Dangerous Minds

It’s 12:53 am and I wasn’t planning on writing a blog at all. But I was just singing the song in my head by Coolio, haha “I take a look at my life and realize there’s nothing left” from the soundtrack Dangerous Minds. Hence the title. Now The lyric has little to do with what I am going to talk about today, but the title may apply.

Now I know a lot of times as Christians, and plain and simple as human beings, we can play the game “well I am not as bad as him or her” or “at least I’m not doing that like they did”, now come on and be honest…lol…I’ve done it before too. I can even recall times that I have, that I’m not going to share, but know that if I’ve done it, others have too.

2 Corinthians 10:12 “ Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!”

I believe God is calling us to a higher standard. Not to a standard that we create for ourselves with other people. Of course we are going to highlight the good things that we do and the worst things that others do. For example, say you are at a bible study, now this is kind of funny, but serious at the same time, say you are at a bible study and you come to prayer time and praying for maybe somethings that your group is struggling with, it comes to your turn and you are going to try and make yourself look good to others. You tell them that you have been struggling with not being spiritual enough or not spending enough time reading your bible and that may be true, but that is the “sin” you want others to see and think you have, when really your prayer request should have been maybe your struggling with lusting after someone’s wife or dwelling on some serious unforgiveness bordering on hate. It can be easy to play ‘dress up’. You see the difference between the two? You are saying well this one won’t make me look as bad, it may even make you appear more “holy”, but we all have that part of us who is comparing ourselves to what the world sees, when really we should be comparing our lives to what God is calling us to be.

It’s kind of like when you are driving down the road and that traffic light turns yellow, you speed up when you know you should slow down, you hit the red light and floor it through. You are like “Oh Crap”, but then you look in your rear view mirror and there is a car behind you who did the same, but hey at least you weren’t as bad as that guy! Haha. My point exactly. Us people, us human beings, have “Dangerous Minds” and we need to transform our thinking to God’s way and not our way or the world’s way.

Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

My challenge to you is, to be honest with yourself and with God. God knows your deepest secrets anyway. Be honest to yourself and to God in where you are at and how you deal with life and different situations. Don’t compare yourself to the next guy to make yourself look better. Compare yourself to the heart and call that God is truly calling you to. You probably have heard that voice inside of you that tells you, “you are better than that” and then you hear your inside voice “At least I’m doing something” or “At least I’m not doing that”, yeah I’m sure you have heard that! Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, He is telling you the right way and is giving you the right standard!

Looking Ahead

I want to take this time to encourage anyone and everyone who may feel down, condemned, unforgiven, on the wrong path, dirty, broken, lost or forgotten. Maybe you are someone who feels like you are in a dark place, a place with no hope, a place that has no purpose. I am here to tell you that there is HOPE!

A lot of you may struggle with your past or past mistakes that you may have made. I am here to tell you that God loves you and desires for your heart to feel clean again, he wants for you to forget all of the mistakes you made and quit looking at your past, he wants you to look forward and to keep your eyes on him.

Lamentations 3:21-24 “Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
²³ Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”

God’s word is telling us that God’s mercy is new every morning! God is a faithful and forgiving and loving God that knows we are human and that we screw up all the time. He knows the secret sins of your heart even, but he also tells us that his love never ends, his mercies never cease, and that he is faithful to forgive us when we turn to him. So yes you may have screwed up in the past, but God tells you turn to me, confess your sins to me and I am faithful and just to forgive your sins. He loves us so much, he will never run out of HOPE for you, out of love for you, out of mercy for you! Yes, every day may even have its struggles and battles, but know that God is for you, he is with you and he will never leave you! He never wants for you to run from him when you mess up, but wants you to run to him and he will meet you with his love and forgiveness. He wants you to feel whole and clean again.

I challenge you today that when you feel down and out, run to God and don’t run from him. He will make you whole again. He will heal your broken heart. Trust me, you haven’t done something so bad, that God wouldn’t want you, trust me, He wants you! He loves you! God used some messed up people the most in the Bible Saul (Paul) was a Christian killer, David (a man after God’s own heart) a murderer and adulterer, Peter denied Jesus 3x when Jesus needed him the most. God used all of these people to tell you that no matter what you have done, no matter how bad it seems. His mercies are new every morning. He has a plan for you, and even if you seem like you are the worst of sinners, maybe he has the biggest of plans for you, just like those I mentioned earlier.

I challenge you to move forward with God and his love, and forgive yourself and let God forgive you of your past. Tomorrow is a new Day!