Knowing is half the battle...

No, this blog isn't about the GI Joes (although there is a lot we have to learn from these iconic American heroes).  But knowing is half the battle.  Knowing what?  Knowing what's holding you back.

Since we are all children of the One, Highest God, and since God (like any good father) wants to give His sons the verb best - that means we should be living lives full of greatness and power that God has in store for us.  So what's holding you back?

I cannot speak into your live about what is holding you back, but if you're anything like me, then you'll see yourself revealed when I tell you what's holding ME back.  Two things.  These two things with in tandem to keep me in place.  They try to keep my eyes closed to what could be and if I do catch a glimpse, they keep me from running after it at full pace.

These two things are fear and, perhaps worse (especially for many Americans), comfortability.  That's right - comfortability is an enemy to most Americans.  Why?  Good is the biggest opponent of Best; not Worst.  Best and worst at least have something in common:  Somebody tried their heart out and didn't hold back.  But good?  Good is my job.  It provides a good income: it's one that my wife and I can live off of.  Good is my relationships with friends: it's one where I don't know too much about them but they don't know too much about me either.  Good is most everything in my life, not great.

But as a child of God I am called to greatness!  I am called up to where He is - through Jesus Christ we have access, full and unbridled, to God!  So knowing is half the battle!  I know that fear and comfortability are my enemies - they keep me eyes closed to greatness, and if I see something I want, my comfortability tells me that I am happy enough right where I am.  Does this sound like you?  If so, then please accept my heartfelt encouragement and congratulations!  Congratulations for admitting you have a problem (no, this isn't AA) - but remember:  Knowing you have a problem is only have the battle.  If you're going to be rich like I am going to be, then you still have half the battle in front of you.  And you'll have to take it one step at a time.

Awaking the Lion Within

Fear is one of the enemy's strongest tools.  Wouldn't you agree?  Fear is imprisonment.  It will keep you from doing what God has truly called you to do on this earth.  As a child of God, you have the inherited right to be a Ruler; to be a Performer of Miracles on this earth.  As a son (or daughter) of God you have to right to be able to touch the Father's heart and talk with Him whenever you want about whatever you please.  God has made you (yes YOU, reader) a stand-up warrior, a lion, a conqueror of this life and its fears and worries!  

So what do you have to fear if God is with you always?  I can already hear my own answers in my head:  I'm afraid of change, I'm afraid of going broke, I'm afraid of ridicule, I'm afraid of losing somebody important to me, I'm afraid of getting put outside of my comfort zone, etc..., etc..., etc...  I battle this battle daily.  So do not think that just because I'm the author of this blog that I have overcome; that I have arrived.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  But what I can tell you is this:  I battle fear daily.  And THAT is courage.  

Courage isn't being fearless; courage is confronting your fear, and pressing through it.  Courage is proclaiming what you know is truth based upon faith (not sight).  Courage is hard.  It's harder than fear for sure.  Fear leaves you in your comfortable place.  Fear is what probably got you to where you are in life right now.  I know it's what got me, in part, to this place in my own life.  So what can we do?  We need to combat our fears.  We need to release the man or woman God has called us to be!  Throw caution and trepidation to the wind and just live your life the way you've always wanted to live it!  COMBAT YOUR FEAR.

Writing this blog is one form of combating my own personal fear.  I am intimidated by the idea of ridicule; being mocked by friends.  Writing a blog for the whole world to see (including my friends) is a scary idea to me.  So how can I combat this?  How can I let out my inner-lion and be more of the man God calls me to be if I do not confront my fear head-on?  I challenge my fear.  I look it in the eyes and I press forward.  And you can do this too but first you need to realize who you are.  So who are you?

If you're a Christian, then you're a son or daughter of the Most High God, Creator of the Universe!  I don't want to hear your false humbleness (which is really self-righteousness) which tells you "I am nothing but a meager servant.  I am a slave to the will of God."  In God there is NOTHING that enslaves and oppresses - God is the God of freedom, so stand up and walk upright on this earth!

If you're not a Christian but you're reading this blog then first of all, congratulations!  In a small way you're confronting fear by reading this blog.  I want you to understand something.  The 'church' for a long time has been spreading propaganda.  (I am going to use the word 'church' here to mean the religious system and hierarchy that has been established by men, but not in a way that I think God intended.)  This propaganda has been saying things that have isolated people when it shouldn't have.  I want you to know that God loves you and cares for you JUST AS MUCH as He cares for the proclaiming Christians of the earth.  It doesn't matter if you're atheist, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim or anything else.  You're still a child of the Lord God, and He cares for you and wants you back.  Therefore, your privileges and obligations are no different than a Christian's.  You too have an inner-lion that is roaming and waiting to be released.  Let it out of the cage and just see what happens.  I dare you.

In fact, I challenge all of you.  In this new year, 2010, how are you going to combat your fear?  You cannot grow in any meaningful way if you're acting in fear.  Journal the ideas that you've had since you were a child and make stride to accomplish those goals now!  Decide what areas of your life are not how you pictured them years ago.  Why are they different?  True, ideas and goals and dreams change... but did yours change because of fear?  I imagine if you truly meditate and think about that and journal down your ideas, you will see that fear has been a larger player in your life than you'd like to admit.  It has been in my life.  The more I am aware of my thoughts and motivations behind my actions, the more I realize that I operate from a system of fear.  A system that is meant to keep me imprisoned and weak.  Bu that is not who I am, and neither are you.  You are a prince or a princess on this earth, and the time is NOW for you to come forth and proclaim the truth.  The time is NOW for you to live up to the standards of God (not men) and break through your fears.  

Take one stride at a time.  Each blog posting is a courageous act for me; one in which I confront and combat my fears.  What will you do today to confront and combat your fears?  How will you release your inner-lion today?