What Is Your Cause?

So early this week I was randomly thinking about Dragonball Z, more specifically Vegeta (yeah, real random right). Anyhow, I was thinking on how he is always fighting and training just to prove how strong he is and if anyone proved to be stronger he questioned himself and self-worth. That made me think that the reason why he struggled with that throughout the series is because he did not have a real purpose outside of himself. In reading this book, Finishing Well by Bob Buford (well I haven't gotten to the end yet), he talks about having a purpose that goes beyond yourself to having a purpose that serves other people. Check this out, if your purpose in life is just for you and your goals then it will never be good enough because someone else will come along and prove to be better than you are everytime; and once that happens, you'll constantly have to keep proving yourself because you're only living for yourself. The truth is, God has given us all a purpose, a cause that is bigger and more meaningful than ourselves and it supposed to extend to other people. When David went against Goliath his brothers got mad because he was showing them (indirectly) that he was braver than them because they were only in battle for themselves not for God or the nation that was depending on them. But David asked is there not a cause (1 Samuel 17: 29) because he knew that this battle was about something bigger than him. So we have to find out what's our cause and purpose and we have to search ourselves to see if its bigger than us; that is how we can truly count ourselves strong because God put in us a purpose that will makes us strong for us and others.

Five Second Rule?

What do you do when you're eating something you really like and it slips out of your hand and drops on the floor (oh no)? Do you apply the five second rule to it? I try to think of it as the grace period between the crash landing on the ground and your reaction time to pick it up. So let's imagine it for a second (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) and know you didn't pick it back up in time, whomp, whomp, whomp! But if we do make it and blow on the food a bit that makes it better (like our germs are any better right). Well in an episode of Food Detectives, the five second rule is no good because bacteria goes to the food immediately but I think in our mind we try to say we still have that grace period. Sometimes we try to abuse God's grace like its a five second rule because we use it as an escape for going the wrong way instead of using it when we hit a bump in the road towards our destination. Just like the five second rule for food we try to justify doing the wrong thing and then pray for God's grace and mercy immediately after but the truth is, once it hits the floor it just became dirty and asking God to blow on it won't make it better because the truth is, He won't blow on it. But the beauty of His grace is, He will start over with you because unlike the five second rule, He has a grace period that will allow you to ask for forgiveness and to start over brand new, as long as you are willing to go through that process.

Don't Get Comfortable

Not to spiritualize a Lil Wayne song, but thinking about his song Comfortable and what he is saying in it is interesting. Basically he is saying, do not get comfortable with the way things are now because change will happen eventually. It is easy to get comfortable with where we are now because that is how we have been raised, I mean nearly every human being has been raised to get comfortable: same home, same neighborhood, same people, same you in the mirror. It is when things start change that we can find it hard to adapt. Think of how hard it was starting high school or moving out of your parents, or the simple thing of buying your food with your own money that you earned on your own. But think of how it would be if we stayed in third grade or even trying to wear the same clothes we wore then too; it would be too uncomfortable and funny looking. Well that is the mindset we have to have all the time, do not get comfortable where we are in our lives right now, good or bad. Now do not take this as a way to break up with someone or quit your job, nothing like that but it should be a wake up call to improve your relationships and make yourself more valuable where you work. If you read 2 Kings 6:1-3, you see that staying in the same place when God is requiring you to grow is not helpful to you and others. So lets pick up our beams and go forward because where we are now just isn't suitable for where God is taking us to.

The Highlight Reel

Today I saw some of the movie My Best Friend's Girl and one of the characters, Tank, said something to me that really stuck out: in trying to convince his best friend Dustin, not to tell this woman his real feelings about her, Tank says to him, "you haven't shown her the real you, just a highlight reel of you, which isn't the real you at all." And again, one of those things that make you go hmmmm. Now I know we've talked about this before but it's worth going over again. What are we showing to people really, is it our best parts, the funny, smiling, nice, help an elderly person across the street, and offer our entire gourmet dinner to the homeless person. Or are we also showing people that sometimes we need a breath mint, we have a bad days, and we get mad when someone takes the last bit of orange juice in the fridge too. I know sometimes it can be difficult to show all of you to every one around you because honestly, not everyone can stick around for the extended director's cut of your movie God is putting together, but that doesn't mean we should give people only previews because that is not the whole of we are and who God made us to be and you would be surprised how people react to our responses when we show them something more than what we previewed to them. Again, we can select who gets the free private screening and who gets to buy a ticket but as long as we show people the real us instead of reels of us, at least they know what to expect from us and what God is doing in our lives.

God and You Playing at Wimbledon

Last night at church we talked about giving God His glory and used the analogy of two people playing tennis (SN: shout out to Pastor Burns http://twitter.com/GospelofFaithWC). Anyway, back to the tennis match, if we think in terms of us serving God glory, He will give it right back to us and if we show Him that we are serious about giving Him glory, He will be serious about giving us glory. For those of us who play tennis know that you have to be in shape or there is no point of you going out on the court because how can you give God your best when you're in no shape to play. And don't ask for God for glory that you are not ready to handle yet because that is called a "dropshot." So go out there and give God the glory because the world is waiting for that manifestion in youo and you better believe that He will give it right back to you because to Him, it's not a game, it is your destiny.

You Are Appreciated

I watched Monday Night Raw this past Monday and saw a very stirring and emotional promo from one CM Punk at the end of the show which had twitter and wrestling sites buzzing all week. I watched his promo again today and my thoughts on it for today is that he is "shooting" to us that he does not feel appreciated by his bosses, peers, or his fans for his work that he does. Now here I go again with the things that make you go hmmm right? But honestly, how many of us feel that way in our daily lives. With the world going so much faster and our lives are far more busy than the generations before us, we have to make personal sacrifices for our family and friends, our churches and organizations, and our jobs but at times we can feel like with all the sacrifice and effort we put in, the thanks and pats on the back do not come as often as they should; I think it is in nature to be recognized for the work that we do, especially when we do it for others when we give ourselves so much. Here are two thoughts that we should keep in mind, 1. is that we should do things as if we are doing it for God and 2. is that we should be weary in well doing because we will be rewarded if we do not stop in doing those things. The key is not to quit because even if the people you want to appreciate you do not, others will, from afar and close to you. Remember you are appreciated and loved so keep going and you will be rewarded in the end.

Rise Above Your (perceived) Reality

I think sometimes we see our surroundings plus our background and equal it up to the fact that we are supposed to be mediocre. Let me switch our thinking of mediocre, which is an eagle flocking with hens or a swan swimming ducks; mediocrity is the eagle and the swan making excuses for still staying in the environment by looking at their history instead of their pedigree. Reading Judges 6 I find that Gideon, a man of faith, had to face the same thing. But what I take from that is, none of us start out as the hero we are destined to be, God grows us into it, we just have to stop making excuses. Our reality is real but that does not mean it cannot change. Since 1999 to now, I have seen and read more rags to riches stories than I ever thought I would. It is proof that we all can use our reality's wall as a bridge if we knock it down, in our mind. Once we do that, we can rise above anything that is put in front of us.