.: one :.

I have been realizing more and more lately how central relationships are to the Kingdom of God. The Devil is doing everything within his (limited) power to undo our ties with one another. It may be a careless word that sets someone off. It can be a thoughtless action that brings up the previously covered past. He can choose to use another person to say what they have been dying to say to you, and suddenly we are off to the races again. This truth must be proclaimed once again: we need each other. But the Enemy knows far too well how it is in our nature to seek to advance our own agendas at the cost of the bond we once shared with those around us. He knows that we love the view from our pedestals and will so often do all we can to keep our advantage over others. But we must hold onto the reality that we share in a union brought about by the Father on our behalf. While we were His enemies, He sacrificed the very Son with whom He shared divine fellowship... so that we might know Him like that. And where love and grace abound, our Enemy is working to undo the works of his foe. We need each other. We desperately need to be lifting one another up before the Father, asking that He might draw closer to them, support them when they feel isolated, and to even use us to bring about a deeper wholeness in their lives if He so chooses. We cannot avoid the cost of burning a bridge for the sake of proving ourselves right. Relationships are fundamental to what the Spirit of God is doing in the world around us. And as He moves in and through us, the Devil is using even the slightest selfish inkling to drive a wedge between those we love and us. We may not get our way. We probably won't find the sort of vain glory we were hoping for. But we have the chance to move beyond ourselves by deflating our growing egos and moving towards that individual in the face of cries to retreat. Silence is one of the greatest tools our Adversary has towards tearing apart our once cherished friendships. He will catch us off guard and get us to make it about ourselves, rather than about caring for that soul across from us. But we must seek the kind of strength that will give us the right words, and will cover over our reasons for separation and isolating ourselves from our assumed inferiors. Every one of us bears a pivotal role in the Father's work, but we forsake it when we work to develop the foundation of our own empires. May we reclaim grounds stolen by careless words and wounded egos, and may we soon find fellowship again with those we once walked with before.

.: whatever is new :.

Not sure if I can put it into words. Everything feels like it has been done before. Come to the end of what I started, only to find myself tossed between fear and courage. Something new feels within my grasp, maybe something that will help me push through. None of this will earn me a cent, yet I do it... because it feels at times like a release. I don't need for you to come through for me anymore. The words were right - there are liars everywhere. We all wanted to be somebody. I know I want to be somebody. Life has so many avenues that we can go down, so many of them ending in the same routine. The skies are grey now. I was hoping to get here. Here I am... now I want to be somewhere else. There is no method to the madness, no code behind these words. They are simple and true, nothing more or less than as they appear to us both. Do you understand the energy and dedication that it requires to make the masses happy with you? There is no in and out, only the half promise that something or someone will come through. Who of us has not been given what we longed for on a silver platter? Right, I know, I will appreciate far more that which cost me something. But can you really say that your own life is not littered with the mistakes that await so many of us now? I have done this because I thought it might help. I thought it might get me somewhere. I thought it could help me recognize myself. Instead it has only given me the privilege of scratching the surface. You are not going to get it! Stop putting the pieces together. There really doesn't have to be a reason for what has occured. Just let it be. You call it torment... and I call it discovery. You have found what you were looking for. I guess I never could make a reputation by making sense. Some find it easier than myself. I was never able to create something of much more substance than as much help as it was to you at the time. We all have been lying to each other. What were you expecting? Do your part to make it stop!