ClydeStyle

Category: Life

  • Why God should be the only judge

    image

    One of the greatest historical education summits is being held across our country, everytime a black man is murdered while being arrested.

    From New York to South Carolina to Florida, Michigan, Missouri and Maryland, we see public opinion very prominent and it reveals the heart of America — we are still bias, prejudice and racist. This current generation will not wait for the previous two generations’ learning curve on this issue. Now what we see from them is anger: uncut, uncensored, destructive and painful.

    It seems that those who know, won’t tell and those who have no clue keep talking. Bitter wounds of our racial past are re-opened with every killing and every judgment. The flesh won’t allow us to be fair.

    Our superficial judgment seat needs to be torn down in favor of a new seat of love and forgiveness. That seat is nestled between the grace and mercy seats of God.

    If our society could simply remember and respect what God has said on judgment, it would change the game for us. Jesus said in his sermon on the mount that the measure we use to judge each other, will be the measure he would use. Lord help us.

  • Can you hear me now?

    image

    I always thought I was a bit hard of hearing. Growing up my mom would call me two and three times before I would answer.

    I think I even invited the word “huh?” because I said it so much. As I got older I saw how selective my hearing had gotten. I would hear everything that had a direct benefit on my life. My mother only had to call once to let me know dinner was on the table, but twice or thrice to help with dishes.

    I learned that my heart was connected to my hearing — meaning that if I liked you, I would hear every word. If I didn’t like you well that’s the time I discovered the volume control — I could tune you out in a New York minute.

    As I got older and in control of my own life, this listening thing got worse. I decided who I would listen to, how long I would listen and how much I would accept. And I didn’t just do that to the people in my life, I did that to God.

    So when his word was in my favor I heard it loud and clear. The few times I was in the right, I could hear his word like I wrote it. When I was wrong, I convinced myself that his word was misapplied.
    image

    So today I take off those filters that led to my inner deception. I denounce earwax, a hard heart and self all together. I am now ready to receive the engrafted word which is able to save my soul.

    Dear friend, how about you?

  • Another letter to God

    image

    Dear God,

    It now makes sense to me why people don’t like to examine themselves: Our image is broken!

    I feel bad sometimes when I realize that I live in a country that treats animals (primarily dogs and cats) better than poor people. I live in a country that does not forgive or forget.

    I live in a country that is racist, bias and hypocritical. And I am sadly a part of this country. I represent those who point fingers both ways. I represent those who realize that they are the things they hate.

    Father, l need you to search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Teach me a better way Lord that I might let your light shine through me.

    I am not worthy of your light. I am not fit for your use. I need you, Father, to cleanse me enough to say amen. Give me your words that I may never thirst.

    Heal my heart. Make me an instrument of righteousness that I may serve you with gladness. Help me not judge those who are not where I am. And please let me not covet those in the place where I want to be.

    Forgive me O God for I have sinned. Make me invisible so that those who see my good only see you and not me. Save all of my credit for heaven father. Don’t allow people to ever praise me here.
    image

    Thank you father for my gifts and I vow to do your name good with them.

    Heal the hurt I have caused and turn my negative to positive. In the name of the one who chose the cross for me!

    Amen.

  • My God the great guarantor

     

     Children are so easy to please. As my children progress into their late teens I reflect back on how easy it has been to care for them. All things considered, I’ve been able to provide their needs and most of their wants. I can say to them do not worry about this or that because I would take care of whatever they feared. They live under the safe covering of dad. There are things and situations that they could not even imagine having to experience. In fact many of the horrors are locked away forever in the make believe section of their minds because they would swear today that it could not happen to them in “real life”.

    I know and have counseled kids who came home from school and all of their favorite things were laying in the yard being picked over by their neighbors. I have listened to children lament about being caught in the middle of a boxing match between their parents and me trying to explain fear away from them because they witnessed such anger. A daughter now believing her father is capable of such rage that if he could beat her mom unconscious, it’s only a matter of time before she has her turn.

    From jail to drugs to violence and sex, kids of all ages have had to deal with this things far too soon. As men we have the responsibility when raising a family to make sure certain evils are kept out of the house and God’s goodness is freely flowing within. There is a sacred trust we hold as dads to be the guarantor of good things. 

    This role should not be taken lightly because you see when we do it correctly we imitate a character of God that the rest of the family will believe and trust in for the rest of their lives. If I am the guarantor of good things for my family, and they know and understand that the source of my guarantee is the Almighty himself, then when it is time to turn them over to our father in heaven, that task is simple. They will already have a love and fondness for the heavenly father because they are very comfortable with the works of the earthly father.

    God among other things is my guarantor. All of his promises are backed by his personal guarantee that nothing is too difficult, too powerful or too challenging for him. And God loves spending time demonstrating this fact to his followers. As feeble little children we reach up to the father with all of our fears and anxiety and he reaches down smiling and picks us up.

    Praises be to our God and father who is also the guarantor for all of his children!

  • Some day at Christmas

    Some day at Christmas

    Some day at Christmas we won’t be farmerry-christmas

    from making friends no matter what color they are.

    We will be color blind and our hearts will see

    that God made you and me.

     

    Some day at Christmas we won’t be rude

    and pass out to everyone who has a need for food.

    We will not covet all the things that we see

    because we live for him who died on that tree.

     

    3142505786_793baeb9a7Some day at Christmas all wars will cease.

    Our heart’s desire will be to seek peace.

    We’ll take responsibility for all that we do

    and make this world better for me and you.

     

    Some day at Christmas the deed will be done.

    Our lives will be judged by God’s only son.

    We lived our lives for Christ and stood in his Grace

    and spread love thoughout the human race.

  • Fixing the disconnect

    Fixing the disconnect

    We have a disconnect between what we know of God and what we see in this world.

    All who say they believe in God would believe that all things are possible in him. We would say that God is the creator and controller of the universe. We would agree that God had no limitations.

    But almost in the same breath, we will look at circumstances in our lives and we will doubt, fear and totally give up when faced with great diversity.

    Equally problematic is that we who are finite speak of things sometimes as if we were infinite. We say how we think things are supposed to be. We strong arm people to conform to our way and we act as though we are in charge.

    Well, the only way to remedy this is to surrender what little control we think we have and trust in the almighty.

    If I believe that the living God is the creator of the universe and the savior of the world, then there should be a level of trust to match the level of belief I have.

    We all need to ask ourselves if we really trust God the way we claim to? We need to ask the follow-up question of do we believe what we know of him?

    If we do, then we need to take action. Now. We need to live what we believe and not waste any more time with fear and doubt.

    Let’s trust God! It will make the rest of this year a whole lot better and much more prosperous!

  • Can you take a hint?

    One of the most embarrassing moments in life is when you have been given hints regarding something about you and it doesn’t register.

    I’m not talking about the simple things like your pants are unzipped or there is something hanging from your nose. I mean really embarrassing things like you are obnoxious or you dominate the conversation so much that people hate to talk to you. Or something worse like your kids are bad or your spouse is cheating on you.

    These things can put us in very awkward positions and it really defines our true friends. I mean after all it’s our real friends who have the responsibility for making sure we are in step. Right?

    But what is it that makes us blind to the hints we get from those around us? Why is it that others can see things about us that we cannot see?

    There is a blindness that affects our ability to reason and be self reflective. This blindness comes from our inability to keep reality during a reality check. We already dislike when we are wrong. We don’t like when people point out our faults and we really don’t like to own up to any of it. Add insecurity to the mix and we instantly create a disorder.

    This disorder I speak about blinds our conscious, not our sub conscious. In other words we know these things are true about us, but the pain of this realization is too difficult to bear. So we lash out in denial and become defensive. We get upset and participate in other destructive behavior instead of just taking the hint.

    The hint is actually our help. It helps us to quietly get the information without it being broadcasted all over the place. It’s our last shot a maintaining our dignity and correcting our trouble spots.

    Can you take a hint?

  • I love because I know God

    There is a goodness that is overwhelming about the love of God.

    In a previous post, I wrote about the modern miracle of love and said that the basis of love was our knowledge of God.

    I want to shed a little light on that topic now because I believe there are many who use love as a cover up because their actions say something totally different.

    It is impossible to say that you really love, when you hate. You cannot follow Christ, but hate Muslims. You cannot say you have the love of Jesus in your heart and hold a grudge. And you cannot claim that you are a child of God and deliberately cause hurt to another human being.

    God’s love is not limited to whether you are Black or White; Republican or Democrat; Christian or something entirely different. We are not the originators of love, God is. That means HE gets to define the concept and those who have experienced it, imitate it.

    Did you catch what I said?

    We love, because we’ve been loved. Not because we believe the object of the love deserves our love. We love, not because we expect something in return. We love because we know what it feels like and we are now constantly responding to God’s love toward us. We understand why we were the recipients of his love and we pay it forward.

    I have a love for humanity because God does!

    I love my enemies because God loves his enemies and he loved me when I was his enemy!

    I love those who are less fortunate because I see and understand how God loves and takes care of them!

    The only reason people don’t love is because they have taken for granted the love God has already shown to them.

    The Apostle Paul explains it this way, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.”

    It wasn’t the nails that held Jesus on that cross, it was love!

    So how are you going to love?

  • Are you wasting the sun?

    On or around June 21, what we call the summer solstice takes place. This is when the rays of the sun will be perpendicular to the Tropic of Cancer at 23°30′ North latitude ( don’t worry, I had to look that up too). This is when we typically get the longest day of the year.

    While enjoying the sun on this day, I often think about the time I have left on this earth. Now, of course, I have no idea when my time is up, but in my mid-40s I think that I might have passed the half-way point. What I’m getting at is this is a good time to take a look at your life and decide if you like what you see. Everyone makes mistakes and some we are able to live with and some we are not. Some of our decisions have caused us to have other ongoing problems and sometimes we escape with just a warning of some kind. Nevertheless, we take inventory to see what people, places and things need not be in our lives anymore.

    The items I’m talking about are those things that would have us waste our time, energy and resources — we’re wasting the sun. Some of us are struggling in bad relationships, going to bad places and continue to give in to our vices. Sadly, there are even some of us who have been wasting the sun for so long that it appears normal.

    With 50 percent of 2012 gone it would be well worth it to salvage the rest of this year by dumping these things that drain us. We have to evaluate whether or not it is worth the time. The best way to do this is to imagine your life without the vice. Even go as far as creating a list of things or events that would take place if these vices were gone. I guess it is possible that you could create a list that ends up looking about the same with or without the vices. If this is the case, then you are the problem — and that’s the good news! Change from within is actually easier than dealing with change that involves outside vices simply because there is too many variables on the outside.

    Whatever your list reveals to you, be glad because it really is the start of something beautiful — you! Your life IS worth it so don’t waste the sun!

  • Good grief?

    Now that the funeral is over it seems like the world has moved on. The problem with that is you are still stuck. Stuck in a pit of sorrow as your loved one is gone and there is nothing you can do to change that.

    You have become angry and depressed about what is happening to you. In the same breath you have the feeling of abandonment from your friends and maybe even family. No one makes a fuss after the funeral. It’s just you and your grief. And you’ve been running away from it ever since your loved one took their last breath.

    Grieving is such a normal process. It is really as normal as a laugh, an itch or a sneeze. What all these things have in common with grieving is that our bodies react to them all — yes even your grief.

    So that means that sometimes you will have mood swings. A commercial or song will stop you in your tracks because it will remind you of a moment from the past. There will be days of sorrow that will keep you inside on a very sunny day. There will be times when you don’t feel like doing anything. You won’t even answer your phone. The loneliest times will be when you begin to covet someone else’s happiness as if you’ll never have your own — and this is normal.

    What you have to do is push yourself to move forward. Let those around know that crying is healthy and you may start crying, but you are okay. You just need a timeout and then you can resume. Make every effort to strengthen the relationships with your loved ones who are among the living. This becomes your new focus. With every death, a family should love more. Each death should make us all strive to live each day to the fullest because tomorrow is not promised. We should live as to leave no doubt of the love we have for our family and friends.

    You see, grief is not the absence of happiness, but the presence of healing and you need to allow the grief process to do the work it was designed to do. I tell you this: If grieving is your storm, then God is in the eye of it waiting for you. Allow our creator to recreate somethings in you that you though were lost. Allow the greatest engineer ever to design a stronger heart for you. This new heart loves more, laughs more and cries more. It’s more compassionate than the last and is unconditional. This heart will be born from your grief.

    Allow the Potter to have his way with the clay. A better you awaits and its all because of grief! I guess Charlie Brown had it right when he said, “Good grief!”