I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (1 Timothy 2:1, 2 NIV)
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. (1 Peter 2:1 NIV)
Not really much else to add to that.
I will however make a couple of things very clear from these passages. The individual called to do these things? It is YOU. It is me, "Rid YOURSELVES..." Paul is calling on YOU to make these petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving.
Everything, anything that requires movement starts within first. Improvement never comes from others for us. Improvement is a decision we make from within for ourselves and others. When I improve, my family improves. That may be they follow my lead spiritually. It may mean our finances improve, our giving improves, our kindness and thoughts of others first improves. Whatever improvement is required, comes from my lead, from me making the improvement within first before ever hoping or expecting anyone around me to improve.
I have noticed my circle of friends has improved coinciding my spiritual improvement, aka spiritual maturity. This takes many meanings. One meaning is some people are no longer in my circle. Some people have been added to my circle because they are a better fit spiritually, bring an accountability I lacked. My improved circle brings encouragement, joy, and teachings. They come as mentors, or seeking to be mentored. It equally, but more importantly means my existing circle has improved in their spiritual maturity from my example, from my joy through a storm, my smile, compliment, or encouragement to them. Maybe I said Grace over dinner. They were thinking about it, but unsure of how to stop everything to give thanks. My truth, I have many, too many times thought about Grace at a meal with friends and let the meal go on without it because I was too insecure.
Insecure equals Faith Immature. You see, when you are still insecure about how or when to address Faith in any moment, you are still immature in your Faith. Study the Word and grow yourself in your Faith. Pursue a mentor and start the change within. Take the lead to pursue your Faith maturity. That will create and construct the change you desire in others. There is an age old expression, "Be the change you desire to see."
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23 NIV)
Keep it simple. Pray for those in authority (no matter their party lines!), rid yourself..., and be the outward expression of the fruits of the Spirit within you. Don't over-complicate it. Don't add to it, or take away from it. There is no need to jazz or spice up perfection.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Old People... SMH
Stop staring at your phones for a moment.Take a bit and watch an older person, or group of old people.
You will find they are the originators of SMH, or shakes my head. They are all shaking their heads. Watch them long enough and you will realize what they are shaking their heads at. It is our elders. They are all shaking their heads at you, me, our really stupid children doing really disrespectful, extremely stupid things.
Ever heard anyone start a sentence with, "In my day..."? The problem is, few of us know how they finished that sentence because our phone made a noise, we watched a child do something disrespectful and responded with, "how cute, she's so independent". It is unfortunate, but for me I have to say, "In my day, people are horribly disrespectful, rude, haven't a clue what our elders are for, a phone noise takes president over another person's presence, manners are lost, and the Bible is behind it all. Not behind it in the sense of producing, but after all else in order, not before any & everything". That is a horrible sentence. So people below 50 don't say, "In my day..." anymore for that reason. It is simply a horrible thing to finish modern day.
My pastor taught me the fact (not theory) of the three chairs. You see, we should forever exist within the confines of three chairs, sitting side by side. When we are young, we are to be in the far left chair. As we mature, we should be in pursuit if the middle chair, by learning from the person in that chair. Once in the middle chair, we should continue to have a wise elder in the chair to the far right. We should then pursue all the knowledge of that elder so to move into that chair. At this point we are also in pursuit to the chair far left with our own teachings from experience as well as what we've been TAUGHT from our mentors to the newest member of the chair to your now left. Mentoring and having a mentor are so important to any level of success in our spiritual maturity, business, home, health, marriage, friendships, being a good neighbor, coaching, and being coachable. Mentors are not complainers and are not people who will complain with you. Mentors will walk you through problems to help you find the solution. They are not know-it-all's, they are simply more experienced and MOST IMPORTANTLY, have learned from those experiences.
Take a look around. It won't take long to find someone struggling to mentor and someone wiser to be your mentor. Then we can slow, and even one day eliminate SMH. The challenge is not to talk about "The Greatest Generation" because of all they did & built for this country, but to become the greatest generation. What if "kids these days" took on a greater, more positive meaning? What a great nation we would truly be, instead of a once great nation.
From Proverbs 19:20 Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
You will find they are the originators of SMH, or shakes my head. They are all shaking their heads. Watch them long enough and you will realize what they are shaking their heads at. It is our elders. They are all shaking their heads at you, me, our really stupid children doing really disrespectful, extremely stupid things.
Ever heard anyone start a sentence with, "In my day..."? The problem is, few of us know how they finished that sentence because our phone made a noise, we watched a child do something disrespectful and responded with, "how cute, she's so independent". It is unfortunate, but for me I have to say, "In my day, people are horribly disrespectful, rude, haven't a clue what our elders are for, a phone noise takes president over another person's presence, manners are lost, and the Bible is behind it all. Not behind it in the sense of producing, but after all else in order, not before any & everything". That is a horrible sentence. So people below 50 don't say, "In my day..." anymore for that reason. It is simply a horrible thing to finish modern day.
My pastor taught me the fact (not theory) of the three chairs. You see, we should forever exist within the confines of three chairs, sitting side by side. When we are young, we are to be in the far left chair. As we mature, we should be in pursuit if the middle chair, by learning from the person in that chair. Once in the middle chair, we should continue to have a wise elder in the chair to the far right. We should then pursue all the knowledge of that elder so to move into that chair. At this point we are also in pursuit to the chair far left with our own teachings from experience as well as what we've been TAUGHT from our mentors to the newest member of the chair to your now left. Mentoring and having a mentor are so important to any level of success in our spiritual maturity, business, home, health, marriage, friendships, being a good neighbor, coaching, and being coachable. Mentors are not complainers and are not people who will complain with you. Mentors will walk you through problems to help you find the solution. They are not know-it-all's, they are simply more experienced and MOST IMPORTANTLY, have learned from those experiences.
Take a look around. It won't take long to find someone struggling to mentor and someone wiser to be your mentor. Then we can slow, and even one day eliminate SMH. The challenge is not to talk about "The Greatest Generation" because of all they did & built for this country, but to become the greatest generation. What if "kids these days" took on a greater, more positive meaning? What a great nation we would truly be, instead of a once great nation.
From Proverbs 19:20 Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Poverty (per Wikipedia) is general scarcity or dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.[1] Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Relative poverty is defined contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which people live.
Poverty - we hear so many stories about poverty; what it is, allegedly what it does, what it looks like. So you grew up in poverty. Mom, Dad, or both were worthless, addicts, drunks, teen parents without motivation, or split early.
What did poverty do to you? Did it drive you and create a leader out of you, or a life a endless blame? Are you living the life you want because you are driven by poverty, or are you looking at another's life you wish for? The key word in this isn't poverty, it is the word Y O U.
Poverty - we hear so many stories about poverty; what it is, allegedly what it does, what it looks like. So you grew up in poverty. Mom, Dad, or both were worthless, addicts, drunks, teen parents without motivation, or split early.
What did poverty do to you? Did it drive you and create a leader out of you, or a life a endless blame? Are you living the life you want because you are driven by poverty, or are you looking at another's life you wish for? The key word in this isn't poverty, it is the word Y O U.
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