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.

The Lion Who Lost His Roar

Have you ever wondered where the lion got his roar? You probably haven’t given it serious thought since it has nothing to do with work (unless you’re a vet on a safari or Jurassic Park. Were there lions there?), or paying bills, or the important things in life. I like questions like these because they usually come from/through children, and they have a way of making you think beyond the brain cells you’ve been using on automatic to the new ones laying dormant desiring to create new grooves in your cerebral cortex. Hmmmm, I won’t try to go too far with that lest I fall into the frontal lobe and can’t get back out.

Anyhooo, I guess the first lion got his roar in the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis. Do you think he scared Adam with that noise, or just blew him away with a gust of halitosis? Just a thought. J Also in the book of Genesis, near the beginning of the ending of the beginning (Just hang in there. I know how you feel because with God, there is no end or beginning. He just is.) Jacob told his sons their future before he died in Genesis 49:8-9, “Judah, you are the one whom your brothers shall praise, . . . Judah, a lion’s cub! With the prey, my son, you have gone high up [the mountain]. He stooped down, he crouched like a lion, and like a lioness – who dares provoke and rouse him?” (Amplified) So just like God commissioned Adam to name the animals, he also commissioned fathers to “bless” their children with words of their future, so they won’t grow up not knowing Who they are and WHOSE they are. J

Well, I was taking a stroll through another Old Testament book full of action like on the World Wrestling Federation – something I’ve not watched in a good while because all the men that turned me on (yes!!) are no longer in the rink. Anyhoooo, ;-) Bust in on an angry Samson, the strongest man who ever lived (stronger than Atlas because he was a myth) in Judges 15. His father-in-law gave his wife away to his best friend. I guess you would be angry too, so Samson caught 300 foxes and tied them together in pairs at the tails. He placed torches between their tails and sent them running through the wheat fields of the Philistines, the enemies of the twelve tribes of Israel, but specifically in this case, the tribe of lions, I mean Judah.

The Philistines inquired as to who destroyed their crops and when they learned it was Samson, they burned Samson’s wife and her father crispy. But all that did was make matters worse, for Samson responded “if this is the way you’re going to act, I will get my vengeance, then I will stop.” So he went on a Philistine killing spree. But the men of Judah trembled and could not bask in his “help” for they said to him in verse 11b “Have you not known that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that you have done to us?” And Samson replied, “As they did to me, so have I done to them.” Hmmmm, that’s before Jesus came and said “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” LOL!! But look at their fear. What animal have you ever seen rule over a lion?

I’ve watched several documentaries on wild animals in different countries and I have yet to see one depicting a giraffe, a hyena, or even an elephant ruling over a lion. The only way it could happen is if the lion is injured and unattended by other lions, or dead on a safari banquet. But Judah had lost his roar and he was quivering in his sandals because of the Philistines. No wonder he was in captivity. The roar of a lion is what keeps his enemies at bay, even if he is injured. A long as he can roar, he can live. J

Somewhere along history’s line Judah forgot who he was. Somebody didn’t pass along the story of his inheritance from God through Jacob. Somebody got too busy to talk to the children on the front porch about who they are, and from where they’ve come. Instead they were placed in front of the television playing Nintendo, or they were sent out to play with their friends who also didn’t know who they were or their heritage (Children of the Lost World) and they got separated from their identity. Who am I? From where did I come? Who’s my daddy? Why am I here? Where’s my mother? Who’s her daddy? Why is my hair short and nappy and not long and silky? Why are my brother’s eyes blue and mine are black? “It’s okay for me to have a baby at 14 years of age; my mom had me when she was 16 and her mom had her when she was 18 years old.” “College? Oh no, I’m going to get a job at Micky D’s making $6/hour, then me and MoJo gon get an apartment together and buy him dat knew car he be wantin’.” “Edu-ma-cation? What be dat? I’m a pimp. B_ _ _ _es and ho’s be my dang man. My daddy was a drug dealer and a pimp and so was his brothers. It be my destiny too man. Make mo money dan a lawyer. Dat’s what I’m gon do.”

When you don’t know who you are . . . when you forget who you are and why you’re here . . . when you are a lion, but you don’t know you’re a lion (remember Diana Ross singing to the Lion in “The Wiz”?) you can and will lose your roar. Or you just won’t know what you’re supposed to be “roaring” about. You will run from a mouse and yourself when looking at your image in a mirror. Meow.

The Philistines were ruling over, controlling, and repressing (do these words look familiar in our society?) Judah. They held Judah captive in fear. Somehow Judah forgot who he was, lost his roar and was even afraid of the consequences of being delivered by his brother Dan in the form of Samson. Through a series of events, Samson too came under their captivity because he forgot who he was for a minute, and revealed his secrets to the wrong woman, again. (Hey ladies, don’t forget not to reveal your “secrets” to the wrong man either.) But when he remembered who he was, he began talking to the ONE Who planned his appearance in the first place. (See Judges 13:3-5; 16:28-30) And also, btw and fyi, the word “judge” means “deliverer”. Samson did not sit behind a great desk with a gavel sending folk to prison etc. I think the Philistines wished he had been that kind of judge, but no, he was more like “Judge Dredd” (starring Sylvester Stallone). J

After my stroll through Judges I found myself by a stream in Matthew’s gospel chapter 12:50 where Jesus said that we are his brothers and sisters. Cool! He also called us His friends because He shared His innermost thoughts and feelings with His friends. (John 15:14-15) And He never forgot Who He was and IS, and wow, who wouldn’t want to be friends and family with the “richest” Person in time and eternity? Before Jesus was born as a man, God sent telegraphs, faxes, emails, text messages, voice mails, and signs in the stars (Astronomy not astrology) about Him for many years, announcing His coming and what He would do. He even gave His name several times to people He could trust to spell it right, and deliver it well. He called Him the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, El Shaddai, El Elohim, Holy, and many other names describing His character and mission to us. But one of my favorite names of His is “Lion of the Tribe of Judah”! Even on the cross He did not lose His roar. He never lost sight of Who He was and is, and is to come (read Revelation), and because He remembered Who He is, His roar took Him all the way to Calvary. For you, and for me.

I must admit, I’ve been hit hard in many ways on this safari we call “life on earth”, at vulnerable times which caused me to forget my name, to forget my lineage, to forget my heritage, to forget Who has me in His arms, to forget Who loves me best and the most, to forget Whose blood is in my DNA, to forget “Who’s my Daddy?”. Sometimes I couldn’t even open my mouth to call His name for I was in such “captivity” by Philistines of our culture and times, and my circumstances. Oh, but eventually my hair grew back. LOL!! And I began to pace back and forth like lions do. I began to shake myself and lecture myself and roar – “what’s the matter with you?” “Get up from here!” “Who’s your Daddy?” That would get me every time. My neighbors too. LOL!! ;-)

Do you know who your Daddy is? I’m not talking about your biological daddy. I’m talking about Yo’ DADDY? Mine is “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah”, and He will always be the King of my jungle. Roarrrrr!

Peace.

What's in a Rhyme?

Here of late I’ve been listening to quite a few songs on YouTube as I prepare for different concerts and festivals. Some I run into by accident on my way to or from another song, especially when I activate that automatic-play-the-next-song feature. What I notice about many of our American songwriters old and young, and even myself is that we love to rhyme words and phrases. I find this to be so much fun even sometimes when it doesn’t make sense. J When I was a daycare worker for children this was especially fun when the children could not be fooled and they would catch the foolery in the rhyme. Opportunities to teach and learn new concepts would abound during those fun times. Hmmm.

Well, while trying to meditate on the goodness of God, I must admit this time I’m not having a very easy time of it. It’s not because He has changed and not because He is not good. I am sure He is good for I would not be living if He were not, but I’ve reached a place where I question for whom He is good and with what He is good. Sorry to all my die-hard Christian brothers and sisters out there who like me have been taught to “never question God” and to be afraid of Him. I’m tired of living in fear. It is no longer fun, if it ever was, and it just doesn’t work, not for the good anyway. Fear is a heavy unnecessary weight designed to either keep us still, or to drive and push us forward out of the “right place” and “right time” for our lives. II Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Fear is still a force and many people live and swear by it. Actually it’s faith turned inside out – it’s a negative form of faith which works from the outside in. Faith is a powerful, positive force birthed from within the Spirit of God, and when He dwells inside of us, our hearts, it works from the inside out.

One song in particular that I did not seek out on YouTube is called “It is No Secret What God Can Do”, and the lyrics say “what He’s done for others He’ll do for you.” Well, this time I could go no further with the song, for I realize that this is just a rhyme, whether or not it makes sense, and whether or not it is true. Maybe it is no secret to what God can do, for after all He is an equal opportunity God and He is FOR everybody, but what He does for others He may not necessarily do for you, or me. This song has been in my life and history since I was a child and I grew up believing that God would do for me what He will, and has done for others. But as I’ve grown older, and yes I am older ;-) I see that this is just not true.

Oh let me be careful now for some will say I've taken that line out of context of the song, and I stand guilty as accused, to make a point. The remainder of the hook says, "with His arms wide open, He'll pardon you. It is no secret what God can do." Yes, in the context of this song about salvation, because Jesus died for everyone, it is no secret that He wants to pardon everyone. :-)

Nevertheless, we have been quite flippant and arrogant with our gifts and talents to write songs and poetry. We make them say what we want them to say and what others want to hear, whether or not they are factual or true. We have done ourselves and the church, and those outside of the “church” a disservice, and many of us are paying a dear price for believing, yes, lies from inside the organized church.

Life is more than a rhyme. God cannot and will not be coerced into doing for us just because we have faith in a song that rhymes. Some people are making good and immediate money because they can put two lines together and make people jump and shout and feel mighty good. Have you noticed that I’m not having much success in this blog rhyming anything? LOL!! I find myself questioning everything and everyone. I can no longer just swallow everything that is sent my way because my life of dreams and fantasies, created around what I now know to be untruths, is just not happening, and many years have passed that I can never retrieve to try and do it again, but differently.

The challenge for me now is to not despair over lost time and wasted years believing what others wrote, and to move on to find out what is reality for my life. I won’t make you think this is easy for me because it is not. We all came into this world depending on others first for all of our sustenance in every area of our lives, and it doesn’t end just because we’re no longer in our 20’s. We will forever be leaning and depending on others for help in one way or another, but we cannot “lose” our own minds in trade for theirs on our behalf. No, we still must think for ourselves and find out what is truth. Before sentencing Jesus Christ to death Pilate asked Him “what is truth?” To His disciples Jesus said “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Light”. (I keep mixing it up with Life, and He is that too.)

So now I’m trying to get my feet flat on “new ground” without all the trimmings I’ve lived with for over 25+ years. ;-) If you don’t know me, don’t waste your time trying to figure out how young I am not. LOL!! It won’t make a difference anyway. And I guess as long as I’m breathing and know who I am and where I am, before me will be another opportunity to learn more truth.

If anyone has any Dr. Seuss books laying around that you no longer need, please consider sending them my way. Rhyming with Dr. Seuss was safe and still is for he never tried to build life principles on a rhyme, but for some reason we could still teach good lessons from his stuff. Cat in the Hat, Fox in a box with Sam I am and green eggs and ham . . . Hmmm, I’m getting a little hungry.

Peace.

Romancing the Stone

Do you remember the movie called "Romancing the Stone" starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner? Now usually when I talk about movies I can tell you the plot and some dialogs etc. but this one I cannot. I know they were on an adventure in search of treasure, I guess the title would be the clue – a stone. LOL!! But it was not one of those movies I really paid attention to, no matter how many times they aired it on television. Even here in France! J Anyhooo, this movie title came to me because of a couple of “stones”, and romance.

The first stone was my heart. Yep. I didn’t know my heart was hard because I consider myself a nice person. LOL!! I’ve given away so many things in my short years on this earth, and I’ve ministered to so many, and assisted others in pursuing their dreams and desires and goals. Doesn’t this mean I’m a softy? I’ve given away money when I had it to give and when I didn’t. I’ve lost sleep praying for and crying over people, pleading their cause with God. Surely this means my heart is soft right? I’m not boasting about myself here, but I think if I’m open and honest with you, you may feel comfortable being open and honest with yourself when you look in the mirror. It was not easy swallowing the truth of the state of my heart – my heart has been hard for many years, even as a minister. But how can this be? How did we miss this? How could I not know this about myself? Why didn’t others see this about me, or did I cover it up so well under a lot of . . .? Hmmmm. Four m’s that time.

Oh, yes I’m an avid reader of the Bible and I can show you some scriptures I’ve read for years and I thought “well He’s not talking about me, so He’s not talking TO me”. Yep, ahem. Let’s look at a couple of those now if you don’t mind. The two that seem to stay with me are both found in the Old Testament book written by the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 11:19 in which God says: “And I will give them one heart [a new heart] and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony [unnaturally hardened] heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh [sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God],” Why? Verse 20 gives His reason and purpose: “That they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them, And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.” (Amplified Bible)

Do you ever find yourself repeating yourself to emphasize an important point, or when you feel your audience just didn’t hear or understand you the first time? Well, you can’t get anything past God, for He knew the folk were hard of hearing, and hard-headed, and hard-hearted (you get the word “ear” from the word “heart”. Just fyi.) so He repeated Himself to Ezekiel in chapter 36:26 like this, “A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the STONY heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Again why? Verse 27 gives us His reason and purpose: “And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them.” Have you ever tried to hug a rock? What about kissing one? Making love to one? Talking to one? God did. Romancing the stone.

Now if you and I kiss a rock, nothing is going to happen. If we talk to it, or embrace it, we will see no visible change. We can put it on the shelf and use it as a paperweight, or book ends, and I’m sure artistic folk could carve and draw pictures on it making it interesting artwork for the home, for they do this and make a living doing so. But God was the first one to do it and get more valuable results. He’s the only One Who can romance a stone and get love from it. J Atlas pushed that stone uphill and got muscles, but it didn’t change his love-life. LOL!!

I’m in a season of deep introspection because my life has changed and is changing and I desire to move forward in a certain direction. I thought by moving towards my goal I could get to it quicker, but that doesn’t seem to be the way for one who is in relationship with Jesus Christ. With Him the way up is always down, the way in is always out, and the way out is always through! Now figure that one out. As I said before, I really didn’t think I was hard because I was so “romantic” in my thoughts and desires. But all of us have that somewhere as a potential in our character, but to manifest it is another thing entirely.

Romance is not all physical or sexual, even though within the right context it can be a part of it. Romance begins on the inside, with our thoughts and feelings. It is also intellectual but not in an academic-Wall Street kind of way. But it means that ones mind and knowledge is also involved. Being romantic doesn’t mean one is blind or stupid or ignorant, even though many novels, movies and even real life actions have misrepresented it to be so. Romance is the expression of an intimate relationship with someone we love and with whom/Whom we are in love and Who/who is in love with us. It includes soft eyes and gentle touches, warm conversations and quiet listening, and it involves one-on-one attention and mutual respect. Depending on the relationship it will eventually involve hugs and kisses, and between lovers – preferably husbands and wives, the physical act of sex will be the highest outward expression – the Everest! of this internal, spiritual, and soul-to-soul romantic relationship.

The problem in our world is the lack of understanding of what romance is and is not. Romance is not seduction, or sensual even though the senses are involved, and neither is it manipulation. Romance is not a “what can I get out of this relationship” attitude or pursuit because romance seeks to give. Although romance is not about TAKING, it results in all parties receiving something desired and needed. It focuses more on “what can I give that will help you, comfort you, touch you positively, add health to your well-being, soothe you, move you to become all you can be?” This is romance and what being romantic is all about.

Another problem with our world is how we create boxes and stereotypes for certain words and expressions we fear, and or just don’t understand, and therefore we close off ourselves (and our future generations) from the true life and power within those words and expressions. Those of us raised in certain cultures, like the Black American Pentecostal Church – just to name a few, have shunned the word “romance” because it has been associated and just down-right confused with words like: promiscuity and adultery, incest and molestation, fornication and lust of the sexual kind (oh not gluttony, gossip, criticism, and judgmentalism, - spell check doesn’t like my new word.). No, these are the okay sins. Not on your life!

Without romance our marriages and homes have been like cardboard boxes and we’ve tried to convince ourselves and the world that “Jesus Christ, the Lover of all lovers lives here!!” All of us cardboard people go to church week after week and our churches are just as “boring” and lifeless, because there’s no romance at home. We are unhappy, unfulfilled, secretive because we can’t share our emotions and affections lest they be misinterpreted and misunderstood to mean we’ve become sexually active and adventurous and . . . We’re hurting inside and we have severe personalities and personality disorders because of the structure and restrictions of our environments. We don’t know how to touch and be touched by others without suspecting that they’re trying to take us to bed. We’re afraid to smile or speak softly lest someone think we’re trying to seduce them, their husband or wife, son or daughter, cat or dog, etc. Yes, of course there are some who are doing these things, but not everyone!

The problem with the absence of romance in our lives is that we become hard, and we don’t know we’re hard. We come across as mean, severe and lacking compassion, but for us it’s a normal part of the personality. It’s what we’ve known and have been shaped by. Yet we wonder why so many avoid us after spending private (another suspicious word) quiet (oops, I’m just letting them slip out more and more) time (ah, I think this one’s okay) with us. “What did I do?” “What did I say?” “Why is it difficult for me to make and keep real friends?” And if we have the Lover of all lovers living inside our hearts, why are "Christian" marriages ending in divorce now at a faster rate than non-professing Christians? You research the statistics, or just visit your local church. Or, your house too? Hmmm. A special friend of mine knick-named me T.O.F. = Tongue of Fire because I tend to speak with a lot of heat, especially when I’m passionate (uh oh, another bad word).

Well, since most of these prohibited words describe the character of Jesus the Christ, what are we going to do with Him? The Pharisees' gang tried to throw Him off a cliff! But since that didn't work, they managed to crucify Him on a cross. He was and is so passionate and compassionate, affectionate and personal. He was and is touchy-feely, and He loves to caress and massage and to be caressed and massaged in turn. He’s love-struck and in love. He’s a helpless romantic for romance began with Him. King Solomon wrote the Song of Solomon from spending time with Jesus and in it He describes how Jesus Christ feels about us. Solomon told the Lord, “Look JC, let me put some music and contemporary words to your feelings so the folk can understand fully your heart.” So Solomon took liberties to use elements from his earthly romance with the girl of his dreams, to describe Christ’s pursuit of us.

When we lack romance, we are incomplete. Parents, how did you become parents without romance? Why did you become parents without romance? Sexual desire should start in the brain, not the genitals. God created physical attraction between males and females so we would not be confused and get it twisted by pursuing the animals and the same gender instead. I know, a little TOF (it’s tough, but it’s right. Tight but it’s right.) AND the truth will make us free, not stupid; free to be who and what we were really created to be! Dr. Dolittle said to "talk with the animals", and that's all!

Parents – you must romance your children with boundaries of love. They came from your bodies, but they are not your play toys, nor sexual objects to be abused and exploited, nor are they your servants and slaves. They are the products of a real life romance – first from God to you, then through you to each other as lovers. Marriage is the earthly representation of the romance between our spirit and God Who is Spirit, and children are God’s “reward”, not in the sense of winning a competition, but the epitome of His expression of love to and through us. Love them tenderly and firmly, gently and seriously, emotionally and assertively, attentively and academically, affectionately and authoritatively (not with or by authoritarianism), faithfully and spiritually, and unconditionally. And there are so many –allys – please drive down as many of the positive ones you can and live them with your families. Lead them but don't leave them. We have enough people on the earth who have not been romanced from birth and childhood, but who instead have been mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically raped, seduced, manipulated, molested and almost destroyed because we don’t know who we are, Whose we are, or why we are here.

I suggest that even if you’re not one who reads the Bible of the Christians and Hebrews, that you at least read the Song of Solomon. Read it first with the eyes of Jesus looking back at you, and feel His heartbeat for you and for your life. Cry and laugh with Him, and let His love overwhelm you and melt you inside, transforming your heart into a real heart of love. Let Him romance you and heal the little boy, the little girl in you, the teenager, the young adult, the senior, wherever you are in this life, so you can become a “whole” person – so your latter days will be better than your former.

Then read it again, the Song of Solomon as a man, a woman, married, single or divorced, and allow that part of you to be healed by the pure romantic love of God for you as a vibrant being destined for a great relationship with your earthly spouse. He desires for our relationships to reflect His love on the earth through romance.

Romance is God’s idea. Hustler and Playboy, or Playgirl know nothing about romance. Prostitutes (male and female) know the art of seduction and manipulation, but they know nothing about pure romance, for if they did, the industry would collapse upon itself. For once we’ve tasted true and pure romance, we won’t want to settle for less.

The reason we reach out and touch and give away what is precious to the dogs is because we have not been romanced, and we don’t know how precious we really are. That empty void seeks to be filled and we seek to be FULfilled. Jesus is the Great Romantic and He wrote the book on Romance. Don’t reject Him hoping and looking for somebody or something better, because there is nobody better! (Isaiah 26:3-4) “Jesus asked them, Have you never read in the scriptures: the very stone which the builders rejected and threw away has become the cornerstone; this is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes?” Matthew 21:42. This is the second stone to which I referred in the first paragraph of this short message. J

In this verse Jesus was talking to the chief priests and elders about Himself. Every building has a cornerstone which gives special information – the time and date/era when the building was constructed, and it’s the stone that all the rest of the building is built upon. Romance comes from and rests upon Jesus Christ, and it is the spice of life! To be honest with you, I’m ready for a little romance in my life. What about you? Puts a whole new twist on the phrase “Romancing the Stone” doesn’t it? He loves me, He loves me like a Rock!! He loves me, . . . J

Peace.