Reconnection

A few weeks ago God began dealing with me about renaming this new work "reconnection".

I identified with the name immediately but as God directs me in my times of prayer and meditation I am coming to understand the fullness of what God had in mind.

Life's troubles come mainly from being disconnected. When we are in a state of disconnect with God, ourselves, and others it affects the quality of our life.

To be disconnected from God is the true definition of Sin and/or Hell.
Sin is being separated from God. Whether you believe in a literal Hell or not if you do not know the true peace and joy of the presence of God and being connected to Him, you are living a very empty and hellish life.

We were created to dwell in this kind of place, to be aware on a deep level of the presence and essence of God. This is the Secret place and the eternal that scripture speaks. This is Heaven. It is available now....it a limited sense but available never the less. Not limited in it's availability but limited by our inability to appreciate and avail ourselves of it.

I am often quoted as saying that Life is relationships. Because the quality of our lives is dependent on the quality of our relationships. We were created to be relational. The primary relationship is with God. I have already discussed that in the former paragraphs of this post. However this is why spirituality and faith is important. You cannot deny this part of your humanness without consequences. Not consequences from God, but a self-inflicted Hell(there is that world again). I keep using the term Hell because I think it is important to understand that hell is not flames and pitchforks, but rather a state of separation and disconnect.

Secondary relationship is with self. We don't think of this as a relationship, but it is. You can only love others as much as you love yourself. If you relationship with yourself is not strong neither will your relationships be with others. I spent many years denying who I was. I didn't not want to admit that I was a gay man so I lived a life of being what others wanted me to be. I did not do this as a conscious choice but never the less the results were the same. When I came to the place of connecting with myself, I had no idea who I was. I spent a couple of years getting to know myself. This was both exciting and scary. Many times we take on roles and labels and we lose connection of who we are. In order to live a healthy connected life we must live an authentic life....this means living from our heart and our truth. God accepts you, it is time that you do too.

Thirdly, relationships with others. Jesus speaks about how we can measure our connection with others. It is this, how we treat the least. How we treat our enemies. Of course you will love those who love you. But what about how you react to those who have mistreated you or to those who offer you nothing in exchange. This is challenging. But to be connected and healthy in life, we must live out a Love Walk and walk out forgiveness.

Forgiveness can be hard. recently I had to forgive somebody who had done a terrible thing to me. Something I thought I could not forgive. If I shared with you their crime you would probably tell me I was justified in what I felt toward them. However I knew in my heart, my feelings towards them was doing spiritual damage to my heart and soul. I came to understand that God commanding forgiveness had more to do with me than the one I was forgiving. By forgiving I was trusting God with them, and allowing myself to move forward and no longer remaining stuck or allowing unforgiveness to continue to eat at my spirit like some kind of cancer.

I first forgave during prayer, i simply told God I was forgiving this person but I needed His help. It wasn't easy and sometimes I would have those negative feelings rise up and I would have to say to myself....no I have released that and I have moved on. To forgive doesn't mean you are justifying or excusing someone's behavior. You are simply releasing it and allowing God to deal with them in His mercy and Grace. Only God can change a person.

I eventually ran into this person. Normally I made sure I wasn't where they were. I said to God, what do I do? God said you simply walk out what you have already done in spirit. So I acted on my forgiveness. It wasn't easy but God's grace was there,and today I can honestly say I have moved on.

I will not let somebody else's sin become a hindrance to my life and peace. It is too high a price to pay.

The quality of your life is measured by the quality of your relationships.....with God, yourself and others.....are any of these relationships disconnected.....well it is time to reconnect....it is too costly to live disconnected.