What is your confession of faith?

I was listening to a worship playlist on Youtube whilst cleaning my room last week Sunday. Suddenly, a song came on called ‘Miracles.’ I had never heard it before but was immediately captivated by the chorus;

“I believe in you. I believe in you. You’re the God of miracles.”

I never paid much attention to it and continued to clean, and that was pretty much the end of that.

It’s now three days later and again I can hear the title of this song in my head. Even though I am working on my writing today (notice the same pattern of working and listening to worship music again,) but this time I stopped and listened. Clearly, God is speaking something through this song and I decided to turn aside and listen to Him.

When something catches your attention it is important that you stop, assess and proceed accordingly. You must identify if it is a distraction or if someone is trying to tell you something.

Just listening to the lyrics of this song, I began to well up inside. I could feel the song taking on a new meaning within me; something was being revealed.

In this version of the song I was listening to, Pastor Bill Johnson mentioned that one of the sons of the house wrote it; his child had died and this is the song that rose from him.

I stopped listening (quickly researched who it was) and found their version of the song online.

And that’s when it hit me; the question, “What is your confession of faith?” I could hear it clearly.

Chris and Alyssa Quilala wrote this song after the loss of their child. Regardless of the circumstance they were in, this was their confession of faith: “I believe in you. I believe in you. You’re the God of miracles.” Their revelation of God did not change.

Upon reflection and sharing this understanding with my mom, there were another two times when a worship song had done this to me and I have not realised:

1. Reckless Love (Cory Asbury) – he wrote this song based upon God going after the lost sheep (Luke 15) – finding the one. That God’s love for us is reckless, it will come after us in ways we cannot fathom. He puts Himself out there hoping we’d, in return, give that love back to Him.

2. Raise a Hallelujah (Jonathan Helser) – written in the fight for a young child’s life. The father of the child sent the message and when Jonathan read it he could feel a giant of unbelief step in and question losing the child. But out of Jonathan’s gut he raised this song.

Do you see it now? SONGS OF REVELATION. God is showing me that these songs are captivating me because they are songs of revelation… they reveal HIM.

This is what I wrote down:

• What is your confession of faith?
• What is it that you believe?
• What do you proclaim in times of darkness?
• The power of worship is inevitable.
• What and who do you worship?
• What and who you worship is your confession.
• What you confess, you worship – be it good or bad.

Songs of revelation open up a new dimension of worship. When you are going through anything, you must listen to your confession… this will become your song of revelation. The thing you will cling to and the thing you will keep singing – declaring.

What is your confession of faith today?

Tell Me Something Good?

Will: Don’t be sad Clark.

Clark: Tell me something good?

In times of uncertainty where we find ourselves shaken by current events and circumstances, one of our most human assets can go astray… HOPE!

Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen, to expect with confidence, expectation of fulfilment or success… TRUST. It’s the breath that causes us to rise in the morning to fight another day. The gentle voice that whispers “you’ll be ok” to the screaming mind in the midnight hour of personal hell on earth. The thing that causes us to believe in something, for something more and better to come.

Desiring not to spoil the plot of the text ‘Me Before You;’  due to the current circumstance Clark found herself in, her hearts cry manifested into one simple question, “tell me something good?”

Clark had no control over the circumstance she was in and became overwhelmed. In her constant battle with the situation, the hope that was strong in the beginning began to grow weary… fail.

When hope fails, vision changes. We can no longer see; or can with very little illumination, the things which once were. The things we used to have hope in or for. You could say that we die a little more and more inside.

In a world where diseases strike nations, systems collapse, the true natures of men (people) are revealed, nature suffers, the climate shifts and uncertainty strangles any chance of a bright future, WHAT is our hope and WHO is speaking it?

THERE IS A VOICE…

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. (1 Samuel 30:6 – English Standard Version)

When David (from the bible) was downcast because of external situations around him, he internally strengthened himself in God. God was the WHAT and WHO of his hope.

Will: I wi-li-lished I li-li-lived in Molahonkey la-la-land. The la-la-land where I-li-li was bo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo lorn…

When Clark was downcast, Will sang the childhood song her father sang to her when she wasn’t well. The song of her father became the WHAT and WHO of her hope.

We all need an answer to this question. God was David’s answer. Clark’s father’s childhood song was her answer. When neither of them could answer their own question, their true source of hope revealed the answer to them. What’s your answer?

With everything that is going on around us and every circumstance we find or have ever found ourselves in, WHAT and WHO is our hope? What is its source?

Our heart is manifesting the question, “tell me something good? Our hope is the thing that will answer this question. Your WHAT and WHO is its source. Let us examine the true source of our hope.

 

 

 

It’s not so bad being in the light

After watching the recent film release, ‘Glass‘ by M. Night Shyamalan, a quote from Kevin (actor James McAvoy) has stained my thinking. He says,

It’s not so bad being in the light.

If you have watched ‘Split‘ or have any prequel knowledge to the character of Kevin (without me providing any or further SPOILERS), there’s insight into why Kevin’s personalities formed. A key element to this (in my opinion) was LOVE.

Lack, no or mis-used love can deeply affect a person. Whether it is initiated by that individual themselves or inflicted by another, its effects can be damaging to a person’s whole well-being. We see an example of this with Kevin, having unfortunate results.

Kevin became lost in being protected by his other personalities. Most of us can identify with hiding behind something in order to avoid dealing with situations or circumstances from our past, especially if we were deeply hurt in our hearts.

We all have our hiding experiences. Sometimes it is just easier to let another voice take over. Look at Adam and Eve when they disobeyed what God had instructed them to do (Genesis 3) – they hid. Elijah hid from Jezebel – we all have our moments with our personal reasons.

Kevin’s horrific past caused him to hide amongst others who would protect him – no more being in the light or having to face what happened. The thing is that at some point in our lives, that which we feel or think crushed us can actually present itself before us again.

In the latter part of the film we see this through an encounter between Kevin and Casey. Casey (actress Anya Taylor-Joy), previously ill-treated by Kevin and his personalities, reintroduces LOVE back to Kevin. Bypassing all his other personalities through true, genuine care and affection, Casey brought Kevin back to the surface.

True love will always bring us out of hiding if we are courageous enough to make the choice to be open to it. True love will always cause us to come out of the darkness. True love will present us with questions as to why we are hiding and what we are hiding from.

God called out to Adam in the garden (Genesis 3:9),

And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

God came to Elijah in his cave (1Kings 19:13),

When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Why would He not do the same for us?

It takes strength and courage to face our past, the things that we think and feel crushed us – to deal with what happened and its effects on us. In an earlier exchange between Kevin and Casey, Kevin came to the surface but wasn’t ready to face his past. It’s not always the walk in the park we wish it would be. Kevin hid for a little longer – do you?

Casey and Kevin

In the latter part of the film there is another exchange between Casey and Kevin. This is the thing I love about TRUE LOVE, it presents itself more than once to us – it’s relentless in coming back to help us.

In this later encounter, The Beast is present. Kevin’s worst state is present when love comes knocking. This is quite like reality, when we are at our most vulnerable, weakest, cruelest, animalistic, hard heartened state, love comes knocking at our door trying to come in. I think we can identify with Kevin, don’t you?

One touch from Casey caused Kevin to resurface even though the Beast was in control. True love, if we allow it, will bring us back to our original state. No matter how hurt, vulnerable, damaged or broken we are, true love knows how to break through and transform us. True love tells us it may hurt or look impossible, but that there is a way out.

I always thought that The Beast was the strongest, but I was soo wrong… Kevin is the strongest. For me, Casey represented true love – someone that will cause you to become who you really are… your true self.

The Bible says God is love (1John 4:7). It also says that He stands at the door knocking and will come in if we let Him (Revelation 3:20). If a film can show what true love from a person can do, how much more can love Himself do for us?

Kevin (for me) represents humanity. Life can break us and we suffer at its hands, but I believe that TRUE LOVE can heal, deliver and transform us into the person that we were always meant to be, created to be… our true selves.

I hope you will find strength and courage to let love in. No matter what your past and other voices tell you, TRUE LOVE will always conquer all.

 

Have you died in your past?

I’ve become lost in my films again people! This time it’s Me Before You (stunning book and screenplay written by Jojo Moyes and film directed by Thea Sharrock). Such a beautiful, realism romance story – a real tear-jerker. I really wish I could get lost in this element… can you feel the “but” coming? BUT, I actually learned something quite interesting in such a short space of time. Whether I have fully accepted and processed it is another story, but I want to share the thought with you. I ask you this simple question;

Come and take a walk with me…

The above question was internally posed to me when I had suddenly become drawn to a specific scene of the film. Towards the end, whilst on the beach at night, Louise pours her heart out about how she feels and what the future can hold for herself and William.

Louise sharing her heart with Will

 

 

“Listen, I know this is not how you would have chosen it, but I can make you happy.” – Louise 

 

 

Lou was so happy because she thought she changed Will’s decision to live. It was in this moment when the question began to knock hard on the door of my heart. Will said;

Will telling Louise “no.”

 

“No, no Clark. I get that this could be a good life, but it’s not my life. It’s not even close. You never saw me before. I loved my life. I really loved it…” – Will

 

 

 

No matter how much life had changed for Will; for the better in the last six months, he still wanted to end his life. I want us to remove Will’s story and replace it with our own, our own life. Again, I ask you; “Have you died in your past?”

Will could not face the fact that his life had changed because he died in his old life. After his accident, Will became a different person due to circumstances. He missed the life he used to live and who he used to be in that life. I know I’m not the only person in the world to think “gosh, I miss my past.” We all have our “I miss…” moments. Times when we think about something from our past: a trip or holiday, friends and family where relationships have changed, jobs or career choices, when we made a stupid decision, when we danced or sung, when we had a favourite film or television programme, when we cried in the bathroom, when we got drunk or smoked, when we went clubbing; etc. We’re only human, we miss things from time-to-time, it’s normal. Missing a part of our past is not a problem, but if you have died in that past moment, there is a problem as your present is infected and your future is being affected.

I want you to understand that there is a difference between dying in your past and dying to your past.

1. Dying in your past is when a situation or circumstance has affected you so much that you cannot let go and you died with it. When something similar presents itself, you react the same as you did before or become numb because you never really dealt with it. It means you died in the past and are not; or struggling, to live in the present. You haven’t let go.
2. Dying to your past is accepting that a situation or circumstance changed you, but when it presents itself in the present, you respond differently because you accepted and began, or did deal with it. It means you are or have moved on.

For Will, it was a motorbike accident leaving him disabled from the neck down with other health problems, that caused him to not see a better future outside of his past. He just couldn’t see anymore, no matter how good his present had become and great his future really was. I ask you another question; “What was your accident?”

What crippled you? (metaphorically speaking). What is it that has left you dying? What was the situation, circumstance or person that left you dead? What past moment can you not see beyond? This could be mentally, spiritually, physically or emotionally. We are all individuals and our accidents will be different to each of us. Rhetorical questions are always the most uncomfortable because if you let yourself speak to yourself, you find out what is really inside of you, what you really believe and think.

Thinking of your own story, do not be afraid to find life again in your present. Your future can be great if you will die to your past and not die in your past. Miss the memories and don’t die in them. If you have, I’m here to let you know that there is a different way. You can live again! It might be hard but there is always hope. Ask yourself the rhetorical questions above and ultimately answer the title of this blog post. Find good, wise counsel in people. Seek good advice and find life again. Take baby steps that build heart again, encourage you to see and live again. IT IS POSSIBLE!

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Even though Will chose not to live, in the last six months of his life he actually lived in the present moment. He changed Lou’s future even though he couldn’t change his own. The film shows that you can live if you will just go through the process of being changed, coming out of your past and seeing life; not death, in your future NO MATTER what the circumstances or situations.

Be free from your past, awake in your present and alive for your future. 

 

 

 

Living Out of the Past

For quite a while now I have had this image of a large, square shaped, medium-brown shaded suitcase on a bed. Inside the suitcase are neatly folded clothes which are being taken out by someone. What came to me with this image were the words, ‘living out of the past’.

The clothes in the suitcase simply represented our issues, situations, and circumstances from the past, the suitcase represented our future, and the process of closing the case and carrying it to our destination represented our present.

With this image in mind, I simply have one question for you: What are you carrying in your present from your past that you shouldn’t be?

Sometimes our past (gone by, elapsed in time, having existed in or having occurred during a time previous to the present,) can hinder (to cause delay, interruption, difficulty in) our future. It is important that we go back and deal with our past, and deal with it well, as we cannot afford to take it into our future.

In order to deal with your past you have to understand and know what exactly you are doing. You have to be able to see it and accept it for what it is. Don’t hide from it, but face it. For Christians, this is walking with the Holy Spirit (Spirit of God) and asking Him to help you deal with your past; He is your helper (John 16:7, John 14:26). Otherwise, you might seek out wise counsel; the right counsel, and speak to those who can truly help and show you the right way. Those that can point you in the right direction. The past isn’t something you just hack into with no wisdom. You must be wise and strong.

Professor X helped Wolverine deal with his past

However, what stood out to me the most about the suitcase was the neatly folded clothes. Sometimes our past; our experiences, can be so damaging that rather than dealing with them, we neatly box them (hold onto them and everything associated with them) and carry them in our present; ultimately into our futures. We choose to keep the baggage rather than let it go.

Can you image what it is like to put these clothes (our past) back on?

Can you imagine wearing your past constantly?

What does this look like for you?

We choose to love the pain rather than drain it from our systems. Sometimes it is easier to live with it than deal with it, BUT this isn’t the way forward to living in life. Holding onto the past can be very dangerous. Over a large life-span, rather than living for the future, you are dying for the past.

Make the decision to deal with your past today. Whether it be journalling your emotions, praying, seeking wise counsel from another; begin the process. As hard as it can be, don’t die to your future because of your past. Find the courage to look back and NEVER stay there. Learn from it; never continually grieve (distress mentally, sorrow) in it. Don’t put your past back on.

With What Measure Do You Judge?

Interesting question isn’t it? You’re probably wondering where I am going with this, and I can surely say it’s not the route of judgment you may initially think of… it’s simply a question of perspective.

The word judge means ‘a person who decides the results of a competition, a person able or qualified to give an opinion on something, or to form an opinion or conclusion about’. At some point in our lives we all become a judge, whether this be of a person, situation or circumstance; etc, we all form an opinion (a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge) about something or someone. However, what I want to pose to you today is whether you judge based upon truth or subjectivity?

If something is true then it is ‘real or in accordance with fact or reality‘. Whereas, to be subjective is to be ‘based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions; or, dependent on the mind or on an individual’s perception of its existence’. When applied to judging things, this can mean that your truth and opinion can become opposites of one another if not aligned together accurately. When you ponder this for a moment; let it really sink in, it can actually be quite dangerous.

What does this have to do with perspective? Well, how you see (physically, spiritually and mentally discern; assess, find out, recognise) can change your measure of judgment. We usually define the word measure in terms of mathematics by giving a size, amount or degree to something. This is correct, but now I want you to apply this to everything and everyone you judge… again, things become interesting.

Give it a try… think of something or someone and apply what I just said above. What are your thoughts now saying? What is your heart pouring out? What are the emotions suggesting? Has the importance, effect, or value of that thing or someone changed? Have you made a comparison, and if so is this true or subjective? What did you measure that thing or person by? Have you assessed and concluded this for yourself, or are you dependent upon a past experience, emotion, or view and speech of another? Things have changed right?

This is not meant to condemn (guilty, punishment, sentence, disapprove) you, but IT IS meant to challenge you. We have to make sure we base our judgments upon truth and not subjectivity. Sometimes our opinions or what we have heard from others can be warped, partial, deceived, or even wrong. We need to measure for ourselves, and make sure it is based upon truth.

Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By your own standard of measurement [that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom] it will be measured to you [and you will be given even greater ability to respond]—and more will be given to you besides.

Mark 4:24 (The Amplified version).

As a Christian, the Word of God (the Bible) is our measuring stick (2Peter 1:3, 2Timothy 3:16-17, Acts 17:11). We are taught to test things (1John 4:1, Ephesians 4:14), and study (2Timothy 2:15), so this should be what we use to measure and judge by. The problem can be in our perspective.

As humans; oftentimes, we are given or shown something and we have our own vision, thoughts, and opinions of how it should be or look like. In Isaiah 55:8, the Lord says that his thoughts and ways are not ours. This is why we must measure by truth and not subjectivity. In my pastor’s (Pastor Michael DaCosta) message titled ‘Preparing For The Harvest’ he said something very key when put into context of this blog post.

‘It’s a sad thing when we destroy our own harvest by our own actions. – Michael DaCosta’

If our judgment is not based on truth, then we can be at risk of destroying what is ours. We need to ask God to clean our hearts, and renew our spirits and minds (Psalm 51:10, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23). We need to stop, think, and pray before responding.

Even if you do not believe, follow God, or follow another religion; etc, you must be able to see the principle at hand here? If we do not see correctly, then how can we be sure that what we are doing and how we are doing it is correct? We must know that we must build and establish something on truth and not myth, gossip, or rumour.

I pledge you to think about how you measure your judgments – truth or subjectivity? Again, this is not a condemning post, it is a thought-provoking ‘change your mind‘ message that is purposed to change your life; becoming better.