#go2013

[ernestalmond]

Show Me Your Face

When you play peek-a-boo with a baby, what you’re really doing is playing with their emotions. You give the child your brightest possible smile, you make some funny, high-pitched sound, and then you cover your face. And you know “good and well” that they don’t have object permanence yet! I feel for the little babies, who were just having the time of their lives, and now the face that they love and trust has disappeared. If that were you, how would you feel? Confused, hurt, lost? Would you be looking around to see what happened to that face? Or would you just give up hope, believing that the face that was smiling on you had abandoned you? Okay, I’m exaggerating my position on peek-a-boo, but let’s approach this from a spiritual angle. Last week, I wrote about finding out where God is going to be, so I can go there. While I’m my journey to my promised land, there are going to be situations that come up every day that demand my attention and appropriate response. In each situation, whether routinely easy or novel and challenging, it should be our goal to see God’s “face”. Any time something happens, I want to be able to look over the situation, and see God in it. He’s there; I know He is. God is in everything, it’s just up to us to be looking through the right lenses to see Him. The Bible teaches us that in all our getting, we should get an understanding (Proverbs 4:7). In the same way, in all our looking, our seeing, and our development of our perspective, we should be seeking to recognize who God is, what He would do in situations, and what He wants us to learn as we are tested. Going forth into your destiny is not an easy task. It is not for the faint of heart. In order to really make changes that result in progress, we each have to do a better job of asking, “What does God look like in this situation?”, and we have to be prepared to come up with the right answers. As we proceed, we should all be petitioning the Lord, “Show me Your face, so I can see you clearly.” And when we finally do achieve vision not only will we realize what God is expecting of and doing for us, we’ll realize it’s time to GO!

[ernestalmond]

Show Me Where You Are

There’s nothing worse than ending up in a place that you’re not supposed to be. In a literal sense, can you imagine having a big meeting you’re supposed to go to, arriving at the building and walking in, then not being able to find the proper room? Then checking your email and realizing that the meeting is really somewhere across town? That’s a terrible situation; not only are you missing out, but you’re also frustrated, and maybe even a little deflated because you’ve missed this opportunity. In a spiritual sense, I’m trying to move forward and make progress in my Christian walk, but at the same time, I don’t want to end up in a place where I was never intended to be. So, sometimes, I’m hesitant to make a move because I want to be certain that God is behind the decision I’m about to make, or that He’s going to be in that “meeting place” when I get there. When I arrive at my next stop, or my next level, I want it to be obvious that God is there with me, so even though 2013 is my “go” year, I’m still convinced that I’d rather stand still than go somewhere He’s not. We all need to be in the same mindset that Moses had when the Lord was commanding them to move forward in the wilderness. Moses knew it was time to move, but he wanted to make sure that God was going to be there when they arrived at their next stop. He said to the Lord in Exodus 33:15-16 (HCSB), “If Your presence does not go,” Moses responded to Him, “don’t make us go up from here. How will it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your sight unless You go with us? I and Your people will be distinguished ⌊by this⌋ from all the other people on the face of the earth.” Moses knew something that we all need to know as we push forward for the kingdom and our destinies this year. He knew then that if God isn’t with us where we go while we’re going, then there is nothing to set us apart, nothing that shows we belong to Him, and nothing that protects our course along the way. There are going to be enemies and obstacles we encounter as we proceed through this walk, and it’s extremely important that God’s presence be actively with us when challenge comes. So, I’m saying to the Lord (and I hope you are too), “Lord, you show me where you are and where You’re going to be, because that’s where I’m trying to go.” The presence of the Lord is the safe place, the blessed place, and the favored place. It’s the place where all striving to arrive. SpitLIFE

[ernestalmond]

Where Did God Go, part 3: The Clock King

“He may not come when you want Him, but He’s always right on time!” I’ve been in church for most of my life, and if you’ve been in church for a while, like me, you’ve probably heard this phrase more than a few times. It always seems to get people excited, and I guess I would be excited too, if I agreed with the implied premise. What do I mean? Well, to say that God is coming, but He may not show up when I want Him implies that God isn’t always there. And well...that’s wrong. In last week’s Word on Wednesday I talked about the idea that God is always with you, wherever you go. I didn’t make that up, I promise! He said it to Joshua (1:9) and Jesus said it to the disciples (and therefore to us) in Matthew 28:20. So, the truth is, God is always there. Always. So, I know what you’re thinking now is probably something like, “If God is always there, then why am I going through this struggle? Why hasn’t He saved me yet?” Trust me, I understand that feeling; I’ve been through some tough situations, just like you, and I wished that God would just “show up and show out” and erase the pain. But, He didn’t. Why didn’t He come to immediately rescue me from my troubles? I’m glad you asked. I have a couple of thoughts on that. 1. It’s possible that God didn’t immediately rescue you from your struggle because your struggle was your fault. You made a bad choice and you wanted God to protect your from the consequences. Don’t get me wrong, God does provide us with grace and mercy, but that doesn’t mean He keeps us from exercising our free will. Your struggle may be a result of how you exercise choice, not that God has forsaken you. 2. There are lessons to be learned from struggle that cannot be learned without it. Adversity builds character and faith, and for the Christian, adversity cannot be avoided. Even IF you were totally obedient to the instructions of the Lord, you would still face challenge because you have a spiritual enemy, the devil, who’s doing his best to try and kill you. Foods bake when the heat is on in the oven. We struggle when the heat is on us in our lives. When we face pressure, doubt, and difficult circumstances, we may want the Lord to remove us from our oven. We may think we’ve learned our lesson, and we may think that we are done with this circumstance, but God knows better. He’s the master chef, and He knows how long to let you cook. He knows that if He takes you out of the heat too soon, you’ll be half baked, undone. He knows that if He takes the pressure off of you in your struggles too soon, you won’t develop the faith, perseverance, or character you need to make it to the next level. So, what does He do? God waits. He lets you bake until you’re done, then He removes you from the oven. He knows when it’s time; trust Him. He’s the Clock King. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. - 1 Peter 5:10 NIV84

[ernestalmond]

Where Did God Go?, part 2

“You are not alone; I am here with you.” Though this quote come straight from the Michael Jackson song, it speaks totally to the presence of God in our lives. Last week, I tackled a question that many of us have asked before, “Where Did God Go?”, and concluded that most of the time, when we think God is outside our reach, we’re speaking more about our feelings of emotional connection rather than our spiritual realities. The truth is that God is everywhere. Now, that can be taken in a couple ways. First, God created everything, so of course, His presence presides over all His creation. We can see evidence of God’s brilliance in the fact that everything we as humans know about the world and the make-up of the universe has logic and order...in other words, it makes sense. I won’t go too deeply into that one right now, because the second one relates most to what we’re talking about. As we discover purpose, and move toward its fulfillment, we have understand that God is everywhere that we are, everywhere we’ve been, and everywhere we are going. That can be an uncomfortable thought, as you sift your mind thinking of all the dirt you’ve done, but for those of us trying to walk in our divine path of destiny, this fact should make us ecstatic. Not only has God given me a purpose and destiny to pursue, but He’s there every step of the way. This isn’t a new concept, it’s just one we tend to forget because we let our feelings determine our realities a bit too much. If we look to the Bible, we can see that the Lord was with Joshua prior to him leading the Israelites to go take the Promised Land. God’s encouragement and God’s promises are as valid today for us as they were for Joshua then: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:9 So, as we move through, going after what is ours, reclaiming what the devil has taken from us, and just claiming territory for the kingdom of God, we need to be reminded that not only has God been with us up to this point, but He’s going with us everywhere we go. Be encouraged. SpitLIFE

[ernestalmond]

Where Did God Go?

I know you probably don’t want to admit it, especially if you’re a dude, but sometimes, it gets lonely out here, trying to walk with God, trying to fight the good fight, and trying to do what you believe you were born to do. I know there are times I’ve prayed about stuff that I think God wants me to do or wants me to have, and as I’ve pursued those things, there would be times where I felt like God was mute. I felt like He wasn’t close, like He wasn’t paying attention, like He wasn’t hearing me cry out to Him when I was in need. When I was younger in the faith, I would take His silence to mean that He was far from me, and so, being the (im)mature man that I was, I decided I would be far from Him too.

That would help me feel better. I needed something, God wasn’t there for me, so, you know what, I’ll be there for me! I would try to fill my life with things that I made important, thinking they were fulfilling my needs, or scratching my itch. I had people’s respect and attention, I had a seat at the adult table, and I knew what it took to reap benefits from my connections. Since God was far from me, I had to do it myself...or so I thought.

Inevitably, what would happen is that the cycle always brought me back to a low point, in need of understanding and hope and desperate for God, because my strategies had failed to measure up. I felt like King David at times though:

Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? - Psalm 10:1 NIV84

I felt like God wasn’t there for me. I felt like He wasn’t being fair to me. I felt like He should just want me to be “happy”. I felt like God was just making things too hard. Then, when God gave me my moments of clarity, He revealed one of the secrets of staying close to Him. He told me, “Get out of your feelings!”

See, the world teaches us to follow our hearts and be in touch with our feelings. But, the Word teaches us that God moves based on our faith, not our feelings. So, we can whine all day about not “feeling” God, and not “feeling” like He’s there, but our feelings aren’t an excuse for our failures. If we are going to follow God’s plan to accomplish our great goals for 2013 and beyond, we have to be like David, suck up our complaining, and remember who God is as we “go”:

The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. 17 You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, - Psalm 10:16-17

[neutrois]

What I’ve found over the last 12 years is that these young people are both some of the most challenging and most rewarding clients. Challenging not because they are especially difficult and certainly not because they experience different levels of complex differential diagnosis than any other clients. But, challenging because I find myself walking a tightrope of clinician, advocate, peacemaker, educator and spiritual mediator that I never imagined would be a part of my everyday work. And rewarding, of course, because it’s an absolute privilege to see children as young as 4 years old articulate in no uncertain terms more about themselves and their core identity than many of us are able to do in a lifetime. 

I met Dr Michele Angelo at my first PTHC Conference, and was blown away by her vast and confident knowledge of trans youth. She was one of the first people that welcomed me into the trans world, so to speak.

[ernestalmond]

Be Who You Say You Are!

Your past informs your future, it does not determine it. - Me I've made more mistakes than I can count, and I continue to miss the mark in my pursuit of divine perfection each and every day.  I am a flawed and frail individual, and you can't really look down on me because of that, because we can truthfully say the same thing about you. Any one of us can go digging into someone's past and find their errors of judgment, their mistakes, and when they embraced the path of self-destruction. However, most of us don't need anyone else to rehash our life's greatest misses, because we often keep that lowlight reel playing in the background of our own minds, using the “game film” to justify why we can’t live at a certain level, why we can’t achieve a certain goal, or why we can’t be a certain type of person.  There is an inherent contradiction in identifying with the weaknesses of our past life rather than the strength that abounds in our present life in Christ.  It’s as if we are comfortable calling ourselves Christians now, but we still hold on to our guilt and shame from our previous weaknesses and mistakes. This isn't what God wants for our lives. Everyone has a past, and everyone has skeletons in that closet. But those are skeletons. Not living beings, not ghosts...they are skeletons. That past is dead, put away in a closet, and you’ve grown a lot, changed a lot, and learned a lot since those things died away from your life.  They only live on in your memory, so if we’re going to go and get what God has predestined for our lives, one of the primary things that has to happen is that we each have to understand that the value of our past in found in the lessons we have learned, and that if we apply what we’ve learned, our future will be bigger, better, and brighter than what we could have accomplished before we stepped into the light. As we proceed through 2013, I challenge myself and I challenge you to apply the lessons of Philippians 3:12-16 to your daily life.  Learn the lessons from your past failures, commit your future endeavors to the Lord, and don’t look back. Speak life over yourself and believe what you are saying. Call yourself “blessed” and believe it. Call yourself “healed”, call yourself “delivered”, and believe it. Walk it, talk it, and breathe it. Then, watch this year unfold unlike any other. Only let us hold true to what we have already attained and walk and order our lives by that. - Philippians 3:16 (AMP)

[ernestalmond]

Your Past Can't Stop You!

I've done some grimy things in my past. Yea, I've made many mistakes, but there are a lot of things I've done in my life that didn't fit that category. Whether it was against a person or against God, I knew that I was purposely choosing to do/say something that I should not be doing/saying. You can call it being young, stupid, stubborn, vengeful, angry, or anything else you want to call it. But, if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit that you, just like me, have done things that have hurt others and even have hurt you. And, now, even though you’re not that person anymore, and you’re saved, and you’re delivered, and you’re fighting the good fight of faith...even now, as you’re looking at the future and what lies ahead, you can’t help but wonder whether you’ve done too much dirt to be great for God. Yes, He saved you, and yes, He’s forgiven you, but you just aren’t confident that He really wants anything more for you than that. The easy answer is yes, God wants you to be great! There is no better way to show how amazing God is than to take you and your Raggedy Ann or Raggedy Andy shambles of a life, redeem it, and show the world what can happen when a broken person gives themselves over to a perfect Messiah. The people that know my story see God’s signature clearly on the events of my life. They also see how my messed up past created the opportunity for my present and future circumstances to testify, prophesy, and preach the power of God in this world. Don’t give up on yourself because of a disgusting past, previous exploits, and poor choices. Trust God; He will redeem you, and turn your story into one of victory! PS: If you don’t want to take my word for it, check the Bible and read up on the following grimy, lying, adulterating, murdering, self-righteous people God still used for His glory: Abraham Jacob Moses Gideon David Jonah Peter Paul