Rhemalogy

I grew up in a time when people grabbed purpose, and held on to it no matter the consequences. Some even died on that path of truth for what they believed. They didn’t abandon those causes or compromise them for the next best thing. You know, the next best position, the next best car, the next best house, or the next best relationship. They stayed the course and saw it through to the very end. Like Paul so eloquently put it “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7 NKJV) Or like Jesus, they were able to say “It is finished”. (John 19:30) “It is finished” is the English translation of the Greek word tetelestai, which means “to bring to an end, to complete, to accomplish.” The word means more than just “I survived.” It means “I did exactly what I set out to do.” The commonality—they were all focused on the mission and were not thwarted by life’s distractions because they did exactly what they set out to do.

“Take a look at yourself and then make that change.”

For a truth, one thing I’ve come to realize–you can’t have focus if you don’t have purpose. And you can’t have purpose until you have discipline. And you can’t have discipline until you know who you are, And you’ll never know who you are until you start working on yourself. Or as Michael Jackson so vehemently sang, “Take a look at yourself and then make that change.” You have to open the Bible with a seeking humility which will not only give you a close encounter with God but also make you re-examine your very existence. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV)

Take a look at yourself in the context of being accountable for your own behavior, decisions, and attitudes. No, you weren’t born that way you made a conscious decision to be that way. Just because your father was abusive does not mean you have to be. Or because your mother was a drug addict doesn’t automatically make you one. We live in a world that is full of people passing the buck because accountability places you in a position where you have to deal with whatever circumstance head-on and take responsibility for that circumstance. You must be accountable. (Romans 14:12 NKJV)

Jesus was accountable all the way to the cross—the buck stopped with Him. You can’t go through life blaming everyone else for where you are or have an attitude of entitlement that sets you above the moral bar of accountability. And don’t fool yourself because eventually, you will have to deal with yourself. If we didn’t get anything out of the COVID quarantine we most certainly should’ve grasped that reality. I choose to believe that some of those who went into the quarantine came out better for it. The person who is complete and full of joy did not get it from a liquor bottle or prescription bottle or your neighborhood dope dealer because these are quick fixes with only temporary remedies. These joyful people have a relationship with the Lord thereby learning and working on themselves.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only…

The Holy Bible is all about helping you realize you need that change and then gives you the roadmap to do it. And on this roadmap one of those paths according to James…But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:22-25 NKJV) Notice it says ‘a doer who acts‘. And he’s not talking about a movie role or faking it until you make it, but taking heed to what you’ve read or heard according to the word of God and applying it to your life daily. And what you will notice is the more you apply that word in your life the more you make that change and put on the mind of Christ. Thus discovering your purpose thereby being able to keep focused on your mission and at the end of that journey being able to say ‘it is finished’. What word have you applied to your life today?

May the Blessings of the LORD be with you today and always. Thank you for your continued readership and support.….Blessings and Peace! 

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