminds us of forgiveness that is readily available along with directions on how to avoid the same mistake and a desire to turn our behavior around.

Both condemnation and conviction is susceptible for the Believer, but Condemnation is NOT the end to which we should be drawn (Romans 8:1 "Now, there is therefore NO condemnation for THOSE who are IN Christ Jesus").

When you do bad things...which road do you tend to take?

I CAN't love you...

Is it possible for a person who is NOT a believer, to really love?

Of course we've heard "I love you" tossed around millions of times from all parties. And with the Hollywood culture that has infiltrated our society, the real acts of true love have been blurred. Saying "I love you" and seeing what love really looks like, however are vastly different. Acts of real love are a 'road less traveled' while the lingo is a dominant language.

But should this vast divide be more apparent? Is it? Why would Paul convey that believers and non-believer shouldn't be together in a relationship? Why would Jesus command 'us' to love our enemies? What does a non-believer mean when he/she says "I love you"? How can non-believing couples stay together for long periods of time and believers marriages end in divorce?

A person who has understood and accepted what Jesus has done for them tends to have a well from which to draw from. When a believer encounters hurt, disappointment, the object of disrespect and rejection, the obvious nature of the flesh arises. And from this nature comes the innate desire to curse, get revenge, and inflict hurt. But with that comes the faithful reminder of the Holy Spirit to do otherwise or refrain from such behaviors. Though a believer can ignore this friendly reminder, he/she has the ability to tap into the memory and irony of how he/she was once the offender and Jesus (their confessed Savior) forgave them securing them from the revenge of the offended (God). This power, if summoned, infuses them and once tapped into, diffuses the desires to retaliate.

THIS, is something the non-believer is NOT privy to. ACCESS DENIED! So when hard times fall, feelings and emotions might drive futile attempts to 'stay together' or 'work it out' and might even temporarily seem to work. But true love that was modeled in perfection, then accepted by imperfect people...will surely last and change lives! And THIS love ONLY runs through the veins of a believer in Jesus Christ.