Congestion

When we wake up in the mornings, even if we don’t have a cold, we experience minimal congestion in the sinuses and chest area, especially in geographical regions where the climates change drastically from hot to cold and the seasons like to play with our minds.  When we begin drinking water and hot fluids, this stuff we call mucus and/or phlegm beings to break up, become diluted and flows more easily from the body through our coughing, swallowing, or blowing the nose.  In times of extreme colds and flu season, the mucus build-up may be so great that it becomes a film over the eyes.  When one suffers from a “head cold” the congestion can fill all of the cavities in the head causing stopped-up ears, nose and watery eyes (and dry eyes) as the eyes do their job of trying to wash this stuff away.  The doctor will take his light and look into your eyes, throat, nose, and ears to see how badly the cavities (caves, holes) are filled.  You probably talk with a nasal sound and thus everyone can see that you are suffering from congestion.

Things just are not flowing and moving as they normally do and should.  Something has happened along the way to slow things down, and now even you have been slowed down to a snail’s pace in your daily life and affairs.  All you want to do is lie down and be still, but your Megamind bids you to get up and get out, and get on with life, otherwise nothing will work without you.  WRONG!  Life will go on, with or without you, but how you deal with the congestion before you (without you) will decide how and whose life goes on – with or without you. J

Most illnesses and diseases in the body and soul are reactions to some kind of outside “substance” or stimulus.  For every kind of information we receive into ourselves through our five senses and our sixth sense – the mind – the body has a response and/or reaction to.  The body must process everything we do or don’t do whether positive or negative, short termed or sustained and part of its response is to release chemicals from certain organs which travel in the blood to and through all of the other organs.  Picture in your megamind (just love this word and the movie too) a highway with many exits and entrances.  Traffic is coming on and off all day long at fast and slow speeds. Vehicles with poorly maintained engines and such, giving off pollutants into the vehicles behind them.  Cough!  Yuck.

On weekdays when everyone is going to work at the same time is usually when traffic jams (not jelly) occur, and because of impatient drivers (whether they’re on time or not) accidents happen stopping the movement of traffic altogether.  You know when your six year old comes into your bedroom talking funny, he says “I’m stopped up mummy.  I can’t breathe through my nose.”  You then get the picture of a traffic jam.  (Jam has pieces of fruit and more sugar than jelly so you can see why we call them traffic “JAMS” and not traffic “Jelly” J)  Now might not be the best time for a meal.  You can eat after you finish reading this blog.  LOL  Anyhoooo, nothing’s moving.  Until this traffic jam is cleared up.  But how in the world can an already crowded freeway (I won’t mess with that one) be cleared when every vehicle on the road is a part of the problem?

Authorities on motorcycles and even police cars have to make their way through the narrow spaces between the cars and trucks and along the median.  They are “authorized” to go where common folk cannot go, and make commands which by law the regular people must follow.  They have to assess the situation and implement a solution.  Let’s go back to the nasally head for a minute.

I find that in the morning time, the more I drink water and hot tea, the better I begin to breathe, not just in my head, but in my chest as well.  This is because the fluid and heat of the fluid are authorized to go where nothing else can go, and break up that traffic jam in the head and chest.  Hmmm,  Somehow you knew that this message was not just about traffic jams and jelly in the head and on the highway.  And you’re right! J  Let’s go for a ride with the top down.

While spending some time in prayer with the Lord I felt led to keep my mouth shut so I could hear what was going on inside of my head and heart.  See, the mouth can be speaking one prayer while the head is thinking something else.  If you don’t believe me, do two things, not at the same time mind you.  First, call someone on the telephone and just talk, and see how soon or eventually you will be saying one thing but thinking another.  And depending on how close you are to the other person, you might just confess to them what’s going on with you.  Second, read Isaiah 29:13.  Here the Lord complains that His people say one thing but their hearts hide something else.  So I didn’t want to be a parrot in my prayers.  I wanted to know what was in my own heart and the way to do that was to keep my mouth closed in the presence of the Lord, and listen to the conversation between His heart and mine.

He said to me, “you notice how your sinuses and chest cleared up as you continued drinking the water.  You were washing your organs with water.  Your body is 98% water and thus water is the only fluid authorized to flow throughout the entire body to cleanse and heal, to clear things up.”  I continued listening while Holy Spirit said “the more you spend time washing in My Word – the Logos, it clears away all the gunk that causes congestion in your heart and soul which blocks you from letting my Word transform you into My ‘personality likeness’" (for we are spiritual beings made into His image, but our social skills don’t reveal the image of Christ dwelling within.  So our souls must be continually washed to clear up the internal traffic jam.).

One of the main reasons this process is necessary is so that we can fully “act” without pretense, hypocrisy, falsehood, in spirit and in truth like Jesus did when He walked the earth.  When He speaks a Rhema Word into our hearts we SEE it as He sees it with our spirit, and then we SAY it as He says it.  Next we DO it – the works we SEE Him doing, whatever they may be.  But there can be no Saying without first Seeing and there can be no seeing without first BEING and there can be no being without first YIELDING.

It’s not complicated, but what makes it difficult is what’s inside of us already – it gets in the way, clogging things up, stopping things up.  Congestion.  Not processing well all that’s coming into our “space”, or trying to process too much of the wrong stuff, or trying to process too many things at the same time.  Remember the entrances and exits on the highway – a lot of vehicles coming on trying to go in the same direction at the same time within and through a limited amount of space.

We become, and become like what (and who) we ingest spirit, soul, and body.  The good and best things received in the right doses at the best and right times can keep things flowing at a steady pace.  Of course the wrong and bad-for-us substances (in whatever forms – material or immaterial) can and will clog and stop things up, and we find ourselves sitting by the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. J  However, the GOD things received on a daily basis throughout every 24 hour period we are allowed to breathe J can and will keep things flowing and moving as they should – stopping at the red lights, driving the speed limit, keeping the safe distance between vehicles, obeying the warning signals, taking the best route which may not always be the quickest J, but will help avoid unnecessary troubles and delays.  Checking and changing the oil, using the best gasoline and keeping the tank full, checking the air level in the tires and the treads too, carburetor, antifreeze, catalytic converter, shock absorbers, etc.  I’m not talking cars here people, but our lives – spirit, soul, and body.

I have a book which I use to help me understand my dreams and visions and the author says that when you’re dreaming about a car – driving a car, more than likely you are receiving a message concerning your life.  Hmmmm.  Congestion on the highway of life.  There is help and it is called the Word (the Logos and the Rhema) of God.  The breath of God.  Jesus the Christ Himself.  But in order for it (Him) to keep you flowing and to keep things flowing within you (us) we will have to spend copious hours bathing in it (Him) and drinking it (Him):  the Water of the Word.  You wash your car and body in water, not in milk, tea, coffee, wine, or juice, for water is the only fluid qualified and authorized to cleanse everything.  When pollutants get into our eyes we don’t rinse them out with tea or juice.  The doctor irrigates our ears with . . . water.  It is the only substance authorized and qualified to wash us fully – inside and out.  “So that He (Christ Jesus) might sanctify her (His Bride, the church – you and me), having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, . . .”  Ephesians 5:26 [Parentheses mine.]  Water is our best Friend.  J

Peace.

Don't Take It Personally Part II

After meditating for a minute I began to see another side and angle to not taking “things” personally:  God versus sin.  What do I mean?  Well, God is holy.  Period.  Sin is not holy.  Hmmmm.  They are not friends in any way, never have been and never will be.  You will never catch God playing kickball or volleyball with sin on anyone’s playground or back yard.  So wherever “sin” is, God’s holiness is in opposition to it.  Don’t take it personally.  It’s a principle like gravity.  Gravity neither loves nor hates.  It just is. J  But God loves and is in love.  Keep reading, please.

Maybe it has taken me a minute to clearly understand this, but I’ve learned that this means no matter who we are or where we are on this planet, if we “wear” sin like a garment or a brooch or a banner in our heart, soul, body, life, decisions, life-style etc. it attracts God’s anger and judgment like a homing device.  Period.  Don’t take it personally, just get rid of the sin.  Sin marks us and keeps us on the radar – bleep, blip, bleep, blip.  Hmmmm.  So because God loves His creation, that would be you and me, for what reason would He create something He hates?  (He didn’t.  Read Genesis 1, and John 3:16) Even the satan was not always the way he is now.  He had a proper name which was lovely in itself – Lucifer.  But because of the pride he had within him he fell in love with himself and desired to overthrow God, thus his lovely name fell with him and became stereotyped as evil, representing his nature. (Ezekiel 28:13-19) Too bad we can’t separate the stigma of his name from what he is.  Moving on . . .

Then humans, God’s love creatures, appeared on the radar of Lucifer for destruction.  How would he do it?  He would infect them and afflict them with the same malady he had and has, which resulted in his being thrown down from his place in God’s presence:  Pride.  All sin stems from pride.  Pride is not an emotion, but its presence is and can be revealed (and concealed) through, and by our emotions.  Once we know what pride is, then we will know what it is not, and we will be able to recognize it when we “see” it.

Pride in a nutshell is the belief that “I can do all things through ME, MYSelf, and I”.  My gifts, talents, strengths, education, knowledge, wisdom, beauty, physique, street smarts, etc. can and will get me “there” (wherever “there” is) without the need of any outside help – except to do the foot work of my “commands”.   (My wish is your every command.  LOL!!) But this is no laughing matter.  Pride can be displayed through arrogance and haughtiness, but it can also be hidden through a meek and quiet disposition.  One can be full of pride, missing God’s will and desires while having a submissive, “I can get along with everybody” persona.  How?  Because pride doesn’t need our emotions and emotional expressions to exist within us.  It just needs us to believe we can do all things in and of and by ourselves, not needing God’s permission, neither needing to seek His heart or will first, not needing to wait for God’s provision and direction, and certainly not needing to surrender our choices and decisions to Someone else’s omniscience i.e. God’s.   You get the picture.

When we are diseased with pride (in any area of our character and lives) the only voice we can hear is our own, and because we will always tell ourselves what we want to hear, we will believe we’re hearing the voice of God.  “I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM!  WE ALL SCREAM FOR I SCREAM!  (I know, the last one is supposed to say “Ice Cream”.  Remember, it’s my blog.  J  But you hear the point right?)

The Bible says that “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)  For years I thought humility meant saying “yes” to everyone with a nice voice and a smile to keep everybody happy.  But then I could not understand why if everyone around me was happy, why wasn’t God blessing me with His promises?  Because God wasn’t happy, and He wasn’t happy because He was not being considered first in the equation, i.e. in all of my life’s choices and decisions.  “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God (a relationship with God through Jesus the Christ) and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) And to be honest with you, I am glad to have finally learned that humility has nothing to do with making others happy, because with or without a humble personality, no one can make and keep everybody happy.  Not even God tries to keep everyone happy, so who did I think I was to try to accomplish such an impossibility with and in my own limited capacity, and also since God did not give me that never ending homework assignment?  God is not obligated to accept and be happy with the things we decide to do on our own apart from Him and His first-rate counsel and direction.

So what does humility look like?  Humility means believing, knowing, and living as ones reality on a daily basis, the truth that I can’t do anything on my own.  I cannot breathe, speak, see, hear, taste, or touch without God.  I cannot swallow, blink, walk, talk, clap, dance, or chew gum (without chewing my tongue into pieces) without the Spirit of God flowing and living in my spirit keeping me alive.  Knowing all of this, how much more should I (we) realize that I cannot and should not try to make important (or even seemingly insignificant) life’s decisions without first seeking God, and then waiting to hear what He will say to me?  Yet we do it all the time, bypassing the “Mr. Know It All of the Universe” Who knows the end from the beginning.   And we wonder why our plans don’t pan out?  Or maybe they begin with a promise but end horribly.

Being humble doesn’t mean we will get all the answers (or any answers) in advance, neither does it mean that we will never run into trouble.  However, a life of pride doesn’t afford us these benefits either.  On the contrary – being humble and being proud can and will lead us into challenges and problems, for Job said “man is born for trouble.”  J  But the difference is:  Who is leading your life, and thus helping you (or not, depending on the WHO) to decide how and how well you will deal with the good, the bad, and the uglies of life.  Knowing that the One who knows all things in advance is leading our lives can give us peace in the midst of the storm, air conditioning in the fiery furnace, vegetarian lions (vegans) in a lion’s den.

Jesus Christ died on the cross personally because God the Father loves all of us personally, therefore He does take our sin personally.  However, He judges all sin impersonally because all sin is sin.  Only God can do that.  Yet He takes into consideration each person’s level of knowledge of right and wrong, maturity and ability to know Him when He judges our sins, for it is not His desire to destroy us, but to be reunited and reconciled with us in a love relationship.  Jesus calls that having “eternal life” – yes it’s for the “here and now” not just the “there and then”.  God carries us closely inside His heart NOW because He wants us to spend our THEN with Him.  So the next time you hear people complaining about what appears or seems to be the wrath and judgment of God, if you can get a word in edgewise, just tell them “don’t take it personally”; unless of course they need to.

Peace.      

Don't Take It Personally . . .

I now understand why I experience pain when people are rude to me and break the law around me.  First of all, I care too much.  I care about right and wrong, justice and injustice.  I even have a difficult time laughing at the funny accidents broadcasted on television because I know that even though we don’t get to see it, the people have been injured and are in pain.  So what  if it may have happened months or years ago, when it happened it happened, and the pain was real in real time. J  Possibly even life-changing for several of them, but of course we don’t get to see the rest of the story.  (RIP Paul Harvey.)

But I know I have to walk the line and obey the laws even if others don’t and won’t.  Being raised in a Christian home as a child Christian was not easy for I was constantly reminded by my saved and unsaved family members of the things I could not do (but they could), and many times I felt like a private with several sergeants keeping me in line.  “Hup two three four . . .” J  Therefore I took everything personally when it came to respecting others and obeying the laws of the homeland.

 

Recently, for the first time that I can ever recall in life, I defended my position to get on the train behind the man I was waiting, against a man on my left who tried his best to cut in front of me when the train arrived, without feeling any guilt or remorse for doing so.  But I would not let him, no not this time.  He seemed angry because I would not give up my place to him, but this time I did not care.  (Thank you for your silent strength Rosa Parks.)  I did not take it personally as a black woman.  This time I saw it for what it was:  everyone was trying to get on the same train because no one wanted to continue waiting.  I had missed the first one because there were just too many cattle (Raw Hiiiiide!!), I mean people on that train, and I had to wait 15-20 minutes before the next one to my city would arrive.  Plus I was already there before he was.  White or black, male or female, right is right even though it may be tight.  I came home with a clean and clear conscience knowing that I did nothing wrong and I hurt no one, including myself this time. J

Being overly sensitive can cause us to respond childishly and also cause us to leave ourselves defenseless in the face of blatant abuse and injustices.  But to become an insensitive person can leave one to become hard, selfish and uncaring.  I don’t want the personality pendulum to swing to the opposite extreme, so I asked Father God for the balance of the personality of Jesus Christ to remold this area of my character.  One in which I have a healthy sensitivity to myself and to others.

As I pondered this incident (being overly sensitive can cause you to think about things long after they have passed) I wanted to milk it for all the life lessons I could since I have to use the public transportation system often.  So I began to take notes about what I could see and decided to share them with you.  From AllntheJeansWorld thoughts and Meditations J.  Bien sur.  I can see at least four scenarios from two vantage points.  The vantage points are:  Strangers and Acquaintances.  Strangers are people we don’t know who we meet in passing for the first time.  They know nothing about us and we know nothing about them.  Acquaintances are people we are familiar with whether in the shallow or deep waters of life, friends or family.  They know us in some way whether intimately (deeply in the well), or just socially (surfers).

Each group of people can do and say things to us and mean their words and actions either personally or impersonally.  This is how I broke it down:

1.      Strangers, acting for or against us in an impersonal fashion have nothing vested or invested in us.  They are not giving us a second thought in any way for any reason.  They don’t feel or think that they have anything to gain or lose in the encounter we have with them no matter how long or short the duration.  They are just being who they are, passing through our common space and place in time.

2.    Strangers, acting against or for us in a personal way right away are already living with their prejudices on their shoulders.  They carry some sort of anger against a certain type of people according to race, gender, size, ethnicity, nationality, etc.  So when they encounter someone against (or for) whom they carry this judgment, they may go out of their way to express their prejudice (pre-judgement) against that person personally, even though they have had no prior contact with them. 

In both cases the stranger is acting out of who or what he or she is, not because there is a meaningful relationship between himself/herself and the other person.  So, don’t take it personally.  J  Just let it go and keep on moving on.

Now let’s look at the scenarios with acquaintances.

Ø The old adage or cliché “that’s just the way he/she is” could be applied to acquaintances who act out for or against us in an impersonal way.  You know the kind – the persnickety aunt who doesn’t like for you to touch anything when you enter her spotless house.  Or the grumpy uncle whose face never smiles even when he’s happy and laughing.  You just never know how to take him.  They are not trying to hurt or protect anyone’s feelings, or to even make a statement.  They may even be said to be “insensitive” for they don’t try to discern the situation or the feelings, needs, and desires of others around them.  They just do and say without much thought for they are just into their way of being, and doing things. 

Ø On the other hand, acquaintances who act out against or for us in a personal way are doing so armed with experiences and histories from their encounters with us through life.  The past, whether positive or negative, mark or mar their feelings and thoughts for, or against us.  Even if they are trying not to show it, if the past has not been successfully resolved, history and experiences will continue to effect and affect how they respond and interact with us.  Hmmm, this scenario is more difficult to ignore and not take personally, for we cannot give a blanket statement which says “it’s not about me” or “it’s not my fault”.  We are involved personally in some way.  Still . . .

How can one go through this life without becoming overly sensitive – taking everything personally on the one hand versus being insensitive on the other?  Well, I found some answers in the Good Book, but I won’t quote them chapter verse and line.  But here they are anyway:

ü By loving others AS we love ourselves.  These are the direct words of Jesus the Christ.  When we practice loving ourselves we will become experts at loving others.  Do you take personally everything you do?  Nah!  You like to give yourself a break too.

ü Treating others the way we want to be treated even if they don’t treat us that way.  Somebody has to start a positive chain reaction in society.  It might as well be me.  It might as well be you.  Right? J

ü Loving ourselves because insensitive people certainly are not going to do it, because they don’t know how.  We do in public what we do in private, so you can best believe that if people are being insensitive to you in public, then they are first being insensitive to themselves and their families at home.  Don’t take it personally. Feel sorry for them, and pray for their families. J

ü See the bigger picture, especially in public places:  It’s not always just about me/you/us.  Everyone is trying to squeeze into the same space at the same time.  If you can afford to wait, then extend your time and space to those who feel they cannot.  If you are one of those who cannot, then proceed with caution, but don’t’ take the insensitivity and non-caring actions and attitudes of others personally.  Maybe they are late too, or just have never learned patience. J

ü Back in the 80s Jermaine Jackson recorded a song that says “Don’t take it personal, take the bitter with the sweet.  Easy come easy go. . .”  Life is full of the bitter and the sweet, and the bitter usually has a way of deepening our appreciation for the sweet.

When I finally opened my mind and eyes to really see the people around me from inside the needs and discomfort of my own skin, rather than just as strangers to be tolerated for a short span of time, I experienced a release inside my soul and stomach.  These people don’t know me and I don’t know them even though we’re staring at each other while waiting for the same bus or train.  That’s all we have in common – the need to ascend the same mode of transportation at the same time.  (And the polluted oxygen in the air, and . . .)  The best way I am going to maintain my sanity and ability to love the unlovely and the unloving is to allow the Lord of Love to keep me marinated in His love for me, so I will never forget just how precious to Him I am, and how precious He is to me.  Armed with His love for me (love is an important part of our armor), I can defer my space to others and I can stand up for myself when I need to without leaving the scene with pain in my soul.  The only thing therefore, that’s important for me to take personally is Jesus Christ’s love for me.

Peace.

To Complete or To Complement?

I don’t know about you but when I see and hear both of these words I get a good feeling inside.  In fact you can spell one by using the letters of the other, but you cannot spell the other with the letters of the first one.  Hmmm. J  Can you see what I’m saying, or do I need to spell it out for you?  Okay I will do it because it’s one of the ways I have fun with words. 

All of the letters you need to spell the word “complete” you find in the word “complement”, but if you want to spell “complement” the word "complete" lacks one letter.  I believe this can be used to support what I want to share with you in this short message:  when we complement one another and/or are complemented by the “life” of another, we then become complete.  But none of us have been equipped, we don’t have everything it takes, to complete anyone else, for that job has not been given to any human being.  We find the completion of ourselves in our Creator, God.

Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31- each of these verses ends the same way:  “And God saw that it was good (fitting, pleasant) and He approved it.” [Amplified Bible]  Verse 27 states, “So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  Everything was complete and looking good.  Yet, still in chapter 2 verse 18 this is what happened:  “Now the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him.”  And God made animals and built around the man physical beings, yet verse 20b says “. . . but for Adam there was not found a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him.  And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and while he slept, He took one of his ribs or a part of his side and closed up the [place with] flesh.  And the rib or part of his side which the Lord God had taken from the man He built up and made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.” 

Everything God needed to do what God wanted to do was right there in the Garden and He declared it all to be good and pleasant.  Inside of the man was hidden the very thing or one that could and would complement him for he was already a completed being.  So even though he was humanly alone (but not spiritually alone because God was there, and not physically alone because the animals were there), he was socially alone and this was not good.  That doesn’t mean he was not complete though, for nowhere in the scriptures is it recorded that God left anything incomplete.  For if Adam had been incomplete, he would not have been qualified to be who and what he was, neither to do what God had given him to do:  name the animals, dress the garden, and obey God’s commandment concerning the fruit of the one tree not to be eaten.  So many wonderful things to do in God’s garden and only one thing not to do.  Hmmmm.  Moving on.

When the Creator formed another human from the body of Adam, she also was complete.  God did not create them as incomplete beings needing to be completed by each other.  I know it sounds and feels romantic to say “you complete me” on Valentine’s Day, or in a Brian McKnight song, or in wedding vows on that special day, but really it is not accurate or true.  (You can also spell the word “true” with the letters from the word “accurate”.  Just fyi.)  And neither is it safe.  When people complete each other, what’s really happening is we are depending upon another to fill in the missing pieces of our personality and soul.  In Psychology we call this “codependency”.  God did not create incomplete humans to be codependent upon one another.  (That sentence may be a little redundant, but I think it makes the point clearER.)  This is where we are supposed to laugh a little.  Ahem.

When healthy relationships, whether familial, social, spiritual, corporate, etc. the members are INTERdependent with each other.  But no one can fill in the missing pieces of another person.  To do so would mean we are yielding the power of ourselves to someone else’s control which is called “manipulation” or “I’m your puppet.”  Again, sounds nice or funny in a song, but in reality it is no laughing matter, for we will end up doing what "they" want us to do and vice versus.  Also, there is reverse manipulation in which we use our weaknesses to move others to control us.  (So who’s really doing the manipulating here?)  People who don’t want to take responsibility for their own lives gladly yield themselves to strong-willed people, and hide behind their strengths and decisions for their lives.  One could call this a “toxic” relationship for it is poisonous to both parties and will eventually backfire on the strong person, or explode in the faces of all involved.

When God said it was not good for man to be alone, He was speaking to woman too for as aforementioned she was already inside of him.  God looked at the Garden setup and realized that all of the creatures had a complementary creature, but the man had none.  So God put him to sleep and went to work.  We don’t know how long it took, but we do know that when God finished and brought them together, the world of gardens would never again be the same. J

So, are you looking for someone to complete you or complement you?  If you need someone to complete you, that means you need to look in the mirror and have a long talk with God and yourself and locate the missing pieces to/of who you are, because no other person has your missing pieces.  And certainly not especially if they too are looking for someone to complete them!  Can you smell what’s not being seen in this picture?  Anyhoooo, what do you get when you put too incomplete people together?  Answer:  Two incomplete people.  The Bible says in reference to the marriage of one man and one woman, that the two (complete persons) shall become one.  One in spirit, one in purpose, one in love, one in heart and mind, and yes, one in and with their bodies:  two different complementary beings that can fit together because one is the receiver and the other is the giver.  None of the animals could do for Adam what the woman Eve could do for Adam because none of them had ever been a part of him.  So this is what it looks like to complement each other:  The connection is complete, and energy, electricity, fire, etc. can be created, harnessed and used to do great things:  A consummation of spirits, souls, hearts, purposes, plans, pursuits, etc. for the conception of something out of this world!

Let’s take a stroll back into the Garden for another example.  One half of a banana plus one half of an apple does not make a whole banana or a whole apple.  They however can work together to complement each other for they are both in the fruit family.  Yes, that would make them fruity.  But seriously, when two people complement each other, they empower and enable one another to complete their individual missions on earth by God.  And inside the context of marriage they can create what neither of them can accomplish on their own alone, never losing their individual identities and uniqueness, because coming into the relationship they are already complete.  And also in the context of marriage they can accomplish (the potential is there) what cannot be done in any other type of relationship – the intimacy of Jesus Christ with His bride the Church. J  This is one of the most important truths (if not THE most important) which puts the marriage relationship in a class all by itself. 

Now, if you are looking for someone to complement you, then turn the table around and instead look for someone to complement.  What do you have that you are willing to invest in another person that can help them to do all they can do,  as they continue becoming the better person God has designed for them to be?  A good way to answer this question is by looking inside of ourselves and asking “what do I want from others?”  “What do I think I need from others?”  “Do I have these attributes in myself to give to someone else?”  If not, why not?  And “what can I do to develop these character traits, talents, gifts, propensities, resources, etc. in myself, which I desire and expect in and from others?”  You never know, the very person who you decide to complement may just be the one you’re searching for to complement YOU!  Adam had to look no further than inside of himself and it was from there that God created the one he needed to complement him. J  Before he ever saw or met her, she was inside of him.  Only God could bring them together in real time.

This is what helps to keep my head on straight:  We cannot give what we don’t have, so we should not expect from others what we’re not willing to give.  For if we were and are willing to give “it” then we must be willing to get busy developing those traits, etc. within ourselves.  (A mouthful I know.) The best complement (compliment J) we can give someone else is recognizing what we have to offer them and being willing to invest in them to the best of our ability, with what we have to give.  (Not loan, but that’s for another blog topic.)  (And it’s not always about money or material things.  We are spirit beings first.)  “Bring It!”  Bring something to the table. 

The best complement we can receive from someone else is not “you complete me” but “you complement me, you complement my life.  Thank you.”

Peace.

A Whole Lotta Talking Going On

Recently I was in a church committee meeting during which a decision needed to be made rather quickly, for we had only a small window of time to render our response.  Well maybe you’re thinking “that’s a no-brainer” and under certain and most circumstances, a consensus probably would solve the problem, but this is not the way we flow in the Body of Christ, for the Church is not some corporation which operates  on numbers and logic, opinions and politics.  After we laid all of our cards on the table and found that we could not in faith move “forward” we came back to our first question, “Is this the will of the Lord for us to do?”  Hmmmm.

While walking home from the train station I had time to reflect on what transpired in our meeting and I heard a lot of babbling going on, which made me laugh out loud in the cool night air.  I recalled a famous story of a bunch of people who all agreed, by popular vote (a consensus) to build a city and a tower to reach heaven.  They did not prefer God’s command to spread out and populate the earth He had created for them.  No, instead they wanted to stay communed together and they voted to build a tower which would become their community center to keep everyone living together in one region.  This was not God’s will and so He decided to help them obey, by confounding their language.  Yes, it’s okay to ask God for help when you find it difficult to obey Him. J

All work on the tower stopped for no one could any longer agree on anything, because no one could understand each other anymore.  What a price to pay for a consensus which left God out of the decision making, and in the presence of His known will.  Talkin’ loud and saying nothing.  Anyhooo, you can read this story in Genesis 11:1-9.

As I continued walking home and talking to the Lord (not too loudly) another story came to my mind in which a consensus was taken which did not please Him.  Why not?  Because God had already told these people what to do too.  A group of 12 guys (not a woman in the bunch mind you) were chosen for a recon mission.  God promised them that the entire land would belong to them and their 12 tribes, so why were they chosen to go throughout the land first?  To do exactly what they did do:  spy on the current inhabitants so they could strategize on how they would begin to take possession of the land.  They were not supposed to give a report to negate God’s word to them to “take the Promised Land”.  When we speak words and take votes against God’s Words, we’re just talkin’ loud and saying a whole lotta blah blah blah.  If we can’t say the right thing, I guess it’s best to say nothing at all.  And exactly what would the right and best thing be?  Whatever God said.  C’est tout.  It would cut down on a whole lotta blah blah blah.  You can read this story in Numbers chapters 13 and 14. 

Finally I asked the Lord was there any group of people who came together and aligned themselves together in agreement with Your Word for the advancement of Your will, purpose and desire for and through them?  In my heart I heard the Lord say “Pentecost”.  Aha!!!  Yes.  Let’s look at that story for a good minute.  Jesus had been crucified, buried and resurrected, but before He ascended back up to heaven He gave instructions to His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received His power. 

“. . . The apostles saw Jesus many times during the 40 days after He was raised from death.  He spoke to them about God’s Kingdom.  One time when Jesus was eating with them, He told them not to leave Jerusalem.  He said, ‘Wait here until you receive what the Father promised to send.  Remember, I told you about it before.  John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’“ Acts 1:3b-5 [The Healing Bible]

Let’s jump ahead a little bit, “Then the apostles went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.  This mountain is about a half mile from Jerusalem.  When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room (the Upper Room) where they were staying.  The apostles were all together.  They were constantly praying with the same purpose.  Some women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers were there with the apostles.”  Acts 1:12-13a, 14.  The verses following describe these people taking a vote to replace Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus and then took his own life.  God honored their method and guided their choice because they committed all things unto Him.  They did not lean to their own understanding and logic, or someone’s political or even religious opinion.

 

God is not against us taking votes and making decisions based on a consensus.  As a matter of fact God loves it when we are united for in another scripture the Bible says “Behold how good and how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity.”  Psalm 84:2.  [KJV]  So it’s not the voting that displeased God, it was the attitude, motive, and purpose behind the voting.  And most of all – in opposition to His will.  Bingo!!  But back to the apostles.   In Acts chapter 2 verse 1 we see the great phenomenon which is called the “Birthday of the Church” – the Day of Pentecost.  “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.”   I like the way the King James Version says it:  “They were all with one accord in one place.”  Verse 4 says, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

A whole lotta talking going on, but talking loud and saying something.  How do I know?  Well, let’s read on . . . “And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.  Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?  And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?  Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.’”  Acts 2:6-11 [New King James Version]  {Emphasis mine.}

It pays to be united for a good cause that’s for sure, and we know that there is always a price, challenges, sacrifices, commitments, challenges and so on.  But it pays better to be united in, and for God’s cause even more, because God knows the end from the beginning.  He knows what everyone involved needs and how best to make those provisions available.  God has the global view and He’s not surprised about the future.  Because He’s already there, we can trust His Word when He speaks to us in the present concerning events we’ve not yet experienced.  But in order to “get there” we have to be willing to wait “here”, together, in His presence.  It is possible to do this.  “Yes we can”!  And remember, don’t vote without Him.

Peace.