Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
James 1:22-26
Pray
Father every day I pray to you countless times as the hours pass and my blessings shine over my mounting trials and tribulations. The closer I get to You Lord the more challenging life seems to become at times because the way of the world is beginning to now seem different to me, and I am seeing my life through a different lens.
As these changes are taking place, mortal mind the “enemy” keeps trying to convince me to stay as my old self, to hang with those people who aren’t good stewards and ambassadors for Your Kingdom; and there is pressure to behave, think, and speak in a way that is not loving and Christ-like.
As I move to focus my eyes, heart, and life more on You I am being tempted and tested by outside forces to live a double life, one that shines brightly as Your representative on some days, or during certain periods of the day, and the other life that stays hidden away where I can secretly indulge in my old “ways” of living.
Father this battle for my soul can only be won when I let go, surrender, and let You have all of me.
When I question why certain things seem to happen to me at the oddest and most inconvenient of times, why bad situations seem to blindside me, and why I’m tempted by outside forces to invest my time and energy into other things and other people instead of You and the person You have placed in my life to love- Father I know that it is because it is a test of my commitment and devotion to You.
I do not want to simply talk-the-talk, but Lord I am committed to walk-the-walk and lead the life You have intended for me. Touch my heart Father. Cleanse me. In Your name I humbly pray. Amen.
Reflection
If our walk with God was intended to be easy then everyone would be able to do it effortlessly and we wouldn’t have trauma in our lives, and Jesus would never had been placed in the position to atone for our sins and sacrifice his human existence to prove an eternal spiritual existence. If our walk was to be easy then even Jesus’ demonstration through his life would have been made easy.
The world around us is filled with goodness that oftentimes gets manipulated and coerced into following the darkest of ways- but the foundation and roots are still governed by God who is merely waiting for the world to make a decision and commitment to walk in His light.
As you make your journey through life you will be tempted to stray from your path. You will be tempted to return to old habits that plagued your life. You must decide which life you want to lead. I’m not telling you to change your life like a light switch, because as quickly as you attempt to turn one way, you will quickly be tempted and give in to resuming your old lifestyle.
Every day we must work and strive to be better people. Every day we must work to give up bad habits. Everything in life can’t be dropped cold turkey without a great deal of pain and frustration; and if we could easily handle pain and frustration then we would never have adopted the negative habits to begin with!
If you are accustomed to cussing folks out and calling people out of their name in your private life, but in your public life you act like the sweetest angel ever created- sometimes going so far as to pretend as though you don’t cuss people out and call them out of their names- but guess what? You are a liar, and you are first telling the biggest lie to yourself. We all have flaws and none of us are perfect. Look at your flaws and decide what you can and will begin to change about yourself beginning today- then each day work at turning that negative into a positive, turning pain to strength, and fear and hate to love.
My father always said, “cussing is what a person does when they can’t intelligently convey what they are trying to say” so many of us would opt to cuss than to take the time to find another way to verbalize what we are thinking and how we feel. Are you willing to try to find alternative ways to express yourself?
Watch what you invest, ingest, and digest into your life, and decide what you can remove immediately or gradually. Do you enjoy watching a certain type of movie, playing a certain type of video game, indulging in certain ‘private’ acts of ‘pleasure’, or listening to certain genres of music but you know you may or may not admit to it publicly, at church, or to your beloved grandmother? Seems hypocritical doesn’t it? Then work to do something about it but don’t be a fraud in the process. We’re all works in process but ‘keep it real’ while God is molding you, if not life only gets harder, more difficult, and more frustrating.
Pick a lane, don’t straddle or swerve across them- if you do, expect to get a ticket for lane violations!
I love you all and will continue to pray for your peace, joy, and safety each day and hope that you too pray for me. Enjoy your Friday. Maybe you will get a message from me over the weekend!
Love Always,
Natasha
Copyright 2011. Natasha L. Foreman. Some Rights Reserved. All Prayers and Reflections are Copyright Protected by Natasha L. Foreman. breakingbreadwithnatasha.blogspot.com
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