I Am Man Hear Me Roar!

I use to think it glamorous to be the lone wolf, the tough guy, hard as a shell with an exterior and interior that nothing could penetrate. Nothing ever got the best of me cause I wouldn't allow my emotions to be at a point of susceptibility. Even if they were and got hurt I wouldn't let anyone know. I wanted to be a man's man, I could party with the best, get some of the girls, play sports and hunt. I worked hard for a manly body to compensate for my lack of being one. I did man things! I was a man - MAN!

In all reality in all my manness I think I lost it. All my decisions pulled me farther away from being a man. Was I a man for falling into temptaion conforming myself to the likeness of my peers by foregoing my values and partying and sleeping around and pushing my conscience to the side? Was I more of a man for isolating myself from others with the pride and ego of thinking I can do everything on my own and wanting to do it alone?

Thinking back on it now would it have been harder to stand up for the truth, to value myself and my peers and love them and fight for them, or fall to the ways of this world getting sucked into doing whatever feels good no matter what the harm on others or myself. Is it harder to hold on to your virginity until you are married or lose it? Is it harder to stand against your peers or run with them? Is it harder to isolate yourself or ask for help? It harder to forgive or resent? Is it harder to fight for your marriage or forget it? Is it harder to be faithful or a cheat? Is it harder to show self-control or a lack of it?

If you think yourself a man then step up and do the man thing, do what is hardest. When you find yourself not able to even come close to standing then ask for God, he will hold you up!

Don't know what I am saying here ask for the Lord to show you. Open your heart and get ready to be a man.

Think you are good? That everything is as it should be or as you were taught? Can't seem to pin point why you feel empty inside? Humble yourself and talk to God. He will give you an answer, you will feel it in your heart.

Uncommon...?

If the bible says No temptation has siezed you except what is common to man (1Corinthians 10:13) why do we act like what we are going through is so different and that no one can relate? This can lead to thinking we have to do it on our own, pride, a hard heart - thinking no one understands or has felt what I feel, isolation and there you are! Right where the enemy wants you. :)

True and Tested

Isaiah 28:16: So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the on who trusts will never be dismayed..."

Life Application Study Bible commentary states "If you're building anything , you need a firm base. Isaiah speaks of a foundation stone, a cornerstone, that will be laid in Zion. This cornerstone is the Messiah, the foundation on whom we build our lives. Is your life built on the flimsy base of your own successes or dreams? Or is it set on a firm foundation?"

This is a completely redirection of where I thought I was going with this passage but what just stood out to me is the description of the cornerstone, it is a "tested stone". James 1:2-4 says Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may mature and complete, not lacking anything. The word also says that ...we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin.

Draw your own conclusions and let this scripture speak to you. However what just spoke to me is that we have a God that sent his Son, in the flesh, who was tempted and tested in every way, ways we can't even concieve, to shed his blood on the cross for us. This is who we build our foundation on, a TRUE and TESTED cornerstone.

New Age religions????? Just the "New" alone is scary. :)

Last Resort

In my Life Application Study Bible the commentary for 1Samuel 14:35,36 states "After being king for several years, Saul finally built his first altar to God, but only as a last resort. Throughout Saul's reign he consistently approached God only after he had tried everything else. This was in sharp contrast to the priest, who suggested that God be consulted first. How much better if Saul had gone to the God first, building an altar as his first official act as king. God is too great to be an afterthought. When we turn to him first, we will never have to turn to him as a last resort."

This spoke to me this morning in thinking when do I turn to God. I wonder if I really even trust him to talk to me and guide me? This is perplexing because one time I felt so clear in what he wanted me to do, I didn't question my actions so much as I do now. For instance I knew an action I had to take regarding a relationship and I took it. However a few years later I did not trust the action I had to take regarding another relationship. Instead I questioned and questioned what I was supposed to do and only did it as a last resort. Even then I wavered back and forth.

How do we turn to God first? How do we give him complete reign in our life? Is there something he is speaking to your heart about? If so are you willing to let it go and let him guide you? I ask these questions because I feel a tug on my heart regarding exercising and I do not want to give it up. I value the human shape very much and when I don't feel like I fit the "mold" then I feel less valued. As a matter of fact I can pretty much worthless.

So I ask, "what will He have me do?". I get upset and think the worst like he will have me sit around all day doing nothing, talking to people, bored out of my mind, becoming fat, not able to walk up a flight of stairs without breaving heavily, unable to perform simple tasks without being tired and so on and so forth. Yet his word says Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). He also states in Matthew 7:7-12:

7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

The comfort in this is I am asking God to help me follow him and if he is telling me to quit something I want to do or do something differently He is not going to harm me. It says in his word "how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him." So do I trust this? Am I going to seek God first or, like Saul, take matters into my own hand and then last resort, when my heart is still not fulfilled, seek God and His will?

"Who do you say I am?"

Matthew 16:15-19:
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

"Jesus asked the disciples who other people thought he was, then he asked them the same question. It is not enough to know what others say about Jesus: you must know, understand, and accept for yourself that he is the Messiah. You must move from curiosity to commitment, from admiration to adoration." (Life Application Study Bible commentary on Mark 8:29)

After reading the commentary further it says "From this point on, Jesus spoke plainly and directly to his disciples about his death and resurrection. He began to prepare them for what was going to happen to him by telling them three times that he would soon die." In reading this I can't help but recall my own salvation. I never heard from God before the day he saved me. He was always there, as it says in Acts 2:25 I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. however it was not until after this day he started speaking and opening his word to me. It is an amazing thing. I profess Jesus is my Lord and Savior and that through him I have eternal life.

May he speak to you this day.

You can also find this same teaching in Mark 8:27-30 and Luke 9:18-20.