Le Chamelèon

The chameleon.   We all have heard the phrase, "true colors."  I believe God created things to remind us and give us examples of any message He wishes us to learn.  The chameleon changes colors in any environment it touches in order to blend in and be unseen.  We can liken this animal to what God wants to teach us about blending into certain people, group or circumstances in order to  fit in.

With it, integrity comes to mind.  There are some people out there who try to chameleon themselves into certain groups, relationships, situations, etc.  They morph themselves into the person they are with in order to be accepted or even loved by the other.  They are people pleasers.  The problem with that is they lose their true identities.  A woman will please her man to feed their own insecurities thinking that this will keep the relationship intact.  They figure out later on that feeding into someone's personality is the total opposite of what the we want.  We all compliment  our opposite.  Just a fact of life.  She has not learned that two opposites working together create a strong bond just like two polar opposites of the magnets attract.  When that happens, each can contribute to the other to become whole.

The same goes with church goers.  They spend the time in church in order to be accepted by a Christian group.  However, sooner or later, the "true colors" will come out and contaminates the group.  

The same goes with political figures.  A man runs for office, tells the nation a lie to do what is good for the country and once in office, transgresses into his own agenda.

We have to be mindful of ourselves when it comes to being a chameleon.  Did you notice I said "ourselves?"  Yes, because there is nothing we can do about others.  We are only in control of our own destiny, our own fate.  We are accountable for our own actions.  Let us not waste our time being in a relationship where we magnify someone else's imperfection by just riding the wave with them.  I don't mean conflict, I just mean mixing our own worth into the relationship so each would see the difference in people and embrace those differences.  The caveat to being a chameleon or morphing into a relationship is that dissatisfaction will slowly surface and then resentment sets in.  When resentment sets in, then it leads to another broken relationship. 

Here is my God pitch then.  When we morph ourselves into God, then we cannot fail.  When we are on the path where God wants us to be, it is fail-proof.  Why?  Because God's way is perfect.  When we choose His way, we have no recourse but to have integrity.  God blesses those who bless Him.  He was serious when He said, there is no other way to Him except through Jesus.  So if that is true, any of our ways as humans do not and will not reach God.  But when we do what God wants in our relationship, how can it ever fail?  Think about what God really wants us to be for others and then morph into that.

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

IN THE MIDST OF DARKNESS

(Used Acrylic skins to collage)

It has been said that light chases darkness, but darkness cannot chase light.  Light simply cycles itself and technically leaves, and darkness happens.  

Do you notice that darkness seems to be associated with sadness?  When our hearts break, when we are sick, when we are in pain, when we are grieving, darkness seems to heighten the emotion.  

In the light of day, everyone is awake.  If we needed comfort, someone is there to assist us.  Friends and family are available to speak with, but at night, when everyone is in a slumber, hardly anyone is there for us.

God didn't promise that our lives would be free of difficulties.  He did not promise us perfection and that we will, as human beings exposed to satan, experience grief, sadness, strain, etc.  What He did promise is that He will be there with us and will never allow us to experience more than what we can endure.  

This is our life as human beings still living in this world that is ridden with pain, loss, hurt, and suffering.  

In Revelation 21, Jesus promises His return and His new city will merge with ours.  He also promises no more pain, suffering, etc.  which makes sense because there will be no more darkness.  Our bodies will be transformed into perfect ones.  There will be no more death.  We will live with Jesus forever!  I can only imagine!  Praise be to the Lord!  These are the things, His promises, that we have to focus on.  It absolutely makes living in this imperfect world a lot easier to handle. 

God knows our hearts and He knows that the people who love Him will seek Him sooner or later and He will have His arms outstretched for us to run to.  He will have His arms around us until we can adjust to whatever ails us, until we can stand back up on our own and be able to move on with the knowledge that He is there with us to support us along the way.  He loves us dearly and each and every one of us is precious in His eyes!

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

BLOW IT IN A BUBBLE AND LET IT GO

Easier said than done, you say.  I can relate.  There are trying times in our lives where as human beings we seem to hold on to worry and stress even though we know that God has a plan for us.  Whether or not you are faced with Christian memes on Facebook, sometimes friends' advice bombard you, we tend to hang on to our worries like we have been conditioned all our lives.

I get it.  It's very hard to let that stuff go.  That is because in this world where the devil runs amok, he is right there telling you that God is really not helping you get through your circumstances and to be fair, we all believe it.  It's not that easy to just let it go, because we think that if we do, it the worst will unravel right before our very eyes, as if the alternative would really help it anyway.

The visual I present to you for this message is exactly what I did.  I used to love the saying, "when you are faced with bad situations, pretend to blow it out in a bubble and watch it float away."  That was before my relationship with God was strong.  But I can tell you as I sit here writing to you, there is still that human emotion that won't let it go.  I have to force myself to do it sometimes.

I would pray about the things that worry me and ask God to take it.  Then reluctantly, I visualize myself giving it up to Him to handle.  Whenever that little evil voice tells me it ain't gonna happen, I silence it with, "If God is for me, who could be against me?" and "No weapons formed against me will ever prosper."  Then, I follow it up with the vision of God being the almighty power and if He can't fix it, no one can.  Somehow, I am able to gather up the courage to fully let it go!  Yes, it is hard to get through those steps but with the right attitude, the right heart, it IS possible!  Because after all, with God ALL things are possible.  He didn't say some, he said ALL!

Coming back from vacation, I knew that my classes at Michaels would grow stale.  If the vacation wasn't already planned, I wouldn't have gone at all.  I didn't want to have that pause in the flow because I believed that the more I put my schedule out there, the more people would flock to my classes.  However, to make a long story short, what I thought would happen, happened.  Imagine the heartbreak I had when the parking lot was thin as I parked to do my first class coming back from vacation.  I used to be able to at least talk with people coming in and introduce myself but that wasn't even possible.

I felt defeated.  I asked God, how can I get people to come?  At that point I just surrendered myself to Him.  "Here God, you do it."  The day after next there was another class scheduled.  I called and got the same response, no sign-ups.  As I sat here today, I see a message from the store saying someone IS signed up after all.  Yes, I didn't have a full class, but I knew right there that the grace of God was upon me.  It's like He said, small proof but proof nonetheless.  Praise God, give Him the glory!  I love it when I get that from God here and there.  It wasn't a grandiose thing BUT it is His way of telling me, I'm still here working in the background for you.  I bet His grandiose proof is now on the way, and you know what?  It will be more than I expected or imagined.  

For now I wait... in the meantime, I blow it out in a bubble, let it go... and let God!

Until my next rant.... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!