The Importance of Clarity

From birth it is our natural instinct to move forward in life, to achieve something and get what we need. I place emphasis on the word 'need', because as life goes on that word seems to get replaced by what we 'want' more often than not. But that is a topic all on its own regarding selfishness which we will not divulge into right now.

This natural desire to achieve stems from what I believe is a soul of accomplishment which we were created with. To put it simply, the moment you accomplish something in life you always experience this awesome sense of accomplishment! It is a moment filled with joy and excitement to say the least. We feel alive!!

Yet when we stop to accomplish things in life, our soul starts to die. You start to loose your sense of worth in this life as you just cope from day to day. This slow and unconscious journey leads to you becoming more and more passive....you might start to withdraw....and depression awaits along the way.

Experiencing this sense of accomplishment becomes a vital part of our lives, yet some times we are so busy and try so hard without getting to experience that sense of accomplishment. Why is that?

CLARITY

Reading through the Bible and spending time with people who have achieved a lot in life I have come to realise that they are so specific in their actions. They have absolute clarity in what they want and how to go about getting it done.

The power in clarity is that it makes everything you do measurable. Measurability helps you to KNOW if what you are busy with is working or not, whether it is getting you closer to accomplishing what you are after or not.

If you can't measure something then it is almost impossible for you to move forward in life. You might end up going around in circles and getting frustrated by making the same mistakes over and over or having the same unwanted experiences in life over and over.

So what prevents us from getting clarity? Responsibility & Accountability

The minute you have absolute clarity on any situation in life it becomes known to all who's responsibility what is and you can be held accountable! This unconsciously brings the possible fear of failure to the fore again and your strength in character. The fear of rejection joins the party as well.

By asking the questions we can achieve clarity in life. By asking questions is the only way in which we can achieve clarity!

So if you want to be happy, if you want to be successful in life....then you need to start asking questions and also allow others to ask you questions without allowing your ego to prevent you from achieving clarity.

Without clarity it is not possible to establish trust either....and trust is the core of everything. When you are absolutely clear about something....you naturally trust it! Remove clarity on any part of a process and trust gets replaced by wishful hope.

Start asking the questions, start building on trust and start living the life you were created to have!

You are worth it!!

An invitation to faith....

Agghhh, I hate it when I am disappointed in life. In fact it really sucks!! Especially when I was so excited about something and you got to the point where hope started to grow!

It is amazing how hope can change your life, how it brings the fruit of the Spirit to the fore in you. It is fantastic! In fact it should be a place where all of us must strive to be all the time....to live in healthy hope!

Yet we all get disappointed at some point.

When your character is strong enough you deal with disappointment in a healthy and constructive manner.....and you turn to God. When your character is not yet strong enough, it is your natural unconscious tendency to look at who or what you can blame for your disappointment.Your burn bridges, scar relationships and say things that you will regret at some point in the future.

Disappointment comes from you being attached to a certain expectation, a picture you had in your head and heart about what a certain outcome should look like. When the picture gets coloured in differently or drawn differently you are quick in your own power to make all the effort you can ensuring the picture turns out the way you wanted.

This gets driven by a possible sense of rejection and/or the ever present fear of failure that comes knocking on the door of your heart. Should you answer the door....the experience and outcome of that visit only leads to destruction. It is a journey where you start to isolate yourself from people and God. You start to feel sorry for yourself and see yourself as a sad victim of life.

That is not what God intended for you!

Hope is healthy and it is a vein of life that leads to life! The important thing is for that expectancy to be detached from 'wordly' outcomes and your own picture. Your hope should be attached to the absolute knowledge and trust that God knows what is best for you....and He also wants what is best for you!!

So every sense of disappointment we have is a invitation from God to faith! An invitation to get closer to God, an invitation to the greater life that God has for you!

As it is written you should count it all joy! Count it all joy as you change your perspective on life, as you change your experience of disappointment in your journey and relationship with God!

He wants the best for you.....you are worth it!!

Choices of judgement

Paul once wrote in the book of Galatians before he was about to make a statement that what he is about to say is his words....not necessarily God's words. So what I am about to say now is my words as they were not divinely placed on my heart by God and I will share why I say this.

We all know the following two quotes:
"Knowledge is power."
"Don't promise when you are happy. Do not reply when you are angry and do not decide when you are sad!"

I am going to speak about the first quote and in a way choose to ignore the second.

Knowledge is power and yet the opposite is also true and unfortunately more apt in our society today: "A little knowledge is dangerous!"

For some reason in society today, and I include myself in this for making the mistake in the past on many occasions, people are quick to make decisions and choices based on little or second hand information. And when things do not turn out the way they expected they are quick to point the finger and blame someone else for giving them false information.

So my question really is, 'Who are you spending time with or choosing not to spend time with based on second hand information, based on something (a story or opinion) that someone else told you that maybe they again even heard from someone else?'

'What feelings or thoughts are you having towards someone or something based on second hand knowledge?'

I met a stunning girl a while ago and in a conversation with two church leaders it came out that they know her well...according to them. So they said if I am keen on this girl and want to get to know her then I must speak to someone in their church who knows her very well. My answer was NO, I want to get to know her for who she is towards me....today. They were taken back by my answer....and praise the Lord for an awesome example He just placed on my heart to explain this.
If you were to speak with someone who knew Paul in his previous life as a Christian persecutor, and you based your feelings and choices on that alone, then you would miss out on some of the greatest books in the Bible and teachings of Jesus. Maybe your life today is changed because of these books Paul wrote!

So where is your life empty or not whole because of little knowledge?

Why have we become so weary and afraid even to ask people questions and get to know their hearts, who they truly are today?

As you might pick up my words are driven by a bit of disappointment and maybe some sadness even. I choose to ignore the second quote as these words might be driven by a bit of anger even or frustration.

Why do I think these are my words and not from God? James 1:19-20 says 'Understand this my brothers, let every man be quick to hear and slow to speak, slow to get angry and take offense. For man's anger does not promote the righteousness of God.'

I believe that in this very scripture lies the answer as well to why we are afraid or weary to ask people questions. We are quick to get angry, quick to speak and quick to defend over mistakes we made in the past or poor behaviour we are currently walking in. So to avoid this, to 'keep' the friendship in place or peace, we keep quiet and we get caught up in gossip! We choose to ignore the person and with time the friendship or person becomes a distant memory.

Well to be honest, what friendship is that really? What peace do you truly have then?

The world and all that is good within it have been created by Truth, by Love, by God. So anything in life that does not spring forth from this has no chance of true peace, joy, compassion, forgiveness and all the fruits of the Spirit we are so in search of!

If you are in search of these fruits.....then start asking the questions, but ask them from a place in your heart where you are bearing the fruits of the Spirit!

So go on......ask.....be real.....choose wisely.....and be a friend. The actions of people after you have asked the questions will show who they truly are, it will tell you all you need to know.

You are worth it!!