The Angel or The Devil? You Choose

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

II Corinthians 10:5

The more I try to 

Hear what the Lord has to say

Everything becomes unclear

And competing thoughts get in my way

No it doesn't sound like what I ought to do, but

God the more I listen the more

Everything sounds like You

Let go of the anger

Operate in my plans. Let go of the

Reason you let go of the past

Truly open yourself up to forgive 

Her, she doesn't understand My love flows through you

Everything seems too simple. My yoke is easy can't always be true.

Don't forgive her. Just walk away. I have plans for you. Whispers a voice so

Eery. Lord could it have come from You? 

Verily, verily 

I say unto you, He that heareth my word

Lord I'm so confused. Help me to know which word is True. 

Your word I know so well. I have it all in my head, but

On my heart are the remnants of my own feelings. 

Undo the things that I've placed there.

Can You help me? Tell me what You want from me?

Hear me before the day is through?

Or maybe I'll just figure this one out on my 

Own if I can't decide which word is True.

Say something Lord

Everything I am belongs to You....

Unless she's tries me one more time. After that I'm through.

***The words that I just shared where to illustrate a point. A double minded person can't hear God for the sound of his/her own wants.***

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James 4:8

Adayinthelife :-)

Do You Look Like Your Daddy?

I have always been unashamed and unafraid to tell people that Herbert Brooks is my daddy. I remember standing a little taller when people would respond that I looked just like him. For the longest time, I walked and stood with the same bowed legs. And I still to this day, have a touch of O.C.D. that my mom swears I got from him. Nevertheless, I never shied away from being known as a Brooks girl.

I wish I had always walked with the same boldness when it came to God. When it came to professing that He was my Father, I was like a shrinking violet. I wanted to look like Him. I wanted to walk like Him. Oh how much I wanted to be able to stand, unmovable like Him. But I couldn't. I didn't trust myself to be a reflection of who He was. 

I didn't trust myself to be a beacon of light. I didn't trust myself to be a peacemaker. I was so afraid to be gentle. I found myself being harsh and abrasive to keep people at a distance.

With my mouth I professed God as my Father, but I was not one of His. I was not a representative of the sweet, enduring fruit that grows from His tree. God is the tree of life. He is the full embodiment of love and everything, every single fruit that He bears is the same. 

Do you look like your Daddy? Understand that this question refers to Daddy God. Do you bear the mark that all of His children bear? Are you a reflection of 1 Corinthians 13? Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Are you a living sacrifice? Do you place others and their needs before your own? If these things are not what you see reflected, you fell from a tree but you are not God's fruit. As the scripture says, you will know a tree by the fruit that it bears. If you are not a reflection of God the father, then could it be that you are one of satan's heirs? I know what that looks like. I've been there. Do you look like your Daddy?

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Romans 8:44

Adayinthelife :-)

Hearers vs. Doers

We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

1 John 4:6

When you hear the word of God and it does not become a part of who you are, you are prone to erratic practice. Erratic practice is when you hear "love thy neighbor as thyself" and choose to show this type of love to everyone in your circle, but not to the lady in the aisle at the grocery store. Erratic practice is when you hear "the Lord is worthy to be praised" and you praise Him with your whole heart until you get the job, house, and car that you want. Erratic practice is when hearing "let the redeemed of the Lord say so" prompts you to brag and boast about how you made it through instead of how God worked it out.

Erratic practice is so common that I could list example after example and still never be through. It is not hard to find someone who is employing erratic practice. I will use myself. For three solid years I listened to my pastor say "our main mission is soul winning". He said it in church, meetings, random conversation; you name it he said it. I heard him, but that word was not a part of who I was. It was something that had a good sound. It was not something that I took ownership to do. 

Sure, I invited my friends to church. I even went as far as inviting my students. But I never, not once invited the cashier at the grocery store. I never invited the dry cleaner or any of the other people that I crossed paths with. I heard him say that our mission was soul winning, but hearing those words without taking ownership of them was just like not hearing them at all.

God wants us to hear about Him. More than that He wants us to take ownership of our relationship with Him. That requires us to step out of the realm of erratic practice into daily practice. Daily I will open myself up to hear from God and move on His directions. Daily I will open myself up to hear from His people and do something to ease their pain. Daily I will open myself up to be a hearer, a doer, and a disciple of God.

Adayinthelife :-)

A Mother

More than words to fill a field

Or steps to climb a mountain

Twice the sum of infinity

Here in my heart will always be

Everything you mean to me

Reaching to the depths of the sea…

my l-o-v-e

I began by putting the word mother in a short poem because it reminded me of the assignments that I have done over the years with my kids. I am not a mother in the natural sense, but I have children. I have babies who I have watched grow into young men and young women.

When I think of them, my kids, I think of how it was such a privilege to be a part of their lives. A privilege that I hold even closer to my heart because I am not their natural mother. I did not birth them. I did not adopt them so there was no selection involved for me. Yet, I am their mother.

A mother to me is more than conception for many women conceive, but not all mother. A mother to me is more than the rights afforded through adoption because many choose a child without understanding the magnitude of… A mother to me is more than the space occupied to formulate a definition that never once uses the word God.

A mother is one who gives life to the potential that is found in a seed or that is raised from a need in a child that to the world had already been born. A mother is one who adopts a new attitude and perspective and humbly places herself in the position to best train the child. A mother is one who encourages a child to see beyond their reality to a life that can only be captured through faith. A mother is one who yields to the voice of God telling her to release back to Him the child He granted her on loan. A mother is one who gives. A mother is one who believes. A mother is one who loves.

Adayinthelife :-)

No Trust... No Relationship

I want to, but I don't know how to trust you. I don't know how to believe you will do the things you say. I don't understand how I'm supposed to respond to your words or be moved by your actions. I was taught that seeing is believing, but even when you prove yourself to me I don't know how to accept what is right there.

You told me that you loved me. I thought that I believed it. I thought that I wanted to exist inside of the expanse of your love. But I found myself questioning your commitment. I found myself wondering how you could possibly know that you loved me. How could you love me when I was so cold?

Believe in me is what you kept saying. Believe in me because my words are true. I heard them, but couldn't listen. They sounded just like everyone who had said them before you. They promised to love me. They promised to be right where you keep saying that you are. Each one of them left me. Each one of them stole pieces of my heart.

Now you want me to trust you? You want me to lean on you? How will you break my fall? How will you catch me when you won't even be there? I know you said you would, but those are words that's all.

I want to be with you. I want to believe you. I want this relationship to work. But I'm battling with so many things. I'm trying to forget the one who taught me how much love hurts. I'm trying to forget the one who taught me to look forward to lies. I'm trying to forget...

You keep saying you love me. You keep holding out your hand. You keep forgiving me when I turn my back on you. You keep telling me to trust you, but I can't.

I can't trust you because I'm not ready. I can't trust you because this just can't be real. I can't trust you because I've been broken and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to heal.

I want to trust you God. I need to. Can this relationship be real?

Adayinthelife :-)