Preparation of the Present
This journal is inspired by the benefits of living a life in which you are present each moment. Our minds have been gifted with memory and creativity. Sadly we can use the gift of memories to hold us in the regrets of the past and we can use imagination to worry about the future. We can also use memory to romanticize the past and wish we were living in a previous moment in which we may have felt happier or we can use our imagination to place our joy in a future destination of time. If you will only be happy when you get somewhere or something then you will always arrive and realize it is not enough. Both the past and present, memory and imagination, are the longest portion of time in our minds, but the shortest time is the only time that matter and that Is the present moment. I believe we can learn so much when we live in the present moment and in that we sit in God's presence. Something that has helped me be present daily is when I started understanding my "why". I can work hard daily and joyfully in the present when I know I am strengthening myself for something that is important and is preparing me for my "why". When I say "why" I am talking about my purpose and why I do what I do. This journal explains my "Why" and talks about learning from being present each and every day.
Present and His Presence
Something I do to prepare myself whether I am going to Hawaii to learn about God or going to the Himalayan mountains to trek Bibles is to ground myself in the present moment. I truly believe when we are present we can most easily hear from the Lord and learn what he wants to cultivate within us. I would rather be present each day and learn in the classroom of his presence than have to learn the hard way from the lessons that come from my sorrows. Something I wrote a while back when I was in a season of trials was “Lord when I am in darkness I know it is not you who stopped shining, it is me who hid in the shadows.” The place I was in mentally and physically looked as if it was not my fault and I could have blamed God or other people, but I was the only one to blame. I slowly started walking away from the Light of the Lord and pursued my own fleshly desires causing me to plant seeds of future trials and darkness. We often trek down caves of our own fleshly desires. Then we get to the bottom just to find nothing and realize that we can no longer see the light and we do not know how to get out. Thankfully God is the light and will always pull us out if we let him. He forgives us instantly but it is always harder climbing back out of the cave than it was climbing down it. The beauty of God’s forgiveness and grace is that if we keep our gaze upon him on the way out of the cave we actually will become stronger and gain authority over the cave in which God conquered through us. For instance if someone, lets say named Johnny, was an alcoholic.
He has cried out to every different brand of alcoholic and maybe got a DUI or his family left him. Johnny has hit the bottom of his cave. He realizes he needs God because he was to prideful before to realize even in his strength he needed God. So like always he goes to God only because everything else did not work. God is an amazing Dude and forgives Johny instantly and possibly delivers Johnny from the addiction of alcohol right when he repents, but Johnny still has to get out of the cave that he wandered down. One step at a time one day at a time. It takes time but in the process Johny is seeking truth and is strengthening the muscle of authority over being an alcoholic and the voids that caused him to drink. When Johnny makes it out this cave he is able to speak so powerfully with great conviction to others because he has already surrendered that cave to God and reigns triumphant over it. God can use our mistakes for good but see how much time was wasted in Johnny’s life? Even in the blog post, just to explain the dangers of not living in the present and going down caves of our own desires. When we are truly present and in God’s presence he teaches us things before we stumble down deep dark caves. If we seek him daily not thinking about 3 months from now we can see when we have taken even one step in the wrong direction and allow him to straighten us out. Every cave first started with a thought whether that be a lie that caused pain or a fantasy that was unhealthy. They all start with a thought and as we accept it more and more in our thought-life it becomes materialized into our reality. If we allow God to humble us daily with the small things it can save us so much hardship in the future. I can feel God cultivating my mind each and every day while I am in his presence. I have started to notice he will not give me a specific thing until I have the capacity to receive it and use it for his glory. Maybe God is waiting to give you that one dream you so desperately crave because you have not let God mold you into an individual who could handle the thing in which you desire.
Waking up the Spirit
Something I like to do is exercise. I feel since I was a child God has given me this burning desire to run and jump and sweat like most young boys. While I have been here I have been going for runs in the morning. I started to notice I was becoming very unmotivated to run and would wake up at 5 am not wanting to do something I so dearly love. I noticed that in my quiet times later in the day I would be reading the Bible and listening to worship music and I would just get this inspiration to do what I love which is run and push myself through exercise. It was not like that anxiety from sitting down nor was it my flesh distracting me from reading the Bible. Instead it was scripture fueling my inner most being. It was me realigning my purpose with what God has for me and in that I would become overwhelmed with excitement. With this in mind I planned a morning where I would first read the Bible and have my quiet time then I would go for a run. Before I explain what happened let me inform you that my "Why" for running is a strong intrinsic motivator.
I am very aware why I exercise and it is not for outward appearance nor do I even really do it for myself. When I workout it is so I am equipped with the physical ability to use my strength to reach others. It is so I can strengthen my spirit and discipline, so that I have authority in my words and Christ can speak through me. I also love it because I can learn more about God's character through exercise. Now that you know my "why" I can go on with my morning experience. Like I said, I first thad quiet time and in this quiet time even though it was five in the morning I was able to be reminded of my "Why". Through scripture and the intimacy with Christ that comes from prayer and gazing upon him I was able to remember my purpose. I realized that in the morning when I arise my alarm wakes up my body, and it can take time but then my mind wakes up by going on with life like getting dressed and brushing my teeth, it is then through Intimacy with Christ that my spirit is awakened. The Lord reminds me why I am on this earth and gives me inspiration and motivation. Are you waking up your spirit every morning? Are you reminding yourself of your "Why"? Do you have a 'Why"? It is said that a man with a strong enough "why" can endure almost any "how". We can do outstanding things when we are in touch with who God has created us to be and when our motivation comes from something that is greater than just ourselves. If the only thing motivating you is for your own gain you will some day run into a "how" that is greater than you and you will not have the strength to overcome it. Thankfully I have the greatest "why" on earth and that is to serve Christ and to serve others which is motivated by love. Love truly is the strongest currency and can cause people to trek over treacherous mountains because they want to share the Love of Christ. It is said that the brave 300 spartan army was so strong and powerful not because the hatred they had for the enemy in front of them, but instead it was because the love they had for the warrior behind them. It was the love they had for their country and wives back home. Love is what motivated Christ to be humiliated and die on the cross for us to defeat death so that we may be made blameless. I encourage you to surrender your heart to the love of Christ. Once you truly have his love you will have no other desire but to share it with others. A wise man named Paul once wrote "and these three remain, faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love." that writing came from the Bible which means it is true, so go out into the world fueled by love and your tank will never run dry. Your motivation will be everlasting and genuine because it comes from a genuine everlasting God.
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You are so right, Cody! Love is the biggest motivator! Any love we have comes from the Lord Himself. "We love because He first loved us." I John 4:19