ClydeStyle

Category: Taking Responsibility

  • Why do you worship God?

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    Worshipping is woven into the fabric of our very being. Without instruction we will worship anything. Some are worshipping people, animals and things.

    It’s not hard to understand exactly why we were given the intellect and the ability to worship. Worship is paying homage to a worthy object of affection. It is an expression of the gratitude we feel for that object based on our understanding.

    God, then, would be worshipped because of what we understand about him. Our father’s grace, mercy, longsuffering, love, faithfulness and forgiveness are just a few things in a long list of attributes that should stimulate our desire to show our gratitude and worship him.

    True worship, then, would be worshipping God in spirit (that’s your spirit) and in truth (the revealed understanding of who he is). I can attempt to worship God in my flesh. This is when I respond to God based on my senses. So if it stimulates me, I will use it to worship him. Worship before Christ was done this way. There were things to touch, taste, smell, hear and see in worship. The burnt offerings, use of incense and the shewbread were all a part of the ceremonial worship. I can also attempt to worship him mentally which would be based on my own understanding — it will appear zealous, but not according to knowledge. I can attempt to worship him based on my emotions. The philosophy is that it makes me feel good so it should make God feel good.
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    Today, God calls us to a much higher worship. One that requires the use of my intellect and understanding of who he is. It requires the submission of the heart of the person worshipping and the sole use of things God created and nothing we created with our own hands.

    God now wants the sacrifice of praise, which the bible defines as the fruit of our lips praising him. Christ left us a feast to participate in and unconditional love is to be shared throughout. God wants us to have a consuming worship that pays homage to him and stimulates his love between us. It is also the start of a week that should be filled with the true worshippers offering themselves as a living sacrifice for him all week until we are united again together on the first day of the week. We are the lively stones that come together to form a spiritual house where he joins us.

    Simple, natural and authorized. God should dictate how you worship if your worship is about honoring him. The father is seeking such to worship him — now what about your worship?

  • Where do you place your happiness?

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    Some people are living out their lives miserable! There is no better way to say it. It seems that some people haven’t learned the lesson in this week’s blog. I will encourage you to share.

    No matter how hard we try, whenever happiness rests in a person, place or thing, we suffer a letdown. You see, no matter who you are or where you are from, we all have this in common: We place expectations. We place them in people (like a spouse, children or a best friend); we place them in things (savings, cars, or a job); we place them in places (churches, our jobs, or our homes). We become obsessed with where, what or in whom we place our expectations and we become vulnerable.

    Have you ever seen a person get upset when their expectations were not met?

    Expectations are created in the heart. In fact, they tie directly to the heart which is why it hurts so badly when the expectations are not met. Expectations are trouble because, since they are tied to the heart, we don’t want to let people know they’re there. This is for fear of rejection. Then, when those expectations are not met, we act like there’s been a crime. Our hearts are fragile. We need to focus our expectations on something more assured. Those expectations need to be placed where they won’t get out of hand. They need to be placed where no one will get hurt.

    Albert Einstein said to place your expectations on goals and not tie it into people or things. What makes this quote brilliant is that when you place expectations in goals, you trick your heart. It makes it difficult for a person to be mad at themselves. Your goals = your expectations. If they are not met, guess who is to blame?

    I believe the key to success rests in our ability to accept life’s challenges and meet those expectations. We are exactly what we planned to be. Anyone successful planned it. And even those who are perceived as failures got exactly what they planned.

    So the point is this: The law of the harvest as outlined in God’s word is that you reap what you sow. Sow unto those things that are profitable for man and allow God to work with you. Allow His goodness and mercy to shine through you. Allow your drive to run free in your creativity and see how good life really can be.

  • Kindness knows no shame

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    I am very grateful for a good night’s sleep. For most, being able to sleep through the night comfortably says something about the way you live your life.

    We don’t often think of Satan’s attacks as covert, but he’s a master at that too. Satan can get you all upset about one thing while he’s actually sticking it to you in another area.

    Have you ever wondered why the Apostle Paul, when he talked about putting on the whole armor of God (Eph. 6), mentioned the fiery darts of the devil? Why fiery darts? When cowboys and Indians fought, you would see a circling of the wagons by the cowboys and the Indians would shoot arrows at them while the cowboys would return gun fire. Eventually, an Indian would set fire to the tip of the arrow and shoot it at the wagon. It would be difficult for the cowboys to put out the fire and fight the Indians.

    So, when Satan shoots those fiery darts toward you, he’s not aiming for you, he’s trying to hit something or someone dear to you.

    It’s easy to lash out, curse, throw a fit and complain about something. It’s a whole other thing to be a change agent. I find one of the greatest tools God gave us for this is kindness. Just once, try fighting with kindness. It’s very difficult to argue or be angry with someone who has and is showing you sincere kindness. True kindness is the fire extinguisher that can put out grease, electrical and wood fires at the same time.

    There are only a few things we can retaliate with that knows no shame — kindness is one of them. So the next time you want to open your war chest and grab a handful of hate and hurt, try kindness. It will be the one that looks the newest.
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  • A healthy portion of love and forgiveness

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    God specializes in doing things for us that we cannot do for ourselves. If you have built a relationship with God through faith in Christ Jesus, then you know that feeling of helplessness and the devastation when you feel the brunt of your undone condition. Since Christ was resurrected from the dead, many have looked to him to fix their relationship with the father.

    Today we have a unique opportunity to do something for someone else that they could not have done for themselves. I’m speaking beyond a tall person helping a short person reach something on a high shelf. Or a younger person running errands for a much older person. Or even a mother taking care of her child. Although these fit the basics of this thought, we should focus our attention on the weightier matters.

    There are people who are in a position that makes it impossible for them to love themselves. They live with guilt and shame and don’t feel worthy. They need someone to love them. There are people who have wronged others and it is impossible for them to grant forgiveness for themselves. They need to be forgiven.

    In a country where we take pride in things like revenge, winning and wealth, wouldn’t it be nice if at the end of each year it was mandatory that we would love or forgive? And wouldn’t it be cool if there were strict laws and people could actually go to jail for not loving or forgiving?

    The Apostle John wrote: “beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He that loves not knows not God; for God is love.”

    And Jesus himself said, … by this will all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another. And if you read Matt. 18:23-35, there is a shocking revelation by Jesus in regards to how the father feels about forgiveness. We only need to remember what he has done for us and reciprocate.

  • Parable of purity

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    Once upon a time a father baked a beautiful cake. He decorated it with the finest icing, and he  added extra icing to it because his cake was so sweet.

    He took his cake and placed it in a display case for safe keeping until the right person came to purchase.

    Each evening, unbeknownst to the father, some guy would reach up and take a bite out of his cake. In fact, by the time he noticed, there were more than 11 bites out of his cake.

    The father was sadden and although he still cared deeply about the cake, he wondered if the bites would hinder quality sales of the cake. The father also remembered when he used to sneak bites of cake and it saddened him more. “No one should be trying to taste cake before purchasing it!” He exclaimed.

    The interpretation of this parable is this: The cake is this man’s daughter and every bite out of it represents the daughter’s sexual experiences. The purchasers are men who would be great candidates for marriage.

    Moral of the story: No one wants to purchase a community cake. Or as the Apostle Paul wrote: “Marriage is honorable by all and the bed is undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

  • The power of one

    untitledIt is easy to look at this world and all of the evil there in and feel that as one person we are powerless. It seems like my voice and vote doesn’t matter and my single voice is too small.

    Well, this ideal is family to the fear and doubt that is given by the evil one. This concept has halted a lot of would be powerful movements. A wild forest fire can be started with one match and whole wars have been started with one shot.

    What if the energy that was donated to the negative thoughts were reserved for the one? The one who would dare to speak out against injustice or the one who would dare to love their spouse in spite of infidelity.

    Or the one who would dare to challenge a bully or plead for the less fortunate. Or the one who would choose to see that the glass really is half full or understand that the best dancing is done in the rain.

    Jesus made a huge impact living only 33 mortal years on earth. God has given most of us more time and the same power!

    Let’s celebrate the power of one and do something with it.

  • Gratitude vs. Thanks

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    I was unaware of the symbol for gratitude. Of course, Eastern culture exhibits the symbol as much a we see stop signs here.

    Gratefulness and thankfulness each have its purpose, but have you ever viewed these words as levels of maturity? What I mean is a child will mimic what you say to him, but there will be no emotion behind it and that’s because there is not much intellect behind it. Imitation is what children do and it seems that some people never grow past mimicking.

    We are taught by our parents to say thank you when someone does something for us. We say thank you as a sign of respect. We do it because it’s the “right” thing to do.

    We grow up and understand thankfulness in the context that we learned it as a child. Thankful means to be glad or relieved that someone did something for us. That is a great thing to understand — when you are a kid.

    Gratitude seems to be the next level because it means that you understand what has been done for you and you want to express an inward feeling outwardly. You want to do something because you are moved by what someone else has done for you.

    Wow! That is different!

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    So ultimately our faith must do better than rest at thankfulness because faith without works is dead. So if we understand what God has done for us, then our actions should speak for us.

    So if I am grateful for God’s unconditional love then I will give it to someone else. If I am grateful that God has forgiven me, then there is no way I don’t forgive. If I am grateful that God’s grace saves me from a state where I could not save myself, then why would I not be so grateful as to learn of him and shout from the roof top telling others about him?

    Thankful appreciates. Grateful expresses the appreciation. Thankful shines with a smile. Grateful is a call to action.

    Therefore, I need to be grateful instead of thankful. I need to be more of a doer and not just a hearer that my faith and trust in God may be displayed before the world.

    I give God my thanks regularly, but I need to let him and everyone else know that I am grateful.

  • Becoming truly independent on Independence Day

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    As June comes to a close we are set to focus on a summer which is in full swing.

    The month of July reminds us that as a country, we took measures years ago to insure that we would enjoy freedom. We declared our independence and wrote songs about it. Heroes secured their place in history and it has been taught to future generations.

    Wouldn’t it be cool if we not only remembered our independence as a nation, but we examined our own lives and sought independence for ourselves?

    Over time we develop bad habits, bad relationships and bad dispositions. Maybe instead of complaining about them we decide to do something about them.

    Maybe you have been a dumping ground for other people’s problems or a scapegoat for other people’s troubles.

    Maybe you are in an unhealthy relationship or you are financially strapped because you are living above your means.

    Maybe you are enabling someone in a negative way that keeps them handicapped from dealing with their own problems.

    Whatever your lot, you can decide on Independence Day to free yourself! You should be in control of your life! Who better to make decisions for you, but you?

    This just takes some planning and praying. You can do this. Free your mind and you body will follow. This would make July 4, 2013 the best holiday ever!

    Think about it and make it happen. You deserve it!

  • Acknowledging him has it’s benefits

    We are half way through 2013 and it seems like we were just singing Auld Lang Syne (as much as we can sing that song but you get the picture). Many of us made resolutions and before Valentine’s Day we were done. I would like to offer a word of encouragement for those who have not made the most of this year.

    Despite failed attempts and unmet expectations you are still here. And that’s a good thing. I know it seems like you’ve let yourself down and there may be people in your life constantly reminding you that you’re not good enough, but there is a God my friend. And this GOD loves you.Image

    He loves you enough to watch you make decisions that don’t make much sense. And he doesn’t intervene because he doesn’t want to take away your free will. He loves you enough to make sure things don’t get too out of hand. Imagine how much worse things could have been? If you thought about it, you could think of folks who are doing worse. In fact it seems that no matter how bad you are doing, there is someone doing worse.

    These are the little things that the Lord stays on top of while he is waiting for us to acknowledge him. In fact, he said that if we would acknowledge him here, he would acknowledge us before his father in heaven (Matt. 10:32).

    Why don’t you spend the rest of this year acknowledging him. The bible tells us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge him and he will direct our paths (Prov. 3:5,6).

    He’s waiting on you. Call him up friend, call him up in prayer.

  • A Prayer for Mama

    I couldn’t let this holiday go by without remembering everyone’s favorite girl – Mom!

    This is one of the few things in life we all have in common. So in honor of Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate the person, the concept and the substitutes for the work that they have done, are doing and will do.

    To the good mothers who are deceased, we pray that your souls rest in peace until the coming of the Lord. Like the Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 – “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The work that you have done and the legacies you have left behind will live in our hearts and minds for generations. Thank you and we will always love you.

    To the good mothers who are living the golden years, we pray that the God of heaven will continue to bless you with years. You hold a special place in our hearts because you are a constant icon of everything that represents the joys in our lives. When we were young it was you who outlasted the great depression and took the lessons learned from it and made sure that we had food, clothing and shelter. You survived WWII and showed us how to make a home, how to stay married and how to love unconditionally. You were able to do a lot with a little and for that, we are eternally grateful.

    To the good mothers who are still raising children, we pray that our Father in heaven will continue to give you the strength and patience to deal with all the “new age” problems facing children today. We thank you for listening. We thank you for the sacrifices. We thank you for not allowing a broken or dysfunctional home to be an excuse for not taking care of the children. We thank you for being able to provide for the family when dad is absent, unemployed or incarcerated. We thank you for being phenomenal women and we love you!

    To the new mothers and mothers to be, we thank you for enlisting in the greatest army of caretakers on the planet. We thank God that you choose to raise children. We thank you for your desire, example and love. We pray that God will give you healthy babies to love and good men to raise them with. We pray that life’s challenges and opportunities don’t sway you from your task. We pray that you take parenting to the next level and educate our kids for a brighter future. Thank you for carrying the torch!

    To the substitutes, step moms and grandmothers, you hold a special place in our hearts and we thank God for putting you right where you were needed. We thank you for bringing peace to troubled situations. We thank you for mending broken homes and relationships. We pray that God will continue to bless the work of your hands and for giving you such a big heart. We love you!

    To the bad mothers, we thank God for you because believe it or not you are exactly what it was going to take to make some folks do better. God used you in a mighty way to allow his grace and mercy to shine through. Despite the wounded souls left in your path, we honor God on this day because His will is perfect. Don’t wonder why you are alone on this day. Go mend the broken relationships. Allow for healing by allowing your heart to be soft toward your sins. Ask for forgiveness. The ones that are hurt have been waiting on it. Once you have learned your lessons, teach others.