Psalm 102:4-5

My heart is sick, withered like grass, and I have lost my appetite.
Because of my groaning, I am reduced to skin and bones.

Fight Your Way Out

Like most individual I tend to run away from my problems.  Instead of facing them, making excuses in my mind hoping that they’ll magically disappear or fix themselves.  Postponing every chance I get, but it still there, not going away and the more I prolong ignoring it the more it becomes worse.  Imagine a windshield wiper that is  starting to worn out , that squeaky annoying noise.  Then you wait until it’s totally worn out.  You check the weather that day, sunny and clear skies. Out of nowhere a thunderstorm is brewing. The rain is so heavy that you could barely see the road.  You realize you should’ve have change your wipers sooner, now you can’t see, you slow down, hoping and praying that you won’t get into a wreck.

Weathers are unpredictable so is life.  It is full of surprises.  Today you’re up, later you’re down. Everything’s going well in your relationship, suddenly out of nowhere your love one wants to break up with you, on a text message!  Nothing is certain.  Trouble has always been brewing ever since the creation.  It doesn’t discriminate, it could care less how old you are or what status in life you are in.  Even the righteous individuals in the Bible have more than their fair share. Talking about fairness, and yet they pulled through it due to the fact that they have that power of choice.

When we are beat down, we cower in surrender not because of cowardice but just sick of all the bad stuff that keeps happening in our lives. Those things we’ve done as a result of our choices and the things that we can’t control. You’re mind starts to wander, “What is my purpose here or is this life what is all about?”  We find ourselves withdrawing from the things that we love to do. We shut out our family and friends. Just stay in the room, lock the door, get drunk, watch porn, do drugs, and watch netflix all day long.  Anything to keep the pain and reality of life away from you.  After all of these, it wears down on you. You find yourself face down on your pillow, saying, “Life sucks.”  The cycle keeps going like a broken record. The whole world keeps barreling down on you like a semi on a freeway who happen to lose its break.  Unstoppable!!

You’re right, life sucks!!  But you know what suck more?  You staying there on that pity party.  I know, I know I probably hit a nerve on you.  You probably want to stop reading now or unsubscribe, hear me out for a minute.  I don’t know what you’re going through or what you’ve been through.  Maybe you’re life sucks more compare to mine or mine sucks more compare to yours.  One thing we could agree on both of our life sucks, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.

With reason and logic, let’s break this down.  Life doesn’t care what you do.  Whether you do something what’s ailing you or you don’t, life goes on.  It’s not constraint to time.  Run away or face your problems or fears, life will keep on going.  When our breathing stops, life will keep spinning.  It’s a fact and a lesson that I learned so hard.

You might ask, “What if I fail again?”  Then I’ll ask you this, “Would you rather try and fail or not try at all and live in regret?”  You should stop telling yourself that you’re being pick on by God Himself rather ask yourself what could you learn from it and move on from there.  We don’t have a lot of time in this world so we have to make the best out of it.  Like I said, you have the power of choice.  It is up all to you to put it in action.  Time’s wasting so get moving.  Don’t make an excuse that you have a lot of time because you’re young.  You don’t, it’s an illusion.

“But you must not forget, dear fiends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day (2 Peter 3:8 NLT).”

The younger you are to take corrective actions, the better it’ll be for you.  Take note, not any actions but a corrective one.  You might ask, what made me to take a corrective action.  Simple, I got tired of feeling sorry for myself.  I got tired of listening to the lie that was broadcasting in my head 24-7, that life is a mediocrity.   The simple fact that the Bible contradicts it completely, that Christ came to give life not just life but an abundance of it, and the other fact that it is manifesting in my life.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10 NASB).”

Once you’ve decided to take action it won’t be an easy road.  You’ll be tested, discourage mock at and laugh at.  As Christ surrendered to death on the cross, so you must surrender too in obedience to His words.  I could imagine Satan laughing himself off as Christ hangs in there with blood, sweat and tears, forsaken. Little did he know that the Father always turn bad things into good ones.  In the end it’ll all be worth it because due to the fact that you decided to take an action.  Not any action but an eternal one.

Fight your way out, it’s the only choice you’ve got.

“But the gateway of life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it (Matthew 7:14 NLT).”

Psalm 44:23-25

Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep?
Get up! Do not reject us forever.
Why do you look the other way?
Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression?
We collapse in the dust, lying face down in the dirt.

Faith or Fear?

For reference, read the book of Hebrews 11.

Life is full of choices.  With choices comes consequences, both good and bad.  When we make life altering decisions two factors would be dominant to influence the choice we make.  By faith or out of fear.  I know the argument  that God influences people by fear.  If He is such a loving God why would He punish and send people to hell?  Even myself am not immune to this dilemma.  They are times I’d ask myself, “Am I only obeying God out of fear or out of faith?”  Is God really hateful?  Could He not have His own set of rules?  Regardless of what we believe, we all have our own set of rules and there’s always a consequence if someone violates it.  Why would God be any different.

In Hebrews 11, Paul talk about Abel that his offering is more acceptable because of his faith (verse 4).  Noah, who we thought that he built the ark out of fear but the Bible says otherwise, he built it because of his obedience through faith (verse 7).  Then there’s Moses, whom he’s parents hid and as he grew up choose to suffer with his people, until he left and eventually face Pharaoh again, not out of fear but of faith (verse 24-27).

These are the only  few I mentioned.  They even went to do far more greater things.  “Overthrew dominions, shut the mouth of lions, quenched the flames of fire, weakness turned to strength, strong in battle and put whole armies to flight (verses 33-34).”

My life has been a series of failures and the worst so far is my failed marriage.  I knew that it would eventually arrive to divorce.  I knew I was being taken advantage of.  I knew it was destroying me.  Other than faith and love as reason to go on, fear is the third one.  The fear of abandonment, how it is affecting my daughter, of being scorned upon because the stigma of being divorce.  The fear of being alone for the rest of my life.  Would I find someone again?  Would I be able to love like the way I use to love or should I keep putting on these “Berlin Wall” for the sake of self-preservation?

With failures comes also the lessons we learn.  It was hard to step out of that, fear and anxiety and a millions what if’s.   By the grace of God I came out of it.  I could say that things are better now and it took a lot of courage, self-reflection and seeking God.  I’m still amaze to this day and ask myself “How did I do that?”  One answer, Faith!

If you are reading this, do not fear.  Regardless of what you’re going through.  Get out of your bed. Take a shower. Fix your hair. Get a haircut. Put a makeup on.  Have a good meal. Treat your self. Dress nicely.

I don’t know you, but you’re always in my prayers.  So, don’t say that no one cares. God cares, that should mean a lot to you, it does to me and it surpasses any affection given by this world.

“For God hath not given the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).”

Slave to Fear

I am by no means a professional in the medical field nor I am implying a medical advise.  Always seek professional help from trained medical professional and your clergy.

We all have all our fears.  Depending on one’s perspective it could be either destructive or constructive. I would like to talk about the first.  Fear is a natural human response.  It is wired to us to ensure our survival but at the same time this very human trait could also mean our demise.  It could mean either a springboard for our success or total annihilation of our humanity resulting to undesirable feelings. Stress to anxiety, anxiety to depression, depression to helplessness, and the most unfortunate of them all, the extinguishing of one’s life.

Regardless of the degree of what we are currently facing and what we’ve been through, you are not the only one.  We like to camouflage our outside appearance with a smile, saying we are fine even though we are not.  We look at other people, our neighbor, the wealthy individual and start to compare ourselves to them.  A voice inside us saying , “They’ve made it and here I am trying to go through another day, just surviving.”  What do we know when we always assume things.  Maybe they’re thinking the same thing like you do, maybe they’re worse than what you think.

It’s been almost a year now since I got divorced.  I admit I didn’t know what to do.  It’s like the world stops and fear just engulf me.  It dragged me down into the pits of the abyss, kept me chained up day in day out.  In spite of the hopelessness and despair that accompany me there, there is one thing that shine a light, and that is the word of God.

Regardless of what you believe in.  I hope that I’ll be able to help from what I’ve learned.

1. Control Your Thoughts
– Most important step.  You need gain control of your mind.  Shut out all the voices that keeps hammering you with negative ones.  Read books that inspire and encourage.  Read it until those negative thoughts we’ll be drowned by it. Your mind controls everything. Do not let it control you. Take control of it. When you’re able to do this, everything becomes easier. Write a quote that  you most like on a post it note and place it where you could see it all the time.  I did it and I still have them but I seldom read them now.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2Cor. 10:5)

2. What You See is What You Get
– This is all about perception.  Now that you have your mind in control, a physical manifestation must occur.  Regardless how hard or easy a life is, if you look at life as a hardship it’ll always be hard.  You need to have clear vision by analyzing what cause the fear the first place.  You don’t need a big solution right away.  Gradually tackle it even in small ways, the goal is not how fast to overcome it but how to get to that goal or solution you have set.  You have to maintain that pace no matter how small, don’t stop.
The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. (Matt. 6:22 NASB)

3. Face It Head On
– Did you just sink in fear again? I can hear your throat gulping and your heart pumping. It’s okay I felt the same way too.  Running from your fear will not resolve anything unless you’re in danger.  You can get drunk all you want, immerse yourself in entertainment, take all the drugs, ignore it all you want it’s still going to be there.  I can’t tell you enough how fearful I was but I had no choice but to press on forward.  Because that is where the future is.  You can’t just stop there because once you stop, fear will keep you push back until you reach that wall that you can’t breathe anymore.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind. (2Timothy 1:7)

4. Keep On Facing It
– Now that you got yourself on the starting line.  Everything else becomes easy.  Do not quit no matter how hard or heartbreaking it is. If you want to cry, cry. I cried and I am a guy nothing wrong with that.  Do not become complacent, do not compromise.  The one that is victorious are the ones that never quit.  Focus on the reward not the hardship.  Then one day you’ll tell yourself, “Did I do that?”  You”ll laugh and then laugh more how silly you made yourself out of fear and here you are, you did it, you conquered it.
Behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is anything too difficult for me? (Jer. 32:27 NLT)
..Do not be afraid any longer, only believe – Jesus Christ (Mark 5:36NLT)

What about you? What is keeping you up at night?  How did you conquer your fear?

 

The Salvation of Fear

Fear has never been so abundant this days.  From conspiracy theories to bible prophecies.  We are inundated by it everyday.  You could do a search on you tube on how many of this so-called prophets and claims that God spoke to them.  Remember Y2K,  2012 or whatever they come up with depending on the month which is base primarily on speculations.  They would set dates that some event will happen.  Only to wash their hands when said event didn’t come true.  I am not here to mock or make fun of such individual, rather to examine our hearts.  To ask our selves what really the motivation behind.  Is it to bring glory to Him or to gain recognition? Is it monetary?  Only God knows the heart.  Deuteronomy 18:22 says, “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” (NASB)

We become obsess with it that we share and preach God’s word through fear instead of sound doctrine, love and kindness.  Do we want to be love because of fear?  I certainly don’t want to.  That’s not love at all.  2 Timothy 1:7 says,“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”(NASB)

It replaces the purpose we are called and chosen for – to fulfill the great commission.  They are a lot of good authors whose books are well researched.  I’ve come to a point where I grew weary waiting for such things.  Do we look at  rapture as a way for us to leave this world behind because every one loves the darkness?  We should view it as promise  not as escape.

We must be on guard and always watching, you’ll say.  Nothing wrong with that.  Every church age has their own view of the end.  From the time of the Roman empire through the past two world wars, everyone thought that the end is near, until our present age.  I don’t know when Christ returns.  We must always be ready.  Let us not be sidetrack by fear.  The Lord’s prayer mentions “your kingdom come.”  Not, get us out of here.  Jesus Christ himself said on John 17:15 “I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”