Naked Truth

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

Naked Truth 

I spent a whole year last year waking up and trying to be consistent in the gym, mind you I have been a gym member for about 8 years now but a non-participating member at times (don’t judge me) however last year I told myself that I wanted to go the whole year, a whole year’s worth of attendance commitment because unlike before I’d get on my momentum-spike right around January and hit my burn out  right before fall started and drop out, slowly but surely, so to cut a long story short I went somewhat hardcore in the gym last year (at least I thought) did what I had to and when the year was over I didn't feel as though I had produced the results I was looking for after my commitment level goal, so feeling really unmotivated this year I sat down to think of what really happened,  mind you I knew I had to go the whole way with the “naked truth” of the matter, for instance I realized that even though I stuck out in my commitment of my gym attendance without any interruptions for a year out of 8 years I did not do much for my eating habits (ding-ding-ding…. so just because I have to tell myself the truth doesn't mean it’s  always an easy pill to swallow),  my personal truth at its core kind-of- hurt me, I mean-really! It-did, because if I wanted to sugar-coat my eating habits I would justify them by saying that; “I was eating healthy” but the truth would be to my standards of “eating healthy” not to a nutritionist standards, my own deception of eating healthy is-knowing that I did not eat out from fast-food establishments and the fact that I cooked more at home, but! When the rubber meets the road (which it eventually does) my cooking at home and my daily eating was not precise with healthy habits, my candy fixation (chocolate-which I think I’ve been delivered from) were also not quote-and-quote healthy eating habits, I was struggling at letting go of my favorite no-so-good-to-my-health-foods such as, ice cream, chips, cake and chocolate, I’d rather work hard in the gym than surrender my relationship with unhealthy snacks….. so any ways-my “naked truth” for that year’s not so progressive gym results was the “naked truth” of my eating habits, I had to curve some habits, learn some new ones and revisit some to come to terms with my new year’s gym momentum in order to gain real results. You see brothers and sisters, even though this might be a mere example, I have come a long way, like some I used to struggle deeply with admitting to the “naked truth” as it stood in my life, I justified the truth to make myself feel good, normal and somewhat functional in my human capabilities when the “naked truth” begged to differ in my life, I want to advise you-today to seek God all mighty in boldness to help you with your own “naked truth,” even though addictions can be classified as bondage and or strongholds but the first part to healing, spiritually and professionally is admitting the “naked truth” to your addiction, you might have been married 8 times and divorced 8 times and still continue to look for a mate because your deception of your truth to relationships might have been justified all throughout the 8 marriages, so-much-so that you truly believe it’s the other peoples fault for your broken marriages, well today I say to you my love! With love, embrace the “naked truth,” ask God to help you, I am not necessarily saying failure was your fault but sometimes when we reveal the “naked truth” about ourselves we inversely heal past wounds and diminish hindering deceptions, you see, I used to be like some, when I was 250 pounds I used to say that “I am big-boned,” or even when I was struggling financially I used to say that, “I have too many bills to pay-that is why I am always broke” there were times that even my own relationships with friends failed that I actually blamed them instead of looking at myself and facing my “naked truth,” it is true to context that the truth-hurts, trust me I know! No one wants to be labeled as a bad parent, neglectful parent, neglectful friend, selfish spouse, abusive spouse, addicted person, poor, failing, criminal, bad, and-so-forth, no one wants any negative captions associated with them-especially Christians “sometimes” (not all-just-some! So calm down) I don’t understand why some Christians put so much pressure to be close to perfect than to embrace the flaws that we have so that God can fix and or strengthen them for His glory and testimony-sake! Some Christians think if they face their “naked truth” they have failed their spirituality when in terms they are strengthening the growth of their spirituality….if people could worry about their own “naked truth” and facing it to fix it then some people would not be so worried about the flaws of the fellow Christian brother and or sister, understand this my friend! You have to be concerned about your “naked truth” not what others will think, may think and or even say…. I think of times where up to now I have lost some friends only because I faced the “naked truth” that allowed for me to be truthful with myself then them…….a while back-recently I was invited to a dear friends birthday bash, it was great for them but not for me-you see if you knew me before salvation then after salvation you’d understand that there are some places up to now in my saved mind I cannot step a foot in and because of that I did not attend the birthday party, did I want to go and support them? Yes! But did I want to be in that environment? No! So I could not even for a second allow the enemy to play mind games with me and persuade me in going-and have me believing I've been saved so “I’m tough” nooooo-buddy! I turned down the invitation which might have upset and or disappointed them but my life is at stake here…I know the “naked truth” of the demons I once wrestled with and wouldn’t pay a dime to act as though I’m Jesus and nothing can harm me or bring me down, “let me tell you something-Honey! This new, improved and saved Memory had to come to some ‘naked truth’ to stay in line and in focus with my relationship with God”….. (Sigh… Ok! Let me get off my soap box and get back to the topic) As I was saying… once you learn to accept your own “naked truth” you will be able to be truthful with those around you, truthful with yourself and you will be able to live a truthful life, you will be able to embrace any personal change that needs to be done and or constructive criticism given to you, embracing your own “naked truth” is truly liberating! Love you that much-stay blessed!

Memory B

Pieces of Me

Faith to Move Mountains

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

 So! Realistically and not insinuating that you haven’t experienced these mountain tops but the world’s highest mountains range from about 29,035 feet to about 26,545 feet tall! If you ask me that is a whole lot of mountain, majority of us will think of mount Everest when we think of a mountain, or at least that’s what comes to my mind…..however while I am on a visual stimulation kick, picture-this! Standing in front of whatever mountain that comes to mind and then picture trying to move it whether it is physically and or mentally, “how do you think that will work?” or should I say, “How can you apply Matthew 17:20 while facing the mountain you are envisioning?”…….Take your time and think it out really good-I have time…. (Don’t worry it’s not a trick-question) Ok! Some of you can snap out of the “blank stare towards the ceiling,”  lets re-group and really think of what the ultimate message is in Matthew 17:20, even though we tried visualizing our mountain-moving-tactics it still seemed humanly impossible-right? Which is absolutely normal…. understand that in today’s world a majority of people are not necessarily and realistically face-to-face with Mount Everest but! I can say this-though….. a majority of people are facing enough trials and tribulations that seem like mountains in their lives, Jesus was not insinuating that we use super-natural cosmic powers to move a mountain just because we think we have faith, understand that a mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds your eyes will ever see and all He was stating is “just-believe,” note He did not say “if you have faith of an avocado seed” or “if you have faith big enough like a baobab tree,” today might be the day that you are facing the mountain of foreclosure, bankruptcy, job loss, family loss, cancer and or finical hardships,  even though the realistic mountains are huge, tall and mounted to the ground pretty tightly it can almost seem that way with your spiritual mountain…if you are not too careful it will weigh you down and overwhelm you with its heaviness, understand-while facing this mountain it’s your time now to exercise the belief in your faith and instead of applying for the high interest loans to pay your bills and put food on the table, believe that God will come through-even in the last hour, so-what! The Doctors consider your diagnosis iffy-God is the healer of all and as long as you have that faith of a mustard seed your terminal cancer and or illness of a mountain will move in Jesus name-I declare it! Brothers and Sisters….the point being before you believe someone else and or something else for a solution to moving your life’s-challenging-spiritual-mountain, believe in God-first and witness your faith breaking bondage's,  loosing addictions, loosing illness, and bring peace and comfort to you! 

You have to have belief in order to have faith and faith to have belief! The two are directly related and you can NOT have one without the other!

Love You in Christ,

Memory

The Irony of Struggle

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Ephesians 3:20

Struggle is truly a double sided coin when you think of life’s everyday challenges, the simple fact being the word struggle is not biased according to race, age and or background……you can have all the money in the world and yet have an inner “personal” struggle and then you can have no money and inner peace but have an ongoing “outer” struggle, point being no matter who you are what ranks you fall under it is almost guaranteed that at one point and time in your lifetime you will encounter this thing that is known as struggle……. I attribute my “once” over-achieving ways to the fear of ‘life” struggle (before Christ that is) I really used to think if I continued to work as hard as I could and nonstop I would live a comfortable lifestyle without a “struggle,” unbeknownst to me even in my over-achieving ways I still ran into this thing we call “struggle,” all I could remember after I achieved all the materialistic things I ever wanted and was living it up was, “how can I be failing inwardly?” I was struggling inwardly with a body rotting, mind griping addiction that was eating at me……sure my outer appearance stayed perfectly maintained and my lifestyle was a breeze to keep up with but inwardly there was a huge hole, one that could not be satisfied by my cars, house, furniture and or the fancy clothes and shoes………to face life in the eyes of all its truthfulness was a hard task, I wanted to believe I was fine and yet I was struggling inwardly………it was embarrassing to even think of my inner struggle at that time but truth-today as it holds was that the over-achiever, hard-working and zealous individual was drowning at the mercy of an “unwavering” struggle, even though I was not a believer then I knew there was going to be some kind of freedom………my now Christian, born again walk with the Lord has led me to further understand the “irony” of  struggle……you-see…..I still praise and thank God like I did when He freed me because the mere thought of my inner struggle brings upon a sorrow and joy in my life, sorrow that I went through it and joy that I am free…….I have this to share with you today-Beloved, you might be in the midst of an inner struggle or outward struggle…..or a struggle-period! Whatever your situation is today please understand that it’s there to strengthen your faith in God, the struggle is here to remind you to truly rest upon His every word and to breath His every word in your life, without struggle there really isn't much to be grateful about but our existence, but with struggle we taste the sovereign saving power of our Lord which then gives us a deeper appreciation of our creator, look to Him in this time of struggle for He will see you through and strengthen you in the midst of it all! I conclude by stating, struggle can be excruciating on the surface but deeply profound and spiritually invigorating in a more intimate understanding, thus creating the “irony of struggle.”

Memory B

Introduction To My Website www.mieedailyreflections.blogspot.com

The Thorn in the Flesh....

Before I came to Christ in a saving manner I often wondered what kind of God would allow His own to suffer, whether if it was from terminal cancer, death and or incurable disease….I had a hard time I should confess wrapping my mind around this concept but by all due respect that was my ignorant non-Christian mind…a mind with no Holy Spirit guide and a mind without God’s wisdom, once in salvation I made it my business to understand more-more of this God I once questioned, and! Low-and-behold a great revelation came upon me and this time around I am proud to say it was through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and long sought out wisdom through God and through my own personal forbearance I understood exactly what kind of God we serve!

Theologians have invested great time in researching the “thorn in Paul’s flesh,” which is evidence that some really want to relate to Paul's thorn or just want to know what it was, the pieces of scripture and or great sources of reference have succored with my research which  has been more than a great “Wealth of interesting information” to be able to read and understand the different views of some in which I thoroughly respect, however through some scriptures like, 2 Corinthians 12:7, 2 Corinthians 11:24-26, Acts 13:45, Galatians 4:13….And the lists of  Bible verses pertaining to this subject are endless-these are to name a few….and through out I have yet come across a “specific” mention of this “thorn” that Paul spoke of and when I state specific I literally mean specific in terms of what the diagnosis/ prognosis was  this “thorn” Paul suffered from without the dilution of man-made interpretations,  despite the somewhat suspense of the “thorn” in Paul’s flesh in which I personally enjoy taking the layman approach-by the way only because for years like most despite my unsaved questions I bore and still bare a thorn in my flesh…don’t worry it's not a pimple, freckle, mole, beauty mark or anything located superficially on my flesh, rather it’s an interesting thorn-a thorn that left me in quandary before coming to Christ of whether or not an individual like I could be loved genuinely, would I be able to live a normal life in lieu to my “thorn?” questions arose in the brinks of desperation but I am here to tell you that the discovery of Christ in my life has eased my once objective thinking to an optimistic and grateful thinking through God's transformation-you see…intimately knowing God and loving Him has allowed me to embrace this once nagging “thorn” in my life….I now know for a fact that my “thorn” allows me to maintain a coat of humility  and reminds me constantly that I too am human and need the Lord more than I have ever needed Him despite the work He does through me and sometimes in life we do need such reminders, I am often reminded of the time that Paul begged God to take the “thorn” away and God reminds Paul that; “He is all he needs and nothing else should matter,” (That’s my interpretation of course of 2 Corinthians 12:8-9) the “thorn” in my flesh has allowed me to become dependent on God for strength which has allowed my faith to grow, it has also believe-it-or-not shielded me from bad life decisions, because God has called you to Ministry doesn't mean you are 100% pure of all “thorns,” don’t let your “thorn” hold you back from experiencing God’s best in your life, Paul traveled and planted churches and healed the sick but his “thorn” is a positive constant reminder that even the man/woman of God can have a “Flaw” and God can know it-and choose to do absolutely nothing about it because at the end of it all He is all you need!

Memory

Blessing Proportions

         

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

So many times we get caught up in our wants versus the needs that if we are not too careful we might become victims of blessing-deprivation and fall negligent to our required blessing proportion (That’s correct!) though the word deprivation is synonymous to basic necessities it’s also appropriate for a believer to understand the importance of not depriving one's blessings, the act of not being happy or content with what God has already given you can lead to an act of blessing-deprivation….sure! If you are like some, where they feel-often than most that they have everything they need but what happens when they start looking at other people’s blessings and wondering why it’s not them? Or better yet-this one is my favorite…when non-believers seem to be getting more blessings than them! (I know-right! What’s up with that?) I have truly come to learn through God that everything I have in this moment is a blessing (Literally) that clunker of a car-is a blessing because I don’t have a hefty note-which can be an additional financial burden, that old-raggedy house and furniture I have is an absolute blessing because some people in other parts of the world don’t even know what a couch feels like later-alone a place with a roof over their head and running water! even though most than less the food I have in my pantry and refrigerator is not comparable to having fillet Mignon and lobster tails every night but that’s OK too because it’s a blessing to even have some type of food in the pantry and refrigerator so I eat it with sheer-joy, whatever the case is-it’s all a blessing-a blessing God has given you and no one can take it away or compare to it, avoid depriving yourself from the acknowledgement of God’s blessings in your life by always thanking God for every-little thing in your life (I mean every-little thing in your life) praise God in thanksgiving at all times and enhance your appreciation for God’s blessings, just think for a second that maybe-just maybe you might be missing out on the crucial lesson at hand by depriving your blessings and feeding into your wants and or yearning for other peoples blessings.

I always think of the time when I was younger let’s say anywhere from the time I learned to eat soluble foods and right before teen years, my mother would always give me a serving of food in my plate that was proportionate to my age, she never served me with the same serving that she served my father. Why? (I am glad you asked) because she knew that my father’s appetite and stomach could handle his large  portion and she knew that my small stomach could only handle the little portion she gave me and because of that no food was wasted-because if she served me the portion she served my father at the age of 5 I stood a chance to over eat and mainly waste the food, when we tend to over eat (In my experience) I feel horrible and regret eating the food, then when food is wasted in most cases it’s because there was an overabundance in the plate which creates for a lack of appreciation! (I think you know where I am going with this one!) God gives you an appropriate portion blessing so that you remain energized in Him and grateful in Him, if He gave you an over-sized portion of blessings all the time you will never be thankful, instead you can end up wasting the resource because of the abundance of it (Yes! that is where I was going!)  So next time someone says. “Count your blessings.” Make sure you-literally count them!

Memory