Day 335- Happiness in the Chaos

Day 335, I was presented with the concept of order and context.  The order and context I am referencing is the “Order” of my daily ramblings or in other words writings.  It was brought to my attention that I should organize and put in context my daily writing in order to provide a more cohesive format to my writing-

My response to this  was …  “Sure, I suppose I could put my writings in order or some context that will provide a sense of continuity to the flow of my daily ramblings, but why?

Would it be so that my writings can make a more organized statement to the individual reading it, or would it be so that my thoughts and feelings can formulate a more precise literary rendering?

The response I received was, “Well, yeah.”

I could not help but laugh and then giggle not at the person; moreover, at the thought of a deeper concept that the organization or cohesiveness of my so-called ramblings. 

Then I simply stated, “let me ask you this … are your days prearranged in a particular order to make more sense to you and others in your life?”  —“Are your feelings categorized by the day?”  —“Can you organize the events that transpire within a single day?”  –

“Wait do not answer that.”

Matthew 6:34

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

I can assure you I for one cannot.  I cannot strategically organize my feelings any more than I can rearrange the sequence of events in my life.  Yesterday will never be the same as today and I have no control of tomorrow, so why would I “Organize” my writings to reflect otherwise.

The events in my life change daily as each day falls away.  I encounter a new set of events and emotions at the onset of each new day.  This reason alone is why I leave my writings as they are and in the order in which they are written.

I cannot say I know one person who can honestly say every single day of their life is the same as yesterday.

Therefore, for now I will stay real in presenting the days as they come and hope that the person who is led to read my writings, (order or not) can see that life happens, we do not plan for it nor are we in control of it, it simply happens.  To help just one person to understand that he/she is not in control of the order in which we experience the events or emotions of our daily life; here in and of itself to me is the value.  

Moreover, no matter how diverse we are one from another we all still feel and experience emotions.  Now, maintaining happiness though the roller coaster of emotions is different for each one of us, yet obtainable if we seek it.

Matthew 7:7 (NIV, 2011).

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

For me, it is the application of biblical scripture coupled with God’s unconditional love, which enables me to feel and experience happiness.

            Psalm 16:11 (KJV, 2011).

            “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy;

  At Your right hand are  pleasures forevermore.”

Day 336- Draw Near

Day 336, was an interesting day as I sat at the dining-room table with my 19-year-old son.  The topic of conversation was, “How can Jesus, be God?”  Is Jesus God and if Jesus is God why when he was on the cross did he cry out to God with the following words-

Matthew 27:46 (KJV)

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

To have my son ask such a strong question left me awe-struck.  I attempted to answer his question with the knowledge that I had at the time; however, the more I tried to answer him with reason and logic the more confused I made him.  Therefore, I stopped and explained to him that I also have asked this question and with prayer, instruction, and faith the question I had initially asked became answered.

I found through examining and understanding the correlation of the Old Testament prophecies and the New Testament fulfillments of the prophecies the easier the questions became to understand.

As a Christian, we should become very familiar with what the Bible shares with us pertaining to questions such as my son asked me and pertaining to Prophecy and Fulfillment of Prophecy.  The reason behind the understanding is so we as Christians do not become a stumbling block to others who may be seeking God.

For example the question my son asked me left me initially tongue-tied and uncertain of how to answer his question.  Then God shared with me that not so long ago I had read and studied the answers to this particular question and if whenever we seek answers we shall receive them.

So, why did the answer elude me at the time I need it the most?  The answer is very simple … I had not continued to utilize the tools God had provided for me and therefore, I struggled for a moment trying to recapture what God had showed me.

We as Christians have to stay near to God so that He stays near to us, especially when people are sent to us for answers.

The Bible reads-

James 4:8 (KJV)

“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.  Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”

We in accordance with God’s Word NEED to stay near to God, so we will not become double minded.  It is vitally important in the Christian daily walk, so when called upon we will have the answers asked to us pertaining to God, Jesus Christ, and Salvation.

When explaining to my son the reason for  Matthew 27:46,  when Jesus cried out to God, he was quoting a scripture in the Old Testament in order to fulfill the prophecy in Psalm 22:1-

Psalm 22:1 (KJV)

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”

The Bible is filled with internal consistency from Genesis through the completion of Revelation; however for one to see this one must read and study the Bible and seek an unveiling of our worldly eyes so that we can see from our spiritual eyes.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NIV)

“However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”- the things God has prepared for those who love him— these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”

Therefore, we may not know all the answers simply because we are seeking with our wrong eyes; however, if allow our Spirit to search for the answers we will not become awe-struck, or tongue-tied.  We will know what to say in the time we are to say it without becoming a stumbling block for another or causing doubt to take hold of a new believer.

Matthew 16:23 (NIV)

“Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Lord, I do not want to be cast aside due to human concerns, I want to have the mind and concerns of God; unveil my eyes Father so that I may walk along side of you and not be cast behind.

Amen

Day 337- Door to Sin

Day 337, I sit and reflect on this past week happenings- The week was anything but ordinary and certainly a surprise.  I cannot say the surprise was a good surprise at the initial onset of the news; however, as I started to view the overall picture I am for certain God has some new plans for my life.

I wish I could say I knew/know what these plans are or that everything will be perfectly settling, but what I do know is all my faith and trust is in him.

My personal experience with God and abrupt life changes are usually always warranted.  I have known in my heart things needed to change and was not certain how “I” myself could bring these changes into action.  I struggled for the past two months wondering, questioning, praying, and worrying about how “I” could change my situation.  My first mistake was to think that “I” had the power or authority to change anything, especially other people in my immediate world.

Within, the last couple of months, I found myself in bed for six weeks, literally physically sick and weak.  Hm, an all too familiar cyclical pattern I have in my recent past found myself trapped.  Within these weeks of holding myself hostage to illness, I found I had some time to trace back when the torment had begun, when I opened the door to sin.

Yes, sin…

The sin I found staring back at me was (WORRY).  Yes (WORRY) …
Worry can disguise itself in many forms and manifest symptomatically (At least for me). 

Therefore, whenever God reveals sin in my life he also shows me how to overcome the specific sin.  The Bible reads-

Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)
Do Not Worry

   -“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow, reap, or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

    “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”-

These scriptures were exactly what I needed.  There is not a Doctor in the World that could have given me the medicine to heal what was wrong with my spiritual being.  Sure, they can prescribe antibiotics, pain medicine and even a strong antidepressant, but really what does masking the problem solve.

Absolutely, NOTHING!

I feel it is time for many of us Christians to face the REAL hard truths concerning many of our emotional issues- (You fill in the blank)…

If we seek to know where we may have opened the door to sin allowing satin a foothold in our life God will show us.  With the truth we will find freedom and healing; however, the sad side of this is most would rather continue to be dependent upon a prescription; a person etc… instead of cast our burdens upon God, where they belong and take the daily prescription of Faith.

Psalm 55:22 (NIV)

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”

Therefore, I will focus daily on my spiritual wellness and through prayer and petitions seek God to show me where I may be spiritually weak.  I will not worry about what I cannot change instead cast my concerns to the Lord.  For through trust, faith, and obedience to his word I will find spiritual healing and peace.

2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Amen-