Nobody Told Me The Road Would Be Easy

I just can't give up now.  I've come too far from where I started from.  Nobody told me, the road would be easy and I don't believe, He brought me this far to leave me.

These words are lyrics from a song that I really love by Mary Mary.  Songs help me meditate on God's promises.  Has anyone ever told you the road would be easy?  Exactly what is the road anyways???  For me the road depends on who you are and where you are in life.  Here are a few roads that come to my mind:

The Road To Salvation- Even though salvation is a free gift, why is it so hard for some to accept it?  It seems like a lot of people feel that being saved means losing freedom.  What freedom are you losing by doing things God's way?  If you think about it, going against God's word is more like slavery.  Let's take the 10 commandments for example.  Thou shalt not kill, covet, commit adultery, and steal to name a few.  What is the problem with that?  Does that seem like freedom to you?  These are things that will get you locked up for life.  Instead, focus on the fruits of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness.  Not all of these are easy but the key is to focus on these things daily. 

The Road To Redemption- I struggle every day with my flesh.  Lately I have been petty and plain old rude.  When someone does something that affects me in a negative way, I do not focus on any fruits of the spirit right away.  For me, the first thing I want to do is get even and make them pay.  I mean really, I am so legalistic sometimes that I can't even stand myself.  I have to ask God for forgiveness so that I can receive mercy from Him and also have mercy on others.  At the end of the day, I want God's favor.  To me, redemption is about forgiveness and renewal.  This is a daily thing for me and it's not easy but it is necessary.  Currently, my memory verse for this is Create In Me A Clean Heart  Psalm 51:10.

The Road To Integrity- Image is more important to me than I would like to admit.  When I blog I often stop to think about how I will look when I admit my short comings to the world.  Then God tells me that my purpose of this blog is to bring glory to Him and I am not admitting to anything that He is not aware of.  More people can identify with you than you know.  I act on my emotions without thinking and I'm trying to learn how to stop, think and pray before I act.

Billy Graham once said, "Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. We must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact. When wealth is lost, nothing is lost. When health is lost, something is lost. When character is lost, all is lost."  

Without character and integrity, image is nothing.

For The Lord Searches All Hearts  1 Chronicles 28:9

Not Without Hope

Since I spend so much time on computers, I listen to audio books instead of reading them to preserve my eyes.  I don't wear glasses every day but I do have a very mild prescription for the few times when my eyes feel too strained.  One book that I just finished listening to is Not Without Hope by Nick Schuyler.  He went on a deep sea fishing trip with 3 other men and he was the only survivor.  I remember hearing about them on the news when they were lost.  I actually prayed that they would be found soon.  I couldn't imagine being lost in the ocean for even a few hours, let alone 43 hours to be exact.  The other 3 men were his best friend Will Bleakley, and 2 NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith.  Marquis was the first one to die, then Corey and finally Will. 

One of the scariest points of the story is when they noticed 2 sharks in the water.  They weren't really huge, maybe about 5 feet but they were afraid and clung to the capsized boat even though the waves kept knocking them into the water.  There was another scary part when something best described as an Octopus came near the boat and ended up hanging out underneath the boat for like 2 hours.  A few times they thought it was gone and then they would notice the tentacles protruding from underneath the boat.  They were so relieved when it finally left.  I think it was just him and his best friend Will at that point, but I can't remember.

Nick said that he prayed a lot, asking God to please help them all survive.  He couldn't fathom the thought of his mother at his funeral so he never lost hope.  After he was saved, he asked God why he was the only person to survive.  He was very used to being exposed to cold weather when he was younger.  Maybe that was a major factor.  I believe the cold would've killed me.  Most black people do not handle extreme cold temperatures very well at all.

 I hope that Nick has a relationship with God.  A relationship where he does more than pray.  I hope he reads the bible and fellowships with other believers.  I thank God that at least one of them survived and told the story about what took place out there in that ocean.  I pray for the families of the other men that died.  I hope that they don't despise Nick for being the only survivor and telling his story.  This is something that he endured and he didn't cause any of this to happen but this is what he personally endured and I believe it helped him cope with everything that he went through by sharing his story. 

Lost and Found

My daughter lost her brand new jacket on the second day of the school year.  She went to the lost and found to see if it was there but it wasn't.  A few days later she saw a girl with the exact same jacket but since there was no way to be sure that it belonged to her, we counted it as a loss.  You see, clothing and material possession's can be replaced.  We all know that right?  But one thing that you don't ever want to lose is your soul.  Yes, you read this right. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul.  For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  Mark 8:36,37 NAS

Some of you may wonder how can a man lose his soul?  First, we need to understand exactly what your soul is.  In the bible, when used as an action word (verb), your soul is often mentioned with and after your heart.  Your soul is that between your body and spirit.  It is controlled by your spirit and it uses the body to carry out the thoughts of the Spirit.  Maybe that's why God instructs us to hold our bad thoughts captive.  Just thinking the wrong thing is a sin because it can cause you to eventually act on your thoughts.  He who guards his mouth & his tongue guards his soul from troubles. Proverbs 21:23 NAS  You know what they say?  If you speak it, so it shall be.  Well at least that's what I tell my girls.

To me it sounds like our soul and our feelings are one in the same.  What the eye sees is better than what the soul desires.  Ecclesiastes 6:30.  Your soul sobs and weeps, troubles and grieves, longs and loves, delights and angers.  I think in order to truly grasp what the soul is, you must understand your spirit (heart).  It seems that they are both intertwined and both can be involved in what pleases and displeases God.  Your Spirit must speak to your Soul which uses your body to carry out your thoughts or put your thoughts into action.  Your Spirit mediates between your body and Soul.  I think of our soul as our feelings and our spirit as our thoughts.

Now that we hopefully have a better understanding of the soul, we can find out how it can become lost.  If a person has never accepted Jesus as their savior, they can be considered lost spiritually.  Some examples of lost are having gone astray or ending in defeat.  If you do not have a real relationship with God, consider yourself to be forfeited, gone, ruined, distracted, distraught, desperate, hopeless, missing, confused, perplexed, squandered, doomed and condemned to hell.  If your soul is lost and you want to find it say this simple prayer:
Dear God, I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I now invite Christ to come into my heart and life as my personal Saviour

Just like the song Amazing Grace, you once were lost but now you are found, was blind but now you see.