Excessive Reasonability Vs. Blind Credence

It's the hardest thing for people to see without eyes, and harder still to truly believe in that wholly-trusting version of "sight". In other words, being human is to believe in yourself and those around you upon instinct, but to believe in some untouchable, nonphysical alpha-presence is to go against your trustworthy, selfish mindset and put your insecurities behind you. This is the hardest bush for people, today, to hack past, and harder still (sometimes) for those of us who do see it to give that understanding to them.

"If someone says, 'I love God,' but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?"
~1John 4:20

The following piece is taken from an interview that the main character of a (fictional) story has with two men who are trying to believe the grand tales he tells of all his trying misadventures.

"The arrogance of big-city folk! You grant your metropolises all the animals of Eden, but you deny my hamlet the merest Bengal tiger!"
"Mr. Patel, please calm down."
"If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn't love hard to believe?"
"Mr. Patel--"
"Don't you bully me with your politeness! Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?"
"We're just being reasonable."
"So am I! I applied my reason at every moment. Reason is excellent for getting food, clothing and shelter. Reason is the very best tool kit. Nothing beats reason for keeping tigers away. But be excessively reasonable and you risk throwing out the universe with the bathwater."
~Life of Pi (pg.297)

 

“It is faith alone, in Christ alone, which alone moves God, when you are alone.”

~Rex Rouis

Try that one out for some brain maze! Faith can go a long way, as with passion. It's like duct tape: it can solve any problem if you let it!

"Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."

~Ephesians 3:17-19

Get It While It's Hot!

Being able to love what is good even in times that are hell.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. ~2Corinthians 4:8-11

Putting this into somewhat of a bullet point format, and posing a question for the next hot topic: Why are we cornered by troubles like this? May-hap the weather's a bit wild lately, but it will calm in time....or God just hates us for a little while, but...he doesn't dare keep it so hot n' hellish forever down here, right? Or just stick to the road that says things are difficult only because they intend to get better the further you push on. No. All those options put the blame on the wrong things, essentially. There are only two things to blame 1) Ourselves, for taking the first bait and sinning, and 2) The devil himself, the master hot-head who will turn your life around at the first pinch of opportunity. Things can seem right or wrong just by our backward thinking, when really, the goodness of life is always there, no matter where we are beside it. 

"The devil can site scripture for his purpose." ~Shakespeare

A dangerous enemy, that. So when you are pressed, submit and call is a good start. Ring him up, because God's service is the SPIRIT, which has perfect reception 24/7. Serious, no AT&T dropped calls anymore, and the phones, texts, and minutes are all free too! You won't even get a monthly bill.

Christ is as near as our hearts.

Drilled To The Sole

"There was only death and the dying" (The Way of the Apprentice Pg.73). This line was describing a scene where hope was nearly lost, where life was eerily absent and those experiencing the suffering were utterly afraid and selfish for the quickest escape. Pain is what you make it, right? Not necessarily, but for Christians, the pain is not worth thinking about, for it is only temporary. Death does not have to be literal either. It just means the hard times in life where we get trapped in dark times and push ourselves far from the salvation that God offers. We are drilled and tested, it seems, to the very depths of our beings; drilled to the soul. This is the struggle that everyone faces in some way or another. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." Remember that one from Psalm 23:4? We really have nothing to fear.

"Start-up companies call it the Valley of Death – the arduous terrain between proof of concept and the beginning of mass production and significant sales." (Link)

Haha!

“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell." ~Matthew 10:28

Fear God because when the day of judgment comes...no.

Fear God with reverence and praise because he gives us the choice to trust in him and not have to worry about the grave, or afterlife. Because when we die, we will be neither living nor lost. (Which I got form "Catacombs And Orchards": Cuz I see four hundred bones in silence, but none of them making the laws) Yeah, without him, the outlook is pretty depressing, but for those who know to look to God in their troubles know that He's got it covered. There is No Grave.

There is no weapon
There is no blade
You wonder why I’m not afraid?

You’ll never kill Him that lives inside of me.

I’ve erased all of my fear of the grave

~"Butcher" by Project 86

I know I have already shared this line before, but what about those who don't necessarily suffer during their lives and are instead too fond of the worldly gifts God has allowed them to experience?

"When we die there are holes the size of the things we fear will be left behind."

~The Light Beam Rider

Now this is not to be used as a scare factor for converting people. That doesn't usually fly too well. Instead, it is an encouragement and a reminder for us. We always have that hope that we held when we first believed because never in our lives will there be the possibility of any other way around death. We are written down in the Book, and God will not allow us to stay in the depths one second longer than necessary. In fact, it is one thing we will never experience!

"For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever." ~Psalm 16:10-11

Exordium Adiaphorous

A new way to do nothing. Exordium is the beginning of something, and Adiaphorous is a medical term to say that something is being ineffective. We as humans come up with ways of being ineffective for Christ subconsciously, of our own accord, which is why we need help to move forward. Big help. God's help.

We need You now
Break our chains by Your glory and power
Make us captive to a holy desire

~The song "Come To Us Oh Lord" by Young Oceans

 This is our manufactured peace. It isn't the truth, for true peace is discernible and attainable when sought after. 

By manufacturing our own temporary peace, we tell ourselves that it is the truth when really it's just lies covered up by something that looks good.

"You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden."

~Matthew 5:14

Don't be an outlier. The reason that Christians are often viewed so wrongly is because of those who call themselves Christians but don't show it. The most drastic means are what usually end up representing. As Christians, we need to be lights, beacons of love and example because we are ever set upon the hill for everyone to see and follow and take from.

"Bad company corrupts good character."

~1Corinthians 15:33

 Sometimes it's simple things that we don't realize are affecting us. Like friends/influences who don't make the best of examples. Just lay it down and let God do the work in your life. He will. (won't you God?.....mhmm....exactly!) Yap, he will.

"We can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."

~1Corinthians 1:4

 Let us take the promise of love, peace, comfort that God gives and chop it up into little pieces that we can hand out like cookies to others!

"[Our bodies] are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength."
~1Corinthians 15:43

"P" for Peace!

God in...

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. ~Galatians 3:19

This week is being cut a bit shorter, if you will, for the busy holidays, and for this 34minute-long video "Genius". It's been shared around a bit, and is supposedly about John Lennon, but really is more about Christianity in today's culture. Feel free to respond with questions and ideas!

End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God. ~Psalms 7:9

 

Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts.

~1John 5:21

Cut The Rope

The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. ~Judges 7:2

Even when things come up in our lives that we can fix ourselves, and we do so taking it for granted, thinking, "Well I won that battle with sin because I was disciplined enough and I knew my own limits...". No. It is always God working through us for good, whether he shows us that or not. He could very easily make it a miracle just by twisting the lines of truth to show us that we couldn't have done it on our own. But sometimes he doesn't. sometimes he works behind the scenes and helps us where we don't think we need it, even though we really do.

Where can this go wrong? One way is when we consider God's presence, look for it, and not find what we want. We call God weak. We blame him. However, it is simply a time of weakness for us, who cannot fathom the reality of how God works no matter the situation. Whatever is happening down here on earth, God is always sitting in the same position, so to speak, unaffected physically/emotionally as we are.

 If God had a weakness, it would still be stronger than the strongest strength of man. ~Corinthians 1:25 

Maybe the problem is in those around us. God is hard to see, after all, like a fly on the wall, and sometimes even harder to present. In that case, it's really just us who needs to change, to release the fear and doubt that hold us back.

So shine with a fire that will represent.

"They all said I lost hope, but I believe that you're calling me home, I believe your love has no bounds, I believe your heart is on fire, I believe my heart is uncaged." ~Darkspeed (song)

That will represent the working God you come to see all around you.

"Any script written could not contain you; true love is not like it's played in a movie; when I close my eyes, I fell you with me; because you bled for a love that is Holy." ~Santiam (song)

The Effervescent Act

"Sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud."

~Shakespeare

 

Opportunity never ceases, it's just sometimes covered up by whatever you let in. Happiness, joy, love--the big bad words that nobody likes to think about if they can get away with it--are really the makeup of satisfaction. Of course, there's always confidence, faith, will, and all that good stuff that get you going, but when you narrow it down...

 

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

~Lincoln

It's like a secret code or something, that sounds stupid until you actually get it. Didn't you know that happiness is an on-off switch in your brain and all you have to do is flip it!

 

Sometimes it doesn't seem that easy, and maybe it isn't. Takes a considerable amount of either practice for some, or simple truth for others. I'm probably right in between.

 

"The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity--it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud." ~Life of Pi pg. 6

 

An interesting concept if nothing else. So if gloom is only ever temporary, then what is there to be joyous about on a sunny (metaphorically speaking) day? Well that's the real mystery. I find my joy in: life (in general), beauty (art, music, writing), creation (related to beauty and life), and a simple assurance of faith in Christ to help me through any situation the world has to offer.

 

"I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul."

~Psalm 31:7

 

People are going to show this joy in very different ways. One of my side-effects is jitteriness, which can turn into confidence, that can lead to the opening of my heart and mind, per se. The perfect solution would begin with a certain self-blindness, in that you become more aware of those around you. The typical idea or example of joy and/or happiness is perhaps seen as an act of effervescence. People jump up and down, offer hugs to strangers, run up and down the street in the middle of the night, whatever shows that you are not yourself, that you are not currently on your normal, human default mode when joyous.

 

Effervescent [ef-er-VES-uhnt]:

1. High-spirited; vivacious; lively.
2. Effervescing; bubbling.

Effervescence can be a good way of communicating love to others. Pray it over and figure it out. There's always a way :)

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

~1John 4:10-13