Unmasked By Truth

"If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment."

Carlos Santana

Have you ever stood in the mirror and just saw a reflection, as if there of a stranger looking back at you? While standing there, you try to figure out what exactly happened to you? As the life you once dreamed about slowly fades away..

Yeah....I use to do that too. 

You feel broken and battered. A dark cloud over your head seems to linger. Darkness has crept in, and then you realize life happened and you forgot how to live.  You've been beaten down...hit after hit.  Trying to stay above water, but life keeps sinking in.

What if I told you that you could live through this storm.  Tread the heavy currents with much peace and joy.
You probably think I'm crazy...that maybe I lost my mind...if you knew my family, I'm sure they'd take your side.

I've shed my fair share of tears, and feel the heartaches and pain.  I openly confessed my brokenness to you.  Through it all, without a mask on my face, I also feel and have felt joy  and peace through the midst of it all.

One of my favorite quotes happens to be by Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa...and if your not familiar with who he is...well...then there is Google!
But the quote says:

"Let me tell you something you already know.  The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows.  It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.  You, me, or nobody is gonna get hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit.  It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.  How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

So, before we continue, let me just say..stop grammar checking me! Hahaha!!!  I never said it was perfect English..and I'm sure throughout my blogging sessions there have been plenty of mistakes!

Now...back to what I was saying...

This quote nails the life that most of us feel we live!  However, before Rocky explain life to us, Jesus already enlightened us in John 10:10 by telling us that the thief (the enemy) comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy...but at the end of that verse is where the turnaround of enlightenment begins by saying I have come that they may have life and live it to the full.

In 2015, when the Lord spoke to me and told me to pick up my cross (Matt 16:24-26), I was like okay because I thought nothing could get much worse than what I had already been through/was going through at that time. I thought I already knew what it was like to stand. I had my scriptures and I was already prayed up, but as the blows began to hit, I began falling and falling fast...the misery was sinking in..yet, prior to that, I was already taught that joy was a gift.  However, with as fast as the blows were coming it wasn't sinking in and I began to sink because I took my eyes off Jesus and grief slowly crept in.

The enemy is out to destroy and he will bring you to your knees if you allow it.  He will use words to destroy you.   It's a constant battlefield when your mind is racing and you can't sleep.

However, what the enemy doesn't want you to know, is that we can rise above all, even if we are in the midst of our storms. Joy is a gift from the Father and He doesn't take back what was already given.  We must not go off how we feel, as hard as it is...we must keep our eyes focused on Him!  Only then can you smile and laugh through the heartache and tears.

Most of us become angry and bitter and even blame God for it all. That's where you will live as a prisoner if you give in.  It also gives the enemy ground to destroy your life brick after brick!  I've been there.  I'm still there at times and it is not easy to pull yourself up from that darkness.  It's easier to hate and not feel the pain, than to forgive.

I've learned that nothing worth having will be easy to obtain, and the enemy only wants us to live under condemnation, guilt and shame!  God, on the other hand, turns thing's around for the greater good. He wants us to live life to our fullest, even in the midst of the storm.  Yes, even if we don't fully see why we have to go through what we do.

He wants us to be joyful and full of peace and love..even in the midst of chaos.  So, choose life.  Choose to live. Don't forget to stop and laugh.  Smile and let the sunshine in.

You will always have haters.  People will laugh and will always have something to say.  When you do something for you they will label you selfish, even if its just you picking up the shattered pieces of your existence. I say, let them talk, you will never please everybody! We were already warned about being persecuted for following Jesus and, remember, misery loves company!

Also, just remember this last thing, the enemy only attacks when he is afraid because he sees the greatness inside of you. All he is trying to do is stop it!

So, stand tall, be proud of who you are.  Humble yourself, treat people, even your enemies, with love and respect, and laugh with friends. Always keep a smile on your face and, despite your circumstances, let your little light shine brighter than ever before!

Until next time, I love you...God bless!

But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23