Addictions

Everyone is addicted to something.  Too strong of statement?  Maybe.  Honestly though, I'm not sure that it is.  We humans are made to crave.  Addiction is an innate drive for something.  This innate drive leads to compulsive behavior.

According to Psychology Today, most addictive behavior is not related to either physical tolerance or exposure to cues.  Rather, addiction is most commonly a reaction to emotional stress. Addiction is a wily vice.  It fools you into thinking that you are in control but in reality it's dictating your life with an iron rule.

We've been created with a vacancy deep in our soul.  A vacancy that then instigates an insatiable craving.  A craving that God intends for us to fill with Him.  But instead we look everywhere else for satisfaction.

Think about it...what is it that you feel you can't possibly do without?  Your phone, computer, movies, music, coffee, Mountain Dew, a caffeine fix, chocolate, food in general, shopping, words of affirmation, acceptance from your peer group, approval from your family, and the list could go on.  These things I just listed aren't wrong in and of themselves but it's when we need them in excess that the problem begins.  There's both minor and major addictions.  The major addictions are things such as porn, sex, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gluttony, etc.

I've been battling a serious addiction for a couple of years.  At some points in the battle, I've been lackadaisical and cowardly; at other times I've been aggressively ambitious in fighting it.  Time and time again, I need to take myself to task.  How desperately I want to be free of my addiction determines how hard I fight against it.

The place of addiction can become comfortable and familiar.  It becomes our haven when life is too much to deal with.  Whatever our addiction may be, it becomes our god.  We turn to it instead of looking to God for help.  We then become self-sufficient.  We think we can handle life on our own and turn to our addiction anytime we feel the need for backup.  Addictions make us selfish because we focus more and more on how we can satisfy that craving.  Addiction when not dealt with becomes our master.

How would life change if we became "addicted" to good things?  Such as, God's approval in our life, the Bible, reaching out to others, and seeking God in every aspect of our life.  How would my life be different if I would consistently fill my inner craving with God instead of other things?

With Faces Unveiled

This morning I read 2 Corinthians 3:18 "We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another."

With unveiled face - This is the prerequisite for being able to behold the glory of God.  Is my face unveiled?  What veils have I gathered to myself?  Why do I feel as though I need to veil my face in the presence of God's glory?  More times than not, I have one of my veils in place when I come into God's presence.  The veil of shame is the one most often present.  But I have other veils layered over my face.  Pride, self-sufficiency, doubt, unbelief, and indifference.  I mistakenly believe that if I hide behind my veils, God won't see through my facades.  The veils don't hinder God from seeing my heart and reading my mind.  The veils do hinder His permeating love and mercy.  They hinder His forgiveness and tender work in my heart.  I tell myself that I am too unworthy to behold His glory.  This is true if I try to approach Him on my own.  But Jesus extends to me the invitation to come boldly in His name before the Father.  In the previous verses, Paul tells us that the veil is caused by a hardened heart and closed mind but it can be removed only by believing in Christ.  Jesus is the only solution for removing these veils that seem to be etched into my face like irreversible tattoos.

Beholding the glory of the Lord - Do I take time to do this?  Or is all my time in His presence spent fighting against the removal of my "protective" veils?  What does it mean to me personally to behold God's glory?  Once Jesus helps me remove those veils, do I lift up my eyes to behold God's face or do I sit with downcast eyes in His presence?  God's glory is life changing.  It transforms a person who spends time in His presence. The transformation is a slow process perhaps but all the same it is a measurable transformation according to this verse.  God longs to change us into the same image, an image that soaks up His glory and then reflects it to those around us.  Am I reflecting His glory or am I a distortion of it to those looking at my life?

I find it is one of the most challenging and yes, painful processes, this exercise of letting Jesus remove my self protection. And it seems when one layer comes off, He gently tugs at yet another layer, one that's embedded even deeper than the one He just peeled away.  I long to better behold my Father's glory and to learn to unveil my face in His presence and as I leave His presence to then authentically portray His image "from one degree of glory to another."

How To Pray For The Man Who Kills Babies

How To Pray For The Man Who Kills Babies
  

in light of my last post the blog linked here is worth reading.

Reactions to the Gosnell Trial

I don't know how many of you are aware of the murder trial going on in Philadelphia right now.  Dr Kermit Gosnell, he doesn't even deserve the title Doctor because of his actions, is on trial right now for his atrocious actions performed to babies in his abortion clinic.  I'm following this trial even though it makes me sick to the stomach.  To think that a human being can become so calloused to another life.  I think it is of special importance to me because I am currently doing the maternity/labor & delivery/pediatric rotation this spring for school.  I love the newborns and how they are such a living miracle, really.  I struggle to have a Christian attitude toward Gosnell but I remember that he too has a soul and God's heart aches for him to soften his heart and repent of his evil works.  Let's pray for justice but at the same time let's pray that somehow God's truth and light would reach this man's dark evil soul and he would repent while there is yet a chance.  And let's pray for those whose eyes may be open to how atrocious abortion is that they would realize there are other options available to take care of the life growing inside of them.

The link below is a stirring memoir of the infants whose lives Dr. Gosnell ended.

Spiritual Klutz: To the Infant Victims of Dr. Kermit Gosnell: This post is written in memory of the countless infants who were murdered at the hands of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who is currently on trial in P...

Turning

Good morning and happy Monday!  Over the weekend, a theme kept recurring.  I attended a service at the Worship Center on Saturday night (they have an awesome worship band!).  One of the songs we sang was "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus".  The chorus is still running through my mind.
                          "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face
                            And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
                            In the light of His glory and grace"
I don't know about you but often times I find myself shying away from looking full in Jesus' face.  I feel far too dirty to have the courage to look into His eyes.  Why am I afraid to look into His face?  I think it's because I half-ways believe the lie that Satan feeds me.  The lie that Jesus' eyes are full of condemnation and disgust for the sinner that I am.  I know it's a lie because Jesus said that He came for the sinner, the sick, and the hurting.  In the thick of the battle, I lack the faith I need to refute Satan's lies.  My prayer is that Jesus would strengthen my unbelief and help me claim His promises without wavering.
I have this inkling that if I would focus on Jesus' face with all the intensity of attention I can muster, it's then that I will find the strength and courage to rise above Satan's lies and to rise above the stresses of life.  If I don't fix my eyes on Him, I will be like Peter and start sinking in this tumultuous sea called life.
My challenge for this week is to discipline myself to look full in Jesus' wonderful face.

Another song that I like that talks about turning to Jesus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfiPlcuuHhc

"Ramifications of Grace"

The other weekend I heard a talk by Shane Claiborne on the ramifications of Grace.  My mind has been cogitating this anomaly of grace.  I for one take it for granted.  I discovered that I'm not daily overwhelmed by this grace extended to me.  I should be daily overflowing with the grace of Jesus given to me at the start of every new day. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

What would change in my life if I would daily recognize the ramification of grace in my life?  Do I allow grace to impact me?  If no, why not?  Do I extend grace to others because of the ramifications in my life?  What is grace?  What does grace mean to me?

Grace is defined as the unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification.  Archaic definition of grace is interchangeable with the words mercy and pardon.  In his talk, Shane gave some examples of grace from an experience of a criminal in prison for life.  This man had been convicted of first degree murder and would have been sentenced to death.  But the family of the victim were Christians and they refused to press the death sentence for this man.  Humanly speaking, the victim's family would have had every right to see their loved one's death vindicated by the death of this man.  But they chose instead to exemplify Jesus and His grace.  The criminal was so moved by the grace and forgiveness extended to him that he became a Christian through the whole experience.  Question is: could I have been that gracious?  Am I that quick to extend grace in the moment by moment everyday experiences in my life?  Are others touched by God's grace through my life?

Grace wears many different faces in my life.  Grace is feeling God's presence when I'm trying to curl up within myself and shut everything out, even Him.  Grace is the freeing of my spirit when I repent of my sin and know that God has forgiven me.  Grace is the "Neither do I condemn you" moments with Jesus.  Grace is the Holy Spirit speaking to me when I seek God's face.  Grace is feeling the Everlasting arms wrapped around me when I am hurting and grieving the loss of my dad.  Grace is the Spirit putting my groanings to the Father into words.  Grace is Jesus pleading my case with the Father when I fall into sin again and again.  Grace is the dawning of a new day.  Grace is the horse kiss that my horse gives me even though I've been too busy to spend enough time with her.  Grace is the loyalty of my dog's happy greetings every morning when I'm still too asleep to be excited over her.  Grace is in every moment of my life.

How will I allow grace to impact me today?  How will I impact others with God's grace flowing through me?

2 Negatives Make a Positive...Really?

Negativity...

It's everywhere.
It's especially rampant in people who are stressed out.
It saps the oxygen out of an atmosphere.
It makes a person focus on even the minutest of inconveniences and exaggerate their effect on their life.
It schools the soul to search out the worst case scenario.
It twists the innocent motives and benign happenings into evidence that the cosmos has a personal vendetta.
It causes a preoccupation with navel gazing to the extent that blessed opportunities are lost.
It drains a person of synergistic energy.
When it rains, it sees the mud puddles - not the glistening rose rising out of the mud.
When it's cold, it feels the damp instead of basking in the warmth of the fire in the hearth.
When it's hot, it wallows in the sticky humidity of the summer day instead of savoring the taste of refreshing cold water.
The food is too bland, too spicy, too cold, too hot, too expensive; the serving too big, too small; the waitress too slow; too grouchy, too friendly.
The professor is too boring; too long-winded; too thorough in presentation.
The exams are too hard; too tricky; too long; not enough points; too close together.
The house is too hot, too cold.
Gas is too expensive; the grocery bill too steep.
Your job takes too much of your time; the pay isn't enough; your boss is too hard to please.

And on and on I could go....

Does any of this sound familiar?  We all are a bunch of spoiled kids who think the world revolves around them and them only.  Got news for you - the world does not spin on the axis of you or my likes, wants, and "needs".  And most of the things we complain nonstop about?  Guess what, they are luxuries - things that most folks in other countries never take for granted.  They don't even know if they will get the basics of survival for the next day.  Still feeling negative about the petty grievances in your life?  Then perhaps you ought to stop that navel gazing.

I've been on a self imposed negativity awareness watch here of late.  It's amazing how many times I heard it in a day's time once I started tuning my ear for it.  And yes, it came out of my mouth far too many times than what I would like to admit.  It's debilitating to myself and to others.  By being negative, I'm making myself the most miserable, but I'm also making it extremely miserable for those around me too.

I've found that when I'm looking for the negative; things become negative that would not have been negative otherwise.  I'm not advocating looking at life with rose-tinted glasses.  There is such a thing as reality and being a realist.  But it's possible to be a realist and be upbeat about it.  I learned that lesson from my Dad.  And so many people have told me the same thing about my Dad - what impressed them the most is that in the most impossible of situations, my Dad would find something positive about it or at the very least keep his smile and his upbeat attitude.

That, my friends, is an admirable reputation and legacy to leave with people.  I've got me a lot of growing to do.  Gotta toss off those dark, stormy-gray glasses and trade them in for glasses that show me the light in every situation.

Happy Monday to you all and hey, do yourself a favor and look for the positive this week!