In Proverbs it says something to the effect that kisses are multiplied by enemies and a brother is born for adversity. People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Some people will support you through the hard times; some will be sincerely caring, while others will do it simply just to fill a void in their life and not out of love. Only God knows the difference.
In the flipside, many will flock to you when you are prospering; mostly just to see what they can get out of you, but your true friends will encourage you in your endeavours, while others will shoot you down. These latter types are usually intimidated by you and very insecure in themselves. It’s also a form of adversity that God will use to keep you humbly dependent on Him as your pursue that which He has for you.
The theme of the popular Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, is “no man is a failure who has friends.” I believe it was my earthly father and a college/career pastor who once said you are rich if you only have two true friends in your entire life. If you have more than that, you are loaded even if you are dirt poor and sweeping floors at McD’s.
Daily Archives: January 23, 2012
The 80/20 Rule
It has been said that 80% of people hate their jobs. So what are the other 20% doing? Also, 20% of people do 80% of the work. 20% of the world is said to be right with God by christian perspectives. Rather ironic don’t you think that 80 & 20 come up quite frequently.
80% of people hate their jobs because more than likely they either aren’t doing the work God has for them or they are trying to find fulfillment in their work apart from God, making it an idol. The remaining 20% have found true fulfillment out of their work out of their relationship with God or they chose to “settle”. The latter isn’t good because it leads to repressed emotions which lead to depression and other mental illnesses.
The 20% that do most of the work are the ones who have all the motivation because the other 80% are unmotivated; either because they are living defeated lives because they have been beat down and burned by society or they are confused and don’t know what they want out of life. This group is also likely to suffer from repressed emotions which contribute to the rise of mental illnesses today. In proverbs it says the desires of the heart will kill the simple. (E’s paraphrase). It’s good to live simple, unless you are doing it because you don’t any get up and go (which comes from being either fully spirit-filled or fully replying upon yourself).
As far as 20% of the world being right with God-how do we know this? Because we are doing what man does and assuming that a person is right or not right with God by what they do. A person who appears to be doing God’s will may be self-reliant and the person who appears to be living in sin maybe just be struggling but may be more in love with God than the “righteous” person.
Either way, true fulfillment comes from finding purpose in your life which flows from a vibrant relationship with your Creator. People with no zest for life are deemed “losers” by society and can’t be in fellowship with God because God calls you to make a difference for His Kingdom. The first two words in Gospel are “Go.” You think Jesus is the most influential man who ever lived because He just sat around “waiting upon the Lord” and “resting in His work.”
Mind Control is everywhere
Starting with college recruiters telling you that you owe it to yourself to finish college, thereby convincing you to take out student loans and creating a demand for public education which in turn causes a rise in tuition expenses which also increases the national deficit with public funding for education.
Religious institutions which try to basically tell you how to live your life so you won’t “embarrass” their assembly and they have to excommunicate you. They also try to teach you they have the truth no one else has and many protestant denominations got their start by taking one or more verses out of context.
The Health system which gets paid off by pharmaceutical companies to prescribe “lifelong medications” and even pinpoint a psychological diagnosis above all other possibilities.
The news is the worst with most of their stories being in a negative context to stir up fear and anxiety in the hearts of its viewers. Fear becomes anger turned inward which leads to depression and eventually psychosis then the healthcare system gets ahold of you and won’t let go.
Businesses extending “credit” by getting you to go into debt on that new car or expensive house. Actual commercials for psychotropic drugs with more and more of them being geared toward toxic antipsychotics.
For that matter, I’m even guilty of mind control just for communicating if you take everything I say as Gospel Truth. Friends, there is only one source of Truth and that is the One who Created you and gave Himself for you. He is the source of all wisdom and gives liberally to those who Ask, Seek, and Knock and dont’ doubt it when He gives it to them as long as you seek with the right motives of knowing God and loving and serving Him deeper. All He wants is a relationship and through trusting in our Heavenly Father we won’t fall into sins that separate us by hardening our hearts agaisnt Him and others.
“Receiving Christ into your hearts” because the church convinced you you had to is a form of mind control. Salvation comes as a result of divine conviction when one turns to God as his Source of everything and the Holy Spirit points toward the Blood & Cross as the sacrifice for sins and proof of God’s love. When you realize how much your Father loves you and who you are in Him rather than who you are in the world you began a deeper relationship with Him that transforms you supernaturally from the inside out-which religious rules & rituals and holy living in and of itself can never do.
Knowledge is power, power can be corrupt unless it’s backed by wisdom that comes from a relationship with God and impacts your life for the good of the Kingdom.
Restoring the Years
Something strange is going in my life lately. After struggling with social anxiety most of my adult life making it difficult to relate to people and being diagnosed with Bipolar disorder solely on the fact that I can talk fast (out of nervousness), I have been set free. I may have lost my wife in the process due to all the emotional distress I went through while struggling and trying to be a good leader but I believe God will restore all those years supernaturally. I was just hoping to get the last 10 years restored that I’ve struggled with depression but with all the friends from my high school days I’ve found on Facebook, I feel like I may have retroed back to my teenage years; back to when I first believed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. As many pastors say (I think it’s my recent role model Pastor Joe Wood of Reverb Church in Parker Colorado)-”something good is going to happen.” God is good to those that trust Him so He’s always up to something God while drawing us into a deeper relationship with Himself-life’s ultimate calling. For those that haven’t trusted in Him He’s very patient waiting for them to come to repentance and faith in the blood of Jesus so they won’t be judged when He comes back.
Go Sam Houston ’96
