Consistency
This week was a short one due to Thanksgiving break but still definitely an informative one. The topic was about Holiness. This journal is a mixture of the teachings from this week, my own knowledge, as well as my own experiences and revelations. A big aspect of teaching that stuck out to me was the importance of consistency. The theme of this journal is based around consistency. Whether it be the consistent small daily actions we take that can change our life or the consistent thoughts we think that can create our life. Either way consistency is important and I hope you find encouragement and joyous revelations as you read my thoughts laid out before you.
King David - Michelangelo (1504)
Dopamine
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in our brain and is very powerful. This week the speaker talked about dopamine and explained to us its functions. When we check things off a to-do list or we attain a goal that we set, dopamine is released in our brain. Neat people like to clean because every time they put something away it releases dopamine. When dopamine releases it creates neuroplasticity in the brain which causes the brain to change. When we have discipline each day and do the little things like not hitting the snooze button and making our bed, those small actions start to help us grow into big things. Ten thousand little actions of discipline are way more powerful and beneficial to the brain than one good, crazy, impactful experience. Humans do not tend to change their ways easily, sometimes all it takes is one revelation for someone to change or get out of a mental rut, but usually it takes time, It takes discipline and patience. When we take small actions in things we can do it helps us overcome big things. It is through consistency that a river cuts and shapes the hard rocks below and beside it. This is why reading the Bible, praying, and worshipping often is so good for us. It is through the consistent action of turning our gaze and undivided attention to the face of Christ that we become more like him. Even if we feel like the words we are singing run void like a blank piece of paper, God delights in us choosing to praise him over the other things we could be doing. When we read the Bible and not a single verse speaks to us and we feel it was a "bad quiet time" God truly is pleased that we wanted to spend time with him. Or when we pray and feel like it is a one-sided conversation, God hears us and is always listening. When we do these things consistently even when they do not "feel" like they are making a difference they truly are.
A quote I have used before and I will use again is "I do not remember every book I have read just as I do not remember every meal I have eaten; even so, they have made me". Every time we Read the Bible, pray, and worship we are revealing more of Gods character to ourselves and growing in deeper intimacy with him. Because I have had a great experience with it I love to compare the intimacy with Christ like going to the gym. For instance if I was to go to the gym once and have an insanely good workout that felt amazing and I lifted so much but then went home just to look in the mirror and be disappointed because I did not have huge muscles I would be dumb. Why do we do this with our relationship with God? Just because he encounters us and we have an amazing experience does not mean we fully know him or have strengthened the "muscle" of intimacy. We must be in his presence daily and realize that it may take time but it is in the consistency that he becomes our solid foundation and scripture rewires our brain to the ultimate truth. It cannot happen in a day or a week. It takes time and no matter how much we think we understand his character we can always go deeper and deeper into who he is. By being in his presence daily we remove the identity of God that we have falsy created from our perception and comparison of him that comes from man. We sometimes place God in a box and through prayer, fasting, and revelations we start to see his true character. I wrote a poem a couple weeks ago expressing this and now just while I have been writing this I realized how perfectly it fits in with this weeks journal entry and teachings, so here it is.
Day by day chisel away
The Holy Spirit lives and resides within us like a firm Rock, a solid foundation. We must chisel away at our iniquities and the desires of our flesh to reveal the sculpture of his character that is already formed in full shape within. He is full and complete but we must remove parts of ourself to reveal his complexity. We must carve away the vague box surrounding Gods intricate character. We must remove the false identity that we have created for God from our own perception of man and the human mind. Like Michelangelo said while sculpting David, “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” Michelangelo just needed to chisel away day by day everything in the marble that was not David. Likewise we must day by day chisel away at what is not of Christ and in this chiseling his character becomes a beautiful sculpture in our minds displaying the trueness of who Christ is. Through meditation upon scripture we are accentuating the comprehensive nature of God within our mind. The word of the Lord is like a chisel and the revelations received are the hammer. Truth is his contour and the hammer of revelation removes the excess of our iniquities and false understanding.
May I some day chisel in a way
that causes me, from the earth to go away
and in this way
we then may see Face to face
I will gaze upon Your beauty and character in full culmination
As you have omnisciently gazed upon and known my face each and every day in each and every way
Judgement
Do you judge others? most people know or at least try not to judge and talk or think bad about another person. Now think about how you think about yourself. What does your inner dialogue consist or? If you talked to others and was as hard on them as you are on yourself would you have friends? And if you did have friends would they be fake like the persona you have placed over yourself created from the lies playing on repeat in your head like a record spinning with the rotations of the earth. Day by day different location of revolution around the sun but the same negative thought patterns that ultimately lead to the far too recognizable destination of emptiness or shame. One lie at a time diminishing your true identity and creating the false reality that you call life. Is it not a crime that the majority of humans do this all the time? What right do we have to judge ourselves over the creator-the omniscient? For it says the father will judge you as you judged one another. Most people forget that judging ourselves falls into that criteria. We are not our own judges, for if we were then we would be Lord of our lives instead of Christ. Our discernment and judgement must only come from the Truth that is scripture. Through conviction we can be transformed by the renewing of our minds, not by “self-aware” judgement that is truly the lies of the enemy bringing us down like a virus attaching the host. Self-awareness is great, but I have used that word in my life as a facade of control that led to vain surrender. I often over analyzed my own life thinking I had the solutions to the problems because I created them, but the only time I truly found an answer was through Christ. Thankfully, at least in the past years that I can remember, I have always had pretty positive self-talk. This stems from the good side of self awareness and taking every thought captive. I challenge you, try to be a little more aware of your inner dialogue. Throughout the day, whether it be after you make a mistake, remember a regret of the past, or simply look in the mirror. See if you talk bad about yourself or talk down who you are. Have you become the judge of your own life? We have no right to look at ourselves in the mirror and say we are ugly. That is looking at God’s creation and out of selfishness saying he did a bad job of making me—who was created in his image. Or when you fall short and you sin, then repent and turn 180° in the opposite direction. Do you bask in shame? Guilt is what we feel when we do something bad, shame makes us feel like we are something bad. Do you sit in the shame of your transgression because you believe your somberness will pay for your shortcoming? Do you think that you must remind yourself of how bad you are to justify and balance out your iniquities? Once again that is taking lordship over your life instead of throwing your sins onto the cross to be covered by the blood of Christ. The second we repent with our whole heart, Jesus says we are forgiven and made blameless in the eyes of the Father. If God sees us as blameless and Jesus forgives us than we need to forgive ourselves. I have talked about the forgiveness of others but something that I think is often forgotten is for us to forgive ourselves. Shame and guilt are not from the Lord, but rather they come from the same thing that tempted you to do the initial sin. That thing is the enemy who is “always about, prowling like a Lion, roaring for its prey.” He will entice you with a cup of a golden vinegar then laugh at you and remind you how foolish you are once you take a sip. When we are left with the taste of sin we must drink of the everlasting water which is Jesus Christ who quenches all thirst through grace. The coolest thing about the everlasting water of grace and Jesus’s presence is that though it quenches our thirst and removes our sin it also simultaneously causes us to be more thirsty for Christ. Once we get a taste we can forever drink from it and it will never run dry because Jesus Christ is an eternal God the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.
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Oh Cody, I am so proud of you. I love the way you articulate all that the Lord is doing in your life. What a beautiful testimony of His delicate hand working in you, through you, and FOR you. You are truly experiencing His insurmountable love and grace. I am so proud of you and the huge steps of faith you are taking. You have demonstrated so much COURAGE already. Love you and praying for you!
So good bro!!!