Who Am I?

Everyone in this world is striving to be defined by the age old question, Who am I? They each seek their own road to glory in hopes to be something, to be someone. Everyone is defined not only by who they are but by the choices they make. Many times in my life I struggled with this question, Who am I? Many times I have had these moments, What is life?! Why are we here? What is the reasoning behind all this? Who am I? What am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to be? What is my life going to be defined by? Some lawyers, some doctors, some musicians, some artists, some who just get by, some who just get married and have children and are a sort of springboard (these people become defined by their children's lives and the choices they make.) The list is as long as the days.

The choices we make, make us who we are. The things we do and the people we hang out with show us who we are and share our company with. Do you hang out with people who truly deeply care about you and love you? People who not only ask how you are doing but actually care to know the answer, especially if you are not doing well. People who love you despite your faults. People who love you no matter who you are. People who want to push you in the right direction. People who will lift you up, not bring you down. Be aware of the people you hang out with and take a serious look to see if these people lift you up and advance you in your life and share your struggles or people who merely just want to have a shallow “good time” without ever really diving into the deep stuff. No doubt life is full of the shallow shores and that is not bad, just as oceans have shores, but life is also about treading in the deep waters and taking chances. That might mean with a job, a relationship, a move in life. Anything and everything. You cannot simply just sit around and get on the ride of life. At the end you will find you wasted it. Sure you will remember some happy times, some sad times but will it be worth it is my question.

In the end will you say “I am glad I did everything I could've done.” Life is not a party as some may misconceive. Life is not about just having fun. If that was the case then this world wouldn't be plagued with suffering, poverty, pain and hateful people. This world is full of hate if you didn't know. But this world is also full of love. But I tell you this, people have a sick addiction to bad news. How many news stories do you hear on Tv about good people doing good things? They are a mere side dish compared to the full course served full of bad things happening in our world. Do you believe people are genuinely good in their heart? Do you believe people really want to do the right thing all the time? I wish the answer was yes. But realize this, people are sinful human beings. People can put on the charades and put on the jester masks but down deep sin is stirring. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. That is everyone, you me, the pope, everyone. Whether you lie when you know you shouldn't, you drink yourself to stupidity, you watch pornography, you drink beer, you smoke weed, when you don't do good deeds you ought to do. The list goes on and on, again, till the day is long. We are all sinners, if you don't believe it then you are lying to yourself and living in the lies that this world is feeding you. Wake UP! Don't believe everything everyone tells you.

That is why we have the Bible. It is Gods Word. It is God revealing Himself to people so that they may enjoy fellowship with Him. I for the longest time denied the Bible and it's validity, I denied Church and sought my own way to God. I tried Buddhism and everything else I could to find the deeper meaning in life. And I enjoyed all that stuff for a season. When the spiritual season changed my beliefs about this changed as well. But the beautiful thing about Gods Word, it never changes. He never changes.

If you know God and the Lord Jesus Christ, He will never change on you. Revelation 4:8 in the Bible says “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” 4:11 says “Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou has created all things, and for they pleasure they are and were created.”

God created all things for His pleasure, not yours. As a bonus we get to enjoy His Creation. And we are part of His Creation. The world tells you, “man came from fish” or “man used to be a monkey”. That is bizarre when you think about it. Sure the proof of micro-evolution is displayed in the Galapagos, but where in the Galapagos do you see a mermaid or anything else that abstract. Science sounds right to the logical mind and these people with all their degrees sound so right you just want to believe them.

The Bible says this in 1 Corinthians 1:20-25 “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

You can see how foolish it is to say man came from fish. That is the worlds wisdom so many people are buying into these days. You cannot help but look up at the stars or see a beautiful sunrise or sunset and see the beauty and Glory of God.

Psalm 19 says this, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament(expanse of heaven) showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.”

So you want proof God exists? Look at the stars, the beauty of the sky, how the birds fly. Look at Love. We are the only creature on earth that is capable of loving as we do. When you feel this first touch of love on your heart you know it's something special. When you take a chance to get the girl or the guy, you make yourself incredibly vulnerable, but you are willing to do it because you want to be in love with this person and you want them in your life. Right? Let me tell you this. God made Himself incredibly vulnerable when He loved us.

1 John 4:10 says this “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” 1 John 4:8 also says “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

We see that God is not some distant energy that just floats around the universe. God is a conscious living Spirit. This just told us that He is Love. Not that He is merely loving, but that He is Love. God is the essence that Love truly is. So whenever you feel like you have “fallen in Love” and been in love with someone, know that that is the essence of God. Why do you think it hurts so much when you aren't loved? Why do you think breaking up with someone you love hurts so much or when your partner cheats on you? Why does that hurt so unbearably much? This just told us, God first loved us, not that we even loved Him yet, but He still loved us. Like a secret admirer that wasn't so secret. Heartbreak is as old as the world. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and did exactly what He told them not to do, for their own good, Gods heart broke.

The Bible says in Genesis 6:6 “And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart.”

God has a heart. God has feelings. He gave you the privilege to have them too. Don't ever take that for granted. But we see that God repented, repent means to turn away as when one repents of their sins. God grieved. You know what it's like to grieve right? To lose a loved one, a grandmother or father, a friend maybe, even a pet. You know that sickness of the soul that nothing can comfort. You truly feel sick to your stomach. That feeling is as old as the world too. God was the first one to know what it feels like to grieve. He knew it was going to happen because God is all knowing but, He created humanity because He wanted fellowship, not because He was lonely, but because He wanted someone else to enjoy time with Him. That is still true today. God wants to have a fellowship with you. It's not about joining some church and doing this and that and a whole bunch of other things but about simply knowing Him.

Ever heard of that familiar verse John 3:16? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” But have you heard the verses after that? It doesn't end there. “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but He that believeth not is condemned already, because He hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

God didn't come to judge you and tell you that you are a terrible human being. God didn't come to send you to hell. God came to save your soul, so that you might have eternal life. That's it. It's not about religion, it's about a relationship with SomeOne who truly deeply loves and cares about you more than you know and more than anyone in this world ever could.

The Bible says, “He hath made everything beautiful in His time: also He hath set eternity in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God does from the beginning to the end.”

Every one in this world has a desire for eternity. You see all these ghost shows and vampire movies and all these other fairy tale things trying to come up with some sad substitute for what True Eternity really is. Why do you think there are so many people addicted to drugs? To alcohol? To sex? To video games even. To things. To food. Sometimes enough is never enough for people. Don't think your excluded. Don't think your exempt. The Bible says, “There is none righteous, No, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Do you think your righteous? Watch out.

Romans 6:23 tells us “For the wages of sin is death.”

Oh what a painful truth because Romans 3:23 told us all have sinned so that means the wages or the payment we receive for our sins is death. That death is another word for Hell. Death here means eternity in Hell, separation from God for eternity, no redos no takebacks. Once your there your done for.

Revelation 20:10 and 14 tell us “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever...And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

The first death you die is of the flesh, if you die in your sins without accepting Christs payment for your sins you will be tormented for ever and ever, in hell, dying the second death, of the soul. But wait we're not done with Romans 6:23, theres more and this is the best part, this is the good news. “and the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

By accepting Gods judgment on sin and that it requires death and that Jesus satisfied Gods justice and by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior from hell you receive the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. The even better part. This is for everyone!

Romans 10:13 says “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I am a whosoever you are too, everyone is. That sounds like a pretty broad and open invitation right? Wait, it even gets better....

Jesus says in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart now. Every day is right there waiting for you to open it up and answer it. You don't have to of course. But remember the results? Eternal suffering in hell. He gives you the choice. Accept Him or accept the payment of your own sins by going to hell for yourself. Jesus took care of that account for you, you have to accept what He did.

Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Thats it. He didn't say I am a way, a truth and a life. But THE. As in, The only way to Eternal life. No man comes to the Father but by Him.

1 John 5:12 echos this “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

Think about it, God couldn't have made it any more simple for you to know Him. One Way, One Truth, One life, to life. You don't have to follow some strict set of rules and an exhaustive list of dos and donts. Jesus came to set us free from that slavery. The worlds religions will tell you, do this, dont do that etc etc etc. That is not what God said when He came here to earth. People talk about miracles and we've been seeing a lot in Haiti, some people trapped 10 days without food or water and surviving, no doubt that is a miracle. But do you want to know the greatest miracle that ever graced this earth. God becoming man. Think about this, an eternal infinite limitless being crowned with all the glorious riches of Heaven came down from His throne and became flesh. A body struck with needs, for food water, a body limited by His feet, a temporal existence. A body that could feel pain, be tempted. God did all of this for you to be saved. And He died on the Cross and was raised from the grave the third day so that you could have eternal life in Heaven and enjoy fellowship with Him, now and then.

A version of the Bible quotes Matthew 16:25 this way “Self help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.”

This world feeds off of self-help. We think we have all the answers. I think some people are actually afraid to admit they don't know it all and when life makes no sense they don't have the answer for it. Thats why we need God. Because if you actually think about life, you will come to a time when nothing makes sense anymore. Without God you have no hope.

Rick Warren says in his book The Purpose Driven Life, “You cannot arrive at your life's purpose with starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, Your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God and for God—and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.”

You have this new day of life because God wants you to have it. He could have it taken in a split second. But He wants you to live, to enjoy His blessings, and first and foremost- for you who don't know Him- to know Him. And for those who do know Him, to serve and to seek His face in all things. Don't serve the world, serve God. Don't try to please people, Please God. You can't please everyone. But you can always please God by doing His will. God is the Heavenly Father, who Is Love, and who Loves you enough to have given His only Son for you to have eternal life with Him.

Little gods

The world is fascinated with the indestructible, yet also with the underdog. The world loves to see a so-called rags-to-riches story plastered in a big time movie or on a daytime TV show where the interviewee is suffocated by the praise of enthralled fans. No doubt the stories are inspiring and appealing. And the silver lining of such stories is the shimmering glimmer of hope we all have of our selves and that people can fulfill their dreams if they just fight for them.. These true life stories are ones we'd also like to recall to our young ones to give them the extra push needed to shoot for the stars as they say. And no doubt these dreams are achievable. You might, even after saying that all these (realistic) dreams are liveable, have in the back of your mind the two words, within reason or within limits. Well with those kind of thoughts lingering around in the back of certain peoples minds we might never have fought and won for the freedom we have today in America, we might never have racial equality, we might never have electricity. And the list goes on and on as the days are long. But on the other hand yes there is a point where a childish fantasy is forever to only become that. Even when the child is grown up! People can create illogical dreams that don't equal the limits reality has set on them. The thing is you see, there are several crucial and vital characteristics of a person to have that are essential for any big goal or dream to be a reality.

1.Perspective
2.Insight
3.Courage
4.Personal Depth
5.Hope
6.Perseverance
7.Faith in Hard times
8.A sense of humor
9.Integrity
10. Knowledge
11.A direction
12. Honesty
13. Discernment
14. Wisdom
15. Inner Strength
16. A second set of eyes and hands
17.Determination
18. A healthy sense of reality
19. Sacrifice
20.Risk
21.Planning
22. Investment
23. Dedicated hard work


We could go on and on. But one thing is for certain, one who succeeds greatly and leaves a lasting impression on the world is no fool and it didn't happen for them overnight or on accident. They develop core characteristics that are the wind beneath their wings. These are formed and sharpened by the fiery furnace of suffering and the hammering of failure. One who succeeds greatly has endured failure after failure and overcame them all with patient perseverance. The key word here is overcame.
You cannot know the true sweet taste of Victory if you have never felt the fracture of failure. Martin Luther King Jr. described this well when he said, “Often the path to freedom will carry you through prison.” 1 One must endure hardship after hardship for them to experience the true joy of Victory. An easy victory is no victory at all..It is merely a fabricated short-cut that seems like victory, these types of victory are often short-lived and quickly forgotten. Something that is common among all successful people of all walks of life is Sacrifice. This means taking big risks that often seem irresponsible. History proves these risks are well worth the reward. If everyone was consumed with keeping the status-quo and staying inside the predictability of the proverbial box we would have a world filled with fear of the unknown and a world afraid of change and a world severely constrained from greatness. Our world is shaped by dreamers who dared to bring their dream into reality. Those who assessed the risks and rewards and made the decision to step outside the box, outside the ordinary, outside the popular choice. This involves a great deal of ridicule and a great deal of feeling naked .

One who steps outside the box is subject to the elements. But they escape the suffocating stagnation of the shack that is formed by the struts of security laid to protect the ones who strive to live in a life of predictability; unfortunately they are in a false sense of security. This life is defined by mediocrity and continual sameness. A life stripped from the experience of a life that is truly lived . A life content with the ordinary. This life leads to a miserable soul. The person living the life may experience short-lived times of happiness and joy yet they are overwhelmed with the drudgery of their lives. The “real world” becomes a place of work and busy-body-ness where the dominating factor is simplicity. The demands of a distinguished life hyperbolize the inner fears crawling around inside of these people. They feel grounded in their things. Grounded in their safe, comfortable home where they can comfortably calculate their choices for the day. People can easily degrade into an increased form of pettiness. Mumbling and groaning over things that are otherwise forgettable. These things can get the best of them and bring out the worst in them. People who fail to dream big tragically end up settling in with sweating the small stuff in life. Unconfessed fears slowly tear them apart bit by bit inside out . It's only a matter of time before this externalizes itself, either in big shows of pain and anger or in small little bits of pestered cursing and sarcastically piercing comments that hurt others unaware. It then becomes obvious this person is suffering from a lack of dreaming big and living big. One who dreams big discovers the triviality of this all. It then becomes obvious this person suffers from the tragedy of serving and worshiping idols and the little gods in life. Little do they know; they say these things aren't bad and it is “just the way I am” they live in a tragic illusion of materialistic floating from thing to thing. This results in a slow painful inner drifting and marring of the soul that is a living turmoil on the spiritual level . Everything on the surface seems alright but underneath the soul is laden with deep scars and debilitating atrophy. They suffer from the complete willful ignorance of denying the Way the Truth the Life that is Jesus. They look happy on the outside and may even be at times but down deep they are sincerely miserable with themselves and they do not even dare to think deep about themselves because they are afraid of what they might encounter. Pride stalks them, preventing them from turning around to the Truth. It becomes a wall that they cannot bear to go over or through because they do not dare humble themselves because they are too comfortable with the “good” life they think they have. They have no idea there is a much better Life out there, the Best Life. The even worse fact is that 99% of these people do know there is a better life they just see it as some shallow religion. They are blinded. It is sobering. The things people are willing to settle for and substitute for a life well lived.

Love

Love is one of the most precious things of our existence here on this earth. Where would we be without Love? Who would we be? Imagine never knowing Love, what kind of existence would that be? One that of an animal of insinct. The reptilian brain would hold dominion over every thought of ours and there would be no such thing as a conscience. What a dull existence.

-"Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another." -Romans 2:15 -We all have the law written in our hearts by proof of our conscience. We know whether or not something is good or bad... In foundational issues yes but as things move towards the "lesser" issues of morals and ethics people tend to make up what they think is ok. By tradition, by exposition, by treatment, by perception. These things form and mold the constructs of the human mind to percieve what is right and wrong displayed by parental behavior, prenatal sensory development of a fetus- ie: (emotions of mother transferred to child, a screaming yelling angry mother or a calm gentle loving mother), my belief is perception on a foundational basis and stability of morals, ethics and emotions throughout treatment to the child- ie:(Love Depravity, Love Saturation, Love Nimiety) If a child is resented, left out, mistreated or plainly depraved of attention and Love then this will have severe side-effects later on in life in relational issues in general with other human beings and in Love relationships specifically. If a child has an abundant amount of attention and care and genuine authentic Love than this child will grow and adapt easier to circumstances and issues later on in life; this child's "Love Tank" -to quote Gary Chapman author of The Five Love Languages series among other works, is then filled and ready to take on much more than the one with the empty Love Tank. A child who has an overabundance of Love can lose it's sensitivity to it, this child can begin to feel entitled to Love (aren't we all really?) but again I reiterate this child then feels like it's first in everyones life, this child perceives his or herself as the center of everyones attention. This as well can be dangerous for this can develop into a self-centered life... I think the key idea when the child becomes of age is to show Love of and for others, being a giver rather than a getter... While not leaving aside the necessity we all have of the inner need for the nourishment of self-love, not a prideful haughty snub attitude, but a genuine sense of self security and inner peace. Instilling a sincere sense of sharing in their hearts and giving them a big heart full of Love will lead to a heart that has a lot to give others. What a delicate balance that is. Human life is so precious, fragile, and frail. The slightest thing can brake a heart or spirit. We must remember this in our treatment to others. How hard is it to be kind?

Without Love I would imagine there would be no such thing as art, music, intellectually stimulating debate, true unity, hope, faith, real true happiness and joyful exuberance. Amongst countless other things. I would imagine there would have been no such person as Ghandi, as Martin Luther King Jr., as Jesus, as God. What kind of terrible world would that be... I wouldn't want to exist in that existence. Life is so much better lived in Love. You don't have to have a spouse or partner to be In Love. You can be In Love with Life, with God, with Jesus, with other people. With yourself even!

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is Love." -1 John 4:8

We see that God is Love. We know God by knowing what it really truly means to Love one another and ourselves. We experience who He is by worshipping Him and serving Him and seeing Him work in the lives of others and ourselves. We see His amazingly abundant Hand of Grace. What a great pleasure and honor it is to know and serve The Living God. What a Great King we have! Jesus came to further show us and teach us the beautiful things of Heaven and the most amazing expression of Love that ever took place on this earth, His Atonement for our sins. If that isn't Love I don't know what is. He gave up all the Glory of Heaven to come and live on this earth with us, insufferable frustratingly sinful people. That wanted to see Him do miracles like it was an entertainment show or something. People that threw rocks at Him, mocked Him, beat Him within an inch of death and put Him on the worst and most humiliating type of execution in those days, yes He suffered for those people, for us.

-"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." -Romans 5:6-11


But He in all His Amazing Grace and Love continued to be long-suffering and patient with us, as He still is, in knowing that He could save our souls and bring us to Glory in Heaven with Him, because of what He did, because of His Love.

-"To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."-Galatians 4:5-7

He calls us sons to whom we can cry out to Him, Father. We who were enemies of Jesus became adopted as sons to The Royal Kingdom of Heaven, Through Christ. Because of His Love. There is no better Love than this.