That I Might Win Some

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with a man these days.  :-) His name is Paul.  I like spending time with him because we have a lot in common and we have great conversations.  He stimulates me spiritually, intellectually, emotionally and many times we don’t agree, especially when he says “this is just My opinion”.  I thank him for making that stipulation every time he does for then he liberates me to respond the same way.  :-) We have a healthy relationship now, but it was not always this way.

For a long time, even though I liked spending time with him, I hated some of the things he would say, and I would ignore him whenever he brought up certain topics, for we just did not see I-2-I neither eye-to-eye.  Hmmm.  Anyhoooo, I would just reject those conversations and move on to doing something else.  Then I experienced some deep life-changing encounters with life and the Lord Jesus Christ which broke me and the mold of my opinions and I could no longer ignore those topics I ignored before.  These encounters changed (and continue to change) my way of dealing with things (and people) that I either don’t like, or just don’t agree with, which have been enriching to say the least.

Lately the phrase “that I might win some” has been sticking to me like a fly following the food on my fork. ;-)  Thus I could not ignore it.  I took a long gander at I Corinthians 9 (you can read it for yourself of course) and this part of his discourse begins at verse 19, but the very words themselves are nestled in verse 22b “I have [in short] become all things to all men, that I might by all means (at all costs and in any and every way) save some [by winning them to faith in Jesus Christ].” Amplified Bible. Now I don’t like taking verses out of their contexts for doing so leaves them open for intentional and non-intentional misinterpretation and misapplication.  However, if you read the verses surrounding verse 22 you will see that my friend Paul is very clear about the meaning of this verse.

He is not saying that we become murderers to reach murderers, neither lawless to reach the lawless, evil to reach evil people, etc. but he’s teaching us one of the reasons why God calls and chooses His own to “suffer” in this life even though we have “everything we need” in Jesus Christ Who resides inside of us, and "in Whom we live and move and have our being"; And why some of us will be rich in this life and suffer “differently”; Why we are teleported to other continents to live among the natives ‘there’, all with Jesus Christ residing inside of us.  It is that we may “win some” for they will be able to observe our lives as we endure the same “difficulties” as they do, but holding onto Jesus Christ and being held by Jesus Christ.  Our going THROUGH difficulties and sometimes coming out on the other side victorious victims, and other times victorious victors, but always triumphant because of Jesus Christ who is able to keep us in the fire – before, during and after. 

Paul is teaching us that being a Christian does not exempt us from the difficulties of life that all people on the globe experience, but Christ is the PreservaTOR (spell check doesn’t like that word, but “preservative” is not for human designation/application, and it doesn’t mean the same thing in French.) keeping us from the inside from being annihilated by the difficulties we encounter.  “We BEcome that we may win some.”

What are you becoming?  What have you become because of all you have endured in life thus far?  Everything, and according to Romans 8:28 God means EVERYthing, has been an important ingredient of the beautiful ______ (you fill in the blank) you have become, and what you will be, for life is an evolution, not from apes and monkeys, but from the you of yesterday through the you of today, to the you of tomorrow.  Eternity.

Where were you when God created the heavens and the earth?  This is a question God asked Job when he had much to say about the tests and trials he endured up to the very skin on his body.  Where was I?  Only in the mind of God.  I had nothing to do with my parents coming together, but God did.  He saw everything, the good, the bad and the ugly.  And the impossible.  And still He continued.  God has designed for our lives to touch one another, to touch the lives of others, some we may meet face-to-face while others just through Facebook, etc.  But yet, because you were here and you cooperated with God for becoming who and what He thought of you (Jeremiah 29:11) becoming and doing in the earth, other people are being inspired to be all they can be, that which God designed for them to be.  So they may BEcome and thus win some. 

“He that winneth souls is wise” is the King James Version translation of this verse in Proverbs 11:30.  The soul is made up of the thoughts, affections, emotions, will, intentions, intellect, and intelligence and anyone who is a psychologist and psychiatrist, or a minister who counsels like a pastor, knows the challenge of trying to convince someone of thinking differently for positive change; one must use wisdom and patience to pass through all the hoops of the soul to help others “see the light”.  Heck, to see the light yourself.  LOL!!  But we all know the power of “show and tell” right?  It’s not enough to tell someone about how good the coconut cake tastes, but if you gave them a slice I’m sure you would win them over to it.  Thus the reason for what you are going through today, that you may win some.

The challenge for me has been that which I saw myself as, according to the models around me, and also my understanding and interpretation of what I “heard” and “saw” in my heart and imagination that I would be, and do – does not fit the original thoughts of God for me.  I’m just being honest.  Thus life has been a series of evolutions (going around in circles and cycles, but never being the same after each rotation) for the winning of my soul to the picture of God’s thoughts for my life.  Wonder Woman does it best for me. :-) My SHEro.  She finds an inconspicuous place and looks left and right to make sure no one can see her, and then she turns and turns and turns until she becomes the powerful woman she was born to be when on that “island” of women, before she took her first flight in that invisible plane to the land of uncivilized men.  LOL!!  And so God has brought me to a “remote” place like John’s Isle of Patmos where I turn, and turn, and turn (He turns me on the Potter’s wheel) until I become the one God has created me to be.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Life is a series of evolutions and revolutions from beginning to end.  Sometimes you have to revolt against sin, sometimes against the satan, sometimes against the pull of others, and sometimes against yourself.  But that’s fodder for another meal. :-)

  

I was created to “BEcome that I might win some” – to become what God designed for me to become.  Life is about discovering why the Lord created us and then cooperating with Him daily for the fulfillment of our purpose on earth; An adventure, a neverending story.  Many times we will have to cry out “uncle!” to the Lord depending on what He has created us to be and do, and whom He has created us to win and where, because many of us were not born where we will bloom, prosper, operate and die; for we do not belong to ourselves.  My friend Paul said it twice, and it was more than just his opinion:  “You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own].  So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.” I Corinthians 6:20.  And 7:23 “You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for by Christ]; then do not yield yourselves up to become [in your own estimation] slaves to men (including yourself) [but consider yourselves slaves to Christ].  Amplified Bible.  (Parentheses mine.)

I added “including yourself” to this second verse because I was a slave to my own purposes, desires, understanding, and will for myself.  I was a slave to my own emotions and dreams for my life, and I drove myself to pursue them as fast as I could because I knew how short life is, and can be.  I thanked God for breath and such, but I had a lot to do, in His name of course, yet I thought it was all on me.  I did not mind helping others along the way, and sometimes I lived to do just that, but I did not realize that I was created to BEcome what HE designed me to be for HIS glory, and thus it was up to Him, not me, HOW I would BEcome, WHERE, and WHO I would “win”.  But the first soul that I needed to win was my own.  I am not my own but I’ve been bought with a price, to make a positive difference in and for somebody else’s life.  But the first soul I must win, before this all ends, is my own.  

Peace.

Identity

A few weeks ago it happened again for the third time. I lost my purse. Well, actually I dreamed for the third time that I lost my purse, but it felt so real that when I woke up I was anxious and upset. This time I knew the dream was telling me something important which I seemed to not get after the first two, so I spent time with my thoughts and meditating on scripture and Holy Spirit. I got out my hefty “dreams help” book and recorded all the elements I could remember and asked myself “why did it upset me so much?” Uh duh, yeah you too thought that was a dumb question, but yet it was necessary because my emotions were a strong indicator and source of answers to the mystery in the dreams.

You see I’ve been blessed never to lose my purse for my grandmother taught me to never leave it anywhere and to treat it like it’s a part of my body, something that is with me everywhere I go. I know there can be a first time for everything, but I would rather pass on this one. Also I began to think about the things inside my purse that are important to me. Mouchoirs – kleenex tissues. Stylos – ink pens. Lotion – lotion. LOL!! Mp3 – Mp3. Hmmm, Camera- appareil-photo. Okay you get the picture because many of you carry these same items in your purses as well, but seriously in each of the dreams I woke up saying “my passport, my keys, my telephone” ugh!! (Charlie Brown “I got a rock”.) I felt like I lost everything, especially ME!

Why are they so important? Well the passport especially is important because it is proof that you are who you say and think you are J, and I am who I say I am. And especially when we’re in a foreign country to be “caught” without it can be a gross inconvenience to say the least. For those who have lost their purses, not once but twice etc. for sure you have actually experienced the anguish I only dreamed about. No pun intended. J

My keys are the “key” to my possessions. Without them I cannot access what belongs to me. Do you know how it feels to have something that is yours and yet you cannot even touch it? What a painful feeling. Oh and don’t say you lost your telephone! Can you hear me now? Of course not. To be out of touch with your world, not to be able to call someone for help because you’ve lost everything. Ouch 25 times! Need I say more, except to be honest, I was having a nightmare (cauchemar)! But I’m grateful it was still only a dream and not a reality-mare. So what did I learn from all of this?

Well, first of all my identity, autonomy, and my possessions are very important to me. It’s true that the possessions and telephone and even the passport can be replaced, but certain things cannot be replaced, for they come around only once. A new telephone, but not always the same number, so you have to contact all the people who have your lost number and give them the one you found at the phone store. J Some of my possessions cannot be replaced for once they are gone they are gone. They are exclusively mine, and you too understand this. That is why to lose family photos and memorabilia in floods, fires and other catastrophes can be devastating. Some things just cannot be replaced. Family members and memories cannot be replaced. Special creative creations stored on your computer’s hard drive cannot be replaced. You may be able to recreate them, but wow what if you have an abundance of them? You get the picture. The most important thing in the dream that seemed to cause me anguish was the connection of those things to my identity.

It’s not that I didn’t or don’t know who I am, but who I THINK I am, or know myself to be. The dream was telling me that I’m afraid to lose my identity, whoever I am or think I am, or who I am supposed to be. For who in the world wants to lose herself or himself? That sounds like amnesia or Alzhiemer’s Disease. But the dream wasn’t talking about either of those.

God, through the dream world was trying to send me an important message: “In order to win, you must first lose.” Win what? My destiny. The desires of my heart. My purpose in this life on the earth. A new and different direction from the one I was following and for many years thought was the right way. A new way of thinking, talking and “walking”. I needed to lose myself, lose the “me” who I am now, the mini-me LOL!!! For she’s too “small” to receive and accomplish the great dream her Creator and Lover of her soul has destined for her. I needed to lose my current identity, everything that makes me who I am now, the habits I continue to practice, the choices and decisions I make, etc. and become someone else, because God’s dream for me requires the “Me” He created before I was born to live in that dream, and not just dream about living. Someone I’ve never before met or known or been. “Who’s THAT girl?” The “Me” He created for greatness before all the other authorities and significant others in my life decided what I should do, how, when, where and with whom, which led me around a wilderness for 25+ years. J

Identity is important and what’s more important is living the right identity for you, and not someone others see and hope and want you to be. Our identity not only tells people who we are, but it drives us. Our identity not only tells us from where we’ve come, but also where we might be going. “Daddy was a boat builder and his daddy was a boat builder and his granddaddy was a boat builder. It’s all in the family and they’re expecting me to build boats too. It’s a family thing.” Maybe, but is it for you? Is it what YOU want to do? Did they do it with passion? If so that’s great!! But is it your passion? Or would you rather navigate the boat? J Some of us were born into families that raised chickens but it turns out our passion is flying. We like eating wings too, but on a 747 40,000 feet in the air! Yeah! ;-)

One thing I’m learning more and more about God as I fall more deeply in love with Him is whenever He tells me to give up something, it is because He has something better to give me. (I did not always believe this though.) And usually it’s a revelation about Himself I never knew which opens a door to another part of my life’s purpose that He had destined for me to fulfill. Wow! Four guys named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John hung around Jesus for about three years or so and each of them wrote this same thing in their “journals”, words Jesus spoke to them and the crowds that followed Him. I read all of them and here’s how Mark wrote what Jesus the Christ said: “For whoever wants to save his [higher, spiritual, eternal] life, will lose it [the lower, natural, temporal life which is lived only on earth]; and whoever gives up his life [which is lived only on earth] for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it [his higher, spiritual life in the eternal kingdom of God].” (Mark 8:35) Amplified Bible. The more I tried to be and become who and what I thought I was, the more time and energy, health and other resources I continued to lose. When I finally “woke up” I was convinced I need to lose it all, this "self" I call myself, so I can become my real self.

Something else I learned from continuing to hang around Jesus is the “eternal kingdom of God” is not just some other place in another world for our souls to go after our bodies die in this one. Actually it describes the relationship God wants to have with us here and now! We don’t have to wait until we die and go to heaven to have this eternal kingdom of God. This is why Jesus came in the first place to give it back to us because it got lost in the Garden of Eden. Our first and true identity, our passport – our way in and out of the presence of God, keys – our access into the kingdom, and telephone – our communication with the Father got lost in the Garden of Eden. And we couldn’t even find a tissue to cry on. J Jesus came to earth and died on a cross to give us back what we lost – our true identity and purpose for living. “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound . . . I once was lost, but now I’m found . . .”

Peace.