Life and Love

With all areas of life and love there comes residual side effects. Some of them are good and some of them are bad. It really depends on the individual and the issues they are going through. However, there is a universal stigma that applies to both an that is the declaration of possessive behavior in relationships.

Generally speaking, there are two sides to every story. It has been argued that whether it's good or bad is a matter of opinion. So let's look at the extremes and let you decide.

A. There are those who believe that possessive behavior in relationships can prove to be very healthy. For example, it will show a level of emotional ownership that leads to a physical responsibility. Acting on that responsibility shows that you care. To show you care means you truly do love the person. And if you love the person, then you will honestly honor, cherish and adore that person. You would not intentionally mean to cause harm, trouble or sorrow, you will always forgive and you will always come back.

B. Then there are those who see it a little differently. Others believe distance can make the heart grow fonder. That distance can also become a crutch or a justified excuse that never really fully allows the person to fully commit or become attached. By remaining physically and emotionally distant, the person can keep the protective barrier that protects them from getting hurt or from loving or hurting others. It is safe. Safe means not having to fully invest yourself. Less investment means lowering your risks and losses in case the relationship fails.

Which one are you? Are you more like "A" or more like "B"? Or do you feel you are somewhere in the middle? Playing it safe when it comes to matters of the heart can be smart depending on who you are choosing to deal with or playing it safe could block your ability to fully open up, be vulnerable, revealing and accepted.

The loving heart has only one desire: to be loved in return. A loving person only wants to be loved for exactly who they are at the core and for love to find them right where they are right now.

Ultimately, where there is pure love there is pure intention. Time stands still. You will no longer run from your past or speed through your future. You will be content where you are: in love. So if you haven't already, let love find you where you are now. Do not be afraid of the past or anxious about the future. Life will know what to do with love - even when you don't.

-DeMaster Thomas

Try It, You Might Like It!

 

Diversity and creativity comes in many forms. There is the culture we live in, the people closest to us and then there is the quiet voice within. Sometimes, that quiet voice is the best source of inspiration. Joyce Meyer coins it perfectly in her book, Enjoying Where Your Are On the Way To Where You Are Going.

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it...(Revelation 3:8)

  Perhaps God has been speaking to you about some changes in your life and you want them, but you are afraid. I want to encourage you not to be afraid to step out. Even if you make a mistake, it won't be the end of the world. Don't spend all of your life looking back and wishing you had tried different things or done things differently.

 Wondering what could have been is a lonely feeling. I can promise you that you will not enjoy everything you try. But at least you will have the personal experience of knowing. You won't have to live your whole life hearing about what everyone else is doing and wondering what it would be like.

 You are not going to be able to do everything, but step out in God's timing into the things you feel He is leading you into. Go through the doors He is opening. You may even have to take a few steps in some direction and see if a door previously closed will open as you approach it.

 For example, God taught me a lesson once using the automatic doors that fly open as someone steps on the rubber pad. He said something along these lines, "Joyce, you can sit in your car at the grocery store all day long and that door will never open for you. You can watch other people go in and out all day and it won't get you in the store. But if you get out of your comfortable seat and head toward the door, as your approach, you will find it opening for you also."

 Maybe you have a little direction from God, but you don't see the full picture. God leads step by step. He may never show you step two until you take step one.

 God is progressive and I have found that my faith is also. I may have a little faith and so God shows me a little something to do. Then as I am faithful over the little thing, He shows me the next step and by then, my faith has grown to be able to handle it.

Maybe you need something simple like taking a different route to or from work.

You might think, "Well, what if I get lost?"

My response would be, "Well, what if you have a good time?"

Taking risks, calculated or not, can be very scary. Even if the current circumstances have run their course and in some ways may even be unhealthy or unproductive. But it is in that fear that we find faith and it is in that area of the unknown that we find trust. You may say well I don't trust the new place I am going or I may not fully trust the people there. But I ask you do you trust yourself? If you do, then you will have all the trust that you need. You know yourself best and you know you would not purposely put yourself in situations that are not safe.

So the next time you feel like you are faced with difficult options and you must make a critical choice, just remember there is something to be said about the road less traveled: sometimes it will lead you right where you need to be.

-DeMaster Thomas 

A Clean Heart and Mind

It is very common for inspiration to come to us in our dreams. Even in the darkest corners of our mind, there is a light of hope, compassion and perseverance. This post, while a bit out of the ordinary, is from a reader's personal diary. It was given to me with permission to share with my readers in hopes that in some small way, maybe their story would inspire others.

Clean Your Closet (4/2010)

So let the cleaning begin! As each great door thralls open, I am rebuilt, reconstructed and ultimately, reborn. I am returned to The Source. I am whole again. Let the great and wondrous sounds of love and redemption fill the walls of my soul with joy!

 But if we talk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. (1 John 1:7)

I am free! I am free! Thank you, Christ Lord, I am free!

And the first door opened up and hoards of filth, sins and pains of life poured out and was swept away into misty vapor of nothingness right before my eyes. And when the vapor cleared, the closet was clean and sparkled with peace, faith and spiritual foundation.

And the second great door opened. And the closet of my body opened forth all sins of lust, hate, degradation, punishment and destruction and again the vapors sucked them all out of existence like a mystical vacuum. Once the smoke cleared, the closet sparkled with words of encouragement, confidence, self-esteem, self-worth, patience and care.



 



And lastly the third door of my soul opened up and in it were piles and piles of dirty crusted skeletons and bones, cold and broken from all the I suffered in my life. And with a sweeping whiff of light, the closet door was blown back and the skeletons became flesh and the flesh became life and all who were trapped here were freed. The walls were covered in thick, chalky layers of roaches, water bugs and larva. With an increasing amount of strength, power and might, the Great Light began a powerful, overwhelming vacuum of suction on each and every nook and cranny of the closet.


While great force was needed to heal and extinguish the layers on each wall, it was only a matter of time before it was all gone!

The hate-gone!

The fear-gone!

The lust-gone, all gone!

The lack of self worth-gone!

Low self-esteem-gone! All gone!

Nightmares and haunting memories-gone!

Spiritual obstacles-gone!

The curse of hell-all gone!

And there I stood, in front of all the closets of my life and they were empty of all sin and replaced with strength, courage, wisdom, knowledge, compassion, peace, understanding, faith, grace, forgiveness, foresight and most of all, each door was open wide to accept and receive more. 

And off to each side of the doors were small red dots with the symbol of the New Heaven on them. And when I stared even further, I noticed a soft, humid silhouette that wrapped around all me. It spelled the word, LOVE. I am home. I am happy. I am complete. In the surroundings of love. What I knew of the world was no longer my way. I am born again to start over. This is the creation of a clean heart. Created by God. Bound by the Son. Protected by the Holy Spirit. 

Thank you. I am home.

-DeMaster Thomas 

A Love Story: Daydreaming

VOWS (8/09)

We met in a virtual cafe, you with your coffee and I with my tea. We were shy to share a table, but the light from the window and the breeze from the door made our table the best in the room.

"Will there be anything else?" The waitress asked. Together, we answered, "No. That will be all, thank you." We laughed at our synchronicity. Conversation was bright with many colors and the laughter was seasonably perfected with pain. Our visits became frequent - daily - as if one day without, is a lifetime.

We fell, no net; floating beyond stories of past, present and future. And landed here. In love. And today, just as you were many years ago at the first hello... This is all but a twinkling glimpse occurring in only a minute. And as you are with your coffee and I with my tea, we are warm, sweet, bitter, best if not better served hot or cold.

You see, in my eyes, you and I, well, we-never grow old. And even if this is only imagination - it seems - I do not ever want to wake up - from this eternal dream.

 -DeMaster Thomas