I appreciate you guys checking in. I’m just going to jump in. Looking at my physical appearance, there are a number of observations that you could make pretty clearly. You could determine my gender, my ethnicity, my height, just different things about my size and shape, all physical outward attributes, just by looking at me. I may have on some designer or name brand something to give you the impression that I’m cooler than I actually am ☺️ There are many other different things about me that can’t be determined by just observations. Things such as being a dad and a grandfather… important job. Just by looking at me, you can’t tell my education level, it can’t tell you if I ever served in the military or not. It can’t tell you if I’m generous or stingy. My outward appearance can’t tell you if I’m a conservationist or not. It can’t tell you if I’m a member of some radical left or right leaning organization, no swastika tattooed on my head☺️☺️The very point that you have only outward points of contact to access me by , should make us stop and pause and not be so quickly to make assumptions about people.
Do clothes actually make the man or woman? Is there still such a thing as dressing for success? I believe this is a place where traditional norms has been turned on it’s head. Seems that most things are going in the direction of being casual or super casual. I just wish that I had the insight to sale brand new jeans with holes already in them….just genius, charge more and give less☺️☺️. I think that we really need to be careful with millionaires posing as destitute living on the streets and others pretending to be much more influential than they actually are. Well maybe that brings me to a little self reflection and the things that maybe I want you to see and know about me and the parts that I keep secret or private, that maybe only God knows about me. I say only God , because being a mortal man, I’m not completely trustworthy and there are probably things that I don’t know about myself or even own if I do know them. ☺️ That last part is absolutely true. I think that I have learned more about myself in the last six or seven years, than all of the previous years combined. I think that those things were probably always there, but I refused to see them or didn’t want to believe that they were true. There is something to be said for maturity or slowing down enough for some of the things that maybe I have spent the majority of my life running from to catch up with me☺️☺️.
I think that most of the time that we are drawn to the negative news stories and we are much more interested in knowing about other people’s dirty laundry, because if you are looking at theirs, then mine is somehow safe, not necessarily true ☺️. Being completely flawed just like everyone else, I want to present the calm pristine version of myself, that’s going to make you feel somewhat comfortable with me and that You haven’t somehow allowed a serial killer to infiltrate your circle of influence 😀. I think of myself as a perceptive person, which means to me that I read other people fairly well. Yes , I have been duped a time or two, but usually pretty close to what my gut is telling me. I think that most of us draw those conclusions pretty rapidly after meeting someone , but we probably take very little care as to whether our assumptions are correct or not. Sometimes it’s just obvious and people will confirm a hundred times over that they are a jerk of some sort, and that they only care about one thing, and it is self. ☺️. I’m the odd one here, because I’m probably much more comfortable with the jerkish person than I am with someone who is super sweet, because I absolutely know who I’m dealing with. I ask myself, can anyone really be that sweet? Well maybe if they are super old and don’t have much time left here on earth….what do they have to loose by being sweet?☺️☺️ I just know that we all have a little darkness inside of us and some more than others ☺️☺️
It may sound a little crazy, but it’s like having a sweet tooth, but you encounter this one dessert that is just way to sweet for your own taste. It’s like one bite is all you can handle and then you are out, you can’t distinguish between that and just eating a table spoon of sugar ☺️☺️ Whatever it is , is just diabetes waiting to happen ☺️☺️. Perhaps, it’s just that I’m suspicious of people with that overly optimistic approach to life . It’s like just waiting around to see who is going to take advantage of them first or some how slap them into reality that life isn’t a bowl of cherries. Maybe it is just about our personal choices and taste. The things that we deem necessary in life or somehow or somewhat appropriate. We all have those thoughts of things that usually present themselves as a want or desire. I mean most of us know what we like or crave in life and the things that we want absolutely no part of. So , the question then becomes how do we get it wrong? Is there a wrong or right path for us and our lives? I’ve seen what self will and raw determination looks like way to many times and often it’s just a big ole train wreck .
I think maybe there are times that I’m just confused, maybe not in an Alzheimer’s kind of way, but just perspective wise. I think that sometimes because I’m created in God’s image, that entitles me to take His place. How do I ( we) confuse being a shadow or * replica with being the actual Almighty?. There are a lot of things that I can just kick to the curb and say no thank you to. I would never take or want the job of being president or prime minister. I think that it requires a level of ego that far surpasses most people and some degree of narcissism and a complete abandonment of anything having to do with humility. I look at them like members of a seal team, another job that I wouldn’t want , but I’m thankful and grateful for them….tip of the spear and all. ☺️I think that there are things that just aren’t in my wheel house any longer, but I can raise my hand and step up to be God….ludicrous….right? I say that, but isn’t that what we all do? Earlier I talked about not knowing myself very well and that there are probably things about me that only God knows about me. I don’t like that because it somehow voids my autonomy or some how disrupts my free will or independence. When it gets to that point it sounds like I’m no more than a toddler trying to stuff a fork into an electrical outlet….yikes. Over my life time, I’ve worn a lot of different hats figuratively, and even now days it can very anywhere from consumer to care taker or beyond and sometimes things that I don’t see coming, such as being a good neighbor. Well that’s just crazy because we all know that we are suppose to be good neighbors, but we mostly don’t give it a second thought.
My point is that I have filled several different roles over my life time , and just because I painted the bedroom, it doesn’t make me a painter. I think maybe sometimes we become a little entitled, and we think that because we do certain things or fill certain rolls that it somehow permits us to take the next step. If I rescue someone on the side of the road who ran out of gas, I don’t get to take that next step and pass judgment on them as how that was an irresponsible thing to do. It doesn’t have to be a stranded motorist . It could be a teenager pregnant and absolutely the most afraid that they have ever been their entire life , and we want to add to that burden by being high and mighty and passing judgment on them? All I really know is that we all make mistakes and none of us have the clout or clarity to pass judgment on someone else. I am not the judge or jury, but just someone else who can choose to be a difference maker or become part of the problem. See!, that’s just it and it’s just that simple, we are either part of the solution or part of the problem. If we want to take God’s job in judging and deciding the yeas and nays , then let’s lead with love and acceptance, because that is always God’s go to move.
I feel like that commercial on TV. I’m not really a doctor, but I play one on TV, not much use in an actual emergency ☺️☺️. I’m not really God, but I play one in my head☺️☺️. Ok a little funny, but the reality is that I’m not God, and my pretending to be is no more helpful than playing a doctor on TV. Me not being God means that I don’t know everything. It means that some of the things that I’m absolutely sure about, are incorrect and if I don’t discover what they are on this side of eternity, then definitely on the other side. I think that most people hold some conviction about something, that is just all them and false, something that they have made up or picked up somewhere along the way and even when presented with some other option, or truth , they will not abandon it no matter what. One of my realities is that when we say that we are a work in progress, which we all are, but it’s used as some kind of crutch or excuse for not being the people that we know we are called to be. Just man up and say , hey I’m sorry, that was unkind of me or whatever. Don’t make it like you didn’t know better or it was somehow out of your control. If I’m being honest I think that a lot of our misconceptions even apply to God. We tell ourselves that God could never love or want someone as messed up as me. I think that maybe one of the more prevalent trains of thought is that God has to somehow prove Himself to you as being worthy of your acceptance or your admiration. He somehow owes us something! If nothing else an explanation for why things are always so messed up. The answer to that one is because of us, we are the messy ones. We enjoy making a mess and walking away from it as if we had nothing to do with it. It’s all about faith and it takes way more faith believe that we somehow evolved from pond scum than to believe in creation. This one for me is a simple one and it’s all about accountability.
Why accountability? It’s about if there is an actual God, then I may be accountable to Him and be required not to make it all about myself. I so desperately want to debunk God, because I’m free to be me. Do what I want, when I want and the way I want , and anytime I please. I get to make the rules, and the really cool part is I can change the rules anytime that I want to fit any situation I want. I’m not really interested in knowing God or if there actually is a God, I just want to know enough to try and point to something that is contradictory , something taken out of context that I can bend and twist to my advantage, or just flat out make fun of all of the hypocrisy associated with religion in general. I think that they are loop holes and they make me feel really secure in my position that God is a joke. I really love it when I find people online who say that they speak for God , and they say the things that I want to hear and choose to believe. It’s empowering my charge into hell. When I encounter things that sound hard or uncomfortable, then I just disregard them and settle back into the comfort of I’m just doing my thing, like everyone else. It’s a broad road and I have lots of comrades ☺️☺️.
God is never mocked, and if there is such a thing as the last laugh, then it absolutely belongs to God. Many of you are probably unaware that God is a Star Trek fan. He loaned a line to the Borg, and the line was “resistance is futile”☺️☺️ OK corny, but the Apostle Paul made reference to kicking against the goads. It’s out of context, but it refers to the resistance to God and His ways, and the resistance is futile . God has always been and will be , and we are barely a microsecond on the time scale, but we are somehow supposed to be able to dictate terms to God, might be one of the funniest things of all times. ☺️If you want another run at the old funny bone, then try this one on for size. What do you call people who take an earnest run at God, and wanting to know if He’s real and exist? They are most widely known as Christians ☺️☺️. He’s not hiding and He wants to be known. There is a difference between knowing God and knowing about God. One can land you in the most loved place that you could ever imagine and let’s just say that the other is less desirable ☺️☺️. I think the problem for many is that they don’t go to the source or consider the source and that can make a huge difference as well. The source should be God’s word , and not hear say or partial truths off of the internet. If you wanted to know about let’s say golf, you would probably speak to a golf pro , opposed to talking to groundskeeper who maintains the course. The only expert on God is God Himself and the place to meet with Him is in His word.
There are a couple of dirty or should I say less popular terms in meeting with God and honestly I think that most believers struggle with one or both of them from time to time and they are obedience and surrender. Again it just feels like a violation to our will. They hinge on your faith, but it’s all about building that faith muscle through thrusting God over and over again. I don’t know why our memories are so poor, but we are so quick to forget about the goodness and faithfulness of God. God wants only the best for us and it requires us to believe that He knows best and has our best interests at heart. What if we took God at His word that sex between two people is sacred? How many of us would have been spared heart ache from that little piece of wisdom? My realization that I’m not God, means that those sandals were never made for my feet and that I need to yield and surrender my will, my desires, and ultimately my life to what God has for me. I think maybe the closest thing that we get to perfection is for our will to line up with what God’s will is for us. Maybe that’s the thing that we should ponder when we think about all of the things that we are not!
