In the red corner

Imagine for the moment that you are in a room of sorts.  The lights are dim, hovering just barely beyond the state of being off.  The room is so near to complete darkness that the hands in front of your face are nearly unrecognizable.  The room is complete darkness, interrupted only ever so briefly by a strobe light passing through.  The air around you is thick and musty, damp and heavy.  You smell sweat, you taste salt in the air.  You realize that you are not alone.  You hear people nearby, but you can't make out any faces.  Their voices seem a close to you as your next breath, and yet some come to you almost as distant echoes from mountain heights.  From as near as five feet you hear some cheers, a man ask if they are in the right seat, and somebody grumble that the event should have started already.  The delay become sickening, and a chorus of boos erupt.

Now a much more intense light slowly fades into the room, and with that light, you realize you are in a boxing ring.  Your back is held up by the taut top rope.  Your heart races. The chatter in the background becomes faint and the intense light, the center ring spotlight, begins to focus squarely on a single corded black microphone descending in slow motion to the now outstretched hands of a dapper gentleman in a white tuxedo.  Your pores are open, adrenaline surges, and your mind races.

The fight announcer grabs the microphone in his right hand, pulling it in as his voice breaks in over all the sounds and music.  "This contest is scheduled for .... "  As soon as his raspy and energy laced voice begins, your mind trails off.  Your concentration has turned to the fact that your legs are wobbling even more than your heart is pounding.  But he continues, "... The challengerrrr, in the black corner, from parts unknown and parts all over... weighing in at a whopping...," you swoon between his next words, only to catch the last word "pounds."  The announcer pauses, then his voice rolls on, "He'll add to your trials, troubles, challenges and he plans to give you a plain ole bad day...the challengerrrrrr... the nightmare..."  At the sound of the challenger's name, you nearly faint.  Your whole body goes limp, save only the faint quivers from the wobbly, bubbly knees.  You question how you might have ever conceived of being able to face such a juggernaut, and ask yourself, where have I seen this challenger before?

And then he, the dapper gentleman in the gleaming white tuxedo, turns and he looks at you.  He looks right into your eyes.  Your eyes, the very ones that are so wide open that you could drive a truck through them.  The same eyes that were once searching the darkness to find a light, and are now searching for a way to turn the light off so you can secretly find the exit.  You even contemplate if climbing up the dangling microphone chord would be a viable escape route from the seemingly "two ton opponent" glaring menacingly from across the ring.  You want to blink... but you don't.  You turn your gaze as he continues to announce the fight card.  Like the timid toddler, you imagine that if you don't see him, he can't see you.  But the powerful fire on the nape of your neck from his gaze won't let your pretend, and won't let you forget that across the ring is a force who wants to give you "a plain ole bad day!"

Climbing the microphone is out of the question, and so you listen again as the announcer continues.  "And now!!!!!  In the RED corner," the dapper man shouts.  You start to panic.  You are in the red corner.  Your mind races, barely hearing his next word.  You are still wondering, how did you get in this fight?   How will little you face all of this "stuff".  Who even said you wanted to face this challenger, today or any day for that matter!

Still looking for the way out, you hear the  crackle from the microphone and the words, "Fighting for the red corner... he hales from eternity past to eternity present, he is seated on the throne of heaven, He is, He was, He always will be.... thee undefeated, thee undisputed, and thee unrivaled Champion OF IT ALL... the Everlasting God, the commander of Angel Armies, the Sovereign God!"  The crowd is at a fever pitch of excitement.  The microphone crackles one last time as you hear the trademark pre-fight phrase, "Let's get ready to rumble!" 

Ding, ding, ding! 

The bell has rung!  

Whoever you are and wherever you may be, please remember that we face this day with the ALL POWERFUL God in our corner, and He is fighting for us.  He will make us victorious, no matter what today throws at us.  Have a wonderful day!

Love you--- Cassius

Repost - real identity

The world says you aren't good enough. Every. Single. Day.  So what do we do?

"We chase after awards to be recognized by our peers, our friends, maybe even our spouse who is also looking for affirmation in all the wrong places. We create stages and lights and award shows and retweet our own success. We write books to prove we are a success and show others how they can be just like us. We even create our own quotes to post on Facebook pages and promote them in hopes of it going viral. We market the content of our lives to win approval. We have become experts at trumpeting our own glory while saying with our lips, "So humbled to win this award." Yet, our hearts are brimming with selfish pride. "

But, we don't stop there.   "We offer up our unique identity at the price of becoming like everyone else. We chase affirmation like a drug. We conform to a way of life prescribed to us like a pill we don't want, but we believe we must take to be a “success.” We are willing to swallow it whole at the price of family, health, life, friendships and our eternal soul.  We leave our [friends and family] screaming for our attention, so we can book another meeting and post another update to people who are consumed with their own issues." 

So what now, what can we do about this issue of identity?  What do we do every single day when the world knocks and calls, tweets and posts, or DMs us saying  "You aren't good enough!

First, realize that it is a lie.  We aren't defined by the world; Twitter, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Snapchat, Youtube, other social media platforms, the world news, or even the person next to you.  It's time we stop lookingand measuring our worth from worth-less things and start getting our self worth and "self-esteem from something outside ourselves." It's time to hear and believe and live by "what our heavenly Father has to say" about who we are.  

The Title and cover

At the end of The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis writes,

All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page. Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before.

Make today a part of a great cover and wonderful title page, and keep looking forward to the day when the real adventure of the Great Story begins.

Rough patches

"You may have hit a rough patch in your [life], and things simply aren't working out right now. It could be that you've been praying for years for your [child] to follow Jesus, but they still haven't accepted Him." You may have been praying over finances, work, a family member, health issue, or other crisis. Or you may be "discouraged and unsure of what the future holds for you.... Whatever your [life] looks like right now, here's something you need to know [and believe and cling to] : nothing is impossible for God."

The same God who spoke galaxies into being is our God. The same God who made a 90+ year old man the father of many nations, parted the sea, rained bread from heaven, and made a mighty nation from some nomads, is our God! The same God who came as a baby in a manger and conquered death, by rising from the dead, is our God! Nothing is too hard for God and with Him anything is possible!

Things may feel offtrack, dark, down, or even "dead right now," but God is the Father of life; new life, and new creations. He can bring our lives (all of it) back to life through the "Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead [and now] lives in you (Romans 8:11)."

"Don't stop praying"... for yourself, your family or your circumstances. "Don't give up"... on yourself, your family or your circumstances... or God! If you're having trouble now hang in and hang on, "your biggest breakthrough may be still yet to come. With God, nothing is impossible!"

Adapted from Jordan Wiseman's devotional entry marriage: 7 Things The Bible Says About Marriage
http://bible.com/r/1BD
Assessed 13 March 2018

Friends, if they don't bring you closer to God... they aren't friends!

I read this in the Life Application Study Bible devotional for today, and realized that I learned this very same lesson, again, in 2017.

I say again because it seems I am a remedial student who has to repeat certain life lessons. I'm sharing it so you don't have to learn it the hard way. Here is the lesson:

"Our friends and associates have a profound influence on us, often in very subtle ways." If we choose to have "friendships with those who mock what God considers important, we begin to sin by becoming indifferent to God's will."  We begin to bend and blend in where God has created us to be bold and stand out.  Answer this, "do your friends build up your faith, or do they tear it down?"

Remember this truth, "Don't be deceived, bad company corrupts good morals 《1 Corinthians 15:33》!" And, "true friends should help you to draw closer to God, not hinder your relationship with him."

If your friends, no matter who they are, aren't helping bring you closer to the love of God and the grace of Christ... they aren't friends! Period.

May all our true friends rise and help us draw up into the eternal love of God.  May all the fakes and phonies find His love or fall away from us so that we can remain in His love.

Owning my Christ identity!

"Father God, when you entered my heart, I became a new creation!"

Today, I own that truth and the power of Your Spirit in my life.

"No matter how much my past has affected me, I know that I do not have to repeat sinful patterns. Father, you are mighty and victorious in my life! Put to death any offensive way in me and revive me! Heal my heart, Lord! God, I do not want to carry any behavior" (anger, jealousy, bitterness, unforgiveness, lust, greed, malice, envy, insecurity, or strife) from any moment of my past into my future (this year, this month, this week, this day, this hour, this minute or this next second).

"Renew my heart and mind, that I may create a different kind of life for myself and my family (my wife and children). Help me to leave a legacy of love [and hope] , that will carry on for many generations."

God, you are the God of redemption and freedom and beauty! In Jesus' name, I own my identity as your forgiven and saved son. Let me walk in the light and life you proclaimed for me and over me. Amen!

- adapted from Wendy Speake and Amber Lia's devotional "5 Days to Freedom from Angry Parenting"; Day Four.