Bitter
Are you bitter? Do you have some lingering unresolved issues? If you hear someone's name, does your blood boil? Is that heartache still a place of contention? Maybe that pain is too fresh to deal with....but don't become bitter. Don't let your hurt and sadness turn into resentment and bitterness. Let it go. Give it to God. Bitterness has a way of spilling over into other areas of your life. It's a poison. It pollutes. God wants you to be better not bitter.
Advocate
We all need someone on our side. We need someone to have our back. We need to feel and be supported. We need our community. We need someone to voice our concerns. We need someone to advocate on our behalf. Who is our advocate? Who has our best interest at heart? Christ is our advocate.
Hebrews 4:15 (KJV) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin
Pressed
Pressed is a word that is thrown around a lot in our society. “Cold-Pressed” in particular garners a more expensive price tag. Cold-pressed juices and oils retain more of their nutrients and aromas. Whereas, some of these benefits are lost when exposed to heat. Imagine, if we could choose the process by which God gets our gifts out of us. What method would we choose? Would we choose to be pressed?
In order to get olive oil or grape juice, one has to cultivate the vine or tree. We have to be planted in good soil, then we have to grow. Planting is very similar to the burial process. We are covered and left in dark places to grow. Most of us don’t want to be covered, let alone left in a dark place alone under the guise of growth.
Then, after all that we are expected to produce fruit. Not just any fruit, but fruit after our own kind, and good fruit. Then, our good fruit is plucked. Our fruit is taken for us to benefit others. If that isn’t enough, our fruit has to undergo a process of being pressed.
The real treasure of the fruit is on the inside. God is always calling what’s on the inside. How does God get those things he put in us out? Pressure. Uncomfortable situations. People. Tragedy. Loss. Setbacks. Unexpected Encounters. Detours. Divorce. Change. Basically, all the things we try to avoid. We don’t want to be planted. Growth comes with pain. It hurts to bear fruit and though pressure produces, it seems like more than we can bear. Oh, but the end result justifies the process. The juice. The oil. The gift. The lesson. The blessing.
Community
What does your community look like? Who is on your list to call when things go wrong? Who is on the invite list when it’s time to celebrate? Your community is everything. They are the people who you choose to share your life with no matter what. They are the shoulders you cry on and your cheerleaders in the stand. Make sure that your community is filled with truth tellers and wisdom seekers. Your community should be filled with people who can shine a light on your places of darkness and speak to where you are going. Your community should be filled with people who know the real you and love you anyway. Your community should be filled people who know where you are have insight into where you are going. I’ll ask again, what does your community look like?
Character
Character is what you do when no one is watching. Character is what you do when only God is watching. For most of us, our character is revealed under pressure. How do we respond in times if intense pressure? What bubbles to the surface? Do the people around us see the best in us or the worst in us? Our character is directly linked to our moral compass. Do we have an understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong? Do we live our lives in the gray area? What do we really believe in?
Love Covers
In a day and age when everyone seeks to expose, we must remember that love covers a multitude of sins. I'm not saying that we should turn a blind eye. I'm saying that eventually everything does come to the light. We should not stand in a place of judgement casting stones. We should stand in a place of grace and mercy ready to forgive. The same way we would want God to be with us. Cover each other. Remind each other that we all fall short of the glory of God, but it is Christ that redeems us.
Imagine
Imagine what you could do if you had no limitations. What if you owned that restaurant? What if you bought that property? What if you had that investor? What if you weren't focused on what you don't have? What if you focused on what's in your hand? You've got to start somewhere. Have you sketched the design? Have you written the business plan? Start today. Do something. See yourself there and make plans to get there, realistically. Make moves. You are the only one stopping you.