Are you Awake?

5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 
(1 Thessalonians 5:5-8)

My 15 month old wakes up ready to conquer the world.  When he opens his eyes, it's "game on!"  His only concern is securing the assistance he needs to accomplish his goals which I suspect are eating, playing, loving and learning.

I wish I woke up each day like my son.  However, I do not and this morning was particularly challenging.  As the alarm clock reminded me that it was time to face the day, I felt....
Sluggish
Worried
Sad

A Habit of Morning Worship is Key.... (Psalm 63)
Almost without thinking, as a result of investing time to learn scriptures during my better moments, I was able to mentally access and repeat a portion of God's Word.

Physically and Spiritually Awake
Mentally, I kept repeating the phrase, "I will bless The Lord at all times.... I will bless The Lord at all times... I will bless The Lord at all times...." (Psalm 34:1)  And gradually I found myself going from being physically awake to being spiritually awake.

My spiritual awakening was characterized by two movements:
Movement One:  Appreciating the "Enough's" in My Life
Movement Two:  Replacing Mental Trash with Spiritual Treasure

Movement One:  Appreciating the "Enough's" in My Life
As I silently repeated, "I will bless The Lord at all times" my thoughts shifted from the concerns of the day to the evidence of God's care for me and my day.  I found myself thanking The Lord for the "Enough's" in my life.  I am thankful that I am....
....Habitual enough in my daily posture to praise God at the onset of the day.  (Psalm 5:1-3; Psalm 92:1-4)
....Blessed enough to know this is the day The Lord has made and I will rejoice in it and be glad. (Psalm 118:24)
....Aware enough to know when my feelings are not in accordance with my faith.  (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

As I continued thanking God for the "Enough's," I began to feel God's Hand positioning my day towards productivity.

Movement Two:  Replacing Mental Trash with Spiritual Treasure

Next I thought, "It's time to deal with the morning dew on my spiritual windshield.  I need to remove anything preventing me from seeing God clearly today."  So I began to confront those negative feelings (i.e. Mental Trash) that initially characterized my morning with God's Word (i.e. Spiritual Treasure)

Sluggish.... "The joy of The Lord is my strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)  When I think about the goodness of The Lord, I find myself feeling more energetic.  It's real hard to quote Psalm 103 without feeling God's warmth, passion and abundant love.

Worried....  I have a lot to accomplish today.  My family is depending on me.  Bills need to be paid, futures must be made secure and when I consider yesterday's unfinished business and couple it with today's "to do" list, it feels as though I am looking at a mountain of demands.  Yet, my soul is encouraged because I recall that I serve a God that can move mountains.  (Matthew 17:20)

Sometimes He moves them through my faith. (Matthew 8:5-13) Sometimes He moves mountains through circumstances. (Exodus 12:6)  And sometimes, out sheer mercy and kindness, He speaks to them directly. (Mark 4:35-41) Thank You Lord for the mountains!  For without mountains there would be no canvas to watch the miracle unfold!

Sad...  Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:4-5) I am spiritually awake and experiencing His joy!

I strongly encourage you rid yourself of spiritual, emotional and mental trash and replace it with the treasure of God's word.  It takes you from feeling and/or being poor to being emotionally, spiritually and mentally rich in an instant!

Affirmation

I am physically and spiritually awake.  I will meditate on God's truth.

A Prerequisite to Greatness: Self Awareness

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We 
are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we 
shall be set free?” (John 8:31-33)

Self-Deception is Deadly
In the scriptures above, Jesus' basically tells a group of dying people (and they were literally dying), I am am here to save your life. Their response is most interesting. They essentially 
looked him in his eyes and said, "We are not dying."  Sadly, by denying their problem (i.e. certain death), they failed to take hold of the solution. (1 John 1:5-9)

Self Deceptions Blocks Greatness...
Self Deception blocks us from achieving greatness. Each of us were created for a grand  purpose. Indeed! A purpose so grand that if we were living it, if we were doing it, if we were being it, people would know us, honor us and celebrate us. Why? Because "PURPOSE" is God's marketing tool. 
(Ephesians 2:10; Matthew 5:14-16; John 14:12-14)

God's Marketing Plan
God's marketing plan goes something like...

Step 1: An invisible God opens the eyes of people to His presence... It seems like He allows us 
to see Him not all at once but in groups. It's almost as if the awakening to His presence occurs in phases.

Step 2: By honoring God we tap into His purposes for our lives.

Step 3: As we pursue His purposes, He equips us with the ability to accomplish miraculous feats.

Step 4: People that do not know God see those remarkable feats. They celebrate us and ask, 
"How were you able to get to where you are? How were you able to accomplish X, Y and Z?"

Step 5: We point them to our God.
(Acts 16:16-34; 1 Peter 2:9-12)

Self Awareness is a Requirement for Greatness
God's greatness is prevented from occurring through us when self deception is present. You see...
People that refuse to admit they are ill will never seek a doctor.
Folks that refuse to believe that are lost will never seek direction.
Individuals that refuse to acknowledge that life is too big, too complex, too dynamic for humanity to fathom without the wisdom of an all knowing God, will never seek, acknowledge or accept Him. (Matthew 9:9-12)

Admitting that we lack some quality, some dimension, some thing that we may not even be able to articulate is the switch that ignites us to pursue, receive and revel in completion. (James 5:16)

Self Reflection Leads to Self Awareness: 
A Few Questions for You....
1.  What issues continue to hinder your relationships?
Hint: Generally, people from all aspects of your life (Family, Friends, Work, School etc. that  don't even know each other) have repeatedly said things like,
"John, you need to stop interrupting people when they are talking." 
"Mary, you take constructive feedback too personally.  You become defensive instead of better."
"Joe, you often react to unexpected circumstances in a destructive manner." 

2.  What problems within your control have generally stopped you from achieving your goals?
Hint: Most of the time this list isn't long. It's short. The same internal opponents seem to consistently  block us. Internal opponents such as Lack of Discipline, Doubt, Excessive Self Criticism, Poor Time Management, Procrastination... Beat them once and for all and you will unlock a new and more fulfilling life.)

3.  Are you destined for death? Or are you eternally alive? Have you pushed down that nagging to know God by convincing yourself He doesn't exist?  Or if you know God have you muted that longing to bring a particular behavior or area of your life in alignment to His Word by convincing yourself God doesn't care about it?

DO NOT miss your opportunity to achieve greatness by denying your needs.  God is offering eternal fulfillment to you!

Affirmation

I will  acknowledge my incompleteness & ask God to complete me.