Josh Brage

Good morning. I love that very statement. It is a statement, it is a faith declaration and it is hope. Mornings are obviously designed by God. They are fresh, beautiful, hopeful. Everything is a fresh morning screams, well just that, freshness. We can start again each morning. Mornings are a time to receive the grace and mercies of God again for the day. It is God’s reset button. I am committing to enjoying God’s mornings as they come. Lord knows I need to enjoy the possibility of a reset.

Good morning. I love that very statement. It is a statement, it is a faith declaration and it is hope. Mornings are obviously designed by God. They are fresh, beautiful, hopeful. Everything is a fresh morning screams, well just that, freshness. We can start again each morning. Mornings are a time to receive the grace and mercies of God again for the day. It is God’s reset button. I am committing to enjoying God’s mornings as they come. Lord knows I need to enjoy the possibility of a reset.

Authenticity is acheivable only when you can become brutally honest with yourself. When you can come to grips with the fact that you deep inside are a man who is fallen then you can begin to realize that you are also a man in need of grace. We begin to realize that we are fallen.

We are deep inside greedy, lustful, self-centered and prideful. That is the core of who we are. Or so intitially thought. That is who our flesh is. We are a new creation. We are at the core, no flesh-based, but rather spirit-based. Our core has been reborn.
So now it is a question, because when I get right down to it, I seem to be deep inside a flesh-based person. What is up with this? If I am spirit-based and am truly a new creation, why don’t I think/act like it? I don’t really know the answer to this. However, I will continue to pursue this. I think it again has something to do with a process, not an arrival. I will ask God and look to Paul and others.
This becomes true authenticity that leaves no place for pride. We realize that we are real with sins and problems, but grace! But grace exists. We are not who we once where, we are now someone new, because of God and His Son. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory!

I like organization. The only time that I don’t see the point in being organized is when there is not a point. When there is nothing going on, then why do we need to be organized? Here is the point, there might be something getting ready to happen. Remember the Boy Scouts? “Be Prepared!” So how do we get organized? First, make sure everything has a place. If it doesn’t have a home, it is clutter! Clutter is the number one enemy. This is true of a home, an office, a closet, a desk, a fridge, a business organization, etc. Next, throw crap away. If it doesn’t serve a forseeable purpose, if it hasn’t been touched in over a year, if you forgot where it came from and can’t remember why you bought it in the first place, throw it away! If it happens to be relevant and records, then store it away. Those are my basic two rules for organization.
So why the title? Well, if we are organized outside it can be representative of organized thinking. Order in thinking and living is a key trait of someone who is confident and in charge of their lives. Success in life does not come from the outside. It does not come from the right amount of money or the right position, job, wife, etc. It comes from ‘that ever elusive victory within.’ What is that victory? It is discovering God in your heart. It is hearing where He wants you to go, No, i retract that, what He wants you to be. The fun thing is that when you hear that, you will also have discovered that you are already well on your way of becoming who He has created you to be. Organization in mind and thought, leads to a quiet heart and a confident spirit. So if you are not experiencing any of these things, try tidying your desk and then see where that takes you.

That is really all I have to say about that today. Just that CSI is the coolest show around. And I bet that there has been a dramatic increase in young people changing their majors to Criminal Science in the past few years. Come to think of it, I should.

What a funny word. I seem to be inspired by single words. Everyone seems to be asking for definition to this one, and yet no one seems to be able to find anything that will work. Here is the surprising thing to me however is that this search is not limited to certain young people who are found wasting thier lives away in a worldly MTV culture, while we, those who are living in the post-modern rapidly emerging Spirit-filled Christian Kingdom, stay competely immune to this question/problem. I have chosen to live my life for the past three years predominately in this subculture of the megachurch. What I have found has shocked me. I have not found young people who are confident, self-sufficient, purpose-driven and problem free. Instead I have found a bunch of young people who so desperately want to be that person who I just described that they convince themselves that they are. They aren’t liars, they are just confused and so desperate to not be confused, or at least not appear confused that they live ensnared inside a false identity.
So what is the answer? I am not sure. But I am going to continue to pursue it. I do think that it isn’t so much about an answer as it is about the pursuit. I think that there are some keys. Be brutally honest with yourself and with God. Keep praying. Chase your dreams, not the competion. Listen to music. Get plenty of rest. And never forget: “Never fry bacon naked.”