Be Honest With Your Predilections

Some of you may look at this word predilections and are saying, what the? But, I'll break it down for you. It means a favoritism, a liking, a fondness, a proclivity, an appetite. No matter who we are, we've all got them. We all have a knack for something that feels good to us. Truth be told, we have a liking for so many things, we don't care what harm they may bring us. It's like that one song from the old school, "if loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right." That seems to be the lingo (the language, lifestyle) for many of us today. We don't care who we hurt, we don't think first before we act, and the list goes on. A lot of us don't admit we're struggling with things until they rise to the surface. Whether it's us being fed up with our spouse, frustrated about our job, unforgiveness towards an enemy, or dealing with pornography, we all deal with our predilections. The only thing that keeps us from dealing with them is our pride, which is the veil of our ego blinding us from the truth about us. Sometimes, we let the praises of men keep us from dealing with these predilections and we never get free from them. We just a bunch of human chains from the rooter to the tooter. Now that's a "holy pig feet" shame. I see it all the time, especially within myself. We love to play the part of the mask; saving face in front of everybody else around. We're the go to people when others need advice. We're the people who others know we'll get certain tasks done. Deep inside, past all of our awards, accomplishments, talents, and fame, there's something abominable crawling inside of us. It's that predilection. That one predilection leading us to keep sleeping with married men. It's those predilections of rappers selling their souls to gain fame in the music industry, becoming an industry puppet. It's those predilections that has many of us sexually abusing a minor that a part of our family or a kid of a neighborhood. It's those predilections that some pastors have using the word of God to fill up their own fantasy world of luxury and fame. It's those predilections that religious leaders use to start wars to see how much influence they have over another person's mind. I could go on but I think you guys get the picture now. Unchecked predilections lead to death of ourselves and others. David said it right, that we are all born in sin and shaped in iniquity. The life we live outside of Jesus Christ is going to allow predilections to have free reign in our lives. The goes for the lady who wears the longest dress in the church in COGIC to the hardest thug running the streets of Viz Valley, California. My friends, we've got to come to grips our the innate issues we are dealing with inside of us. It's better to expose and deal with them now before they destroy everything later. I know for a fact. Pornography, hatred, bitterness, unforgiveness, and regrets are my predilections. But through the power of God's word and His Spirit, I overcome them. This doesn't mean that everyday I wake up they're not knocking at my front door. Actually, they're knocking on my door everyday but I don't let them come in. My prayer for us is that we get real with ourselves and that we allow Jesus to come into lives to help us with our issues. Remember this, we can try Allah, Buddha, New Age Theories, Meditation, weed, and sex all we want to. They all have one thing in common, they are temporary highs to get us from dealing with our issues head on. Jesus is the only force that drives us to places where we have to meet face-to-face with our issues and overcome them. Jesus said it best, that the only way we're going to have power over our predilections is through His word. Think about it as you throughout your day. Don't take my word for it. Study it.

Til next time, dgwo

Reference:
Psalms 51:5
Matthew 4:4

Moving Forward: The Ascension

For me, today is the closing of one door and the opening of another. I know today that I am changing and shifting to another place in my life. I know that I'm not the only one going through such changes. Change is good and rocks your entire world. Time,  money, character, the whole nine yards. This is what ascension is all about. It's not a place where pride should dwell (though it can happen if not careful of ourselves) but where humility and opportunities dwell. It's pressing towards a higher mark and leaving behind things are of no use to us. As I've said in past blogs, we're in a time of change and transition. A lot of us are faced with tough decisions, what to take on, what to go after, and what to leave behind. Today, I have no other choice but to leave behind selfishness, envy, jealousy, lust, pornography, anger, bitterness, frustration, doubt, unbelief, temper tantrums, which are the forms of adolescence, not the characteristics of maturity. Maturity is adulthood, not a state of perfection (that is free from making mistakes or having faults) but being complete, thorough, and strong to handle whatever situation we find ourselves in. I remember my dad used to tell me, that we should consider our lives as an airplane. To reach to higher heights in the air, the airplane has to be at a certain weight. If a plane has exceeding weight in its carrier, then that plane can't go to the level of height to reach it's destination. Can you imagine a plane flying low to the ground near a interstate highway because those in charge allowed excess baggage to be carried in its cargo area? A lot of us including myself are carrying too much weight yet we expect to ascend to newer heights in life. Homie, that's not how ascension is designed. It's designed for people who are willing to let go of whatever it is to get to that next level. Ascension is for people who are willing to change whatever it is in their life to move forward. This is why the Bible says that we are to lay aside every weight (distractions whether it is people, places, or things) and every sin (bondage, etc.) that will keep us back from moving forward (Hebrews 12:1). Think about it. Professional athletes can't be the best unless they rid themselves of regimens that will keep them from being champions. The same applies to us, especially to those who profess they have faith in Christ. What I'm sharing is applicable; that's the whole purpose of the Bible. It's not made to control us but to instruct us as well as convict us to be better people pleasing only to God's eyes (I'm saying this to everyone, believing or unbelieving). Today, I truly believe God is doing some miraculous for those who take heed to His word and allows Him to order their steps by His word (Psalms 119:133). He's freeing us from all this mess we've picked up in this journey called life so we can experience the richness of abundant life in Him (John 10:10). This is the purpose Jesus Christ came and died for. It's simple if we would only just believe. So please, take heed to these words from this 31 year old scrawny scruffy faced war-torn yet getting healed day by day dude from Raleigh, North Carolina (go N.C. State Wolfpack). Much luv to everyone.

Til Next Time, dgwo.

References:

Psalms 24:3-5
Psalms 119:132-133
Philippians 3:4-14
Hebrews 12:1-2

...And These Are The Brakes!

Yesterday after I came home from work, I saw my wife and I started talking about a whole bunch of things. Just straight out the gate, I didn't give her a hug or a kiss, just talking about stuff all at once. My beautiful wife Dionn had to interrupt me during one of my sentences I can't remember now and she said these words to me:

"I'm just looking at you and wondering when you're going to put on the brakes."

Man, that caught my attention. Today, I come into work and there's really nothing for me do. Well, I've done a couple of things here and there but that's about it. Now, I realize, it's time for me to relax. Within the past 8 maybe 9 months, I've had to sacrifice time (with myself, family, keeping balance in my home), money, and more time. Work, church, family, school, trying to stay in touch with my family back home, and keeping up my relationship with God is a lot, man. All of these different things are responsibilities I just can't ignore. As of the first week of September, I'm going back to school to pursue a Master's degree in Business Administration and I better chill before I get started. My wife had to tell me a couple of others I had to sit and take but everything she said was true. Sometimes in life, you've got to put on the brakes. In America, our culture pushes for each of us to be successful in business, education, and in our finances. We have to be a certain way and live a certain way that's acceptable to the majority. We work so hard and those our accolades are vast; it means so little. We're promoting this function, this album, this work, and whatever else our little hearts desires. It's always, go, go, go. Move it, move it, move it (Police Academy voice)! However, at the end of the day, our minds are jacked up and we can't even get a good night's sleep. Last night, I slept like a baby because I heeded the words of my lovely wife (husbands, listen to your wives) to put on the brakes and relax. I was skimming through an article from a recent Bloomberg Businessweek magazine. It had a picture of one lady chilling on the beach while another woman was looking stressed in her office. This is us today. We don't take time off and we feel like we have to stay busy. Especially for people who are in ministry or running businesses. We put so much pressure and man-made (which comes  from ourselves and people stuck in religion instead of having relationship) to get things done. We have to show others in just about every walk of life we're doing this to attain a certain status in man's eyes. However, we become wearied, worn out like track shoes, and fried like a bad-perm (had a steal an old lyric from Method Man-sorry). But at the end of the day, being a busy body ain't nothing but unneeded stress. A lot of the people we see who are rich and famous can't even in sleep at night because they have to continue on the roller-coaster ride of success. A lot of us parents push our kids to hard to be perfect. So when they get older, they don't want to do right in our eyes, they want to do their own thing. But this is when the brakes have to be applied. A lot of us today love to pass stop signs in places where there's not a lot of traffic. But we like to push the envelope a bit. We're in a hurry to get somewhere and the light ahead of us is on the yellow. We know in a millisecond it's going to turn red. Instead of braking, we hit the accelerator to the floor. The light turns red and then we're in a major accident. Lives are broken and maybe ours, too. That place we thought was important enough to blow through a red light is a distant memory. You get the picture now, right? Ambition is dangerous and the pursuit thereof we'll lead us to an early grave. We get consumed and the only ones who can't see it is ourselves. Today, take a deep look into your lives and find our where you need to pump the brakes.

Til next time, dgwo.

Reference:

Psalms 26:2

The Silent Scream

Yesterday and today, I had a lot of going through my head; a lot of personal stuff. I was thinking to myself, will things in my life ever get better? To the eyes and perceptions of others, I've got it made. A beautiful wife, two nice cars, a nice house, a good job, and a good church to go (which is rare nowadays). However, certain "pressure points" in my life continue to get hit and kind of slow me down. We all have these pressure points, Achilles heels, or as Paul would say, thorns in our sides. Certain things and situations in our lives ain't going away. Now, a whole lot of church folk and new age thinkers will disagree with me but I agree with what the Word says. These certain things occur in various seasons of our lives to humble us. However, they hurt like crazy because there's no time limit in this game we've been inserted in. We look for others to see what we're going through in our lives but they can't see. Some may see a smidgin' of it but have the wrong perspectives of it and do what Job's three other friends did, judge you incorrectly. We look for relief but none is in sight and the frustration becomes too much to bear on our own. However, there is no one to trust or confide in. People in our circle say we can lean on them but they won't understand the situation we're in. Seeing this tepid situation, we turn into introverts holding the pain and emotions we feel inside. We want to release it but can't because we believe and feel no one will understand us. Rightly so. As Daryl Coley sung a long time ago, we begin to develop a Silent Scream. We walk around with a smile on our face but inside we're in a ball of confusion. It hurts, it sucks, and no one understands what we're going through. So the isolation begins in our lives and we become hobbits. But there is one who hears and understands our silent scream. We see many of our dreams and hopes become deferred; therefore causes our hearts to become sick. We want to accomplish so many things God has called us to do but it seems like it's ever going to come to fruition. Some of us have made great sacrifices but have yet to receive any type of reward; especially in our time of need. David was a man who in most of his writings went through various times of agony. A lot of us who know his story only see him as king, a priest, a worshipper, and an undignified praise machine. But we don't take the time to read his writings like Psalms 42, 50, 51, 61-63, and 73. The man experienced cruel seasons of emotional anguish within his soul. He didn't have anyone to turn to in those days when he ran from Saul and had to hide in caves. He had no one to turn to when he had sinned and found no one to encourage him back to right relationship with God. He had no comfort in hearing the news his beloved son Absalom had died while fleeing from his soldiers. In each of these situations, David had a silent scream. His soul was in agony and the only he mentioned who heard his silent scream was God Himself. You see, a lot of us put our trust in men too much when we go through the various issues of life. We want people to hug us, help us out financially, even cut us a break because our present sufferings have overwhelmed. But men are such flawed beings and we must look to the sovereign and perfect one who hears our silent scream. It's a scream only the Lord can hear, understand, and can heal the wounded heart. It's Jesus who hears the groaning and inner pains coming from the depths of our soul. It's God who is the only one who has the answer the problems we encounter in our lives. No matter who you are or what belief you practice, we must look unto Jesus as our healer of our silent screams. My friends, I write this because now I have a silent scream and have come to realize some of you have one, too. We must put our trust in God and know He doesn't neglect the cries of His prisoners, nor will He leave His kids in a tormented state forever. As the late Walter Hawkins once sang, Cry On to God and let Him help us along the way. As I close this blog, I want to know that I feel some of you out there that have come to grips with the reality of life. We are going through and feel like we're being stripped of everything we've earned as well as been given. Read these words here and from the latter part, be comforted:

A friend of mine says

You prayed and cried

Prayed and cried

Prayed and cried

and still though it seems like no one would come to your rescue

all those nights when you had to walk the floor

thinking that is the time when I can't take no more

You to know that He was there all the time

He was there all the time

When you cry and tears would fall

He was right there by your side

I'll turn to Jesus Christ

The Sovereign One

Who hears our silent scream

God hears our silent scream, dgwo. (peace to Daryl Coley)

Reference:

Psalms 42:9-11

Psalms 56:8

Psalms 69

Hebrews 4:15-16