Hi everyone!
Hope the 1st half of January has been a good one for you all. :) For me it’s been a time of laying all the cards out on the table and seeing all the possibilities this year and beyond could bring. I’m now trying to narrow down and see what path I’m supposed to take, not necessarily the one I have planned or want to take. So needless to say, it is a bit frustrating, but also it does give me the hopes that I am a little closer to living my “authentic life”. Without trying to sound new age-y, what I mean by authentic life is living the life that God desires for me to live and no longer trying to find a balance between being politically and socially correct and being a sold-out woman for Jesus Christ. As I get older, I can’t say I believe it’s possible, especially in the 21st century. It’s oil and water if you ask me, which causes me to recall the scripture verse Romans 12:2,"Be ye not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Looking back at my younger years, I was so dogmatic and black and white with a lot of my belief systems because of my Type A personality type. When I arrived to college I spent those years trying to “find myself” and figure out what I believed, for myself and not readily adopting my parent’s belief system without having my own life experiences to be my foundation. While doing that, I realized that life is not always black and white and can have shades of gray at times. After realizing that, I went from one extreme to being so vocal and blunt to subdued and passive when it came to my belief system. So, as I embark a new year and close to the beginning of my 3rd decade on earth (less than 6 months away—whoo hoo), I want to live a life where I can look back and know that I lived the life that God intended for me to live. I want to accomplish that by doing the things He wanted me to do, going the places He wanted me to go, meeting the people He wanted me to meet, focusing on the causes He wanted me to focus on, and having a heart for the whatever He has a heart for. What better way to live life than to walk through it having the privilege and blessing of hearing Him whisper to our spirits, “Well done, my good and faithful servant…”
With all of that being said, sometime the things we are called to do will go against the norms of society and may cause us to look weird and out of place. For the most part, through my actions, I have stuck by my principles and convictions, which alone has made me feel out of place and lonely at times. The issue that bothers me most is when I’ve been silent about most of my principles and convictions and don’t always vocalize why I believe what I believe, which is usually based on biblical grounds (so unpopular nowadays), it is in fear of being looked at as out of touch, rigid, and dogmatic. All characteristics I find to be unattractive in a person—Christian or non-Christian. So it is my desire from here on out to be that Christian that is authentic in action (which I’ve been doing), voice (which I need to improve on), while still being approachable to most I come in contact with. If you aren't approachable, whose life are you going to help transform? At the end of the day, what is the point of me having Truth and not sharing with others as to why I have it and how I got it?! So are you living your authentic life in Christ? If not, now is as a better time as any to do so. :)
Side note, recently began doing more research on fasting and found this website about how to do a Daniel Fast and just fasting in general is interesting. I haven’t tried the tips out yet, but thought I’d let others know about what appears to be a good resources to have.
http://danielfast.wordpress.com/daniel-fast-food-list/
http://ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=1000035268
http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/fasting/danielfast.php
"But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete." -Luke 6:49
Until next time...
