Free to BE! Free to FLY!

My Definition of "KeEpiNg iT ReaL"

It's LIVING LIFE WITHOUT FEAR OF EXPRESSING ONE'S THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS THROUGH WORDS AND ACTIONS

It's NOT LIVING A DOUBLE LIFE-"NO! THAT'S A SCAM!"- BUT IT'S HONESTLY DISPLAYING THE CONTENT OF ONE'S HEART. "THAT'S BEING REAL!"

It's STANDING FIRM ON WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN, NOT CONFORMING TO THE WORLD AROUND YOU.

It's FINDING YOUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST, FIGURING OUT YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE and LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST WITH ABSOLUTELY NO APOLOGIES....

It's SAYING TO THE WORLD THAT LOOKS DOWN UPON YOU, "THIS IS ME! THIS IS WHO I AM. GOD CREATED ME WITH A UNIQUE PERSONALITY SO DON'T EXPECT ME TO BE EXACTLY LIKE YOU. DON'T TRY TO CHANGE ME OR BRING ME DOWN. 
JUST ACCEPT ME THE WAY I AM. EVEN IF YOU TRY TO DO SO, I'LL CHANGE FOR
NO ONE BUT CHRIST."

It's BEING YOURSELF REGARDLESS OF WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU OR SAY ABOUT YOU, OR HOW THE WORLD AROUND YOU ACTS.

It's LIBERATING YOURSELF FROM THE CONSTANT PRESSURE OF THE EVER-JUDGING EYES AND UNSHUTTING-MOUTHS THAT TRY TO SUPPRESS YOU, SQUEEZING THE LIFE OUT OF YOU!

IT'S UNVEILING YOUR MASKS AND THROWING THEM AWAY FOR GOOD!

In two words it's "BEING YOURSELF", WHO GOD CREATED YOU TO BE.

IT'S BEING YOU WITH ME, AND YOU, IN SPITE OF ME.

So then, KEEP IT REAL!....BE YOU! :-)

(I wrote this note on 12/3/07. Inspired by: Life, Psalm 139:14,1 Timothy 3:16, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 6:9, Hebrews 12:2)
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Related Quotes:
-It is better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you are not.."~Andre Gide

-"The real you, I believe, is not the person others see, not even the person you see, but the person God, Christ and the Holy Spirit see. Only they know the real you." ~Selwyn Hughes

-"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting" ~e.e. cummings, 1955
(For more great "YOU" quotes go to: http://www.quotegarden.com/be-self.html )
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IT'S TIME TO BE YOURSELF! IT'S TIME TO FLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

So if you've been reading my blog you probably know that discouragement/mental oppression/spiritual depression is something that I've been struggling with. But all year long God's been telling me, "Remember who you are"and "be yourself" and it's funny that in trying to do that I've faced soooo much opposition from the most unexpected sources (details later) and that's what has been discouraging me and kept me in bondage. So last quarter God told me something else, "Stop asking the world permission to be yourself. I am the One who has given you your identity and I'm telling you, you are Free to be yourself. So be!" (Read Joshua 1:9) So I realized that I had decisions to make,... I had to choose whether to listen to God and obey Him or to keep listening to the world and waiting for them to give me approval to be myself. But I let fear distract me and drive me to discouragement and apathy. At the end of the quarter I ran into these prophetic songs and God spoke to me again through them. So this Spring quarter I made a decision: to listen to God and to follow Him over trying to please the world. This was my decision but I hadn't made it official yet due to fear of even more rejection and opposition. But God has encouraged me once more to be myself and this encouragement has come from unexpected sources as well. So yeah, there's no time to fear, .... I shall soon make it official. This may all sound cryptic right now lol but it shall all be crystal clear pretty soon so stay tuned! In the meantime (and always) BE YOU! FLY! :-)

(Brothers and sisters in Christ, God is doing something new [He says so in His Word and through His Spirit] so let's ask Him to give us eyes to see and ears to hear so that we may follow Him where He is going. Let's fly with Him :)