Working to Change

We've been talking about change... Changing our thoughts, changing our way of thinking, changing the people who we hang out with etc... Stirring things up a bit. But change does not come about because we sit here and think about it...

Change comes about because we're willing to work. Our situation changes because we put in the work to change.... We sit back and complain about our jobs, yet while we have that stability what are we doing to get away from that job. I know I have fallen into that way of thinking.... I have sat there and said "I hate my job.. They are driving me nuts." Yet day in and day out, I get up, shower, get dressed, and go to work.... The job that after a while I hated... Why did I start to hate it? Because I didn't feel like I was being used in a manner in which I could be most effective. The thing I failed to realize is that how could I be used if all I did was my job description. How could I be used if with the little I had I was not willing to put in the extra work - regardless of whether or not there would be instant gratification. So I started putting in the extra work. I started going above and beyond - I started using my talents to get out of the shadows a bit. I started to put in the work...

Not only that but I started taking classes, and paying attention to how what I was learning in class could be applied to what was going on at work. I took notes, became observant. I started "working". In working, I also was able to open my thoughts and change my way of thinking. So when I decided to start looking for another job - I was able to better evaluate my skills and my talents to apply for things I knew I was a shoo-in for. Didn't get some of the things I applied for, but it allowed me to get in front of a different group of people. It allowed me to broaden my horizons, change my circle.... It also allowed me to be able to work in a manner in which it made me not hate my other job. It has made it fun again. It has also allowed me to keep in the fore-front the reason why I do what I do....

When the stability is there, you can do so much more. When you have stability, you can be more effective to those around you and to the Kingdom - God's Kingdom. Paul was able to make his money - build his stability off of building tents. He worked with his hands... Point blank - he worked.

It is in working that change happens. So the question becomes.. what work are you willing to do? What work are you willing to put in - not talking anything illegal.. but are you willing to work to change your circumstance...

Funny thing about change

Change can be a scary thing. It can be the thing that totally makes or breaks us. It's how we adapt to change is what makes us the people that we are...

Funny thing about change though, it happens whether we want it to or not. It can either happen on our own accord or it can drag us kicking and screaming into the future. The thing I have learned is that when God needs to move us, to position us, change will drag us kicking and screaming. When it drags us kicking and screaming we can end up wounded, but the wounds heal. It may leave us with scars, but it is those scars that are our "badges". Those scars are proof that we have made it out and that we are/will be OK. 

Funny thing about change, it happens can happen unexpectedly. We don't always get a warning that we're going to be fired. We don't always get a warning that a friend is going to be sick. Life doesn't always warn us about the changes that are going to rock our very existence. Reminds me of the story of Joseph. He didn't know that he would be sold into slavery. Nor did he know that he would be hit on by a ranking officials wife and thrown in prison for 12 years... I believe that if he had known, he might have stayed away from his brothers. 

Funny thing about change, it has to happen. Things have to change in order for us to move, grow... learn. Change has to happen for us to walk out our purpose. People need to be removed from our lives. We need to be removed from theirs. We need to be exposed to different things in order to learn what we need to learn. I doubt that Joseph would have been in Egypt had it not been for him being sold into slavery. I doubt if he would have had the chance to interpret dreams had he not gotten out of his comfort zone. I doubt if he would have had the chance to become second in command in Egypt had change not happened. 

Funny thing about change.. It can be a scary thing that drags us kicking and screaming into the future; it can happen unexpectedly... But it has to happen in order for us to step into our purpose. Change has to happen in order for us to keep moving forward. 

Looking the Part

We hear all the time that God chooses to use people who we may not think look the part. He will use some of the strangest people to get thing done...

I'm not going to talk about that. I believe that has been done to death... But what I will talk about is even though we may not start off looking the part, by the time God is finished with us, not only do we look the part, but we have become the new definition of what the part should look like.

Everything, every job, every profession has a "look". That's why the President that gets elected is the one who usually "looks" the best on t.v. Yeah, I know you vote based on the issues, but studies have shown that people will vote for those who look more Presidential. The same thing goes for religious leaders, teachers etc... People gravitate towards what their understanding of what the part should look like.

The religious leaders in the Gospels had all of these rules about what they should/shouldn't be doing and how they should and shouldn't look. But all the while, they had stopped doing God's work. They were cheating the people, not taking care of the poor etc... They had become the idea of what a religious leader looked like and with that came their ineffectiveness with the people. How can you trust someone who looks like they look the part and doesn't carry out the primary functions of the job?

God had to change things. He had to change the way the people thought about their leaders, and by connection him. He had to change their thoughts about how the part should look. Enters John the Baptist.  When we first encounter him he is preaching in the wilderness and baptizing people in the Jordan. He looked the farthest thing from "the part". ( Matthew 3:4, Mark 1:6). He would however, become the staple as to what the part looked like. The part looked like the people. Talked in a manner in which the people understood. The part led by example. The part changed the way you thought about who or what should be in it. The part gave glory to God not to the individual. By the time all was said and done, the idea of the part had been shattered.

In changing who we surround ourselves with, we broaden our understanding of things. We start to think outside the box in what things should look like, sound like act like. We allow for dreams to become reality. We allow ourselves to start trusting in God.... By getting away from what the "part" should look like, we gain Freedom...

Are you going to start to set yourself free? 

Changing our thoughts

I wonder if Jesus told the disciples to give up everything and follow him to change their way of thinking. Think about it... They had been doing the same thing day in and day out.. How could he have expected them to fully embrace his teachings while still worried about how they looked in the eyes of the law of the land? How could the disciples be open to anything different if all they were following was what they knew? In our time we call that insanity (Doing the same thing day after day expecting the same results). Jesus had to get them away from those who could be said to have the most influence on them, strip them bare, and then build them up in a different mindset. He has to do those things with us as well. People hit ruts in their lives because their thinking never changes. Once they get it into their heads that they cannot do it, that's it and they give up. Why is it that way? I believe its because they have not changed their way of thinking. I believe its because they keep relying on what they know (think they know) without taking that leap of Faith. I doubt that we would be here discussing this if someone had not said "I want to see what this Jesus cat is really talking about". It was a pretty radical idea to walk away from being a fisherman to being a fisher of men....


What can be done to change your way of thinking? Have you gotten into a rut and don't see a way out? Do you have a dream that no matter how hard you try it won't come to pass? Maybe, it's because you haven't decided to give up everything to follow Christ. Maybe it's because you keep doing the same thing day after day after day and expecting to see something different. Maybe it's because you keep hanging around the same people day after day after day and not broadening your circle. My favorite quote as of late is "If you're the smartest person in your group, you're group is to small.".

As we continue on with the rest of the year, lets make that apart of the things we accomplish. Let's get out and do something different everyday. Let's talk to someone different each day. Let's start a new activity. Lets       go to Church with that friend who keeps inviting us yet our belief systems might be different. Lets pray for God to work wonders in our lives instead of just asking for gas money (I'm guilty of this one myself)... Let's change how we think and see where it takes us.

Whats the Purpose?

We move through life doing the same thing day in and day out. We get caught up in an unending cycle that most people never get out of. Why is that? Why do we sit back and make plans for what we want to do without thinking of the purpose behind it?   

Part of the definition of success is the accomplishment of a purpose. A purpose.. Everything comes back to a purpose. We don't take the time to realized that the purpose of us working isn't to make a lot of money, it isn't to store up material things as they all will dissolve someday... No - the purpose of us working is to better society. Our purpose is to draw people to an enlightened mind in which they are realizing that their purpose is to make society a better place. For some the enlightenment comes from believing in a higher being from believing in something bigger than themselves. For others the enlightenment comes from realizing that they are not here just to work and then to die.... 

For those of us Christen believers, our purpose in all that we do should be to bring people closer to God. I know I'm probably guilty of not doing this as much as what I should be. You can't begin to  help others realize their purpose until you know yours.... Do you know yours? Can you say 100% that you know what you purpose is? We cannot think about our purpose, we have to be still in order to learn what it is. The moments when we have the most clarity is when we are sitting still. Still - with no distractions. But how many of us can "afford" to sit still... The better question is how many of us can afford not to sit still for a few moments everyday to tap into what our purpose is.. If Jesus had to spend time talking with God about things what makes you think we don't?

"And he withdrew himself and prayed." Matthew 5:16

What are you doing?

Have you ever had a point where you just felt like... and you just can't place what the feeling is. Some people go through life never knowing what the feeling is. Some people are so in tuned with themselves that they know not only what the feeling is, but what is causing it. Sometimes, its just the fact that you're not doing what you thought you would be doing.. Sometimes it's it's knowing what you want and being told no a few times. Being told no sucks a bit and you never know if it's that you weren't ready or if they weren't ready for you. 

How do you know? How do you keep yourself from feeling like you're free falling without a parachute. How do you keep your spirits up? Well, I can give a suggestion. Feed your Spirit. When your Spirit is malnourished it manifests itself in many different forms and for everyone it's different. What is the same though is the feeling like nothing is working... Feed your Soul... Feed your Soul... Feed Your Soul.... Feed...Your....Soul....

Think I'm going to go get a "meal" myself.... Enjoy

"Man shall not live on bread alone".  Matthew 4:4

Teachings of our faith

I got wrapped into a conversation that made me question whether I understood what I believe in. It's easy to sit back and say "I believe in such and such" But its not as easy to explain your belief to someone.. Or is it?

Its one thing to have blind faith, it's another thing to truly believe in what you believe in. You know you believe in it, truly believe in something, when you can explain it. Not just the theological mumbo jumbo, but in a way in which someone can understand. You know you truly believe when you can bring it to someone on their level.

This does bring up the question: Why is it that we only question our belief when we someone is questioning it themselves?

So here's the question I pose to you: What do you believe? What teachings of your faith don't you understand? What teachings have you not taken to heart enough to be able to teach someone else?