The Nesting Doll Principle

Nesting dolls are popular and made mostly in Russia.  I’ve searched the meaning of the nesting doll concept online and the only comparison I found was likened to an onion.  Each skin, as it is peeled is like the one before but smoother and healthier.

I thought about this a little bit more.  As we grow more mature and gain wisdom of the true meaning of life, we begin to get deeper and deeper in ourselves.  When I was younger, the hustle and bustle of daily living was all I could focus on.  My relationship with God was more on the back burner, only to tend to it when I needed a prayer answered.  As I grew more mature in my relationship with God, I have been able to get more and more in touch with the deeper layer of my heart and the deeper I touch, the bigger God became.  I found myself relying more and more on Him, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, all at once.  The more transparent I was with God, the more motivated I was to stay in His lane, meaning detouring from a sinful nature, into a blessed nature.

Just like a nesting doll, the more we dig into each layer, the smaller and smaller we become and the bigger God becomes in our lives.  Each doll in encased in one larger than it, the largest one being God and we are engulfed and protected by Him.

Until my next rant… LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

GREED

The silent sin that kills.  In a dog-eat-dog world, wherein we all strive to succeed, greed an act that is pretty much undetected because it cloaks itself  as a normal human factor to survive.  We work hard to gain worldly possessions, have the best of the best in life, or even finance some of our lavish habits.  It all boils down to what can we do to gain more and more. 

We all have the fundamental sin of greed.  It is undetected because it feels like everyone is doing it so we do not feel the need to ask God to forgive us for it.  That’s where the danger lies.  In every listing of the seven deadly sins, greed is present and the evidence of greed in our everyday lives is very real.

What most people don’t understand is that you can be a greedy rich person, or you can be a greedy poor person.  Greed is the monster that saps your strength, your energy and your emotions.  Left unchecked, it will dominate your life.  In the late 1970’s a gallup survey revealed that 50% of college freshmen were just as interested in having a meaningful life as they were in achieving financial security.  In a similar survey conducted in 1987, 81% of college freshmen were more interested in financial security than they were in building a meaningful life.  This means the numbers don’t lie.  As years progress, having a meaningful life is overshadowed by financial gain.  The sin of greed has made inroads through the years.

For a culture that is bent on getting and choked with greed there is a way out.  It is called giving.  Greed is killed by giving.  If you own something you cannot give away, then you don’t own it, instead, it owns you.  If you are not satisfied with what you have and instead driven by a desire to have more “just a little bit more,” then you can slay that greed dragon by the virtue of giving.  Give until it hurts!  Then keep giving until it begins to feel better.  You’ll be surprised at the liberating feeling giving brings.

In Luke 12:15 (NLT) he said, “Beware!  Guard against every kind of greed.  Life is not measured by how much you own.” 

Do you have a lot of giving to do?  Until my next rant…. LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!!

LOVE MAKES A DIFFERENCE

     How many times have you gotten caught in the web of other people's jealousy, belittling, criticism, and small-mindedness?  We are merely human, with emotions of the flesh which cause us to react to these types of people.  For whatever reason they do what they do, we need to stand our ground and remember that they don't control our destiny.  God does.  

    People who don't celebrate you, your successes and achievements, people who will try to make you feel small, people who are jealous of you.  These people are merely distractions in life designed to tempt you into their own shallowness to prevent you from God's best.  Your purpose in life is too important, time too valuable to get caught up in it.

   The ultimate judge in your life is God.  Only God.  God tells you that you are designed in His image, blessed you with his grace and glory, giving you authority over evil and the power to do His work just by using your words and prayers!  So if God says that about you, why listen and give credence to what the jealous, critical and small-minded people say?  Who has more authority in your life?  If you listen to those people instead, that poison will seep inside of you and you will find yourself fighting a battle that you were never supposed to fight to begin with!

     Isaiah 54 says that no weapons formed against me shall ever prosper!  God says that you will see His wonders, meaning; His protection, His vindication and His favor!

    You are not defined by your past, God says you are being prepared for the future.  The future lies within God in His Glory.  We need to shut the world's noise in our heads and start listening to only one God for He is AWESOME!!!!!

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

SPEAK NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE

 

CHARCOAL AND ACRYLIC

Literally!  The solemn truth is that Jesus is just waiting for us to speak up.  Fact.  God created everything using his WORD.  Fact, in order for our prayers to be answered we have to speak it into fruition.  Yes, we need to pray for God to give us what we need.  However, with prayer, we also have to believe that we already have it.  There is a distinct difference, though.  The difference is that if what we are asking for is in line with God's will, He will definitely answer our prayer.  That is what we are called to do.  We are called to distinguish the difference between selfish prayers and prayers that furthers the kingdom of God.  Of course our flesh wants what it wants.  We are sinners to begin with.  We may want something we see others have.  A house, a car, a happy family, a great career.  We sometimes waste our time trying to take or desire someone else's blessings because we do not want to make the effort to achieve it on our own.

The Bible says it simply, in 2 Corinthians 4:13 says "But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, so I spoke." The beauty in God's blessings are the words you speak into fruition.  Whether it is healing, hoping or happiness.  

If we don't speak up and ask God what it is we need, we will never ever experience the true love of God (agape love).  Jesus also said, in Matthew 7:7 "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives.  Everyone who seeks, finds.  And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."  If you believe this, ask.  God will answer your prayers and you know what's cool about it?  His timing is PERFECT!  Just as He is!

Until my next rant... LOVE ONE ANOTHER!

Go Ahead, Get Silly! Be Yourself!

 

Chacoal, Ink and Watercolor on Watercolor Paper

There is a misconstruction out there that Christians are square, boring and straight-laced.  Well, yes, some of them are.  But just because Christians are placed at a higher expectation, it doesn't mean it they cannot experience joyful acts like, being silly, dancing, playing, etc.

Real Christians are joyful.  Joyful in a sense that we are at a level higher than happy.  Why?  Because we are allowed to be so by the Holy Spirit in us.  Ever hear of the phrase, "high on oneself?" 

When the most dominant intention in one's life is LOVE,  joyfulness follows.  The fact that God is in control, in the driver's seat, and the carrier of our burdens, opens us up to a sense of freedom, liberated from everyday nuances and lies the devil throws our way.  Once joyful, true Christians are not ashamed to show their carefree attitudes and would never feel guilty for being joyful.  That's what God wants for us.  When we are walking in His will, all others can take hike.  No criticism is sharp enough to burst our bubbles.  We walk around with huge smiles on our faces, so big that people start to wonder what makes us tick.  To that the answer is simple... walk in the Will of God and God will handle the rest.

You see, giving into the flesh is not worth it.  Fleshly pleasure is temporary.  It is also very deadly, not only physically but spiritually and emotionally.

Case in point.  Premarital sex.  Sure it is exciting to do but ultimately, it is empty and not blessed by God.  When something is not blessed by God, it is bound to collapse and deteriorate because God is not in the middle nor will He EVER be in the middle of premarital sex.  A lot of people struggle with this.  I don't blame them.  There are people who would say, why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?  Or, before I buy the car, I have to test drive it.  Yes, that's funny but according to God Word, sex is meant for marriage because the sexual act unites two people as one.  This is why break-ups are so painful.  It is because for every time you have sex with someone, you become intimately one with him or her.  After a break-up, a piece of you has gone away with that person.

Think twice or thrice or a few thousand times before indulging in acts that sin against God and ask yourself, "Was it worth it?"

When you are deep inside God's love, that is all you need to fulfill your very best joyous self, that you would not seek fulfillment from others for completion.  Really, God is all we need.

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

The Contessa - Today's Art

SHARING - "Contessa" Acrylic on paper

ARE YOU ON THE FENCE?

There is a saying most of us like to use when referring to big decisions we’re not so sure of and that is, “I’m on the fence about it.”  Almost persuaded but still thinking about it.  It’s ok if the decisions we are about to make are minuscule and insignificant compared to our eternal future.  I, for one, would not get caught dead (pun intended) without certainty of what my eternal future is.  Accepting Jesus in my life is the biggest decision I have ever made.  It was very easy because I was born and raised believing in God.  It wasn’t until 2001 when I made a decision to give my life to Jesus and be born again.  And it wasn’t until 2013 when I got baptized as a symbolic gesture that I have accepted Christ in my heart and made Him my Lord and Savior that I now stand before anyone on earth unabashedly admitting that I am saved and my eternal destiny has been decided.  It took me all this time to come to such conclusion.  What more those of you out there who are still “On the Fence” about it.  What about those who are not even close to the fence?

All my life I have been on the fence about everything.  I was the type of person who was average in everything I did.  I wanted to stay average so that I would blend in with everyone, not attracting attention on myself by excelling at something, for fear that as a human being, I could never stay excellent.  I also tried my hardest to comply at certain rules and strove to be knowledgeable, even smarter than the average person so that I would not be deemed a loser.  So lukewarm I stayed.  So you have to understand that to a lot of people, especially to unbelievers, promoting God and His Word is really not something I would normally tackle.  Why bring attention on myself?  Why risk the naysayers’ sneers and hurtful remarks?  Why put myself out there to be judged by fellow believers who see things differently than I?

All I can say is because God asked me to do so.  When God asks you to do something, you better do it.  He will purposely put you out there just like he put Jonah in front of the people of Ninevah, just like he put Moses in front of Pharoah, just like Daniel in the lion’s den, should I go on?  Yes, God will put you out there!  God put me out there but He did not throw me to the proverbial wolves and said, sayonara!  No.  When God puts you out there He says, I got your back!  You take a leap of faith for God and He will pour out His blessings on you.  He will let you experience feelings that you have never felt before.  You will be favored, because God doesn’t lie.  He told us in His Word that He will pour out the blessings to those who love Him.  We can’t see God.  All we have is His Word.  The bible will not last this long if what is printed in it isn’t the truth.

So you decide.  Will you stay on the fence or jump over it with a leap of faith? 

Until my next rant…. LOVE ONE ANOTHER!