Matthewfgross's Blog

Creativity is like a garden

Matthew Gross — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:57:24 +0000

As far back as I can remember I have always been somewhat of a creative. I can remember being in the third grade and the teacher reading us books. As she read I had the picture in my mind of what was going on in the story. I could visualize every scene and I could even almost put myself there as if I was teleporting. Even though I know I wasn’t but my imagination was very good. I can remember being able to sit down and write stories that would draw my class-mates and even my teacher in. My teacher used to tell me to keep writing that I had a gift that someday was going to take me somewhere. As a child I used to sit and read books that were above my education level. Books that my mom was amazed I would be reading. I can remember reading books by Billy Graham, Dr James Dobson and Max Lucado at an early age. By the time I was 13 I had read the entire bible from cover to cover and even wrote paragraphs on each chapter and what they meant to me. I am by no means trying to paint myself as perfect or even as a good kid (I got in my share of trouble). As I got older however I have lost that creative side of me. I guess I got lazy and just stopped writing and even stopped reading. A couple of years ago I started to feel that pull in me, the creative in me wanting to come out. I realized a dream I had long forgotten. I had a story to tell and I wanted to write a book. From time to time over the years I would write that story but I never put it on the front of my list. I never nurtured that dream, in a matter of speaking I never cared enough about it to do so. About two years ago I found myself with this burning desire to get back the dream I had long lost. And to accomplish the dream of being a published Author. So here is what I did to do so:

I started this blog- This was my first step (though it may not be yours). Even though I have not been steady with posting on here. I started it just to see what it was like and to learn.What I have learned is that being steady is the only way to gain readers and to improve. I have also found that as others read my posts they see things that need to be corrected and/or written differently. I started to ask my friends to read my blog and they have helped me immensely by calling me or emailing me about things that they see.

I began to read more- reading is critical and crucial for a writer. Reading teaches proper sentence structure and grammar. I have also found that reading will even teach you to write in different ways. Also reading helps generate creativity and gets me in the writing spirit.

I made connections- I started generating friendships with people who blog and write for a living. People like Jeff Goins, Michael Hyatt, Kenny Silva, Jason Wilson, Chris Queen, Pete Wilson, Jon Acuff and many many more. I started following them on twitter (I started to read their blogs, books and ebooks) and asking them questions and even a time or two emailing or sending them a link to my blog and asking them for advice. I know these guys are very busy with their own projects but I have found that the writing community is more than willing to lend a hand or take time to teach and/or guide a fellow writer. (you can check out all of their blogs in my friends of Matthew section)

Moved out of my comfort zone- When I first started this blog I didn’t want anyone to see it (I know it sounds stupid as this is the internet) but it’s true. I thought as long as nobody saw it I could just write and I’d have nothing to worry about. I was afraid of being laughed at and made fun of. I was afraid that I was fooling myself to think I could actually be not just a writer but a good one. What I found is that as I step out of my comfort zone not only do I get better but I become more accepted in the community. And when I need help or direction it’s there and not the ridiculing I expected. I have also emailed a link to most of my family and friends and invited them to check it out, the support has been amazing.

Here is what I’ve learned (the creativity is like a garden portion):

If you don’t use it, you loose it- if you plant seeds and walk away they will not grow. There will be no garden it will be over ran with weeds there will be no production. Just like when I hadn’t followed through or kept writing. I all but forgot about it, that part of me had been over ran with weeds and I feel like I’ve had to work very hard to get it back (harder than if I had never stopped).

You must nurture your creativity- just like gardening you must nurture your creativity and writing. You must practice and then practice even more. You must write even when you don’t feel like writing any more. You must work on your technique and fine-tune your craft. Just like taking the time to pull the weeds from a garden. If you don’t the weeds will over run the garden and suffocate it. Not writing or working on your craft will do the same.

You must water your creativity- getting others to read your writing or looking at your creative project helps you grow and that creativity. Getting people to give you feedback whether to improve or approve of your creative project, causes you to mature that creativity and helps you grow and just simply encourages you to keep going. Like watering a garden is vital for it to grow and produce.

The finished product is beautiful- When you take the time to pluck the weeds, give your garden the right the right amount of sunlight and shade, water your garden and nurture it and you stand back and look at the finished product. It is a beautiful sight. You are amazed at what you were able to grow and produce you feel a sense of accomplishment and pride. The same is true in writing or creating. You look at what you have created as you publish it or put it on display or even play it on the radio. Like the garden it has been your baby, your project. And before you know it your project is complete and you are ready to show the world.

I still haven’t written the book, that will come in time. I am not going to give up on it. In the mean time I will work on my creativity, I will practice, grow, learn and improve. I will nurture my craft and I will follow through. Please Subscribe to my blog and get instant notifications of my posts.

How do you think this post may help you and encourage you in your craft and creativity? What do you compare to help you keep going and to motivate you? Let me know in my Comments section.

5 things I will do in 2012

Matthew Gross — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:36:36 +0000

I have never really been the New Year resolution kind of guy. however, this year I have come up with five things that I am going to do in 2012. I am posting them on here for a few different reasons. And here they are.

1) Publicly admitting goals puts your feet to the fire

2) Publicizing goals makes you accountable (at least to the few readers I have)

3) When goals are written (or in this case posted) it changes them from a plan or a dream to a goal

So what 5 things am I going to do differently? Well, here’s my list and in no distinct order. I only ask you all to help keep me accountable to this list the best you can.

1) I am going to build my relationship with Christ: I am not going to settle for mediocre nor am I going to settle for “just the way it’s been. I am going to spend time everyday reading the word and praying.

2) I am going to build my family: I am going to be a better husband and father. I have a great marriage and four wonderful children but I can do better. I am going to spend more time with my wife and children and less time doing my hobbies and/or watching tv

3) I am going to read more: I have always loved books and I buy books all time. The problem is that they just become decorations in my house or office and collect dust. I have said ” I love reading but I hate to read” I have so many books it is ridiculous and I’ve even started to load them on my iPad where they just sit. So I am going to commit to reading at least 30 minutes each night. Another reason for this is reading helps me as a writer to build and improve my writing.

4) I am going to blog more: At least a year ago I started this blog and have started a bad habit of just not doing it. I have posted here and there every few months but it hasn’t been enough. I am going to commit to posting at least every other week if not every week. If I am not putting the time in posting, how can I expect anyone to take the time to read my posts? I have always had a dream of writing a book. This year I am going to commit to writing more anything I can. The book isn’t going to write itself.

5) I am going to work on my career and education without sacrificing my family: I know people who have build wonderful careers for themselves and they make a lot of money. And there is no problem with that, however, they have ended up divorced and have no relationship with their children. I have always wanted a college degree and I am going to get it (maybe not in one year but I will make steps towards getting it). Besides writing my dream has always been to be a professional firefighter and for many years have been a volunteer. This year I will take the steps to build this career but will not ask my wife or children to sacrifice for this to happen.The most important job I have is being the best husband and father I can be.

I am going to take the last few weeks of 2011 and plan my projects and even think of more blog posts. I will start the first week of January posting more often. I will also post my progress throughout 2012 and I thank you for taking time to read my ramblings.

Question: What are your resolutions? what are you going to do differently or better in 2012? Let me know in the comments.

Let go and let GOD

Matthew Gross — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:15:28 +0000

“Let go and let God” this is a phrase my twin brother and I said when we were younger in fact, we sort of made it our own. As if we had made it up even though I’m sure we didn’t I don’t know the actual source. Those five words carry more weight than a punch from Mike Tyson to me. We all go through things in our lives that are overwhelming things that we feel we can never get through, things that we think are going to devour us. We feel like we are in a hole so deep we can barely see the sun light at the top. These are the times that God says “Come to me“ (Matthew 11:28) he actually says he will give us rest. There is no magic wand, no ritual, no ceremony or any other action we must do for this rest. What we do is simple, Fall to our knees and ask him to be in control. Pour our hearts to him and ask him to take the wheel. In Isaiah 41:10 we are given instruction on how to deal with these times. He says “Don’t panic. I am with you there is no need for you to fear for I am your GOD. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm, grip on you” (MSG). Those five words I started off with is this verse shortened and paraphrased that means. He’s got you, he loves you and he will not let the enemy destroy you. He will protect you and arm you, he will supply both the shield and the ammo. So when it seems you don’t have the money to pay the bills, you fight with your spouse, your children rebel, you can’t seem to meet that deadline at work or you make someone angry or someone makes you angry no matter what the situation is all you have to do is, relax drop to your knees and “Let go and let God”. He’s got this and the result will be far better than you could have done on your own trust me. I will leave you with one more thought. God will always get the victory (context mine). Here’s what God says in Luke 10:19 See what I’ve given you? safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the enemy. No one can put a hand on you”.

Have you ever been in a situation that you totally had to give to GOD? if so what was the result and how did it differ from what you could have done on your own? Tell me about it in the comments

A life lesson at a young age

Matthew Gross — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:14:08 +0000

When I was eighteen something very detrimental happened in my life that would change me forever. On October 8, 1995 at about 0430 in the morning I received a phone call that my mother had passed away while she slept. I don’t want to spend too much time telling the whole story however I will say this, I had spoken to her on the phone just hours prior before going to bed that night. She was feeling a little sick but I would have never expected this would be my last time talking to her while on this earth. I say it that way because I know I will see her in eternity and I so look forward to that day however not too soon. Here are the lessons I learned:

Life is but a blink~ My mom was 10 days away from her 42nd birthday and though 42 years may seem like a long time I can assure you it isn’t. Just ask anyone that is the same age or older. I am 34 currently and I still feel (or wish) I am 21. At almost 42 my mom was just entering a different faze in her life. My older sister was 21 and my twin brother and I were 18. My first child was only three months old my sister who had just gotten married was not yet expecting yet but would be not to long after. My parents were just becoming grandparents and seeing their legacy grow and continue and were they excited. My point is that life is over before you know it for some it is obviously sooner, but there is no way for any of us to know.

You can never tell someone you love them to many times~ I said earlier I spoke to my mom on the phone just hours before she went home to be with the Lord, I didn’t however tell you that we got off the phone that night I forgot something very important. My mom called me immediately after hanging up the phone and said “you just got off the phone without telling your mother you love her” I said “I’m sorry mom, I love you very much” she then said to me that she loved me too and she was proud of me. Imagine though if my mom had not called me back I would have lived with not telling my mom I loved her before she passed for the past 16 years. I learned that every chance I get I need to let those I love know I love them as often as I should. Because like I said life is over in the blink of an eye.

Settle arguments and fast~ Imagine if you will had my mother and father gotten in a fight before they went to bed. Now that isn’t what happened but what if it did. Think of the pain my father would have to live with. I have adopted a policy in my life that I will not go to bed mad or upset with my wife. This is not always easy because let’s face it husbands and wife’s get mad at one another and it is sometimes very hard to settle things. In fact sometimes is is down right hard to do, However it is very important. I once heard of a couple arguing as one of them got in a car to leave and a few miles from home one of them was involved in a very bad car accident and was killed. There is no way for me to imagine that, so again we need to settle arguments as soon as we can. I am not just talking about married couples either I am talking to those that maybe fighting with their siblings, parents, children or friends. Find away to settle the arguments and sometimes it takes you being the bigger person and admitting guilt even if you are not at fault or did not start the argument.

Talk to those you love often~ In today’s world it is so easy to talk to those you love almost everyone has and item in their pocket called a cell phone and many of these devices not only make phone calls but do text messages and even email. With social media such as facebook and twitter we have another way to communicate to those we love. In most cases it only takes a few seconds to send someone a message on one of these outlets just simply saying “I love you” or “I’m thinking of you today” or “I’m praying for you”. Keep those in your life involved in your life, I am guilty of this being as I am in the military and am almost 3,000 miles from home and family. Having my own children and a wife I am busy and sometimes very busy. I have four children ranging from 16 to 5 and they are involved in church groups, sports, school plays and concerts and various activities, As I stated I am also in the military and that keeps me busy as well between field mission, support missions and taking care of my Soldiers and all their issues. being as my wife is a full-time college student that brings a whole different set of business to our lives. I also help run a ministry and am very active and involved in our church so as you can imagine we lead a very busy life. Sometimes a few weeks or even months will go by and I realize I haven’t taken the to call home. However if we all slow down to reach out to those we love and care about when the time comes they are called home we will have no regrets.

My Challenge to us all~ Take time this evening as your day winds down or even this weekend to reach out to those you love them via phone call, text, email or facebook. Let them know how you feel and that you value them. Who knows you may just bless someone who needs to feel loved.

Have you reached out to someone? Tell me about it in the comments!

Is My Word is my Bond

Matthew Gross — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:34:22 +0000

picture taken from Tyler Braun on his blog www.manofdepravity.com

In the days of old man’s word was his bond, signed by a hand shake. Now days we are taught to trust no body, we have to show ten different forms of ID, give out our social security numbers, give five names of people for references, sign our lives away and in some if not most cases give a monetary deposit. My father worked tirelessly with my twin brother and I to teach us to be men of our word. I can honestly say that I have not always been a man of my word causing in some cases a separation of friendship or bad credit even. About four or five years ago it all came crashing in on me and I began to see the effect of not following my father’s advice. I had bad credit and there was a lot of people in my life just simply didn’t trust me any more. So I began to change the way I was and made it a point to start being a person that meant what he said and did what he said I would do. It wasn’t easy and in fact sometimes it was down right hard. To this day there are some people who still see me as the “old Matthew” and still don’t trust me. I still work very hard to be a man of my word and if they never again trust me well that’s the bed I have made and I will have to lay in it. However I will not put my life on hold just to prove myself to them, I will just live by my convictions and hope they change their minds about me. If this seems to be the case for you (I’m sure this applies to most of us) start today and change this in your life, not that it will be easy at all and in fact maybe one of the hardest things you will ever do (it was for me). You will find that as you become a man or woman of your word people’s minds will change eventually they will come around hopefully. However you must realize that if they don’t it is because of you they feel this way, but also they have an issue of the heart they need to deal with and that is between them and God. I promise you one thing you will be a lot happier and your stress level will go down. It will be easier for you to sleep and make you more pleasant to be around. Apply this to all areas of your life pay your bills on time, follow through with commitments and be on time with deadlines or for appointments. You will find the people around you will begin to do the same thing and if you have children you are teaching them a valuable lesson, as well as things in your life will improve such as your credit and your personal affairs. I’m sure we will never really go back to the old days but I encourage you to live it for yourself. The happiness will come back and most people will notice the change in you.

Three Reason’s You Can’t Deny God’s Existance

Matthew Gross — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:07:20 +0000

As I drove to work this morning I had this thought. There are three (3) reasons you just can’t deny God at least in my simple mind.
1) The beauty of this world – Just take a minute to really look around you. This Earth is so beautiful how could you ever say it just appeared one day. It had to have been created. Gen 1-31 (msg)

picture taken from songofvictory's blog

2) The ways I have seen him bless my life.- Though I am undeserving God has blessed my life more than I could have ever done on my own. Living within or for myself I could never accomplish what he has in me and through me, Romans 8:28. The credit goes to him and him alone. His blessings are abundant.( John 15:5 (msg)

Picture taken from www.free-extras.com

3) Everything in this world has its function.- There is nothing in this world that is pointless. Everything from the clouds to the mountains to the dirt has a function in this world. As I walked up the side-walk to the door to the building I looked at the grass and thought ” even those blades of grass have a purpose”. If nothing else there are animals that eat grass so they can live and fulfill their function in life. Gen 1:29-30 (msg)

Arming yourself

Matthew Gross — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:27:42 +0000

Just a quick thought while I am sitting here at my desk. Starting with a few questions, Are you protected? How did you start today and how do you plan on ending the day? Did you hear the alarm this morning push the snooze and try to get ten more minutes? Did you do this a couple times and when you finally got up you ran around the house like a chicken with it’s head cut off collecting what you need for the day, pouring a cup of coffe and rushing through your personal hygine time? If I was to be honest with you and myself that sounds a lot like the mornings I have most of the time. With the exception of pushing the snooze button, I tend to get up really early and have no problem most of the time doing so however what I do in the mornings is play around with my dog Chloe, turn on morning news, get caught up on what has been updated on twitter while I was asleep and sometimes try to come up with creative or insperational status updates on facebook. So I do this stuff and then realize I’ve burned 45 minutes or so doing all this but now its time for chicken with the head cut off mode because if I don’t get going I’m going to be late for work. Now I will say this there are days when I get up and I feel like I need that time with no distractions so I lock up the dog, keep the tv off and grab my bible read a few verses or sometimes I will spend the whole time in prayer. However notice I said sometimes, because if I had to put a number on the ammount of times in the week I do this I would say once maybe two but then there are weeks I do it more but mostly I would say one day a week I spend that time in the Lord in the morning. Now this is something I have been working on for a few months now and though I’m doing better I’m still not doing it the way I should. So let me ask you this wether you are male or female what do you think would happen if every day you came home from work put your lunch pale in the sink along with your coffee cup, hung your keys up or put them in the place that you keep them, went and took a shower and sat down to watch tv and sat there until bed time. While this whole time your spouse is right there and you never once spoke to them or acknowledged them even being there. No “Hi honey” no interest in how their day was, no kiss, no nothing , you just simply acted like they weren’t even there and you did this for a week or even a month. How do you think that would pan out for you? Will let me tell you that I don’t imagine things would be too good for you at all. You would at minimum be sleeping on the couch or in the bed by yourself. It wouldnt make for a very happy home life, I can tell you that much. Now turn that whole situation over to your walk with God, Your christianity you go through the day, week or month with out even talking to him spending that time with him reading his word.. You all but forget about him then one day something happens and you need him to be with you, give you strength or healing or even understanding in a situation what ever it maybe. He does his part and you go right back to living your life but leaving him out of it except for on Sundays when your reminded of him and what he does for you. now that I have bored you with my words let’s see what the word of God says about this subject.

Let me start off in Deuteronomy 6:5 – ” Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength.” With this verse I think what would I do if I truely LOVED the Lord, what would my actions be? Something tells me that I would not go through my day inoring him or acting like he doesn’t exsist and/or part of my everday life. When you love someone you build that love by talking to them, listening to them and spending time with them. So my reccomendation is very simple build the relationship with GOD just like you would with anyone else.

Ephesians 6:10- 11,13 Finaly, be strong in the LORD and in his mighty power. 11 put on the full armor of GOD, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of GOD, so that when the day of evil comes, you maybe able to stand your ground after you have done everything, to stand.

God has mighty power and in that power he strengthens us and gives us the tool needed to defeat the enemy, we must however ask him for that strength and those tools. This is not to say he works like a genie and just poofs himself or us around but he empowers us through the holy spirit and will strengthen us an give us the directions to go. In 1 peter 5:8 we are warned ” be sensible and vigil, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking (for) someone he may devour;” I kow in my own personal life I have found that with prayer comes strength and that if we don’t pray over our lives and that of our family the enemy will work his way in there finding a weakness or a sin that he can use to beat us up with. I could without a doubt find a whole lot more verses on this subject but in trying to keep this short (that ship has sailed) I will just tell you that as we pray and we make it habit we become stronger and the ares the enemy has to attack becomes fewer. Luke 9:23 tells us to pick up our cross daily in my mind that starts with prayer. My challenge to you is this starting today pray when you first wake up and when you go to bed and maybe even in between and how you strengthen and grow. Ask GOD to bless each day before it starts and thank him when each day ends make it habbit and just see the mountains in your life move. In Matthew 17:20 we read that if you have faith as small as a mustard seed nothing is impossable for us. Of course I am parrafrazing but I encourage you to read it for yourself. Are you ready to grow? As you pray you will I promise you that, So go pray and keep praying and watch your faith grow and your problems decrease. Pray through the storms and you will be amazed with not only what you learn once the storm is over, but how and/or where your blessing was. the word tells us that GOD will always bless his people and give them the desires of thier heart ( thats another post all in itself) In the mean time I will be praying as I hope you all will too.. God Bless you all and thank you for reading my rambleings….

What is our time used for

Matthew Gross — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:00:15 +0000

Here is my conviction.. It seems that I have all the time in the world but I am the busiest guy I know. When it comes to the things that I feel God had laid on my heart. I sit here for hours and watch baseball, basketball, football and even golf. Golf for crying out loud I love golf but to be honest watching it on t.v is like watching paint dry, but yet I do it and I say I’m too busy to do the things God has laid on my heart. I started this blog because I felt God had laid it on my heart not so people can read the random thoughts in my head but to bless myself and others. I felt like God was saying that this blog was the start of something he was getting ready to release in my life and he was teaching me obedience. My point is this we fill our lives and our schedules with things that may seem to be so important but if we are to take a step back and look let’s be honest that time could have been spent better. We sit here as a nation in such a rush to fill our time and we say “I’ll read my bible later”. Or “I’ll pray before I go to sleep”. We go into church on Sunday morning get fed and walk out the door put our Bible in the car and go live our lives forgetting about that bible until the next Sunday morning. We are a people so caught up in the hottest clothes, most advanced fastest computers, the nicest cars, the newest iPhone or what ever hoping the neighbors will be impressed maybe even envious. When what we should be doing is building the kingdom, planting seeds in our family and friends that are not saved, building up our children and spending time with them guiding them and teaching them. At this point I would like to tell you something I once heard that to this day (probably 15 years later) I still think about all the time. That is this “if you don’t teach and guide your children somebody else will”. Think about that for a minute. If I as the parent don’t teach my children, teach my children the things of God and how to build a personal relationship with Him than somebody else will teach them the wrong thing. Now that is scary to me, who do we have in this world to look up to? Lindsay Lohan, Brittany Spears, Terrell Owens, do you want them teaching your children? I didn’t think so. We must and I include myself in this take the time to teach our children the things of God and ensure they know him, love him and follow him. We must take the time to love our children because again if we don’t then someone else will.. The bible says “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it” proverbs 22:6. Here’s the thing if our children see us praying, reading and studying the word of God then they will do it. If they see us avoiding it not praying and leaving our bibles in the car until the next Sunday that is what they will do. Now think about that for a minute, go ahead I’ll wait.. Like I said before I am speaking to myself as much as anyone else, I am just as guilty but I vow that I will slow down my schedule, shut off my tv, stay off twitter (I love twitter) and even put down my iPhone to set the example for my children and teach them in the way they should go, so they will never part from it. We must make the time for the single most important area of our lives and of our childrens. Let me leave you with this I think this hits the nail right on the head. “The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable- Brennan Manning”

Forgiveness in order to be forgiven

Matthew Gross — Sat, 15 May 2010 16:43:25 +0000

forgiveness that is almost a dirty word isn’t it? what would you say if I told you that unless you forgive you will not be forgiven? I know you probably feel like I just stomped on your toes, don’t you? this is a true statement according to the word of God we must forgive. However I am not ready to go that far yet we’ll get there in a minute. Let me ask you a question when you do something wrong don’t you want to be forgiven? So who would you be if you did not extend forgiveness? People that don’t forgive have hard hearts and no joy. This too is biblical however it also just makes sence, doesn’t it? I know what you thinking ” You don’t know what these people have done to me, or you don’t know the situation”. This is true I don’t but you want to know something I don’t need to all I can say is forgive them.. (all bible passages are taken from the message bile) In Matthew 6:14 we read about this it says “you can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others”. In chapter 12 we read “There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God’s spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives.” So as you can see God commands us to forgive it is the only way we can be forgiven. this is again covered in chapter 11:25 “If you have anything against someone, forgive, only then will your heavenly father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins”, So can you see how important this is to God ? I can also tell you that forgiveness has an effect on our everyday lives. It can cause such heaviness that your life feels empty or joyless. Unforgiveness will eventually rob you of your joy to live life, it also can and eventually will make you so heavy that you are overtaken. Have you seen the movie Spiderman 2? Do you remember when Toby who played spiderman said something to the effect that as hard as he tries he couldn’t be the way he was before the black suit overtook him! When I watched that movie I remembered thinking and even told my wife that he was overtaken by unforgiveness and that black suit was the “enemy” overtaking his life with the unforgiveness in his heart. That movie is a perfect portrayal at least to me of what will happen if a person does not forgive. You remember how he was as soon as he found out the sandman killed his grandfather? he wanted to get him and it didn’t matter the cost, he lost his girlfriend, his friends and even himself. The black uniform seemed to be what he wanted at first it gave him a rush, a feeling like he never felt before but that was just a fake or temporary feeling wasnt it. Soon it not only ran his life but who he was it affected every relationship and every aspect of his life didn’t it. Now let me ask you this do you want to live life that way? I don’t think so at all and neither do I. Now in the movie do you remember what happened when he allowed forgiveness in his heart? He gained all he had lost back, but more than that his life was free of the anger and bitterness. I havent seen the movie in sometime so I don’t remember it all but I just remember a change in life and character when he allowed forgiveness. Also his friend experienced the same thing didn’t he? He blamed spiderman for his father’s death and the same effect was on him. however a little different he was using people to hurt spiderman and he didn’t care who he hurt as long as he got his revenge. If you havent seen the movie I encourage you to see it and really watch it for the message of unforgiveness and I am sure you will at that time be able to start working on forgiving those who you need to forgive. I want to be a forgiving person not just because the bible tells me to but I don’t want to live like spiderman did in the movie. Here is another thought you don’t forgive the people who have wronged you then how would you expect God to teach you a lesson or even punish the wrong party? God will punish those who do wrong but if you are unforgiving than he can’t do his job because you are doing for him. I personally believe that forgiveness is one of the most important qualities we as christians can have or posses it holds the key to our happiness and our quality of life. here is one more bible verse that I found Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. So please ask God to teach you to forgive and give you a clean heart towards those who have hurt you. I know it easy but if you read my last blog you will see the out come of forgiveness. Just because you forgive someone doesn’t mean you weren’t hurt or that you wont continue to hurt but I can promise you this God will work in you to heal that hurt as long as you forgive the person that hurt you. I know that there are some actions that we feel are unforgivable but the bible tells us that nothing is unforgivable. the only way God can work in the situation is after there has been forgiveness, he can an d will heal you and he can and will punish the guilty party. So “Lord I pray we will be forgiving people, in all hurts and strikes against us. I pray that you deal with our hearts the issue of unforgiveness allow us Lord Jesus to open ourselves to you and allow you to heal those hurts, and allow you to teach us to forgive. Lord we thank you for your word and pray Lord that we live it. I pray Lord for all reading this that they and myself will forgive those who trespass against us and that those we may have hurt in the past will forgive us.. Thank you Lord AMEN”!!

Controlling your tongue

Matthew Gross — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:51:16 +0000

Adrian Rogers said it best when he said ” the ears are out and open, they are unguarded, but the tongue is behind ivory bars”. It took me a minute when I heard that for it to sink in. When I heard this was in the midst of feeling like everyone was talking about me spreading rumor and gossip. I felt like I wanted to start talking myself, pointing fingers back, getting my point across or side of the story heard. When I had those thoughts I heard a voice speak to me ” I am your Defender control your tongue”. I said but God what they are saying is not true or they are adding to it. Again he said “I am your defender” I said “but they need to hear my side of the story, I must tell the truth the way I see it” . Again he said “I am your defender” so this time I said ok fine I will just give it to him and let him be my defender and see how that works. At the same time I am doubting that he would fix the situation I must be honest I was thinking how is God going to defend me how is God going to get my side of the story told? So for a couple of days I kept stressing and thinking there is no way God is going to straighten this out for me. So a few days turned into a couple of weeks and I thought about it less and less but when it came up in my head I said “God I am trying to let you be my defender, I am asking you to get these thoughts out of my head of needing to talk or tell my side”. I can’t give you the full effect of what was going on in my life, my head, or my heart but it was bad real bad. I virtually in a couple of months lost almost every relationship I ever had. I mean friends, associates and even family turned their backs on me. I still battled the temptation to start making phone calls or sending emails so everyone could hear my side. To be honest the temptation was less and less and before I knew it about four or five months have gone by and I almost all but forgot about telling my side or be heard. One day I sat down to watch some college football ( I love college football on saturday’s) God told me to make a phone call to a man who I loved very much but hadn’t spoken to in months due to the rumors that were told about me. So I did as I was told and let me tell you what a great conversation we had. It was about three hours long and I literally laughed, cried, and just had such a great conversation. When he answered the phone I said “hello there this is Matt” and before I could say anything he said to me I am so happy you called me brother…To my surprise he then told me that he knew the truth that what was said about me was false and there was no truth to it. So my point is simply this God is our defender even when we don’t see it or know what is going on he is in our corner. As long as we do right and not wrong he will vindicate us. It may take a while more than what we want but here is the other thing I learned Gods timing is perfect. He will reveal the truth as it needs to be revealed to whom we just have to believe his promises. In Romans chapter 8:27-28 that he knows every detail about us, and that everything will be worked into good for those that love him. The word of God in Luke 12:11 “when they drag you into their meeting places or into police courts and before judges, don’t worry about defending yourselves what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. So again when you find yourself in a situation take a step back and let God defend you (as long as you acted the right way) he will restore you better than what you were before. Now let me finish my story every relationship that I lost in that time has come back and they came to me I did not go to them. Let God direct your paths, those relationships that were tested are stronger than ever and we have all moved past what happened. The person that spread those rumors is a different story all together their life is empty and full of pain because they were exposed for what they truly are. When God exposes someone it is so much worse than we could ever do..