God Thoughts

Many times, when God speaks, He doesn't speak in a loud audible voice.. not even a gentle whisper... but one of the ways i know He's speaking is by planting little "God-thoughts" inside of me... thoughts that run through my mind to deliver a truth that the Lord wants to convey... and many times, when He delivers some of these truths, they challenge the way i think in the natural.. they challenge the way i see things... they mess me up... cos the Lord wants to change mindsets and remove things that prevent us from experiencing Him to a greater measure.. all those years of deception, even subtle ones.. and tradition and religious thinking... yeah.. it's quite cool when He challenges these things and our hearts and lives begin to bear witness to His truths and we become changed by them... so i just wanna take some time to share some "God-thoughts" that He's given me lately...

This morning when i woke up, the phrase "Different ways, different lives" came into my mind... and God was trying to tell me something... How many times have we sought the Lord and prayed for Him to change us?? I believe for certain that many of us want our lives changed.. .and here's the key.. in order for us to have a different life, we've gotta change our ways... and it's easy to pray for God to change us but it may not be easy to let go of our old ways... but it's only in letting go of these things that we truly begin to live life differently...

Yesterday, i was on my way to the bus stop cos i wanted to do a few things at AMK Hub... and i was just meditating on some testimonies that i've heard recently about people walking on water.. as in modern-day ppl... and the Holy Spirit came and gave me one of those God-thoughts: "What would you do if you really believe you could walk on water?" And it was a revelation for me cos it stopped me in my tracks... cos i know what i'd do if i really believed i could walk on water- i'd try it. The thing about church is nowadays is that we believe God can do these things and perhaps we can even believe that God can do these things through us... but how many of us are willing to step out and actually try them?? If we really believe, we would do so... cos faith without works is dead...

While at AMK Hub yesterday, i decided to get a haircut... yeah... not that i have much hair to be cut in the first place cos my hair is quite thin... and as i was sitting there in front of the mirror looking rather glum, the Holy Spirit was speaking to me again: "It's your joy that's gonna attract people to you, not your looks" ouch. but after hearing that, my face lit up... cos what the Lord said is so true... :)

Ok... more "God-thoughts" from the past week... I was at Glory Encounter and just heard Jill Austin say something about radical fire.. and so i was thinking about the radical fire of God's love.. and i felt that the Holy Spirit was speaking to me "You gotta love yourself first" and what He meant by that is that i got to love myself first before loving others.. and that kinda messed with me and my theology... cos in my upbringing, everyone talks about putting others before u... as far as what i knew, JOY is Jesus, Others, Yourself.. in that order... but the Lord come to do some holy messing up... saying that i gotta love myself first before others... (of course love for God still takes priority) now what does the Bible say?? "Love your neighbour as yourself" but many of us have condensed that to just "Love your neighbour"... we forgot the "as yourself" part which is very important.. cos lemme put it this way... if we can't even love ourselves, how can we love our neighbour?? First of all, if we're so stingy with our $ and we dun even spend a good amount on ourselves, how can we bless others materially with that same capacity? We dun have to be extravagant or decadent with our living but we gotta learn how to set a certain standard... The manner in which we love ourselves reflects the manner in which we will love our neighbour.. another example- i know a dear sister whose parent expects certain standards of her and it affects her in the way she lives cos she feels bad when she doesn't meet certain standards... and likewise, she has certain expectations of others and gets affected when they're not fulfilled... She needs a revelation of God's unfailing and unconditional love... Loving yourself and others is all about seeing through God's eyes and doing to yourself and others what God would do... And in order to appreciate and enjoy other people, one must learn how to appreciate and enjoy himself/herself... I blogged recently about a personal score i have to settle with guilt.. and i learned that cos of the expectations i set on myself, i feel guilty when they're not met and i set these kinds of expectations on others and becoming condemning if they're not met... so for me not to be condemning, i have to see myself through God's eyes, know i'm loved and accepted in Him and apply the same understanding to others... so first i have to love myself before i can love others.. before i can love others radically, i must first know God's radical love for me and love myself radically... both the good and the bad... not that i approve of the bad, but i'm talking about loving the totality of who you are and of other people... And that's the basic foundational way God sees us and relates to us... Much to meditate upon here...

The wisdom of God may seem foolish to some, especially to those who hang on to foolish traditions made by men... but God is out there.. and He's out there to mess up anyone and everyone who's truly seeking the truth... cos He loves us... :)

God bless! ;)