FLIGHT or FIGHT? Those are two big generalizations on how one responds to conflicts and crises…how one responds to the battles we are in for our spirits, minds, hearts and bodies on this side of heaven. 

We often choose to FIGHT in the midst of these battles because we are trying to defend ourselves, our reputations, our own self-image from the judgments and misjudgments that come from other people. WE want to manage how others see us and think of us. We FIGHT against anyone else telling us who we are, how we are or what our weaknesses are. We FIGHT against any criticism of ourselves. We might not say it aloud, or FIGHT in obvious physical and verbal ways (although that certainly happens!), but, at the very least, the anger is seething inside of us and we are consumed with bitterness and even hate toward those who would attack our ego, our image, our self-worth, our actions, our motivations. “How dare they judge me! How dare they tell me what I should do! Who do they think they are?!”

We need to understand that our self-worth can never be changed by what another person thinks of us or even by how we are treated. So it is a waste of precious energy, effort, thought, action and time to FIGHT against misjudgments in order that all others will know us the way WE want to be known.

Instead we need to receive and focus our precious energy, effort, thought, action and time on the divine power God has given us through our knowledge of Him. Knowing God and using God’s divine power are weapons that are far more powerful and eternally victorious in the FIGHT for our spirits, minds, hearts and bodies than are our self-focused, self-justifying, self-defending ways. 

God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3

We need to recognize that with God as the Protector and Defender of our life and our honor, we do NOT have to FIGHT against the attacks of another. These have no eternal significance.

What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

My salvation and my honor depend on God. Psalm 62:7

Far too often we choose to FIGHT against the people who have wounded us in the same way that we have suffered. We FIGHT back through our words and actions with the same kind of weapons that came against us: hurt, mistreatment, rejection, lies, abuse, thoughtlessness, selfishness, cruelty and evil.

Instead we are to FIGHT with the weapons given to us by our God and infused with His divine power. We do NOT have to FIGHT as we have been attacked.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4

And our God’s greatest divine weapon for us is to work out His divine purpose within each of us who are His children is…

…to be conformed to the likeness of His Son…Romans 8:29

The more transformed into the likeness of Jesus we are, the more certain we are that we will FIGHT our lives’ battles to a victorious conclusion! Like Jesus, we will choose to FIGHT with the same divine power and weapons that Jesus used to conquer—for all eternity—the FIGHT against sin and death: love, prayer, forgiveness, sacrifice, obedience to God, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

• LOVE your enemies and PRAY for for those who persecute you–Matthew 5:44
• FORGIVE whatever grievance you may have against one another. FORGIVE as the Lord forgave you–Colossians 3:13
• Therefore I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies [your thoughts, words, actions--all you are, all you do] as living SACRIFICES, holy and pleasing to God–Romans 12:1
• And this is LOVE: that we walk in OBEDIENCE to God’s commands. As you heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in LOVE–2 John 6
• Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with COMPASSION, KINDNESS, HUMILITY, GENTLENESS and PATIENCE–Colossians 3:12

We are called to FIGHT. But! We must be certain we are FIGHTING the right battle that will conform us to be more like Jesus so that we will be vessels of God’s healing and transformation in the lives of others—all others—our closest friends and our cruelest of enemies. This is divine power of our Lord Jesus.

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…1 Timothy 6:12

Whatever our battle, may we each allow God to lead us into victory as we FIGHT with all that God has provided to us through our Lord and Savior—the Eternal Conqueror—Jesus Christ!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

FLIGHT or FIGHT? Those are two big generalizations on how one responds to conflicts and crises…how one responds to the battles we are in for our spirits, minds, hearts and bodies on this side of heaven. 

We often choose FLIGHT in the midst of these battles because we are trying to avoid the uncomfortable situations, tough conversations and pretty much every circumstance that might put us in a perceived embarrassing, vulnerable, tense or awkward position with other people.  We act as though our worth and our honor is in our hands…or is in danger of being changed by the words and actions of someone else. So we choose FLIGHT to avoid that from happening. Our honor, like our salvation, is only, and eternally, dependent on God. Period.

My salvation and my honor depend on God. Psalm 62:7

When we choose FLIGHT it actually means that we are closing ourselves down to God’s unlimited power that is available to work in us and through us…no matter what or who we may be facing. 

…God is able to do immeasureably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us…Ephesians 3:20

When we choose to be less concerned about protecting our own image and comfort level, when we choose to not let fear rule us and push us to choose FLIGHT, we will be more free to truly love others, God and ourselves. Because it is LOVE that drives out all fear; and it is LOVE through which we become more than a conquerors in all things! And as more than conquerors we never have to run away in fear—we never have to choose FLIGHT—from anyone or any circumstance because we are constantly held by God’s perfect love! 

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…1 John 4:18

 In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

There is a time for FLIGHT…and that’s anytime we’re presented with temptation. We need to just take FLIGHT right away…in every way—mind, body and spirit—from any hook of temptation and evil that comes into our lives…even if we put it there in the first place!

Flee from sexual immorality…1 Corinthians 6:18

…my dear friends, flee from [all] idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:14

But you, man [and woman] of God, flee from all this [evil], and pursue righteousness, godliness,  faith, love, endurance and genentleness. 1 Timothy 6:11

Whatever our battle, may we each allow God to lead us into victory as we depend on God to guard our honor and give us His power, His love and His full transforming grace—in all relationships…in all circumstances…at all times.

Allowing God to lead us this way will cause our hearts, minds and spirits to soar. Now, that’s the way we should take FLIGHT!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane 

Do you remember this song?

I can see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.
It’s gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshinin’ day.
It’s gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshinin’ day.

Are you singing it? Are you believing it?

In Jesus this bright (bright) bright (bright) SON shinin’ day will be a full reality for everyone of us who has trusted in our God. The prophet Isaiah foretold it. And through His death and resurrection our Lord Jesus makes that day a reality for all His people  for all eternity!

On this mountain the Lord will destroy the shroud that enfolds the peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.

In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” Isaiah 25:7-9 

On that day there will be great singing and praising of our God…as we enter fully into the eternal—shroud-less—presence of our Holy, Sovereign, Loving LORD!

Psalm 149:1 encourages us to: Sing to the LORD a new song! Here’s one we can get started on now:

I can see clearly now the SHROUD is gone
I can see sin and death are put away
Gone are my tears of shame that had me blind 
It’s gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) SON shinin’ day.
It’s gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) SON shinin’ day.

May today and each day be a bright SON shinin’ day for you as you know and trust that our God will bring about that eternal day just as He has promised!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Faith in the LORD our God—that is real, that is living, that is life-transforming—can not be based on a nice, comfortable set of ideas, guidelines or regular religious practices and rituals.

Faith in the LORD our God—that is real, that is living, that is life-transforming—must be based on being courageous enough to ask God some really tough questions in order to get to know Him…and letting God ask us some pretty tough questions, too.

God’s Word challenges us to do both.

This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it–the LORD is His name: 
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. Jeremiah 33:2-3

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:26-27

“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?” Matthew 16:16

Jesus said to her [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

Faith—that is real, that is living, that is life-transforming—can not be based on a religious artifact or practice.

Faith in the LORD our God—that is real, that is living, that is life-transforming—is about entering into a courageous—question and answer—conversation with God. It is about entering into a deep, vulnerable and intimate relationship with Him so that we have to explore who God truly is…to us. 

God already knows who He is. So faith—that is real, that is living, that is life-transforming—is about us coming to a place in our relationship with God that we accept His revelation of Himself as true…for us. 

This takes outrageous courage and complete humility at the same time…and it makes for a faith—and a relationship with the LORD our God—that is real, that is living, that is life-transforming!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

O LORD, our LORD,

How majestic is your name in all of the earth! Psalm 8:1

These words start me singing (and dancing a little bit!) to the praise song tune that these Scripture words have been put to! They’re upbeat! They’re joyful and worshipful! They’re faith-filled! These words enthusiastically pronounce that: It is true! The LORD’s name is majestic in all of the earth!

But it isn’t true. Not really. Not in our get-down-to the-nitty-gritty ways that I live…or you live…or most of us live our lives. Even we who proclaim the LORD as our God—as our King, as our Heavenly Father—don’t always live (maybe hardly ever) as if the LORD’s name truly is majestic in all of the earth.

But! IT IS TRUE! God doesn’t change. So neither my worst nor my best moods and behaviors change the truth that the LORD’s name is majestic.

The LORD’s majestic name cannot be changed–not in the eternal realm. Not ever. Not by the kindest, most compassionate, loving act of people towards others nor by the brokenness of bodies and relationships, evil, hate, crime and war. None of these change the truth that the LORD’s name–the LORD Himself–is forever majestic!

IT IS TRUE! Our LORD–our LORD’s Name–is Majestic! And God doesn’t change…but living in this truth will certainly change us!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other [three] times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

1 Samuel 3: 10

The night had almost passed. Three other times before this dialogue with God, the young Samuel (probably around 12 years old) had heard his name called out, at a time when Scripture tells us: “In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.”–1 Samuel 3:1. So it is understandable that Samuel thought it was Eli, the temple priest and the young Samuel’s mentor-master, that had called out to him. But it wasn’t. Samuel’s sleep was being disturbed by God. Samuel’s name was being called out by the LORD.

After the third time of having Samuel run into his sleeping quarters to offer his services, Eli understood what was happening and counseled Samuel on how to respond to the LORD’s call. This true counsel came from a man who himself had failed miserably at istening and obeying the LORD when it came to his own two grown  sons, who were also serving as priests but were  ”wicked men…who had no regard for the LORD”–1 Samuel 2:12

Samuel did as he was told. He went back to listen to the LORD as a humble, willing and obedient servant. And the LORD came and stood near him and spoke to Samuel, and an intimate life-long-conversation and relationship began with the LORD leading and Samuel following.

How simple Samuel’s response to the LORD was, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” But that righteous humility, courageous willingness and ready obedience before the LORD made all the difference in this one young person’s life. Samuel’s life was powerfully transformed through his simple act of listening to the LORD.

Will we choose as Samuel did, no matter what our age—no matter what our circumstance or position in life, to humbly, willingly, obediently listen to the LORD? Will we choose to let the LORD into our lives in such an intimate and powerful way through the simple act of listening? It’s worth it. And it is powerfully transforming!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the the truth.

2 Corinthians 13:8

Wow. What an audacious, incredible statement to make: To only be able to do what is the truth…to NOT be able to do anything against truth.

Can you imagine a world where we cannot do anything in contradiction to the truth? A world where everything we do lines up, and is in agreementment, with the truth? What would that mean for me…for you?

Since Jesus claims, “I am the truth…” John 14:6…I have to start there. And start there humbly…and by His Word and Spirit continue in the courage and power of His truth. I need to accept the truths of Jesus, my Lord and my God:

I am a sinner…I am forgiven.

I was condemned because of my own sins to die…Jesus took the punishment for my condemnation by dying a cruel and bloody death on the cross for me.

I am frail. My body is mortal and subject to illness and death…There is nothing frail about our God. Jesus rose from the dead, conquering both sin and death. The truth of Jesus promises me eternal life with Him. I will be changed physically in the resurrection. Jesus promises that I will put on my eternal, immortal, imperishable—unfrail body—and that I will be with my Lord forever.

I am flawed. I still sin. I still act and react selfishly, defensively, offensively, pridefully (doggone it!)…The truth of God is that Jesus died for each and  every one of my sins—past, present and future. And God’s truth calls me to humbly, sincerely confess all my sins to God, and God in His merciful love is faithful and just and will forgive all my sins and clean me, once again, from all iniquity—from all impurity on every level.

I am finite. I am limited in in wisdom, in strength, in power, in peace, in love…There is nothing finite about our God. There is nothing limited about our God—and with God all things are possible.

• Wisdom—God’s truth tells me to recognize my lack of wisdom and ask for God’s wisdom, and God will give it to me generously.  
• Strength—God’s truth tells me that I can do all things through God’s stength.
• Power—God’s truth tells me that God is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or even imagine, according to God’s power that is at work in me.
• Peace—God’s truth tells me that as I give God all my anxieties, my worries, my fears and my frustrations, I will be given God’s peace that transcends all understanding to guard my heart and my mind in my Lord Jesus Christ.
• Love—God’s truth tells me that God loves me so much that He sent His One and Only Son into the world that I might live through him. Since God so loved me, who was once His enemy, I am to love my enemies, I am to love others like Jesus loves me. And God truth tells me and promises to give me God’s unfrail, unlimited wisdom, strength, power and peace to be able to live and  love like Jesus.

God’s truth: God is love. 1 John 4:8, 16

God’s truth for living out my faith: The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love. Galatians 5:6

May I, may each of us who are God’s children, live in God’s truth—accepting God’s grace and mercy and love for our own salvation and healing and be so transformed by God’s truth that we will offer God’s grace and mercy and love to others…to all others.

Let us not do—not be able to do—anything against God’s truth. Let us live and love in God’s truth, God’s whole and holy truth, and nothing but God’s truth.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Then Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:34-37

The more I read Scripture, the more I listen to Jesus and His call on our lives as His people—His followers, the more I realize that Jesus makes no sense to any of us who thought that our faith would make life more easy, more pleasant or, at least, more secure for us.

Now, in the BIG scheme of eternity, that is ALL true. But on this side of Heaven it’s just not necessarily so!

Jesus calls us to the eternal—which is not always easy to grasp with our limited perspectives.

Jesus calls us to live according to His passionate purpose—which is not always pleasant when it means sacrifice of comfort, time, energy and life as we once knew—or expected—it to be .

Jesus calls us to salvation—which does not always give us the earth-bound security of health and wealth that we would want.

Oh! But in Jesus, in choosing to lose ourselves and follow Him—in choosing to accept and trust the loving, eternal rule and ways of Jesus over our lives—we gain everything. Ab-SOUL-utely EVERYTHING.

Denying self and losing our life for Jesus and His Good News, is really about destroying the powerful lies of Self-Sufficiency and the powerful pulls of Selfish Desires.

In Jesus, as we “come after” Him, our lives get much BIGGER, much FREER! In Jesus—the One who gave up His life for us—we GAIN and experience an eternal transformation that is soul-saving, mind-healing and life-fulfilling! Losing myself—losing my selfishness—to gain these gifts of God, is ab-SOUL-utely worth it!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Meanwhile Jesus’ disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” John 4:31-34

What’s your SOUL food source?

Where am I…where are you getting the deepest nourishment for our SOULS? Where do we find the source of our energy? Our strength? Our purpose?

Jesus got His soul food from His Father…from knowing and doing His Father’s will. Here, in intimate knowledge of His Father’s will and in loving obedience to it, Jesus received His energy, His strength, His purpose for ALL He was called to do in life.

Since we as God’s children are to become more and more like Jesus, I’m thinking we need to be sure we go to, and receive from, the same SOUL food source as Jesus—knowing and doing our Heavenly Father’s will! After all, you’ve heard the saying, “You are what you eat!” 

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Jesus also told them this parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Luke 6:39-40

All Scripture is God-breathed is is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God is thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Living our lives as followers—as disciples, as students—of our Lord Jesus Christ requires that we be enrolled in a life-long education process. And, I know for me, many of those lessons have often been remedial and repeated!

Living our lives as followers—as disciples, as students—of our Lord Jesus Christ requires that we embrace the truth that we must always keep a humble attitude and remain fully teachable to our Lord.

And as we learn and live in Jesus Christ—and the truth of His Word and the power of His Spirit—we are transformed and set free!

Through God’s Word and Spirit we are set free from the lies that deny God’s love and power in our lives.

Through God’s Word and Spirit we are set free to love others in powerful ways—through the forgiveness, kindness, mercy and grace that God has given to us over and over again… and teaches us how to give these to others…over and over again.

Living our lives as followers—as disciples, as students—of our Lord Jesus Christ does indeed fully train us and thoroughly equip us. It just happens to be a life-long education!

See you at the Graduation Ceremony on the other side of Heaven!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane