Conglomeration of Color

In my old office, which I recently gave up to become a bedroom again, hangs a painting. I only call it a painting because it is hanging on the wall, framed, and it has paint on it.

A better definition for what it is would be an amalgamation of the warfare that is my life, in abstract.

My father-in-law made it several years ago, and when I first saw it, I claimed it as my own as the only thing I wanted to inherit from him on the day of his stepping into eternity. That day happened last year, and so now it graces my wall (well, it graces the wall of the young lady currently occupying my old office, but, that’s more semantics).

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The Spin Cycle

No, I’m not talking about that setting on your washer.

Although the love for the labor of laundry that I do have is, well, ok, let’s be real, I hate doing laundry.

Wait, where was I?

Oh, the spin cycle.

Yes. I hate the spin cycle.

The Warrior

Invincible. Indestructible. Unstoppable. Unshakable. Fierce.

Words that I would love to use to describe myself. Yet, I struggle with the basics. I yearn to be that warrior that I know God has called me to be. I desire inside my core to strike out and become who He see’s me as. That unstoppable warrior who is unashamed and unabashed at living fiercely for my King and Savior.

Yet, even with such desire, I find that I fail. I see this warrior chained to a wall, slumped in the mud, covered in dirt and grime, sword just out of reach. Powerless.

How did I get here. All by myself, of my own accord.

But how do I get free? A much more important question. It is through Christ that I find my freedom. He who the Spirit sets free is free indeed. However, does this freedom mean I can do whatever I want? At what price did this freedom come? How much did it cost me?

I am free. By the grace of God and through his abundant mercy showed to me while I was yet still stuck in the mud, chained to the wall. I am free. To serve.

See, the reality of it is we will always serve one of two masters. We will serve the world, ourselves, our sinful nature. Ultimately serving the devil’s wicked schemes to destroy us.

Or, we will serve the Lord, and realize that those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.

Rise up, warrior of God, stand with your armor on, realizing that it is Jesus IN you, living THROUGH you, FOR Him..

and after doing all..

To Stand..

Are you willing…

God has called you. He prepared a way for you to come to Him. He is running down the road toward you.

Will you desperately pursue Him? Will you abandon all else to run to Him? Will you embrace the call that is drawing you home into His open arms?

The work of the cross behind us, the throne of God before us, will you heed the voice of God in your life, regardless of where it might lead you?

He did not call you to safety, security, comfort levels, or peace the way the world would understand these things.

He has called you out of darkness, He has called you out of death.

He has called you to war. He has called you to live dangerously. He has called you to action.

Wake up. Hear where He would have you go. Hear what He would have you do.

Step up, step out. Go!

And then, when you step across the door of eternity and stare the creator in the eyes you can hear these words that He will say to you…

“Well done. Enter into your rest.”

The Unarmed Warrior

Men! Warriors for Christ!

Have we laid the weapons of our warfare at the feet of devil? Have we, in the pursuit of masculinity and manhood, taken that which God would use for our benefit and bought into the lie that those weapons are to effeminate?

What knight would hand over his sword to his enemy? What cop would hand over his gun to a criminal? They wouldn’t. That would be crazy. Yet, so many Christian men have done exactly that.

You may be asking how have we done that. The answer is simple. We don’t read our Bible, the very words that God inspired to be written to lead us into all truth. We don’t pray, the very means that we can have direct communication with our maker. We don’t worship, the very act that allows us to glorify our king.

These are our weapons. And the devil has done a great job of taking these things and feminizing them, as if to read your bible, or pray, or worship, were something that women are suppose to do. “To do it wouldn’t be manly, and will only get me laughed at,” we think to ourselves. It plays on that secret fear many men have, that of being good enough. So, we just lay them down, besides, as a man, we can do it without those things, right? Wrong.

Take a look around at the men in the church. What words come to mind when you see them? Courageous? Fearless? Powerful? Timid? Unattached? Unplugged?

I, for one, am tired of being the devil’s chew toy, and I am reaching down to grab my weapons. If you are willing to take up yours (or if you are one that never has laid them down), pray for me, and others, that we can wake up and be the sleeping giant God has called His warriors to be.

Think about it…