vida verdadera

Do not be lulled
to be dulled...

"The Walking Dead" is not just some TV show,
not just some parade down the street,
that will fade as a fad with time.

                         No.

Know that the walking dead is a reality -
a dangerous drama diluting,
a sorry saga secluding
people from true life.
Deceiving the Eve in us,
leaving this generation lost
because lies cost.

                         Lies -

"Pretty Little Liars" we are,
wearing make up to make up
for our empty, ugly souls.
Pretty little liars -
this glamourous, clamourous giggly gig
when really -
Is not a beautiful woman with no discretion a pig?

But hey, we are caught in a worldly web,
bought by the online web
that teaches girls to reduce their waist-line
by reducing their dignity to a dime.
"Buy this!" and by this date,
you'll have a date.
"Wear this!" and where will you go?
Far!
"Drink this!" "Think this!"
Pink this, purple that.
And what does all this add up to -
a shrinking wallet, a shrinking waist-line -
but all really just a waste of time.

... So, it's time
to evangelize our souls, not trivialize.

Scriptures say something about all of this!
So, listen up because truth stays true,
And it's about time we get a clue!

"She who is self-indulgent is dead even though she lives." 

"Indulgent" - let's break it down
before we break down completely.

In - inward focused.
She says, "Time is mine."
She says, "I am totally fine."
She demands, "Give, give!" like a leech.
She warns, "Don't dare preach."

Dul(l) -
What a bore,
Always wanting more!
What's in store?
What's at the store?
Stuffed but starved,
Can't cope,
So she mopes.
Bleep (a swear word)
Beep (her phone goes)
Welcome distraction!
Click (photo)
Click (upload)
Waiting, celebrating
all the "likes" ups her rating.
Stroking her vanity,
Bordering insanity,
Eventually fed up, wanna give up...

But wait... it's a...

Gent -
She craves attention from a gent,
though he is anything but a gentleman.
But still, the thrill!
It's time to manipulate,
so she dresses as bate,
and she stays out late,
Seducing him, reducing her
to a cheap chimp,
an impulsive victim to vanity,
with a fever for fun,
a longing for love turned lust,
but she "must" just follow her heart.
"Believe in yourself" she mumbles,
as she stumbles,
as she crumbles.

Striving to be alive,
but feeling sad,
feeling bad,
going mad.

Oh, the epitome of pity -
to party then pity party!
To love yourself and feel lonely.
To trust oneself and find yourself falling short...
even in your high heels.
To laugh out loud and cry inside
To flirt and feel like dirt
To flaunt and be haunted by fear
To be noisy and nosy
To find yourself a fake
Whose flattery was all just fluff -
You're not enough.
                 No.
Now you know it was all just stuff.

Now you see that
You by yourself are just a dead end.
You're on a journey...
Sure, maybe seventy years long and seemingly wide,
but in the end a pointless ride,
Swept away by the tide
of the next century.

We are like a flower that will fall,
unable to stall,
on the way to eternity.

We are like a mist that appears
then disappears
after a certain amount of years.

Do you see the "us" in dust?
We are but dust.
And our stuff will rust.

But we are souls
that will last
past these years,
past these peers.


So, logically you have some choices.
                                   Either...
live it up or give it up.
YOLO or sink low.
Cope or mope.
                                  ... Or neither!
There is HOPE!

Yes, our name is Eve
with pride in our stride
but on the eve
of being made new...
Phew! 
Because...

There is a Name
Whose fame is forever.
There is a Light
Whose flame always burns.
There is a Love
Whose grace ever flows
There is a Redeemer
That cares, helps, and knows.

The Winner of sinners,
The Lover who covers our stains
With the flood of His blood

His Name is Jesus!

The Second Adam
Who gives us a second chance
The Giver of all good gifts
Let us sing and dance!

He rose up from the dead
That we might die to our-dead-end-selves
and rise with Him to truly live
To gladly give
All in exchange for His new life.

So, let's renounce our pride,
for the King of kings died.
Let's forsake our fear
for the Prince of princes came near.
Let's quit our lust
for He is a Lover to trust.
Let's kill our greed
for God meets our every need.
Let's forget our nerves
Because His child serves.
 
Let's give up our pathetic, puny plot
(that eventually will rot)
to the One Who gave up His throne for a cross.
Let's surrender our small, silly dream
To the everlasting Theme
of His marvelous grace to our human race.

Though the leech cries, "Give, give!"
The LORD cries louder, "Live, live!"

the fight of faith

What do you do when days are dark...
When the nights are far too long?
You hope against hope for His spark
And wait and pray for His song.

Stupid Self-Reliance

"What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" [1 Corinthians 4:7]

These two questions answer a lot of other questions. All is grace.

Back to the Basics

God is God. God is eternal. God is Three in One. God is good. God does good. God is holy. God is love. He is the Original. He is glorious. He made and owns and sustains everything in the entire universe. He is beautiful.

God breathed life into man and woman and called His creation very good. We enjoyed fellowship with the Best Being. We experienced His good gifts of life and love. It was bliss.

God gave humanity a free will, a choice to love Him by trusting and obeying Him. He desired lovers.

Adam and Eve chose wrongly. Humanity deliberately disobeyed. We did not have faith in His goodness and turned to our own foolish ways. "God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path." We failed. It was bad. 

Our failure reaped due consequences - death. Our disobedience deserves separation from our perfect Creator. Sometimes we think we are not that bad, but that's because we've forgotten that He is that good! His standard for communion is holiness. He must do what is right because He is just. He cannot and will not tolerate our evil. That's bad news for us. But let's keep in mind, our loss is our fault.

BUT there is the Gospel! In His great mercy, He entered the world He made to save His people from their sins. Jesus, God Incarnate, came and lived a perfect life and suffered a painful death in our place.  He then rose again in victory, offering new life. He is called the Second Adam and through Him we have a second chance at life. That's good news for us! Our relationship is restored! And let's keep in mind, our gain is His grace!

Let us say with David, "I have no good apart from You, God." And we will be celebrating Him for eternity!

Life and Light from the Lord

"For with You is the fountain of life;

    in Your light do we see light." 
[Psalm 36:9]

You are the God who illumines,

Who gives perfect light to the blind.

You are the full fountain of life,

Who delights the heart, soul and mind.

We receive life and light from the same Source - Jesus. 
He made it all. He gives it all.

Living on Borrowed Breath

Just the other day, I had a Snapple peach tea. Mmmm! 

 There are two reasons why I enjoy this drink. For one, it's tasty, and for two, it contains a fun fact on the cap. This particular cap read "The average person has 23, 000 breaths a day." 

Think of it - we inhale and exhale thousands of times a day. About 23,000 times. Wow! And most of this breathing is involuntary. We don't think about it. It just happens. In and out, in and out, and on and on we go.

But we should think about it. We should think about where our breath comes from and why we all have it.

God's Word tells us the answer to the where and why. "He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." [Acts 17:24-28] "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD (of life)." [Psalm 150:6] 

Let's remember - we walk and talk and work and play on borrowed breath.

believing the best about the Best!

Sometimes our doubts shout lies about God. Sometimes our minds find questions about His ways. Sometimes our hearts part from His truth. Sometimes our fears smear spiritual reality. And so, we find ourselves confused, careless and even callous, all because of a big misunderstanding on our part.

This is why it is always absolutely necessary to decide to believe the best about God. Why? Because He is the best of beings! [Jonathan Edwards]

Think about it. Even during the worst of times, we try to believe the best about certain people. Why? Because we remember the qualities in them that we love. We naturally appreciate and admire generosity, truth and goodness. If we do this with fallen human creatures (who show these qualities imperfectly), how much more should we do this with our holy Creator (Who possesses and proves these qualities perfectly)?

So, we must fight the night with the light, the dark with the spark of His truth! How? By considering His character! Here's just three to start a countless list of "His best" qualities -

He owes no man anything, but gives generously to all. He loves to share!

"Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?" Romans 11:35

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights." James 1:17

He is always right, and He always does the right thing. He's always fair!

"Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?" Genesis 18:25

"For the word of the LORD is right and true." Psalm 33:4

He is always good, and He is good to all. He loves to care!

"You are good, and what You do is good." Psalm 119:68

"The LORD is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made." Psalm 145:9