Keep ya head up

We all want to live our lives to when other see self (me) there is a sense of respect. At times it becomes so difficult and burdens we bear begin to weigh us down that we become depressed. There is a song called “Smile” that I love to listen to. The beginning lyrics to Tupac’s and Scarface’s song, Smile:

Our lifestyles be close captioned
addicted to fatal attractions
Pictures of actions be played back
in the midst of mashin'
No fairy tales for this young black male
Some see me stranded in this land of hell, jail, and crack sales
Hustlin' at heart be a nigga's culture
or the repercussions while bustin' on backstabbin' vultures
Sellin' my soul for material wishes, fast cars and bitches
Wishin' I live my life a legend, immortalized in pictures
Why shed tears? Save your sympathy
My childhood years were spent buryin' my peers in the cemetary
Here's a message to the newborns, waitin' to breathe
If you believe then you can achieve
Just look at me
Against all odds, though life is hard we carry on
Livin' in the projects, broke with no lights on
To all the seeds that follow me
protect your essence
Born with less, but you still precious
Just smile for me now

There is another part of this song that stay’s in my mind when Pac says, “Will I be smothered by my own pain?” I sometimes wonder, are the things that I bring upon myself going to be the death of my soul? Will the decisions I have made be the destruction of me? In the lives we live today, the struggle is hard at times. We walk around in such a dismay that we tend to walk with our heads down, watching our feet move in the pattern we walk. Being in this posture, our shoulders begin to shrug and our whole demeanor becomes a sense of worthlessness. An attitude can be manifested into not caring about anyone else because, let’s be real, I don’t care about self so bump everyone else. This is in some sense a form of feeling sorry for myself. What do I do to allow me to lift my head up and feel worthy to live this life? The attitude is generated to have material things to make me feel like something, to give me “self-worth”. One thing I have come to the conclusion of is that when I gain these material possessions, what do I really have. Things I can enjoy, but also things somebody else may want also. To add to it, depending on what I have, things that are going to need repairing in the near future. Things I’m going to have to spend money on to maintain in my possession. Where am I going with all this? I’ll tell you, just in this portion of my sermon, I see the things that God did not design us ti be or do. First, physically if I have the posture of looking down all the time, I get the “Egor Effect”. This hunched over posture just let’s see the ground in front of my feet but if I lify my head up I now have broaden my horizons. The vision I now have is not limited to just what’s in front of my feet but now what am I walking to. Who and what is around me. I can turn my head more freely and gain a better prospective of what I’m present in. All this things I have the ability to do along with having the ability to improve my vision on life. God designed our bodies to have a posture that gives us abilities to do, not to hunch over, but to utilize this brain and utilize his creation to open our minds to a broader horizon.

If we spend our life doing the things needed to possess these material items, it becomes our life. Yes we can feel good at our accomplishment but what do I really have. Truthfully speaking, Stuff. If I lose all this stuff, where will I be? A lot of these artist, like Tupac, told story of fame and glory through their achievements. They also told stories of the prices we may have to pay too achieving these goals toward, so called, success. Plus to fact, if I am exalted at being this individual everyone looks up to, who am I really. What am I on the INSIDE? I have found only One Individual Who can answer these questions for me, JESUS.

Luke 6:20-26 - The Beatitudes

20 And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 "Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. 23 "Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. 24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. 25 "Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way

Jesus teaches me that it is about the possession of worldly things but about what I possess in my soul. I shouldn’t be focusing on this man made wealth but the wealth I receive In Christ. Philippians 1:51-23 says……For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better. Paul understood the desires of the flesh, the wanting of luxuries in life, and the feeling it brings upon. But he says here that “having the desire to depart and be with Christ is very much better”. In verses 27, of Philippians 1, Paul says…Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ…. Here we go, definition time, to conduct means to “do or run something: to carry out, manage, or control something, behave: to behave in a particular way, to guide somebody along: to lead a person or group of people somewhere by going along with them. With this definition I understand that I am to behave in a manner that is in harmony with the Gospel of Christ. To carry out my life in truth and in order of what Christ has taught me to be’ a true reflection of God.

I don’t want anyone to take me wrong when I push away these material things we want in life. I not that we are not going to receive these things we desire in life, its just that we are not to focus our energy on obtaining these things. Our focus is to gain the complete existence of Christ so we can deal with and live within this life of today. If we value a Christ-like life, it gives us self-discipline to maintain order within ourselves. This gives us the abilities to maintain self-worth and value the life we live and other’s as well. When Christ was manifested in the flesh, he became the physical teacher of many things, one in which is self-discipline. People will always feed you with negative values and if we are not in our Christ-like manner, we can fall into the “pit” others are mentally in.

When the crying tale disciple were arguing about who is the greatest in Luke 9:46-48, Jesus said to them, after taking a child and stood the child beside Him saying, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name, welcomes me; whoever welcomes me, also welcomes the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all is the greatest”.

Galatians 2: 20 "I have been crucified with Christ ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

I ain’t gotta walk around depressed, because all of my burdens I can take to the Father and leave it there because God can make a way out of no way. But I have to believe after I repent my sins, and live in a manner that brings God the glory.

Romans 1: 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far ) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.

It is our duties to walk with our head up in Christ and walk a life accordingly, so when we come in contact with other, the seed we plant in them, God can water it, and the fruits their bear will manifest the Glory of God.

Yall may see a sinful man standing here, but I have to change my prospective on life. I’ve been redeemed by the Blood of Christ and I have to walk with my head up in honor of receiving The New Covenant. I can’t live on this earth now in shame, God has revealed to me, you, all of us what sin is and can do, but to live in Christ is Glory.