‘I like to drink wine more than I used to’
‘It’s good for you, Pop.’
– Vito and Michael Corleone
Not sure if I’m praying for the pleasure of it, or if I’m just responding to the escalation of things happening… Because more things have been happening. More things have been happening, in terms of quality – That is, in how impactful and how personal they are: Minor issues that can be brushed away or at most set for another time to face, or major matters of the heart whose consequences have led to people legitimately getting hurt.
More things have been happening, in terms of distance – That is, major world shaking events and other situations that hit closer to home: The Israel situation and its effects felt all around the world, down to the car needing fixing, the dogs needing medical attention, and so on.
And since we’re considering all this – rather, we’re taking the time to reflect on all of it – no doubt, we can also say that more things have been happening, period. It’d be funny if I said ‘more things have been happening in terms of quantity’ – what, if there’re double negatives, that’s a double positive?
Anyway. I say all of this only to share that it’s because of this increase in situations, events, happenings and circumstances that I’ve been telling those dear to my heart, and now you, that I’ve been praying, more than I used to. Because it’s good for me. Or at the very least, it makes me feel better about what I pray about.
And the thing is, it’s not as if God doesn’t answer back. No, in my case, I feel as if God responds through insights, statements, and thoughts and RKOs out of nowhere.
Sorry, I’ve been watching a lot of Kurt Angle on YouTube recently and I just have to say, the guy is a legend – I watched the beginning of his Wrestling Machine persona at that one WWE Smackdown 20-man battle royale where he won the World Heavyweight Championship, and that was the beginning of my respect for the man. Now I’m looking at Randy Orton and man, the guy is on a league of his own.
One guy makes a name for himself by casting aside cheap promotions at the right moment when his raw talent is shown. The other made a name for himself by not being a face or a heel, but being his own man. I like and want the titles he had: The Legend Killer. The Apex Predator.
See? Insights outta nowhere. And while they don’t hurt as hard as a jumping cutter (fun fact: I thought they were the same as the Stone Cold Stunner but technically Steve Austin’s move is a jumping jawbreaker), it’s their impact that hits me just as hard.
I love how the Holy Spirit both speaks through us, and speaks to us. Not really in Alec Guinness’ voice as in The Force speaking to Luke Skywalker, but in my voice at times actually. And okay, before anything else I just have to say, this is how the Lord communicates to me, personally. These are the utterances from how I see the Lord speaking in and through me, individually. I’m not about to say that this is how it should be with you; I’m saying it COULD be how you communicate with the Lover of our Soul – a pleasant possibility.
I’ll be sharing all that I collected here throughout this October, and I’ll follow them up with their possible hashtags after every insight/thought versus what I’ve been doing recently (at the end of each article). With that said, they will count as words towards my 365000 word goal, and I hope that’s okay. But here goes.
Forgiveness isn’t always a one-time transaction.
Oftentimes it’s an ongoing contract.
Drawing from the legendary Showtime series Billions here and I’ll try hard not to give spoilers. I’m not going to quote Chuck Rhoades directly or verbatim but he said something similar to this: ‘I forgive you, and every time it comes back up, I’ll forgive you again.’
It’s like Love in a sense, where you choose to love every time. It’s your choice to forgive, and you continue to forgive as it comes up. Jesus comes to mind – we understand that He lay His life down as an offering once and for all, but another way I choose to see what He did is that it has its impact, every time the condemnation comes up. We don’t feel bad about something that happens once, once. Memories comes back, that way.
And I’m not sure if it was Joseph Prince or someone else who pointed out that Christ had the choice to completely heal the holes in His hands and feet, and the scar in His side – I mean, He rose from the dead all new, so why did they remain? I think it’s to show that He forgave us, and He continues to forgive, each and every time; That He loves us, and He continues to love, each and every time.
As much ‘Once and for all’, as it is an ongoing contract. Or, in the case of two parties trusting each other, an ongoing covenant. Just goes to show that, indeed, we have an Everlasting God whose love for us is everlasting.
#Forgiveness #Love #EverlastingGod #EverlastingLove #Grace #TheChoiceToLove #TheChoiceToForgive #ActiveChoice
“Don’t wish for people to be different, wish that they reveal themselves sooner.”
Naval Ravikant
In dealing with people and maintaining relationships, we keep asking God, ourselves, and others – ‘why can’t so-and-so be like this instead of how he or she is now?’
This prayer for us to realize why people are who they are now truly puts us a step ahead of what other people are more likely to wish for. They probably want the same person to be different, while you understand where they’re coming from. While the rest of the world is reacting, we’re responding respectfully.
#UnderstandingPeople #SocialSuperiority
We need men in the Aces.
Going through Facebook and I see a post of a news article: “Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t want a ‘generation of wimps’: ‘Let’s not over-baby people’“
Maybe I’m thinking in those lines with the guy but I definitely don’t want a ‘generation of wimps’ in my own congregation. I’m seeing a lot of boys, but I guess I want to see more men. In line with something else I posted recently, I think I’m seeing more princes than kings in my own team.
I need Men. I, myself, need to be more of a Man. A king, who moves more instead of sits back and watches. A king, who decides first and responds later – One who constantly prepares through practice, so as to be decisive and ready when time is of the essence. I say I need Men, and I think the first step to it is to be one myself.
Through Christ, the King of Kings, who moved and decided to save me, I shall move. I shall decide.
#Manhood #ChristianIdentity #ChristianMan
We are in His grace. We do what we do in His grace.
Christ is the grace of God. Everything He does is with His grace.
Ending with this for now. All we do – before, during, and after the fact – all of it is done in the presence of God, and in Christ, who is the grace of God. All that we do that is brought out by our old ways of thinking – before, during, and after the fact – all of it is done in the grace of God.
Whether what we do is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ according to our own individual standards or to those of the world’s – we thank God, because His grace is present before the act, during the act, and after the act. Whenever it does pop up, we give thanks to God for His grace.
#EverlastingGrace #PracticalChristianity #Omnipresence #ChristianIdentity
272089/365000
#Reflections #Prayer #Communion
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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