God Is A lot Like Forrest Gump

This is not really a blog post per say like my others but really just a thought for the day. This thought came to my mind suddenly and I wish to share it with you. Before everyone starts wondering where I am going with comparing God to Forrest Gump just give me a moment and let me show you what I mean.

This film is about a good hearted but slow man, Forrest Gump, who sits on a bench and shares his life story in which he has seemed to have embarked upon, being personally involved with most major events in history during the last half of the 20th Century.

Revelations 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (English Standard Version)

The above scripture simply implies that God is waiting to come into a persons life, he is waiting for them to open up their heart and life to him so he can come in and be with that person. The seat next to Forrest Gump was always empty and once filled he shared his life with them, a lot like God does when he is invited into someone’s life. When we meet with God it is like no other encounter or communication that we have ever had or experienced before. He graciously shares all with us. Everything about himself, his Word (the Bible) and life itself. We become enlightened and gain understanding of things that we never knew before, we start life again as if we have just taken our first breath of life again.

God is a lot like Forrest Gump because he is always there, waiting for us; he never leaves. God is not mentally or physically like Forrest Gump and does not have the exact same stories but their characteristics are the same. Forrest Gump never leaves the bench until his story is finished, he keeps speaking regardless of who is sitting on the bench. God is the same; waiting for us to come to him so he can share his story with us and ours with him, no matter who we are (Acts 10:34-35). He wants to share every little detail and build an intimate eternal relationship with us individually.

Psalm 91: 14-16

Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him. I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.

John 3:16

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his unique Son so that everyone who believes in him might not be lost but have eternal life. (International Standard Version).

It is great to hear others testimonies and personal experiences with God. It is great to hear people tell you about Jesus and what he did for all humanity (died on the cross to take away all the sins- wrong doings- of humanity and resurrected on the third day. Allowing man to return back to God by relationship through Jesus). God clearly loves us and always has regardless of what we have done, do and will do. We can not just hear about God from others, we must know him for ourselves. We must have our own personal revelation of what he did for us and who he is to us. The best part of this is that he wants to share himself with us. He wants to tell us about himself, he wants to tell us his story.

Man (universal context) disappoints and lets each other down. God is the opposite, he is always there because that is who he is, it is his nature; character.

Joshua 1:5

There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (King James Version)

Sometimes we all need to be reminded that God is not like man and that he never leaves us. Our situations and the world around us may make us feel like God is nowhere to be seen but just like Forrest Gump never stops sharing his story, neither does God; his arms are wide open.

Luke 15:11-32

Then he said, there was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father. When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again. But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time. All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day’s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound. The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!. His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and he’s found!. (The Message Version).

Be encouraged and regardless of whether you know God or not that he is there, you just have to reach out or as in Forrest Gump; just sit on the bench and there he will be waiting for you and ready to share his story with you through his son Jesus.

Sing For Me…

The Phantom of the opera is there, inside my mind…. sing, sing my angel of music…. arrr——- sing for me… arrr—— sing for me… arrr—— sing for me… arrr—— sing for me.

The above quote are lyrics taken from the spectacular musical performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s ‘Phantom of the Opera‘ at the Royal Albert Hall for the shows 25th anniversary. What captivated me about these words were the separately sung lines “sing for me” by the five phantoms (John Owen Jones, Ramin Karimloo, Anthony Warlow, Colm Wilkinson and Peter Joback).

Each phantom in reality took it in terms to say the line to show the changing faces of the phantoms through the years but let’s put a whole new spin on this… let’s go all mental. In reality there is only one phantom but what this scene shows if we look at it mentally is that there are many voices. Without going too deep just think back to one event, one moment when you have decided to do something or even been in a situation where your mind has come to realms of exploding because there are many different voices speaking.

Arrr—– sing for me… arrr—— sing for me… arrr—— sing for me… arrr—— sing for me.

There is only ONE true voice, only ONE real voice; the others are not.

I recently read Elijah’s story in the Bible when he was threatened by Jezebel and he basically legged it (1Kings 17-19). For those who are or are not familiar with it, in chapter 19 Elijah goes to Mount Sinai and spends the night in a cave. God calls to him asking him what is he doing there and Elijah repeats the same statement summarising he is he only one (a true prophet of God) left and that people are out to kill him like they did the others. So later on in that same chapter there was a major windstorm followed by an earthquake and then a fire. After the fire there was a silent whispher. Does this sound familiar?

You make a decision, there’s soo much drama and thoughts that it is hard to find the right answer. You are planning something and your mind becomes really creative that you have so many thoughts you do not know which idea to use or start with. You read, listen to or watch something and you want to know more but because there are so many different sources and stories you have no idea which one is real or not. Then sometimes you just follow a bubble and believe what you want to believe and pursue it, however it does not always mean it is right.

Arrr—– sing for me… arrr—— sing for me… arrr—— sing for me… arrr—— sing for me.

Just like Christine (the female lead from Phantom of the Opera), you hear many voices that are not real. The “arrr—–” representing you are asking all the questions, finding out things, etc but the “sing for me” representing the many ‘other’ voices you hear allowing you not to be able to hear or think properly, confusion and no mental decision made strong.

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8 (King James version).

Even if you do not follow the Bible, this scripture still stands as truth. Let me out it like this, have you ever asked an indecisive person to make a decision? They can not make a decision as they do not stand strong on any one thing. Have you ever made a decision then heard something else and all of a sudden you become confused? You did not solidly stand on your decision otherwise you would not of become confused. See, the scripture still stands as when you are double minded, you can’t stand as there is no solid decision or action made.

This is what makes Elijah’s story great as he couldn’t stand because the same thing he believed was now tested. Where he once stood strong in being a prophet of the real God and speaking against those who were not had become the man who now is running. However after the winds, earthquakes and fire there was a ‘GENTLE WHISPHER‘. With everything else going on, there was still a moment of truth and peace. It is like when they say the eye of the storm is the calmest part. This is the sound we are looking for, the gentle whispher in sound after the storm- in the stress, in the depression, in the suicidal thoughts, in the lust, in the evil thinking… that gentle whispher which is the RIGHT voice. The voice of reasoning, conviction, right morale and TRUTH.

This is the crazy part, finding the gentle whispher/ eye IN the storm. With everything that is going on around us, all the murders, all the lies, all the depression, etc… we can only look to seek the truth and find those who have REAL truth. Whether you know God or not, seeking real truth will bring a peace to your storm.

³¹ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8 (King James version).

The above scripture says Jesus is the truth and his word (the truth) will set you free. I know that many people do not believe in God or Jesus and come from many different belief systems and religions; however I plea you to find real truth in your lives and not to be caught tangled in the ‘other’ voices. Just because you hear a voice it does not mean it is right and you should follow it. This can lead to very damaging consequences in life.

An Antidote For Pain

Tears from the inside out

I woke up this morning and one of the first things I did was cry. Lets face it, crying is no stranger to me but quite a close friend, we could be BFF’s most of the time. Lets just say that I am quite in touch with my emotions, not always being a good thing. It means I get hurt easily and most often take things to heart and out of context. I will not use the excuse of “I’m only human”, that’s really not what it is all about but the truth of the matter is how do you deal with the pain of your heart?     Most times I just sit and cry but no ordinary cry- a pain cry. Situations and circumstances overwhelm the heart and become a bit too much, the eyes become blinded by the object rather than the truth or positivity. A pain cry is no ordinary cry, it’s a cry of the heart- an inside out cry. The tears you cry are not just an emotional reaction but are speaking the language of your heart. Sometimes people can be in so much pain that they don’t even cry anymore, they wrap it all up into a little box and lock it up within side them. It sometimes becomes too much. People can speak words of encouragment, positivity and truth but it makes no difference as the heart is too hurt to receive anything. We are a great people; we have many different talents and giftings- we can do much but how do we deal with an inside pain?

• Do you speak to someone?
• Do you take drugs and get high to forget about it?
• Do you drink to numb the pain?
• Turn up the music and turn off the emotions?
• Do you have countless sex to forget about things?
• Do you find the wrong acceptance or love in others?
• Do you lock it up?
• Do you physically hurt yourself?

Which catergory is yours? Are there more? Only we personally and individually can answer these questions to ourselves truthfully about the habits we have built or allowed to form in our lives but an even greater question is: What is happening inside me?

Like I have said before in previous posts, we need to deal with ourselves and our lives but PAIN… this is something different, a different kind of experience and emotion. We have to make sure that we deal with pain properly and over time, getting the correct healing and taking the correct measures to get healing whether it be physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually. We don’t just get over pain, it’s a process. People may of hurt you in any way you can’t even think about never mind describe, you may of experienced loss or loss of a loved one or it could be something else- many options. Pain is very real but you must remember that regardless you are never alone. Seek help that can help you but first recognise it yourself; if you never want to change then you never will.

Crying is one of the best releases of my own pain in my life for me. I’ve got to a pain where crying is no longer enough, the pain is still there. The release happens but the heart still hurts. I have Jesus Christ in my life and I still find it hard. I am supposed to go to him with all my problems and burdens but I don’t. How do you cope? A good old cry is more amazing than you think, it’s a good start. However like any other start you must continue until you finish. Like a drug rehabilitation programme, you must finish it to see a greater result. Crying is the start of the antidote but it is no where near the end of it. Be encouraged to find your antidote for your pain, the start to the finish.

Walking With A Broken Heart

Image Courtesy of Sarah G

When we look back into the history of the human race we can see a lifetime full of chaos and wars that have left us wounded. Every human till this very day walks with some sort of wound (whether we want to say so or not). But the problem is not when we are wounded, the problem is what we do after we’ve been wounded.If a child falls over immediately a first instinct is to clean the wound, however how the wound is cleaned varies. Some may clean it with water, some may clean it with some form of antiseptic cream/wipe, and others may use salt, and so on. So how do we clean the wounds in our lives? Do we turn to men and women to fill these deep hurts? Do we turn to drugs or drinks thinking that they’ll help get rid of the deep hurts even if only for a moment? Do we get angry and take it out verbally/psychologically/physically on others as the hurt just overwhelms inside? What do you do?

Every time we get wounded, physically or spiritually, there’s an impact on our heart. When we get mad heart problems can arise, when we cheat on partners or get cheated on we suffer from broken hearts, when we have not got over the abuse (physical/sexual/mental, etc) from our past our hearts have been wounded and left us and our behaviours with effects. It goes on and on but the question is WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DEAL WITH MY WOUNDS? Or have I even dealt with my wounds or just pushed them under a mat?

It’s not easy to deal with a wound, whether it’s a scratch or a flesh wound. We maybe all human but we are still all different. We have our own individual ways of dealing with what we go through or have gone through in our lives. The problem only comes when we don’t deal with it.

My point is deal with your wounds before they deal with you, effects can be very damaging. Have wisdom in how you deal with the wounds, don’t just do what you want or feel. Just like what Professor Xavier says to Jean Grey in X-Men 3 that she should control her gifts before they control her.