Saturday Morning Reflection

Honesty is the best policy.

You've heard that one before but you know it's so true.

I hear our conversations and I listen to my own and I'll be honest, we are afraid to be honest and open.

Why? I'm not really sure. Maybe it's the fear paralyzes us to the point of not speaking in truth and in order to not look like a fool we resort to keeping quiet or to the point of speaking in lies. I admit, the lie is easier and more fun in the moment than having to put your whole self out on the limb to tell the honest truth of what is going on. Even if you don't know what is going on.

The Danger...

of keeping silent or telling the lie is that a root of bitterness really begins to grow and we become a people of envy, jealousy and provoking others to the point of them losing some dignity they may have.

How could this be who we were created to be? It isn't. We were created for more than that. We were created to have a base for our truth and a base on which to stand firm on.

The Solution...

is to speak in truth and love. Slow to speak if I may say and quick to listen but certainly speak. Speak wisely, just don't throw out promises after promises that you know deep down you can't meet. Don't be afraid even though you may miss the opportunity to share. There are other moments in life to share. Share early and not late. I don't know fully but I'm learning and that should be the goal.

As a body of believers we must become honest and get to the real issues of what we are thinking and feeling. We must do this with love, peace, gentleness, humility, and patience. It must be for more than just ourselves but for the body as a whole. We must not hold it in, or it will turn out like water ready to explode from a tea kettle shut tight.

Today listen in the silence share in the conversations.

Thought # 191

The things that make us mad are usually things that we ourselves do.

This usually helps me deal with others better and helps me avoid drama in the future.

Thought # 295

If so many people are willing to die for what they believe, why are we
not willing to live for what we believe?

I'm tired of playing games with myself, with people, and especially with God.

I'm reading through the Old Testament and realized people haven't changed much in the past 3000 years. Yeah, we have global warming, we're all going green, we watch Fox News because it's fair and balanced, we love Oprah's favorite things even though we couldn't afford on a good day.

However, at the core of our being we really are selfish, greedy and broken people. People still
searching for a meaning and purpose in life. We want someone to love US and hopefully someone who won't make us mad, or fall short of our expectations and keep us from loving them in return.

At some point, we will all find ourselves wandering through life's deserts, either feeling completely bewildered and abandoned, or worried whether we'll ever reach find our destination and unable to focus on anything outside of ourselves. Then if the route we've taken seems to lead nowhere, we shrug and convince ourselves there's nothing worth pursuing at all.
I mean its all relative anyway, right ... because what's true for you is not necessarily true for me. Or maybe it was last time but not necessarily this time. We want truth, we want it now and we want the truth to include a LOVE of our of own creation: what we don't want is someone else preaching it down our throats.

But what if there IS a love that knows no color, no political party, no country, no denomination, no eye color, no nose size, no income earnings, a love that's infinite, perfect and fail-proof.

Does that kind of Love actually exist?

Yes, if you're willing to stop playing God-games and live the life he intended. Love! You have to find love in order to become Love. Some find love in people, gold, political parties, social systems, but I have found it in the one that speaks to me in a whisper that asks me to follow Him.

Are we willing to give up the things we know best to obey the God who loves us most?

I Know You and You Know Me!

The title of this post is my latest thought as I find myself doing some work that I know in my bones I was not created to do. If I don't work, I don't eat, so I must move forward and tough this out, but isn't that the hardest thing to do sometimes.

Until, I remember that He knows me and I know Him (the father).

I was not voted in as Youth Pastor in Wendell, NC. It was a close vote and it didn't pass. I stepped out on faith, made myself available and the door closed. This shocked me but did not throw me into a doubting of God pit or even a anger pit at the church body in Wendell. Instead it was a catalyst to push me into the living scriptures to know Him and discover my new identity in Him even more. I'm now helping my grandfather in Surfside Beach do some work and it is the kind of work that my mind does not understand, houses. He has been doing house work and home appliance work for years. I'm trying to learn it in, oh I don't know a week. It's not working, it has felt like emo Monday everyday this week.

Please be praying for me as I journey right now in faith and figure out where the road leads today, tomorrow and the next.
If you know of anything that would be awesome too, brent.sears@gmail.com

Until later, Stay cool, gosh it's hot.